“I was. My mate killed me because she believed Fate wronged her. She killed me then her sister,” Alonzo sadly answered.
“Wow. How old are you?” Bellamy asked with her brows furrowed in shock.
“In this life, I’m pushing eighty. In my past life, I’d be around the same as Tiny and Minnie.”
“You know Tiny and her sisters?” Bellamy curiously asked.
“I do. Her sister was once my fated mate.” An indescribable look passed across Alonzo’s face.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Bellamy looked at Alonzo with sympathy.
“Don’t be. Meeny thought she was going to stop my destiny and keep me from becoming a guardian, but she only sped up the process. I know a lot of things.”
“What is a guardian?” Bellamy asked while looking at me, then Alonzo with questions in her eyes.
“Before you all were allowed to enter the gates, I assume you met Cahlian?”
“That big-ass tiger, lion, cheetah shifter? Hell yeah, we met him,” Hendrix responded, his eyes big as saucers.
Chuckling at Hendrix’s reaction, Alonzo nodded in agreement. “Yes, that’s him. He’s a guardian. He protects the entrance of The Sanctuary of Life. Every so many years, Fate chooses a new set of guardians. It’s one of the highest honors you can receive from Fate. Many want the gifts that come with the honor, but few have the pureness needed to receive it.”
“If you become a guardian, what happens to your mate and family?” we asked.
“We go with them, and our offspring are blessed highly by Fate,” Riccah answered.
“Tiny knows him?” Bellamy asked.
“She does… That is her fated mate,” Riccah answered again, shocking all of us.
We had no real understanding of what Tiny and her sisters were. We knew they were powerful beings blessed by Fate, but that was it. Hearing she had a fated mate wasn’t something we expected to find out. Tiny didn’t seem like she could be tamedby a regular shifter. It made more sense that she had a powerful mate. The way she was acting the closer we got to the sanctuary also made more sense. She was nervous about seeing her mate. We honestly couldn’t wait to tell Cree because he swore she needed some dick to calm her down.
“Tiny has a mate?” Bellamy sounded just as shocked as we felt.
“Yes, all of Fate’s shifters have fated mates. Love is the most powerful thing Fate has gifted us with. It is Fate’s will for us all to find our fated mates because it is the closest connection we can have with Fate. That’s why the Dark Mages came up with killing their fated mates—to get the ultimate power. Or at least that’s what they believe.”
“That’s what that Dark Mage said to us about killing our mates. We’d become all powerful,” Millan said with sadness in her voice.
“It’s a lie. The pain from killing your mate will drive most insane. The few who can withstand the pain never reach the level of power they believe they’re supposed to,” Alonzo said.
“This is insane.” Millan busted out crying, burying her head in Hendrix’s chest. “This is all crazy. My friends were killed for power?”
“Unfortunately,” Alonzo solemnly responded.
“I can’t believe Mateo and the others would be so easily corrupted,” Hendrix spoke as he comforted Millan, who was softly weeping into his chest. We could only imagine the pain Millan was feeling at the moment. The mates of the council were all close to each other.
Knowing all the mates aside from Millan were killed was enough for us to take a stand against the council. We weren’t fond of Mateo and his flunkies; however, their mates had always been kind. None of them had spiteful spirits like their mates. They didn’t deserve death at the hands of the ones who weresupposed to love and protect them. The shed of innocent blood would be our reason for vengeance. Being a leader may not have been in our plans; nevertheless, life didn’t always go as planned.
“Kenzo, are you going to fight Mateo and the others?” Millan timidly asked with red eyes.
“Don’t think we have any other options. If we allow them to continue, it may be the end of all Bear shifters. We won’t allow it.”
“I’ll help you.” Hendrix wore a deep scowl. “I want to make them pay for what they did to Millan. I want Darius’ head.” Hendrix spoke with his chest poked out and rage in his eyes.
“You don’t have to. We can take them all on. We don’t want you getting hurt.”
“I’ll be fine,” Hendrix replied, refusing to back down. “Darius put his hands on my mate. He has to answer to me for what he did.”
It wasn’t that we thought he couldn’t help us because Hendrix could hold his own. Anger was blinding Hendrix; he wasn't thinking clearly. His rage would lead us to ruin if we allowed him to come with us. We understood him wanting revenge for his mate. If that was Bellamy who was attacked, we would’ve been on a warpath. The thing about anger was that it could easily lead you to ruin if you weren’t wise. Hendrix wasn’t using his brain. The flickering of his eyes showed his bear was fighting to take over, another sign he wasn’t thinking clearly. Our animal went off basic instinct. Allowing them to lead in anger never ended well. We were sure Hendrix’s heart was in the right place, but we couldn’t let him go with us. If he couldn’t tell by looking at Millian that she needed him more than his own need for revenge, he should have at least been able to remember that his fated mate should have been his main priority.
