Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
KENZO ATALLAH
Alonzo wasn’t what I thought he was going to be.
In my head, he’d be all over Bellamy, trying to win her back.
I figured I would have to beat his ass one good time for him to remember he wasn’t more than a friend to Bellamy.
Contrary to what I believed, Alonzo was the exact opposite.
He was welcoming to everyone, and he went out of his way to make sure we were all comfortable.
My bear respected his cheetah instantly, and there was mutual respect between our animals.
When we made it to Alonzo’s house in the center of town, we were greeted by his mate Riccah.
She had the same warm welcoming aura as Alonzo.
Riccah was from the Cordelia bloodline of Water Mages.
She was one of Fate’s guardian’s, and her family was one of three families that had the ability to manipulate all forms of liquid.
Riccah’s crystal blue eyes and her wild curly hair of the same shade of blue gave away her powerful origins.
We were curious to see how Bellamy reacted to finding out Alonzo had a mate.
She seemed unbothered, and that helped calm my worries.
It seemed apparent that Tiny and Alonzo were well acquainted; they joked like two old friends.
Needless to say, I felt foolish for ever thinking I had a reason to think Bellamy would want anyone other than us.
“How have you been?” Bellamy excitedly asked Alonzo, who was seated across from me and his mate across from Bellamy.
Hendrix was on my right and his mate next to him.
We were all seated at a table that looked like it could seat an army of shifters.
Tiny had pulled another one of her disappearing acts when we made it to Alonzo’s house.
She’d been acting all jittery since we saw that lion-human thing earlier.
“Good. I’ve been wanting to know if you were okay for the longest,” Alonzo replied with a friendly smile.
“He’s not lying. He’d been talking about going to find you soon, but we didn’t have anyone to look over the Sanctuary if we left,” Riccah cheerfully added.
“You're the Alpha here?” Hendrix inquired.
“Sort of. I don’t look at myself as the Alpha because there are so many races of shifters here. I look at myself as the leader of The Sanctuary of Life. Fate left me in charge of keeping the reborn shifters safe.”
“So, basically, you're the Alpha?” Bellamy asked with her brows bunched up in confusion.
“An Alpha you don’t contest. You follow what they say without any question.
The only time you challenge an Alpha is if you want their position.
I allow my shifters to have voices. A lot of them lived longer than I have, and they have an amazing amount of knowledge.
I listen when they speak. They lost their voices once at the hands of the one who was supposed to love them.
I won’t be the one to silence them again.
” The seriousness of Alonzo’s voice allowed us to hear the passion he felt about his choices.
“I like that.” We nodded in approval.
That was one of the things we disliked about having an Alpha.
It was one shifter having all the power with no one to contest them.
If you had a selfish Alpha, who was going to go against them?
There had been plenty of Alphas who’d let all the power go to their heads.
We’d admired the Kismet Pack because of the shared power among brothers.
The council was supposed to be our version of that.
It sucked that it didn’t work out like that, but it was what it was.
“I thought you got killed that night. What happened?” Bellamy questioned Alonzo, confusion etched across her beautiful face.
Alonzo let out a deep sigh while scratching the back of his head.
“That ring keeps you hidden from the Tsar and all the shifters working with him. That night, when you took it off, it gave the Tsar enough time to find you. He was so desperate to find you. Him and his mate came to kill you directly. Honestly, if it wasn’t for his mate, I probably would have been dead.
The Tsar snapped my neck, or at least I thought he did, but his mate touched me, and I started to slowly heal.
I had no idea why she did what she did. However, I was just grateful that she helped.
I was able to come home to my mate and know I kept you safe. ”
“You’ve always been mated to Riccah?” we asked, trying to make sense of everything that happened.
“Yes. That was one of the many reasons I never did anything with Bellamy.” Alonzo looked at Bellamy.
“I’ve always cared for you. However, the love I have for my mate is stronger.
I would never disrespect her by being with another shifter.
Besides, I was on duty for Fate, and I take my role as a future guardian seriously. ”
“You knew all about my past and all that?”
“I did. I know a lot of things.” Alonzo chuckled. “I’m a lot older than you think.”
“You were reborn?” we asked, putting two and two together.
“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 tamed by 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 were supposed 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.”