Chapter 79. A Will Strong Enough

ROSETTE

“Shifting?” I looked between the brothers, my tears drying up. “What’s that?”

“When we reach a certain age,” Kross answered, his hand still on my face, “we go through something called a shift. The shift is the brutal awakening of our true nature, when our human body breaks, twists, and reshapes to make way for the beast inside.”

“Axel was a late bloomer,” Kade continued, his voice filled with sadness. “He shifted at the age of twelve, when the age we were meant to shift was eight.”

“Is that why he’s this way?” I asked softly.

Kross shook his head, a weighted look in his eyes. “He’s this way because he doesn’t have a tether.”

“You already know the meaning of tether,” Kade took over. “A tether in our world means a bond with us and a human. That human keeps us grounded when we shift. They keep us from giving in completely to the beast. They keep our sanity intact. And it can’t just be anybody. It has to be someone the wolf has a deep connecti