Chapter 13
THE SHIFT
DESTINY
The front door to Sage's quarters was wide open.
I stood at the threshold for half a second. Not hesitating. Just taking it in.
Mama Mara stood at the stove with her dish towel draped over her shoulder, multitasking as she always did, making it look effortless.
Larissa sat at the kitchen table with her flute, feet tucked under her, laughing at a story.
Mom sat at the far end of the room—more steady than last week—quietly folding and tidying, reclaiming her own hands.
Gran sat in the armchair by the window on FaceTime. Elder Henry's voice came through low and warm, and whatever he had just said left Gran glowing.
Sage was on the lounger with her feet up, as Marcus had decreed, with Senya at her breast and a mug of tea in her free hand. She looked up the second I crossed the threshold.
Read me in half a second. Said nothing.
I walked straight across the room and went for Xavier.
He was in the bassinet by the window — three weeks old and already carrying himself as if he had places to be, as if he had decided this was a reasonable stop along the way. I picked him up. He settled against my chest as if he knew me, his silver-blue eyes finding mine and holding them.
"Hey," I told him. Quiet. He blinked and I sat down in the chair across from Sage.
The room had shifted: Mama Mara's spoon slowed, Larissa stopped mid-sentence, Mom held something half-folded, and Gran murmured to Elder Henry, then looked at me with the weight of expectation.
She put the phone down, ending the call, and gazed at me as if she had been waiting all morning for me to walk through that door.
"Talk," Gran said. One word. No inflection
Xavier made a small sound against my chest.
“Things are shifting,” I said, my voice flat—but tight underneath. “Ty is… different.”
Sage didn’t blink. “Say it straight.”
"Okay," I said.
"All of it." Sage insisted.
And I told them.
The raw, unfiltered truth: everything I said at the lake, Ty walking away hurt, and me letting it happen. Weeks later, he still appears, but he begins to withdraw. At the bowling alley, Jelisa seizes her chance to talk about their walks, and he confides in me.
The room took all of it.
Mama Mara had turned away from the stove when I arrived at the bowling alley. Larissa set down her flute. Mom paused in folding, holding the cloth, her eyes fixed on me, giving me her full attention.
"There’s something else."
Every eye stayed on me.
"Jelisa came to the training room this morning."
Sage's eyebrows lifted.
"She wanted to talk."
"What did she want?" Mom asked.
I let out a humorless laugh.
“She wanted to tell me that she still loves Ty and told me all about their damn walks and his perfect version of the soft woman. She hinted that the version was not me. But the biggest thing… she said that if he goes to her, she will not turn him down.”
The room went completely still.
"I wanted to knock her on her ass."
Larissa muttered, "I would've helped."
That pulled the smallest smile from me.
"I really did."
"But?" Gran asked.
I looked down at Xavier sleeping peacefully against my chest.
"But she wasn't lying."
Silence.
"The truth is..." My voice cracked. "If I don't get myself together..."
I forced myself to say it.
"...there's a good woman standing right there, ready to love my mate the way he deserves."
Nobody rushed to answer. Nobody rushed to comfort me. Because they all knew it hurt precisely because it was true.
Sage finally leaned forward.
"Did you tell Ty any of this?"
I looked away.
"No."
"Did you tell him you were sorry?"
"No."
"So you knew he was hurting, knew he heard you say those things, and you haven’t said a word about it in weeks?"
I couldn't answer.
Sage carefully shifted Senya higher on her shoulder before looking me dead in the eyes.
"Sissy..."
Her voice was calm. Too calm.
"You've fought rogues."
I nodded.
"You've fought Redmon."
Another nod.
"You walked into hell for Mama D."
My throat tightened.
"But you're letting fear whip your ass every single day."
Nobody said a word. Sage kept going.
"You were ready to fight Jelisa."
"I was."
"But the only woman standing between you and Ty..."
She pointed one finger at my chest.
"...is you."
The words hit like a punch.
"You keep acting like you're protecting him."
She shook her head.
"No. You're protecting your past."
She didn't soften it.
"And while you're standing with one foot in the past, Ty is standing by himself."
I felt tears burn again.
"Sage..."
"No."
Her voice stayed steady.
"You know what pisses me off?"
I looked at her.
"It's not that Jelisa stepped to you."
She took a breath.
"It was hearing you say there is another woman ready to love your mate the way he deserves."
She leaned forward.
"Because the only reason that's even possible...is because you keep leaving room for somebody else to do what you refuse to."
I couldn't breathe.
"I know you're scared. I know exactly why you're scared. I know every scar that made you this way."
Her eyes softened, but only a little.
"But Ty is bleeding because you're afraid to hand him your heart."
She paused.
"And if you love that man the way I know you do..."
She let the words settle.
"...stop making him prove he'll stay."
My tears spilled freely.
"Choose him." She sat back. "Out loud."
Gran let the quiet settle for a moment. "You already know what you need to do."
"I know," I said softly.
Sage lifted her mug.
"You didn't come here to figure it out," she said. "You came here to say it out loud first. To us."
"Yeah," I whispered.
"Good." She sipped her tea. "Now it’s time to do the work."
Mama Mara pulled a chair from the table and sat down.
I had never seen that woman sit down in the middle of cooking before. The room knew what that meant.
"Let me tell you something about my sons," she said. She was looking at me the way she looked at things she intended to say right.
She settled back in the chair.
"Marcus." She said his name with the respect it deserved. "That boy has been the boss since he was eight, leading, managing, and taking charge in every room. He didn't ask for it, nor was it given to him. Leadership chose him, and he accepted it without fuss or hesitation."
I nodded. Sage smiled, then kissed the top of Senya’s head.
"Darius." Just the name. Let it settle. "His brothers' keeper.
Has been that way since the beginning. Want to know what Darius would do for any of those boys?
The answer has no limits. No conditions apply.
If you target one of them, you take all of him — every part.
This isn't a choice he made; it's who he is at his core. "
Gran was nodding slowly, rubbing Mason’s back.
"Carter." Mama Mara's small smile reflected a mother reminiscing about old times.
"People see that boy and notice his jokes, charm, and how he lights up a room, making everyone feel happier.
And that's genuine — that's truly him. But what many overlook is what's beneath all that.
" She looked directly at me. "Carter never needed to do the thing to realize it was wrong.
While others learned tough lessons the hard way, Carter was already several steps ahead because he paid close attention.
He watched, observed, let others go first, and learned from what he saw.
He chose wisdom over mere knowledge." She paused.
"That kind of insight is rarer than most people realize. "
Xavier had gone completely still against my chest, like even he was listening.
"And then there's Ty." Mama Mara's voice changed.
Not softer. Deeper. The way a voice sounds when it comes from somewhere that costs something real to reach.
"Their father died when Ty was fifteen," she said.
"At sixteen, Marcus had to step into a grown man’s shoes, and believe me, those shoes were big.
Darius, just three years younger at thirteen, was tough and eager to take on anyone who challenged his big brother for the Alpha position.
And boy, could that boy throw hands!" She chuckled.
“Carter was twelve and barely holding himself together.
I would hear him cry at night, and before I could get to him, Ty was already there.
She paused. "Ty stepped into the middle of all that grief and held up every single one of them.
Not because anyone asked him to. Not because he was the strongest or had more to give.
He did it because that is simply who he is. "
I was looking at her.
"He sat with me," she said, quieter now. "On nights when I didn't think I'd make it to morning, he would just show up. Sit down. He didn't try to fix it. He didn't try to talk me out of it or tell me it would be okay. He just stayed." She pressed her lips together for a moment.
"He cooked when I couldn't. He made sure the refrigerator was never empty. He made sure Darius and Carter ate and helped them with their studies. He made sure Marcus didn’t carry the full weight of Alpha alone. He carried it all — every bit of it — without ever putting it on anyone else."
Now I was ugly crying.
"He is an Alpha in every sense of the word," Mama Mara said.
"Dominant. Strong. Protective. Yes — all of that is true, and it is real.
But that is not what makes him who he is.
" She leaned forward. “Tyrell Monroe is loyal to the bone.
Faithful in ways most men talk about their whole lives but never live.
He will absorb hurt. He will carry pain inside himself and say nothing if it means the person he loves doesn't have to feel it. "
She looked at me.
"And he has been doing exactly that," she said. "For weeks. With you."
I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth.
"That's not what I want," I said. My voice came out rough. "That's not — I don't want him carrying my stuff, so I don't have to feel it. I don't want him absorbing my fear. That's not what I want for him.”
"I know, baby," Mama Mara said.
"He shouldn't have to do that," I said. "That's not fair to him."
"No," she said. Simple. True. "It's not."