My mate and I are rudely forced awake up by the loudest knocking imaginable. I quickly glance over at my omega, whose eyes are now wide open and bloodshot. It’s not a good idea to wake up a pregnant omega like this. And now, I’m going to have to deal with any fallout that occurs.

“Come on! Freddie, do something!” he croaks, throwing a pillow over his head.

I jump out of bed and swing the door open. Tristan stands in front of me, smiling like a total weirdo. “Are you serious right now? My omega is trying to get his beauty sleep. Why are you banging on our door, Tristan?”

He bows to the floor. “Apologies, but I am one hundred percent bored,” he says.

Jonas slowly gets out of bed. His hair is disheveled, and he’s wearing an oversized nightgown. He’s about to lay the law on Tristan. I try to hold back my laughter.

“Bored? You woke us up because you are bored?” Jonas asks. “Okay, Tristan. I need you to listen up right now. I get that you’ve been in this world alone for a hundred years. I feel for you. I do. But I barely got any sleep last night, and my back hurts like hell. Not to mention, my legs keep cramping up any time I move them. You seem to be an okay guy, but I desperately need you to get out of this room and let me sleep.”

Tristan looks at both of us blankly. I sigh and try to close the door, but his foot is in the way. He pushes it back open. “It’ll be another few hours until they can get us a new tire,” he says.

“That’s great, Tristan,” I mutter.

My omega is turning bright red. I’m getting scared. Tristan continues without a care in the world. “It is, actually! In the meantime, I’ve requested a lunch together. It’ll just be us three. The table has already been set. What do you say?”

Jonas growls, revealing a sharp set of teeth. He shifts into jaguar form. “I say no,” Jonas says, slamming the door.

From behind the door, Tristan’s muffled voice is heard speaking. “Fantastic! See you in ten minutes!”

Jonas shifts back and sits on the bed with his face in his hands. “What did I do to deserve this?” he asks.

“Oh and one more thing!” Apparently, Tristan hasn’t even walked away from the closed door yet. Jonas has about given up at this point. “There’s chocolate velvet cake! See you soon!”

Jonas doesn’t want to reveal his sly smile, but it’s as plain as day. “You like that, don’t you?” I ask.

He nods, looking guilty. “Well, I can’t deny myself some chocolate velvet cake. Can I?” I can’t help but shake my head and laugh.

After taking a nice, hot, frisky shower with my omega, we are both freshened up enough to head downstairs to join Tristan. Jonas is in a much better mood, and he can’t stop burrowing his nose against my shoulder. “I’m horny. I want chocolate so bad. Pregnancy is turning me into a walking desire-machine,” he says.

“Well, you can have my piece, baby. I don’t mind,” I say. His eyes light up with love.

In the main dining hall of the motel, Tristan has taken the liberty to set up a roundtable for us. The ham, grapes, turkey, and chocolate velvet cake is served on beautiful decorative plates. My mate can’t stop staring at the cake, in particular. Tristan, however, wears a frown on his face.

“You’re late,” he says.

Jonas smiles warmly, and rubs Tristan’s shoulders, before sitting down. “Sorry. I can be a little cranky if I don’t wake up the right away. I needed to shower badly too. You don’t understand what it’s like to be as pregnant as I am.”

The food is delicious compared to the scraps my family fed us back at the airpark. I eagerly rip into the ham, devouring every last bit of meat on my plate. “A hungry boy!” Jack exclaims.

“You know it! So, Tristan. You called us down here because you were bored?” I ask, wedging my tongue against a piece of turkey that’s stuck in my teeth.

He laughs whimsically. “Well, that’s what I said earlier, yes. But I’m afraid that there’s more to the story.”

Jonas digs his spoon right into the chocolate cake. He plops it into his mouth. I laugh when he melts back into his chair with pleasure.

Mouth full, Jonas asks, “What is it now? Are we going in the wrong direction, or something?”

“Well, I wanted to come clean,” he says.

I clench my fists underneath the table. “Tristan. What are you about to tell us, here? Am I going to have to kick some butt today?”

Tristan laughs. It’s practically all he does. “Don’t fret! I’m not here to hurt any of you. Though, I know you have your suspicions. No. There’s something I wanted to show you.”

Jonas leans forward. “What is it?”

Tristan stands up from the table and motions for us to follow him through the lobby doors. The outside courtyard is spectacular. Roses line the walkway to the center fountain. Mosaic tiles tell a story of knights and their quests to fight the dragons.

When we reach the fountain, Tristan stops and lowers his voice. “The tire is fixed. Everything is ready to go. But I need to tell you something essential.”

“Just spill it already,” I say, impatiently.

“I can’t go with you on this journey. In fact, I don’t know if I’ll make it home at all now. It has become clear that some huge obstacles are standing in our way,” he says.

“What?” I ask. “What’re you talking about, Tristan? You can’t ditch out on us like this.”

His eyes hover over my shoulder. I get the urge to turn around, but his hands beg me not to. “Please. Just trust me on this,” he says.

“Where are you looking, Tristan? What’s behind me?” I ask. Jonas places his hands over his pregnant belly. He begins to worry like me.

Tristan gulps. “There is a window behind me. Tell me. Do you see a man sitting? What is he doing?”

I slowly nod my head. Jonas anxiously glances toward the window. Inside, there is a frail man, hunched over at a desk. He’s looking right at us. His eyes are completely black. It sends a chill down my spine, worse than when I saw the cabin in the painting.

“I see him. He has a horrible look to him,” I say.

Tristan nods. “Well then, I’m not as insane as I thought,” he whispers. “He is with others. Behind you is another man just like him. I’m afraid we’ve been followed.”

Jonas grumbles. “Followed? By whom? Why would anyone be following us?”

There is a new intensity to Tristan. For the first time since we met him, I trust his word. He says, “Keep your voices down. I am not playing any games with you. You have met shamans before. Why is this so hard to believe?”

“I just don’t understand where we are,” Jonas says. “I thought this place was an illusion? Can we even get hurt here?”

“There are special travelers here. Soulless-wanderers, without a home. They lost themselves, long ago. Now, they have no home. At one point, I feared that I would end up like them too,” he says, before clearing his throat anxiously.

“I have taken the liberty of warning your family. They are in the van outside, safely tucked under blankets. I need you to take this bag. Inside, there is a few blades and other emergency items. When you are ready, climb outside your room’s window. Henry will help you with the directions.”

I wish all of this were hard to believe, but it’s not. I should have known better than to think we were out of harm’s way.

“Where will you go?” I ask.

“To create an obstacle, I will follow you to your room. When I head back into the lobby, I think my time will have come. It’s clear that Gorbins coaxed me here to serve his self-interest. I should have known the creatures of the outer realms have no empathy toward us. I will have waited here, just to die,” Tristan says.

Jonas can barely stand any of this. Heavy emotion overcomes him. He reaches out and hugs Tristan. “You can’t die,” he says. “You have a purpose. I feel it.”

“And that purpose was to keep you alive. You are bearing triplets. That is a miracle, in and of itself. Besides, I have turned into a fool. At least let me die with some dignity,” he says.

But Tristan doesn’t look like a fool at all now. He is a noble fox. In this light, Tristan looks like a fucking hero. In that moment, I felt bad for ever doubting his intentions.

He says, “The frail men that have surrounded this motel, long for the souls of the living. Life here is more of a prison to them than it is to us. Unfortunately, this is my fate. Come, I can’t dwell on this any longer. Let’s walk to your room, casually.”

Jonas and I fight back our tears. We just met Tristan. Yeah, he was a little out there, but so what? There are a lot of weird people in the world, and they deserve love and understanding too.

Gorbins promised him a mate and a good, decent life. I can’t stand that Gorbins lied to Tristan like that. In my eyes, the fox is a true martyr. When I get back to Frisky Pines, I’ll build a monument to that fox shifter. Our children’s generation will always remember him.

“This is it,” I whisper, sliding the key into the lock.

Inside the room, Jonas breaks down. “Why? Why does it have to be like this?” he cries. “My children should be born in a more just world than this. It’s not fair.”

Tristan stands strong and tall. He is tired, but never lets on. “Be strong. You will find home soon enough,” he says.

“We thought we made the world a better place,” I add. “When we defeated that shaman, we thought everything had been put back in order.”

Tristan nods, knowingly. “This is how they play us. In the outer realms, they see things much differently. There is so much more that we need to do. Even after you get home, others will be tested. Progress will happen in small doses. In the end, our people will look back and know of our sacrifices,” he says. “Now, go. There is no time. Take this bag. Make haste, dammit.”

Jonas wipes the tears from his face. There has been enough crying on this trip. Now, we have to face the road alone. We have to be stronger now. We don’t have much time until the triplets are born.

There is a sudden knock on our door. It’s a lot quieter than Tristan’s knock earlier. Tristan holds his index finger to his lips. “Who is it?”

“Housekeeping.” The voice is ugly, ancient, and hollow. “Would you like an extra pillow?”

“We’re all set. Thank you,” Tristan says.

There is a long pause. Tristan whispers, “Go!” Three knocks sound again.

“House. Keeping. We must inspect the rooms,” the voice says.

Tristan shifts into his fox form. He reaches into his cloak and pulls out his blade. Again, he tells us to leave the room. There’s nothing we can do. Kneeling down, he begins a prayer to the goddesses.

We leave through the window. I see Freddie raise his blade into the air. The soulless man holds his hand in front of his frail body. A blackness comes pouring out of his palm. I have to look away.

We can all hear the loud shrieks coming from inside of the room. I start the van as fast as I can. I force my foot on the pedal and hold my breath as the battle cries grow louder. The family jumps up and looks at us.

Jonas looks back and whispers, “We’ll never forget you, old friend.”