“They’re coming soon!” I scream.

I cup my belly with my palms and start my breathing exercises. The pain is plunging in my core, and it’s coming in faster waves. I look above at the blue stalactites. Eric stoops over me and feels my bump with his hands.

“I’m not going to get too in there if you know what I mean. I think you have a few hours, but I can’t be too sure. We’re almost at the end of the caves now. Do you think you can make it?” Eric asks.

I nod, furiously. “Sure. Whatever. I’m not giving birth in this place. It looks completely unsanitary.”

“Alright, then. We keep walking,” Loke says.

The whole family lifts me from the rocky ground. I appreciate the effort. At this point, I don’t even care about being a burden to anyone. I’m in so much freakin’ pain. The pressure is increasing with every step we take. I just want my babies to come out in one piece.

“There’s the exit!” Eric points.

I keep my eyes fixed on the ceiling of the cave. Breathing deeply, I try to remain calm. As we move further toward the exit, however, the patterns above change.

“Guys, wait,” I say. The family stops. “Look above us.”

Henry jumps back. “Fucking hell, mate! Spiders? I hate spiders.”

A high-pitched, enchanting voice startles us. “What are you doing in these caves?”

I am utterly useless like this. Drake keeps his blade wielded in front of him. He shouts, “Be gone! You sicken us.”

I start to feel anxious. “Drake, do you think that’s the best thing to say right now?”

All of us share glances. At least six different spiders slide down from their webs. Their disgusting eyes stare back at us, blinking incredibly fast. One knocks Drake’s blade from his hands and spits venom onto his shoulders.

“Fuck!” he screams while falling to the floor. He flares his legs into the air.

Hissing with laughter, the most prominent arachnoid runs up the ceiling again. “One by one, we will watch you die!”

It pounces down from the ceiling, landing directly onto my belly. “No!” I yell. “Not my babies!”

It’s wicked fangs drip with purple venom. It’s horrifying. I shield myself and prepare for the worst death imaginable. Freddie. Why did we have to separate again? Why?

There is a voice. It is a bright, familiar voice of a friend. “There is no sympathy had for your kind!”

I open my eyes to see a bright, red fox clawing the eyes out of the spider. He digs his claw into one eye, ripping it into pieces. “Not my eyes!” The spider panics, swinging its fine legs ferociously at the fox. Freddie’s family helps with the rest.

“Tristan!” I breathe a sigh of relief, as the rest of the spiders retreat into the webs.

“But how?” Gregory asks. “You were killed. Those ghouls stole your soul.”

“There’s no time,” he says. “These triplets have to be born! We’re very close!”

Tristan seems completely sane now. In fact, he’s acting like a total freakin’ hero! I can’t believe my eyes. As the family carries me out of the exit, another contraction comes. I wince and keep up with my breathing.

Tristan points ahead. Directly in front of us is the eerie cabin. Outside, a disgusting smelling stew is smoldering. “Hurry,” Tristan says.

“What the fuck?” Gregory whispers under his breath. “Do you see what I’m seeing?”

From the side of the mountain, a small frog-like being is running toward us. On Gorbins’ back is a tall and very sexy wolf. “My alpha! Freddie!”

“The door is locked, yes!” the toad says.

Henry asks, “Gorbins, I presume?”

“No questions!” he yells.

The toad lowers Freddie’s limp body onto the dirt. Anxiously, he runs over to the stew. He scoops the broth with the spoon, and runs back over to Freddie. Opening his mouth, he pours the contents inside. He stands back and waits for some magical result to happen.

Freddie opens his eyes and silently gazes at us. After a few seconds, he coughs and holds his abdomen. Then, he shifts slowly back into human form. “What… where… Gorbins, you bastard!”

Gorbins smiles and taps his head with a twig. “But you’re alive, yes!”

Freddie blinks his eyes rapidly and stands up. Looking around, he wobbles a bit, before falling back to the ground. “Jonas,” he whispers. “Is my omega okay?”

I’m laying in the dirt, breathing in and out quickly. I can feel the babies coming. “I’m… fine. We need to hurry now!”

“They key!” Loke yells.

Drake tosses the silver tool. Loke catches it with his hand and inserts it into the lock. Gorbins claps his hands. “Well done,” he celebrates.

Jonas finally stands up again, regaining his balance. He runs over to me, throwing his arms around my baby bump. Our lips kiss with pure passionate bliss. “Oh, omega. Is it true? Are we alive?”

“Of course we’re alive,” I moan.

Loke slides the door open slowly. Inside, the light flickers. A single rocking chair sits in the corner. “What is it?” I ask.

Gorbins still can’t keep himself from laughing. “Step inside!”

One by one, we filter inside. However, as Drake and Henry get to the foot of they door, they stop. “We can’t go inside,” Drake says.

“But why not?” I ask them. The slow and cumbersome feeling of nostalgia takes over my body. We couldn’t have made this journey without them, but I know that they were never meant to come all the way home with us.

Drake and Henry both hug me. Henry says, “It’s just not our home. Maybe all of this is just an illusion to you, but it’s our illusion. I loved our time together, old boy. Have those triplets safely, alright?”

I nod, trying not to get too emotional. Drake laughs. “It’s going to be alright. I’ve got a bar to run. Have a safe trip. Don’t come back and visit!”

I laugh, but now that we’re at the end of our journey, I kind of wish there was a way to revisit them.

“Henry, wait,” Freddie says, suddenly. He stops near the door. “I used to work at the Drunken Canary. Can you tell my old boss, Sean that he’s a son of a bitch, and that I am like Harry Potter?” A proud smile forms on my wolf’s face.

Henry laughs. “Sure thing, old pal,” he says.

I watch as they walk away into the distance. Freddie kisses my neck tenderly and whispers, “They were good friends to us. We’ll see them again someday. I know it.”

“I love you, alpha wolf,” I say.

“I’ll love you to the ends of the earth and back,” he says.

I wipe my eyes and lean my head into his chest. “I know it. We’ve come so far, and our love has only grown stronger.”

Gorbins pushes his small body past us, humming a song to himself. Inside the cabin, the lights turn out. Gorbins lights a small fire in the center. “Home again, home again…” Gorbins continues to hum.

I try to concentrate on my breathing, but the pain is only increasing. I grab ahold of Freddie’s hands and squeeze. Gorbins sprinkles some golden dust onto the fire and jumps backward as the flames expand rapidly.

From the center, the three Fate sisters appear, smiling delicately. Freddie meets them and kneels. “Sisters, my mate needs a doctor. Can we make the journey home in time?”

The middle sister gently runs her fingers down the top of Freddie’s hair. “We have come to assist.”

“Whoa,” Tristan whispers.

Her voice is angelic and pure. She kneels down toward me, placing her palm on my belly. “Time is always of the essence. Yes. All of you have done your duty here. We have put you in enough trouble. It’s time to go home,” she says.

Gorbins sits in the rocking chair and pulls out a small pipe. He lights the embers, looking extremely pleased with himself. The fate sisters join together. Their bodies seem to float on top of one another. All three of them speak at the same time. “Take my hand. You’re going into labor.”

I take her soft hand into mine and close my eyes. My pain seems to disappear at the moment. A soft breeze forms around me. The smell of oak and chocolate fills my nostrils. “Home,” I whisper.

“That’s right, my love,” Freddie says. “We’re going back home.”