Silently dreaming, everything feels angelic. For once, I am at peace. Of course, peace can’t last forever. I wake up when I hear the sound of a loud gun-shot, piercing my ears.

“Oh, shit!” Tristan screams and turns the wheel.

The whole van spins out. A plume of smoke shrouds the vehicle as Tristan tries to regain the balance in the wheels. “Everyone alright?” Freddie asks. “Honey, are you safe?”

My heart is punching my sternum. Fear. Complete and utter panic. That’s what I’m feeling right now. Am I safe? Sure. But what the fuck just happened?

“I’m fine,” I angrily quip.

Tristan puts the van in park while cursing under his breath. He slams the door open and jumps out onto the road.

“Fantastic! The fucking tire popped,” he finally says.

I can barely breathe. I can’t have these things happen to me while I’m going through my pregnancy. It’s not good for the triplets. “Excuse me,” I mutter.

I squeeze my way outside the vehicle and sit in the grass to the side. About a half a mile ahead of us is a vacant motel. Freddie nods my way. “That motel can probably help us out,” he says.

“No, I got it,” Tristan says. He reaches into his mouth and puts a piece of gum onto the tire. “See? Good as new.”

The drive has completely ruined the tire, and Tristan is still out of his mind. “I can’t do this,” I groan. “I’m about to burst, and I’m walking that way.”

Gregory is panting loudly. He runs our direction, and the whole family follows. At a certain point, Tristan has to give up and do the same.

Henry laughs to himself. “You know what? Everything is fine. Because this is all a dream and none of you are real,” he says.

“Guys, do you trust Tristan?” Gregory asks. He’s been practically silent this whole trip. He gives me the worst anxiety. I don’t know whether to like him or hate him.

“Well, we have to trust him, right?” I ask.

He shrugs. Looking back, he makes sure Tristan isn’t too close to hear us talking about him. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. There’s just something different about him.”

“Well, he lost himself, right? Gorbins cooped him up in that house for one hundred years. I’d be a little loopy too,” Freddie says.

I remember Huma, the Phoenix. We trusted that stupid, magical bird and it almost cost our lives. “Gregory might be right. We should keep our guards up, just in case. We have a lot of people to worry about now.”

Freddie places his hand on my belly. I feel like I am always full of worry, but when I feel his touch, everything goes away. For a brief second, I imagine we’re back in my room. We’ve grown so much in the time that we’ve been away.

I have to lean on Freddie’s shoulders now and then for support. I have bruised my heels from walking, and my stomach feels more cumbersome than it ever has.

“I can’t wait to lie down on a real bed,” I say.

Freddie laughs. Our fingers intertwine as we walk. “Tell me about it. I didn’t want to say anything at that stupid airpark. But I couldn’t stand sleeping on the ground like that. Goddess, it’s been a tough year, hasn’t it?”

“We’re growing up,” I say. “Now I know how my brother felt. It confused me to see him change like that. He became so responsible. But life tends to get at you like that, huh?”

Freddie nods and kisses my hand. “Sure does,” he says.

Finally, we reach the motel. Curiously, Tristan has stayed relatively silent throughout the walk. When I look back, he winks at me. I feel kind of bad for the guy. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be lost in yourself like that.

The motel is quaint and quite beautiful. For once, I’m thankful to get somewhere. The outside is padded with the greenest grass and shrubs I’ve ever seen. The rooms themselves are constructed of old brick and mortar. For a second, I forget that none of this is real.

Near the door to the lobby, I turn around and clap my hands to get everyone’s attention. “Okay. I’m taking a room with my mate. You guys can figure out your own plan. Cool?”

Everyone agrees. Though, Tristan seems reluctant about having a room to himself. He tries to buddy up with Gregory, but that doesn’t work out too well. “Sorry, guy,” Gregory says. “I just want some alone time. You understand, don’t you?”

Tristan nods and stays in the lobby for a mechanic. I hold the room key up to Freddie and dangle it in front of him. “Finally,” he sighs.

I throw my arm around his waist and lean my head on his shoulder. Inserting the key into the door, we both run and fall onto the bed, exhausted. Freddie cuddles his body around mine.

I whisper, “I feel like our babies can hear everything we do. Whatever we feel or say, they feel too.”

“They do,’ Freddie says. “I know they do. That’s why we have to get back home. They need stability.”

He squeezes me gently, kissing my neck, soft and slow. I kiss him back, smiling. “Why do you think we were misplaced?” I ask him, suddenly.

Freddie combs his fingers through my hair. “I don’t know, baby. I’ve been asking myself that question a lot lately. There has to be a reason, though.”

“Do we trust that Gorbins guy? He did help my brother,” I reply.

Freddie lets out a quiet huff of air. He thinks to himself for a second, before answering. “We have to trust him. We have no other options. It’s the same with Tristan.”

“Maybe it has something to do with our triplets,” I say. “My brother’s babies gave them a certain gift that allowed them to combine abilities. Maybe our children will have something incredible like that.”

He laughs, pulling me into him closer. His hands are flat against my baby bump. The center of my stomach moves, as the babies start kicking lightly. “Whatever happens, they’re going to amaze me. I just hope they don’t have to experience the type of crap we had to go through. I just want them to be safe and healthy,” he says.

“Me too,” I say. “More than anything.”

Lowering his body, he slides off of the bed. His mouth rests on my belly, kissing endlessly.

A lot of the humans don’t know what it’s like to be a shifter. When a shifter is growing up, all of his goddess-given abilities are out of whack. As an omega, you’re continually thinking about pregnancy. You constantly wonder when you’re going to find your fated mate. A lot of the times, it happens when you least expect it.

Freddie was just some cute wolf I saw in the forest. He was someone who was instructed to help us, just like Tristan or Logan. The thing is, it can be dangerous when the outer realms choose you. And when you’re holding triplets, you wonder if they’re going to face the same troubles as you.

“When I was younger, I used to think about what it would be like to have children. I imagined them as powerful entities, with abilities only the goddesses could bless. Now that you’re pregnant, I’d rather they just be normal. Why does parenting have to inspire such worry?”

“To keep us going,” I say. “To keep us from being complacent. Things are difficult for a reason. We have to grow. We have to fail. Most importantly, we have to learn from our mistakes. Maybe that’s why we’re on this journey, Freddie. Maybe it’s to make us better parents.”

Freddie likes that answer, and so do I. “Well, I know that you’re going to be the best damn father in the world,” he says. I laugh a little, out of embarrassment.

“I mean it. The things you’ve had to put up with on this trip are huge. If we can manage to find home again, we can manage any other kind of hardship,” he says.

For a few minutes, we just lay together in harmony. For once, everything is calm and beautiful. In the top of the ceiling is a window to view the stars. In the center is a large constellation. “I feel infinite when I’m with you,” my wise wolf says.

“I do too. It’s like the stars have aligned,” I say, pointing.

“Ha! They have,” he says.

“It’s the wolf constellation,” I say. “Look! It’s beautiful. That’s good luck, right?”

“The wolf howling at the moon,” he whispers. “Like in the painting. It’s a message. We’re getting closer.”

We both lie on the bed, staring and cuddling up. The night is warm when we are together like this. As my eyes close, I pray for good things to come to our triplets.

In this moment, I know that we’ll find our home. When I’m with my guy, anything is possible.