That meant this was it.

One single phone call. One quick look at their beautiful faces, one chance to say hello, and then she would never, ever get to talk to them again. The magic door wouldn’t just be locked; it would be gone forever.

Her chest suddenly felt incredibly tight, like someone had tied a thick rope around her ribs. The air in the big, beautiful penthouse completely vanished. Roxy immediately panicked.

She started breathing fast, her chest moving up and down in quick, shallow gasps. In, out. In, out. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t catch her breath. Her lungs burned.

She took a shaky step backward, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. Her green eyes went wide with pure, blinding fear.

"No," Roxy gasped, shaking her head side to side. "No, Zarek, please. I can’t. If I only get one time, how do I say goodbye? How do I look at them and tell them I’m never coming back? I can’t do it! It will hurt too much!"

Her hands started to shake uncontrollably. The dark, scary panic attack that she had fought so hard to keep away was rushing back in to swallow her whole. The thought of seeing little Tyara’s sweet face or hearing Drax’s deep voice, only to have the screen go dark and silent forever, was simply too much for her tired heart to take. It felt too cruel.

Before Roxy could completely fall apart and hit the floor, Zarek moved.

He didn’t let her back away from him. He stepped right up into her space and reached out his big, warm hands. He grabbed both of her shoulders very firmly. He didn’t hurt her, but he held her tight enough to stop her shaking body.

Zarek leaned down so his face was right in front of hers. He made sure her wild, terrified green eyes were locked directly onto his calm, steady golden ones.

"Roxy, breathe," Zarek ordered gently. His deep voice wasn’t scary; it was a strong, safe anchor pulling her out of the stormy water.

Roxy tried to take a deep breath, but it came out as a broken, watery sob.

Zarek squeezed her shoulders, pushing his warmth into her cold skin. He looked at her with so much raw love and deep respect.

"Listen to me," Zarek said, his voice dropping into a thick, honest whisper. "You are a fucking great mother. Do you hear me? You gave them life. You gave them love. You survived the dark for them."

Roxy squeezed her eyes shut, hot tears spilling down her cheeks.

"I know," Zarek continued, his voice breaking just a tiny bit with his own sadness. "I know it hurts to separate from them. It feels like your heart is being torn right out of your chest. But you are fucking strong, Roxy. You are the strongest woman I have ever known."

He let go of one of her shoulders. He reached his large hand back and gestured to his brothers standing quietly behind them. Roxy opened her wet eyes and looked. Torian, Syris, Kaelen, Caspian, and Ren were all watching her. Their handsome faces were filled with so much love, support, and completely unbreakable devotion.

"And you have all of us," Zarek told her, looking right back into her eyes. "To support you. To be there for you when the screen goes dark. You will never have to cry alone again. Allow us to build something here that we can imprint on. Let us build a new life with you."

His raw, honest words worked like pure magic. They went straight through the panic and settled deep into Roxy’s breaking heart.

She didn’t fight him anymore. Roxy let her body fall forward, crashing right into Zarek’s broad, warm chest. He wrapped his massive arms around her, holding her completely safe against him. Roxy cried into his shirt, letting out the very last bits of her panic and terrible fear.

She nodded her head against his chest. She promised him she would be calm.

Zarek was right. She was a mother, and mothers had to be brave for their babies. If she only had one single chance to see them, she didn’t want to spend it screaming and crying. She wanted them to see her smile. She wanted them to know she was okay, so they could be okay, too.

"Okay," Roxy whispered into his jacket, taking a deep breath of his comforting scent. "Okay. I can do this."

Zarek kissed the top of her dark hair. "I know you can."

Roxy pulled back from his chest. She wiped her wet face with her hands. "I need a minute," she said softly.

She walked away from the men and went straight into the big, bright bathroom. She took a few minutes to completely compose herself. She turned on the sink and splashed cool water onto her puffy face. She patted her skin dry with a soft white towel. She picked up a brush and smoothed out her messy curls. She looked at herself in the big mirror and practiced a small, brave smile. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

She couldn’t look like a broken, sad mess. She didn’t want to scare her babies. She wanted to look pretty, healthy, and incredibly strong.

When she finally felt ready, she walked back out into the massive living room.

The men had been busy setting things up while she was gone. Torian, the giant white tiger who loved working with tools and art, was rolling something very big out from the corner of the room. It was a huge, forty-two-inch flat-screen monitor attached to a tall, rolling metal stand. He pushed it right to the center of the room, turning the big, shiny screen so it perfectly faced the large velvet sofa.

Roxy walked over and sat down on the very edge of the couch. She folded her hands tightly in her lap. Her heart was still beating very fast, like a drum in her chest, but she kept her face perfectly calm.

The other five men gathered around her. They stood close behind the sofa, forming a protective wall of warmth and strength at her back. Zarek stood right beside her, ready to hold her hand if she needed him.

Torian stood next to the big TV. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tablet.

He tapped the glass screen of the tablet a few times. With a soft, clicking sound, he screencasted the phone to the big TV. Now, whatever happened on the tablet would show up huge and clear on the forty-two-inch monitor.

Torian took a deep, heavy breath and looked over at Roxy. She gave him a tiny, brave nod. She was ready.

Torian looked back down at the tablet. His big fingers started typing. He didn’t just dial a normal phone number. He typed in a strange, incredibly long string of numbers and funny symbols. It took him a whole minute just to type it all out. It was a long, secret code meant to cross the empty space of the universe.

Finally, Torian pressed the last button to send the call.

Instantly, the big TV screen went completely black.

The living room got very, very quiet. Nobody moved a single muscle. Nobody even breathed loudly. The only thing Roxy could hear was the fast beating of her own heart.

Then, a weird ringing sound echoed in the quiet room.

It didn’t sound like a normal phone ring. It sounded like a deep, vibrating hum. It sounded like a giant, heavy bell ringing underwater. The strange sound filled the room, vibrating right against Roxy’s chest.

Hummmm. It hummed once. Roxy squeezed her hands together.

Hummmm. It hummed twice. The waiting was absolute torture. What if they didn’t answer? What if the machine was broken?

Suddenly, the weird ringing sound stopped. There was a tiny pop of static noise.

And then, the big, black screen flashed to life.

Roxy holds her breath.