I wake to the midmorning sun beating through the window onto my bed. Memories flash in my mind. Snapshot moments. Some mine. Others not. While embarrassed by what happened, I’m also excited to see how this changes my course. I can, indeed, overwrite memories. That’s no longer a question. The question now is will they force me to do it?

There are three voices coming from the living room, quieter since I’m awake. Not fresh news, you can’t sneak being awake in the Willows house. It’s Dad, Mom, and Grace. Where there’s Grace, there’s also Jarek, but he isn’t saying anything. Grace is doing the most talking.

“No,” Dad answers sternly. His response is immediately followed by resounding hushes.

“It’s the only way,” Grace repeats several times. Each time she says it, she gets louder. With each repetition, her voice rises an octave higher. Pretty soon, just the wolves will hear it. Whatever she’s explaining is something she’s seen with total clarity.

“Your visions are subjective,” Dad retorts.

Of course, Dad would argue with her. He’d be the only one, and only because whatever she’s trying to get him to understand isn’t something he’s ready to accept. I consider charging out of my room to confront them. Obviously, they’re speaking of me. Shouldn’t I at least be involved? What did she see?

“This new talent,” Jarek finally speaks, “requires some examination.”

He’s right. I did it on a whim and got lucky nothing terrible happened. Okay, something terrible happened, but it could’ve been so much worse. If they hadn’t broken my concentration in their arrival, I don’t know if I would’ve stopped. It was too compelling to keep going. Actually, the probability is leaning heavy toward me being unable to stop. Impulse control? The struggle is real.

I decide against joining them just yet. Whatever’s happening out there, Grace is doing the persuading for me. Her words will bear more weight than mine, so I sit for a while longer, straining to hear anything more than whispers meant to be words. I try to imagine what she could’ve seen to have her side changing so swiftly to mine. Was it because of my actions last night? How could that simple thing affect this decision? Sure, I confused her, but confusion wouldn’t be enough to tip the scales in my favour. Maybe I’m being overly optimistic and what she saw is swinging the decision the other way. Against me. If that’s the case, however, I doubt Dad would be so resistant to what she saw. He’d be jumping on the opportunity to shut the whole thing down.

“Is there no other way?” Dad pleads.

“We don’t have time for another way,” Mom interjects.

There’s a grunt. I know that grunt. “If I have to…”

If I have to.

Exactly how many times can the same person destroy me? Is this the hat trick win? My ultimate rejection. Not even second best. Last in line when there are no other options. Worse, my family is out there trying to use our fusion bond to get whatever it is they want out of me. They weren’t planning on letting me go. They enlisted Jack, knowing at his request I wouldn’t be able to refuse.

No.

No more.

I don’t put any thought into a plan. I launch myself out the open window and start running. It’s a few clicks to the road. My head start won’t be much, but hopefully it’ll be enough. I’m three quarters to the road when I scent him upwind of me. Bonfire. I earned his anger, fair and square. Bad enough he was being essentially forced to chain me here. Now he’s having to chase me on top of it. I’d apologize if I were in any way sorry.

I hear him behind me. The forest protests, ineffective whips snapping around him. Those branches are no match for Jack, paws thundering ever closer. I’m almost to the road. Please, let there be a car. Truck. Anything.

There’s an eardrum rattling howl from behind me as I break through the trees. Praise be, Luna. There’s a man waiting in the road, sitting astride a motorcycle. Like, right in the middle of the road. I’d question the weirdness, or convenience, except I don’t have time. I hear Jack beyond the treeline now too.

The man gives me a chin lift, unperturbed by the wolf chasing after me, three times the size of a normal wolf. I’m barely on the bike behind him when it takes off. I wind my arms around his waist, careful not to grip him with my full strength. My arms are shaking from the containment effort.

He turns his head, speaking loudly so I can hear him over the wind. “Hold as tight as you want, sweetheart. You can’t hurt me.” Buddy, you have no idea.

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I hear a low howl, followed by several more. A choir called to arms. I shudder. “Easy,” he soothes, patting my thigh. “They won’t hurt you. Have to catch us first, no?”

I’m not shaking from fear. Jack would never hurt me. Not like that, but he would drag me back kicking and screaming. It’s clear to me they won’t agree to the freedom I need, regardless how much I need it.

Pressed against his leather jacket, I can hear his trill heartbeat. It’s rapid like mine. He’s excited. Or scared. Either is possible, considering our current circumstances.

I gather he’s human, hence the heartbeat, but he doesn’t smell human. His smell is salty sea air when waves crash on the beach. While it could just be his cologne wafting back as the air drifts past us, I think it’s coming directly from him. A tropical paradise vacation in the making.

I lean up to shout over the wind. “Who are you?” He flinches a bit. Guess the extra volume was unnecessary. “Sorry,” I mutter.

That draws a chuckle out of him, the vibration in his chest rivalling the machine under me.

He turns his head toward me again. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m your knight in shining armour.”

Now I’m chuckling. Running off with a stranger probably isn’t my best idea in a decade. Any port in a storm, right? He does come equipped with a horse of a fashion.

I’m far too enthralled with motoring down the highway to dwell on anything besides the speed at which we’re travelling. I’m flying. Being slower than my phaser family is a hindrance. I delay them. This exhilarating movement is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It’s the closest to wings I’ve ever come.

The further we get from Tetrad, the more my chest tightens. We’ve driven for what might’ve been hours, time lost in the bliss of moving. The early markings of twilight replace the light sky. My knight pulls into a gas station. Time for a fill up, in more ways than one. He jerks his head toward the side of the building, where a wall-mounted air compressor resides. Subtle. Well, he evidently knows who I am. What I am. That isn’t really answering any of the questions rattling around in my brain.

Unfortunately, topping up does little to subdue the ache in my chest. When I return, he’s leaning against his bike waiting for me, head tilted to the side. His expression is different. Not quite a smirk, though he’s seemingly amused by my furious chest rubbing.

“Hurts, huh?” he remarks.

I’ve never been so far away from home…so far away from Jack. I furrow my brow, unsure how much I should share with him. How much does he know?

“In another few hours, it’ll drop to a dull throb,” he informs me. “Won’t get better than that but more an annoyance than ache.”

I look up at him through dusty lashes. Even resting on the bike, he’s taller than me. His collared shirt is unbuttoned at the top, exposing a deeply-tanned chest under his leather jacket. When he takes a breath, I find myself taking one too. He clears his throat, drawing my attention to his face. Strong jaw. Not a full beard, yet not clean-shaven. I clamp my hands together to keep from touching it.

“You ready to tell me your name?” I ask quietly.

He full-on smirks. “Almost ready to hear how it sounds from your lips, yeah.”

I suck in a breath. Red. Instant. That’s my cheeks.

He chuckles and lifts from the bike, swinging his leg over to mount it properly. When I don’t move, he pats the seat behind him. “Two more hours.”

“Two more hours of what?” I whisper.

He gives me a high beam smile. “Of being your knight.”

A shudder runs through me. “Then what?”

He runs his tongue over his bottom lip. I track the movement. “Then I’ll be your day.”

I stare blanks.

He cocks a brow. “You coming?”

I swallow hard, trying to dislodge the tumbleweed in my throat.

“You have two choices,” he offers candidly.

“Two choices,” I repeat.

“Um-hum,” he confirms. “One, you stay here waiting for them to fetch you.” He looks toward the station. My eyes follow his sight trail, catching the camera. “Two, you come with me to find out.”

I blow out an unsteady breath. “Find out what?”

He extends his hand, wiggling invitational fingers. The action sends forth a stray midnight wave. Unlike me, he can control his hair by simply running his fingers through it. No doubt mine’s an unmitigated disaster. No way am I touching it to check. My hand will get stuck in there.

“Are you a flightless bird, Rory?” He bats lashes over the most beautiful blue eyes I’ve ever seen. They see straight into my soul, pulling it closer to his. “Or do you suppose if you spread those pretty wings you might fly?”

I’m not sure what to say. That’s what I’m trying to figure out. My mouth is Sahara-dry. “Are we having a stranger danger moment here?” I croak out. Not smooth. Not controlled. Absolutely awkward.

“I’m no danger to you, sweetheart,” he assures me. “Never to you.”

I extend a hand cautiously. When my palm connects with his, a strange sensation stirs inside me. It’s not fear precisely, but it’s something close to it, increasing my heartrate and sending an electrical pulse up my spine to my throat, constricting it. I swallow hard again in an attempt to find some relief. It doesn’t help. I’m dizzy, lightheaded like when I’m on the verge of hyperventilating.

He draws me closer to him, holding me steady. “You coming, or am I going?”

If I go, I’ll be shifting the gears of my life forward, where I’ve been sitting idle. It’s what I’ve been waiting for. My last chance to fly free. Stranger danger is a legitimate concern, despite his assurances. My knight won’t even tell me his name. Asking where we’re going is definitely out of the question.

If I stay, every freedom I’ve had up to now is as good as gone. They were willing to involve Jack, for Luna’s sake. That means they’re desperate, and desperate phasers are dangerous phasers. More dangerous than this stranger appears to be. No, they wouldn’t physically hurt me, but clipping my wings? That’s a different kind of hurt they aren’t in any way acknowledging. As for Jack, I’m already chained to him. I feel the pull in my chest, a towline urging me home. Yes, home. It’ll always be that to me. Wherever my travels take me, the place of my birth and growth will forever be my home no matter the choice I make in this moment.

My knight squeezes my hand once, and my eyes snap to his. They’re sparkling, like he knows what way the wind’s blowing. He’s just waiting for me to catch up. “Wings or chains, sweetheart?”

Wings or chains. Which do I choose?