The crowd shifts uncomfortably, and I realize this is my moment. "And yes, I'm going with him. Because he makes me brave enough to choose adventure over safety."
“Medicine?” Tom lowers his rifle slightly. “What kind of medicine?”
Before I can answer, Dale’s shotgun swings toward me. “Don’t listen to her! It’s got her completely brainwashed! We need to take her to Dr. Peterson, get her checked out, maybe sedated until whatever that thing injected wears off.”
The barrel of that shotgun pointed at me changes everything.
Ja’war moves.
I’ve seen him work with delicate alien technology, watched him show infinite patience with my questions, experienced his gentle touch when he claimed me. But this... this is something else entirely.
He flows across the garage faster than human eyes can track. Dale’s shotgun is halfway to his shoulder when Ja’war’s hand closes around the barrel, and twists the metal.
“Touch her,” Ja’war says conversationally, as Dale stares at his destroyed weapon in shock, “and I will show you exactly how monstrous I can be.”
Then he moves again, and suddenly three more hunters are on the ground, their weapons twisted into scrap metal, while Ja’war stands exactly where he started. Unhurried. Unruffled. Terrifying.
The claiming bite throbs against my neck as I watch my alien mate disarm a small army without breaking a sweat. Fear and arousal war in my system—he’s magnificent and lethal and absolutely, completely mine.
“Prove it,” Tom Keller says suddenly, his voice shaking. “Show us this alien medicine.”
I pull out my phone, call up the video I recorded of the quantum processor humming to life. “Earth technology interfacing with alien systems to deliver life-saving medication across space. That’s what your ‘monster’ has been working on.”
Several hunters crowd closer to see the screen, wonder replacing fear on their faces.
“That’s impossible,” Diane Getty breathes.
“Six months ago, I’d have said the same thing.” I slip the phone back into my pocket. “But impossible is just another word for ‘haven’t figured it out yet.’”
Dale’s face cycles through confusion, defeat, and finally desperate anger. “This is insane. You can’t seriously be thinking of going with it.”
“His name is Ja’war,” I say firmly. “And yes, I’m going with him.”
The declaration hangs in the air. Behind me, I feel Ja’war’s presence—alien, powerful, and absolutely devoted to my protection.
“Why?” Tom asks, and there’s genuine curiosity in his voice rather than accusation.
Why indeed? Because in two days, this impossible alien has shown me more adventure and passion than I’ve had in my entire life? Because he sees me as extraordinary when I’ve always felt ordinary? Because when I’m with him, the universe feels vast and full of possibilities instead of small and suffocating?
“Because,” I say finally, “he makes me brave.”
The words hit Ja’war hard. I hear his sharp intake of breath, feel the way he spikes through the claiming bite connection.
“We should go,” I say, reaching for my tool bag and the portable quantum components. “Before they change their minds.”
We head for the back exit, and this time, most of the hunters step aside. But as we reach the threshold, I pause, looking back at the workspace that’s been my sanctuary and my prison for thirteen years.
For a moment, I can almost see them—Mom humming Christmas carols while she helped Dad with the books, both of them stealing kisses when they thought I wasn’t looking. They’d built this garage together, filled it with laughter and love and the kind of partnership I always thought was just for other people.
They’d want this for me. The love, the adventure, the courage to choose happiness over safety. Mom always said life was too short to play it safe, and Dad would have loved Ja’war’s engineering.
They’d want me to be brave enough to reach for love when it found me.
“I’ve been fixing broken things my whole life,” I say to the room. “Time to see what’s out there that isn’t broken.”
Then Ja’war’s hand finds mine, and we step out into the cold Christmas afternoon.
We make it maybe fifty yards before Dale’s voice explodes behind us: “They’re getting away! Stop them!”
