She jogged over. “Hey buddy, I didn’t think anyone would get caught already. You’re early. Lucky for you, I have my banding equipment with me.”
He squawked and doubled his efforts to get loose. He was the predator, not the prey to be tracked. If she banded him, the metal around his leg would prevent him from shifting. Wearing clothes while shifting was annoying, but he was used to freeing himself from his jeans. A very narrow metal band? Not an option. He’d be stuck as a hawk all night, and his amazing eyesight was made for the day. Dusk was already pushing it. Flying around in the dark woods with plenty of predators around wasn’t his idea of a fun Friday night. He had to get away before she banded him.
“Yeah, this isn’t how I thought my night would go either, but here we are.” Her tone was far too cheerful for someone about to deal with an angry hawk.
His hawk, however, had gone silent, but he was used to that. The animal lay in wait, patient and waiting for the perfect time to strike.
A bright light blinded him, but she quickly aimed her flashlight at the ground. “All right, let’s see what we got…”
He felt the threads trapping him move. She was smart enough to keep her hands away from his beak and claws. She tugged and pulled on the net rather than at him, and soon he got a better look at her.
Bright blue eyes met his, and she frowned down at him while he remained trapped. “A hawk? You’re out late, aren’t you? You’re not supposed to be here.”
No, he was definitely supposed to be here, because the overwhelming happiness blossoming inside of him could only mean one thing.
She was his mate.
The one woman meant to share his life had found him.
His happiness was short-lived when he remembered that, oh right, she was also the ornithologist everyone was so worried about.
And she had no idea he was a shifter.
This evening was definitely not going the way he’d planned.
2. Madison
Madison heard screeching only five minutes after putting up the net. She turned around, squinting at the trees where she’d put it up. The light was fading fast, and while she had a flashlight in her backpack, she didn’t want to stay out here too long. She’d already stayed out later than planned.
She’d joined the Ornithology Department at Pinevale University a little over six months ago as an Assistant Professor and she’d worked hard to get the position. Now, she had to work harder to keep the position, and have a shot at the next step on the academic ladder. The department had been coming to these woods since the nineties, always around the same time every year, to study bird migration in the area. She wanted to build on research from previous years, so she’d volunteered to be in charge of it this year. Professor Brown had done it since the start, but he’d retired about a month after she joined.
And now she was finally here. After weeks of politely nodding at Professor Brown’s well-meaning but overbearing advice, going over data from previous years, and lots of paperwork. All the extra work on top of teaching and her other duties had been worth it to spend time in the field. This was why she’d become an ornithologist.
After a long day of travel, setting up her camp, scouting the area, and putting up one net as a test, she longed for a quick dinner and a quiet evening. Just her and her tent and going over the plans for the next few weeks. Maybe she’d even sneak in some time with a book that had nothing to do with birds or science.
Another screech pierced the air, and she sighed as she headed back. It would be one hell of a coincidence if she’d already caught a bird, but if she had, she should deal with it. She couldn’t let some poor bird stay trapped all night, no matter how tempting the thought of sitting down was. Getting caught was stressful enough already. Fortunately, she had her banding equipment with her in her backpack.
The squawking became louder as she jogged over, and she saw a dark shape struggle against the net. “Hey buddy.” She hurried over to free it. “I didn’t think anyone would get caught already. You’re early. Lucky for you, I have my banding equipment with me.” She kept her voice upbeat, hoping that might calm the bird a little.
The bird screeched briefly as she tugged on the net. She needed her flashlight, and she shrugged off her backpack to put it on the ground and rifle through it.
“Yeah, this isn’t how I thought my night would go either, but here we are.” As soon as she found the flashlight, she flicked it on. She saw red and brown feathers, then aimed her light at the ground. She didn’t want to startle the bird any more than she already had. “All right,” she said, keeping her tone reassuring. “Let’s see what we got…” She had to know what kind of bird it was to know what size band to use.
Pulling on the net so she could get a better look at the bird while holding the flashlight at the same time was awkward, but she’d seen those claws. She didn’t want to get scratched on her first day here.
Her eyes adjusted to the light from her flashlight. Now that the bird had stopped struggling, she could see the details and patterns of its feathers. “A hawk? You’re out late, aren’t you? You’re not supposed to be here.”
Maybe she should’ve waited longer before putting up the net. But research from previous years hadn’t shown a lot of hawks in the Kirkwood area.
The hawk remained still. Frozen in shock? She sighed in sympathy. “Let’s see if we can’t band you and get you out of this net quickly so you can go kill
