Careful of its beak and claws, she gently pulled and tugged on the net to free one wing. Its feathers were beautiful shades of brown and red. A red-tailed hawk? She hadn’t come across a lot of them when she’d gone through the data from previous years, but the birds weren’t uncommon in the area. When she got a better look at its tail feathers, she realized her mistake. They were too dark, and red-tailed hawks didn’t have those white bands on their tail feathers.
She was gentle as she turned the hawk over in the net to get a better look at it. Now that she knew what to look for, it was unmistakable. Black eyes stared up at her as she looked at the warm red of its breast. A red-shouldered hawk? They didn’t fly this far west. It was a young, healthy male by the looks of it. “You are definitely not supposed to be here.”
Excitement bubbled up despite her exhaustion. What had brought this specific bird here, so far out of his usual range? Good thing she’d brought her banding equipment with her. “Did you get lost?”
The bird kept staring up at her, and she laughed. Of course he wouldn’t answer. He squawked indignantly when she went back to tugging on the net to get one of his claws free for banding. “Yeah, you didn’t have a good time in that net, did you? Sorry about that. Nothing personal. I wasn’t looking for you, but I’m glad I found you.”
She was used to handling trapped birds. Catching them via nets was the best way to track ones already banded and put rings on ones who didn’t have any yet. If done well, the process was smooth and painless for the birds, but still stressful.
“All right, stay still, I’m going to have to get some pictures of you.” Any bird this far out of range had to get reported. If more red-shouldered hawks turned up, it would be part of a pattern. Were they changing their habitat? Had something chased this one from his previous territory?
The hawk screeched and struggled against the net, his one free wing beating against the air.
She stepped back, waiting for him to tire himself out. “Not a fan of unflattering shots?” She raised the flashlight to get more light on the hawk without blinding it and held up her phone to snap more pictures. “There, all done.” She tucked her phone away, then grabbed her banding gear. She’d need one of her bigger rings for the hawk. “Time to put a ring on it.”
The hawk kept squirming and screeched at her again.
“Not a fan of terrible jokes either? Or are you a commitment-phobe?”
That got her an even louder squawk.
“Okay, okay, I’ll make it quick.” She hated banding with this little sunlight, especially by herself. Having two pairs of hands made things a lot easier, but she couldn’t let him go without banding him. “I’ll have you out of here soon.”
With her flashlight nestled under her armpit, she grabbed hold of one of his legs, making sure his claws couldn’t get to her.
But then the leg rippled against her palm, startling her into letting go. “What the—”
The hawk shuddered, its wings now pressed against his body. He shuddered again, and Madison winced as another strange ripple went through his wing. Was he having a seizure? What could have caused it? She had to take care of him before he got worse.
He puffed up his feathers to make himself look bigger—no, he was growing bigger, feathers rippling again as he did. She dropped the flashlight in her own panic, wondering what she could do to help. Should she free him and never mind the banding?
The shape in the net kept growing until it tore the threads apart, and fell on the ground with a grunt.
A human grunt.
She picked up her flashlight with trembling fingers, her heart racing in her chest. She wasn’t sure what to expect when she aimed it at the shape, but she found a crouching, naked man with the remnants of the net at his feet.
“I can explain!” He held one arm in front of his face and used the other to preserve some dignity.
“Can you?” The light danced on his skin and her arm shook. There’d been a hawk. Now there was a man.
Okay.
That was a thing that had happened.
She took a deep breath and stood up straight. “Right. An explanation. Go on.”
She hoped she sounded steadier than she felt, and she lowered the flashlight slightly so she wouldn’t blind him when he lowered his arm. She tried to look at the trees instead, but her eyes kept flicking back and forth between the trees and his bare shoulders and thighs and everything else. He was around her age, if she had to guess, with an athletic build and dark hairs covering his arms and legs.
Being an associate professor left no time for dating. She had to give lectures, supervise students, grade papers, apply for grants, do her own research, try to get the research published, visit conferences, rinse, repeat. Arranging her teaching so she could come out here for a few weeks had been very tricky. Considering the limited internet reception she had, she already dreaded her email inbox once she got back.
“You’re here to study birds, right?” he asked.
How did he know that? What was going on? But if she wanted to get answers from him, she should answer his question first. “I’m with Pinevale University, yes. But what does that have to do with…” She gestured at him with the flashlight, accidentally shining it in his face and making him flinch. She caught a glimpse of dark eyes and tousled brown hair. “Sorry.” She lowered her flashlight again, biting her lip.
There were definitely worse naked guys to run into in the middle of the forest.
“I can
