Page 1 of Keep Me, Knox
Chapter 1
Sage
Mybootsaretryingto murder my big toes, sweat’s gluing my shirt to my back, and this gravel drive is starting to feel like the opening scene of a horror movie. Only in this one, the thing lurking in the shadows isn’t a masked man with a chainsaw. It’s a bear.
Three, actually: one GPS-collared mama and two cubs who pinged on this ridge twenty minutes ago, right before the signal decided to play hide-and-seek. Mountain terrain eats satellite reception for breakfast.
I clutch my receiver a little tighter as I round a bend and finally spot a weathered log cabin, tucked into the trees like it grewthere. Smoke curls from a chimney, there's a battered pickup parked out front, and the whole place radiatesKeep Outenergy.
I slow, taking a steadying breath. The mountain air is crisp and clean, sharp with pine and the faint sweetness of spring wildflowers. Then I square my shoulders, march up to the front porch, and knock.
The door creaks open after a long pause, revealing a man who looks like he hasn't spoken to another human in a week. Maybe two.
And damn, he’s sexy as hell.Tall, broad, scowly, andshirtless. There's a blacksmith’s hammer leaning by the door and metal filings dusting his jeans. His eyes are wary as they rake over me.
"Hi," I say, offering a quick wave that feels awkward the second it's out there. "Sorry to bother you. I'm with the Black Bear Research Initiative. We're tracking a tagged sow and her cubs. The last GPS ping put her in this area, and I'm hoping to get permission to look around."
His brow ticks up. "A bear, you say?"
I nod. "Female. Collared over the winter. We believe she emerged from her den with two cubs about a week ago. They've been moving steadily east, and this morning's signal came from somewhere near your cabin."
He lets out a low, humorless huff and leans a shoulder against the doorframe. "Yeah, I’ve seen them."
"You have? When?”
He shrugs. “A few minutes ago.”
A mixture of relief and excitement washes over me. “May I look around, please? I won't disturb anything. I just need to get eyes on her and the cubs to make note of their condition."
He narrows his eyes slightly. I can't tell if he's annoyed, amused, or just naturally intimidating.
"You Sage?" he asks.
I blink. "Uh... yes? How do you know that?"
"You left a note in my mailbox last week. Said you'd be doing a sweep of the ridge and might stop by if the collar pinged close."
"Oh."Right. “I’m so used to people ignoring mail from me. It catches me off guard when someone actually reads my notices, let alone remembers my name."
He nods slowly, then jerks his chin. "Come on. You don't need to go far."
I follow him around the side of the cabin, down a worn footpath lined with wildflowers and sun-dappled grass. The backyard opens up into a small clearing with a firepit, stacked woodpile, and—
"Oh my god," I whisper.
A large black bear is sprawled in a faded green hammock, its massive frame sagging the fabric almost to the ground. Two tiny cubs are clambering up the trees on either end, batting at leaves and doing their best impersonation of over-caffeinated toddlers.
"Yep," the man says flatly. "Haven't been able to use my damn hammock all spring."
I press a hand to my mouth, trying not to laugh.
"Well," I manage, still staring. "I guess Mama needed a break."
He shoots me a sideways look. "Tell me about it. Her little ones are a handful.”
The sow blinks lazily, shifting one paw over her face like she's pretending not to see us. One of the cubs somersaults out of the tree and lands in a clumsy heap of fuzz and limbs, then scrambles back up again.
I lift my receiver and jot down the coordinates.
