Luke Blackwood is glad to have exchanged a life of comfort for a tiny, crooked cabin in the woods with his two dogs. He lives off the land, takes what he needs, gives back what he doesn’t, and most definitely never thinks of the woman he walked away from three years ago. When his half-dead cabin crumbles in on itself with Luke and his dogs inside, it’s Boatswain, trained in search and rescue, who brings the one person he wanted to be strong for - the happy yet slow to trust Sibyl Marchant - to save him. Sibyl hasn’t spoken to Luke for three years. He’s rude. Obnoxious. Doesn’t conform to societal norms. She’s worked too hard for what she has - a shop to care for, family once thought lost to enjoy - to uproot it for some guy. Besides, her romantic relationship is too fragile at the moment to give her boyfriend any reason to think she’s cheating on him. After Luke’s mother is taken by a foe thought long dead, Sibyl reluctantly agrees to help. It’s a mystery why the Rhondian clan leader was kidnapped, yet their search leads them up a treacherous mountain pass with the very person they both hoped, but never dreamed, to love. ---------- TROPES - Grumpy​/​sunshine - Second chance romance - Mutual pining - He falls first - Dude in distress - Forced proximity - Revenge

Trigger Warnings:

- Abusive partner (not MMC) - Death of a teenager - Narcissist-caused anxiety (FMC) - Trapped under rubble - social anxiety - facing the abuser - death - explicit sexual content - violence and gore - swearing