Maxwell (A Rogue Enforcers Novella) Read online

  Maxwell

  A Rogue Enforcers Novella

  Livell James

  Copyright © 2019, Livell James

  First electronic publication: June 2019

  * * *

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted works is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, character, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to person, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third party websites or their content.

  Published in the United States of America

  Editing: Grace Brennan

  Cover Design & Formatting: Dark Water Covers

  Photograph: Randy Sewell - RLS Model Images Photography

  Cover Model: Courtney English

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  The Rogue Enforcers Series

  About Livell James

  Other Books by Livell James

  For all of you that believe in me and continue to support my journey as an author.

  * * *

  My beautiful wife for never giving up on my and allowing me to follow my dreams.

  Prologue

  Maxwell Carter spent six years of his life training himself to be an Enforcer. Hours of running, cross fit, and keeping a healthy diet, from the age of nineteen until he was old enough to try out for the Enforcers at the age of twenty-five. All he could do was imagine himself catching the bad guys and bringing them to justice—only to watch his dream fall short due to an injury after being at the Enforcers’ training facility for just a few weeks. While in his animal form he was shot in the wing during flight training. While shifters heal almost instantly, his falcon would take longer at least a week or two, leaving his human with a gimped arm. He is larger than the other black falcon shifters in his family. If falcons had alphas he would fall into that category. However, his larger size made him slower in flight. He would still need to train to gain more speed. This had proved difficult with his arm/wing not healing properly. Two weeks had come and gone, and his arm had healed, but it was not normal. Shifters had no issues healing unless they are hit with silver. This must have been the case. While he was healed completely, he still had a rough looking scar from the bullet wound, not allowing his wing to expand fully while in flight. He could still shift and fly like any other time before being injured, but he couldn’t stay up for long periods of time, causing him to only travel short distances. He hoped that over time he would be able to get back to longer distance as he built up strength again.

  While the Enforcers were happy having him here training and hated to lose such a hardworking man with so much spirit, they knew they had to tell him he could not train with them any longer. For you see, every shifter that was in the Enforcers MC was spot on with their training—anything leading to them not being one hundred percent lead to them no longer being an Enforcer. This day had come for Max. Blake Olsen had to let him know he was no longer able to join the Enforcers and would be set to leave the following day, back to his home in Louisville, Kentucky.

  After being on the road for about twenty miles, he stopped at a station for gas and snacks. The sign near the road said Jim’s Country Store, which he found odd being he was in the desert of Nevada. Western maybe, country not so much. Something else he had noticed was a guy on a motorcycle had been following him since he pulled out of the gates at The Enforcer Academy. The bike pulled into the store parking lot behind him, pulling up to park just in front of the store. Max had a feeling that something wasn’t normal about this guy. His shifter instincts let him know that the guy wasn’t prey or a danger to him in any way, but still, something wasn’t quite right—about the guy or the odd sensations that he’d been following him. Putting it from his mind for now, Max pulled up to the last pump closest to the road.

  He heard the man talking on the phone, but something was off. It didn't seem quite right. Being a black falcon not only meant he had an amazing sense of sight, but also that he could hear things from far away. All shifters had this ability but raptors even more so.

  “I have him, we’ve stopped at a gas station. Let me call you back.”

  Maxwell was no small man, being he was six-foot-tall and every inch of his body is covered in muscle. The gimped arm on the other hand may have made him a little weaker at the moment, but he knew damn good and well he could still fight if he needed to. After placing his card into the slot, he pumped his gas and acted as if he had not even seen the other man. He proceeded to walk into the store to pick up his snacks for the road. Walking out of the store, the man greeted him with a smirk on his face. He had on a black cowboy hat, wearing a button up denim shirt with the sleeves cut out. His biceps looked like they were big enough that they may have ripped the sleeves off, not to mention the shirt was unbuttoned showing his large chest, and abs that belonged on a bodybuilding magazine. He had deep hazel colored eyes and a well-trimmed beard. Nothing that Max himself didn’t have, other than the cowboy hat and hazel eyes. No Maxwell had brown eyes that would cut through anyone’s soul if he looked at them a certain way, and that was exactly what he did to the guy that pretty much ran him over as soon as he walked out of the door.

  “I’m Colton, Colton Alexander. Most people call me Colt,” the guy said, reaching his hand out for Max to shake.

  Max kept his hands to his side, holding the bag of snacks next to his leg. “You care to tell me why you’re following me, and now blocking my way? If you don’t mind, I would like to get on with my day, Colton.” Max was pissed that this guy wanted to be so friendly without first explaining why he was here and what he wanted. He made a step to walk around the large man standing in front of him. However, that did not stop Colt from also moving, taking a step to be in front of him again.

  “Just hear me out. I know it seems weird that I followed you all this way. I tried to stop you at the gate when your pulled through, but you just kept going like you never saw me standing there beside my bike,” the man told him.

  “Yeah well I didn’t see you.” Max stepped again to move around Colt.

  “Five minutes of your time and I will be on my way.” Colt spoke again, looking like he was trying to remain calm and nice.

  “Five fucking minutes, and I am counting,” Max responded, not really giving a shit what the guy had to say.

  “I want to train you. I was an Enforcer once, but I didn’t like playing by their rules. I decided to take matters into my own hands. Enforce the law in a not so pleasant way and train others to do the same. I have a team of others that are spread throughout the country. Rogue Enforcers.”

  Chapter One

  It seemed Maxwell had just fallen asleep when his phone started ringing. Rolling over on his side, he placed the pillow over his head, hoping to stifle the sound. He figured he would just call
them back once he was up and moving around for the day. Well, the person on the other end of the phone wasn’t having that since they just kept calling until he finally gave in, slinging the pillow across the room. The caller ID showed it was Colton Alexander.

  “Hello.”

  “Max, I have emailed you your next mission. This one is a little tougher than any other mission I have given you. I know I would normally not call until your mission is complete, but this is different. It’s a female fox shifter. I figured you were best suited for this job because you’re a flight shifter and the fox could most likely out maneuver any other member of our team.”

  “You fucking rang my phone over and over, waking me up just to tell me I had to chase a fucking fox? Why is this job any different than others?”

  “You’re damn right I rang until you answered, you can sleep when you die. It is different because she’s a fox, they are sly.

  “She has also escaped from prison where she was in for murdering a ground shifter, and had no idea it was a shifter until he returned to his human form after she had killed him for food. Once she knew, she tried to flee, but before she could shift to disguise herself someone saw her running, and held her until police arrived. As you know shifting in front of humans is never a good idea. She was caught and after only serving a few months of her time has now escaped and is on the run. It is your mission to find her and keep her safe from the humans. She shouldn’t have been in one of their prisons to begin with. You have never dealt with anyone like her. Do you think you can handle it, Mr. Carter?”

  “Oh, now it’s Mr. Carter?” Max laughs. “I think I can handle this little fox, Colt. I will look over the email and start my mission in a few hours. Thanks again for the wake-up call, asshole.”

  “You know you loved hearing my voice this early in the morning,” Colton jokes, hanging up the phone before Max could reply.

  Laughing it off knowing that he and Colt always joke back and forth, Max rolls over, forcing himself to get out of bed. Fuck it’s too early for this shit, he thought.

  After making a pot of coffee and pouring himself a cup he sat down at his desk to open the email.

  Mission 122:

  * * *

  Alley Raine

  * * *

  Red hair, green eyes, 5’4” 130 pounds. Last seen in Jefferson County Mississippi where she escaped the state prison.

  * * *

  She is thought to be headed to New Haven, Indiana. Her family is currently living there known as the Raine leash. It is in their animal nature to be near or around family members at all times. Even though they are solitary animals, when they are faced with trouble or danger they will always go to the family for help. Better in numbers as they always say. We are almost positive this is the direction she is headed. You must stop her before she reaches her family and bring her in. She will most likely only be traveling at night.

  * * *

  Good luck with this one bud.

  * * *

  Sincerely,

  Colton Alexander

  He could not get past the photo of the beautiful woman that was attached to the email. The softest looking red hair flowed over her shoulders, her pale skin was dotted with tiny freckles, and those green eyes drew him in like a magnet. He must have stared at it for at least twenty minutes before he hit print to make a copy of the image to have for his search. Opening another browser window, he typed traits of the fox into the search bar. Though she is thought to be traveling in human form, he was sure she would still use her fox’s instincts, slyness, and hunting methods to get from point A to point B without being caught.

  Studying the ways of the fox would help him in the long run. Foxes are sneaky as fuck, after all. Something interesting to him was that a fox could move at speeds up to twenty-three miles per hour—he knew this one would not be an easy catch. Luckily, he had built up his falcon’s speed and would be much faster in flight than she would be on the ground. However, he wondered if he could keep up with her if she went underground as foxes are known to do. Even with his keen sense of sight he could not see under the ground. He studied the internet for another hour or so before getting up from the desk. He could just wait for her near her home in Indiana, but if he could capture her closer to headquarters that would make getting her there a lot easier. He also knew that he had better chances of finding her before the humans going after her did.

  Gathering his things, packing a few needed clothes and accessories, he placed them in a duffle bag and threw it onto the bed. He had to have his morning shower before he even thought about doing anything else. Turning the water on as hot as he could stand it, he undressed and took a shower. Quicker than normal, just enough to wash the important parts and to wake him up. He knew he had to catch a flight as soon as he could to Mississippi before her trail became cold. While he was a flight shifter, there is no way for one to carry all the things they needed in flight other than on an airplane. With the towel wrapped around his waist, he sat back down at his desk to book his flight and rental car so they would be ready once he arrived.

  Once he had everything taken care of, he closed the laptop and placed it into his laptop bag along with the charging cord and his phone charger. Making sure he had everything for his trip, he made one last sweep around his apartment. He only moved into this place a few months ago. It was a studio loft with a wall separating the living and kitchen area from the bedroom and bathroom. Max’s family are descendants of Australia, the only place black falcons are found. They are the largest of the falcon species in their country and are thought to be pretty rare. As far as he knew it was only h and his family of this type shifter in the United States.

  The walls of the living space were flanked with beautiful art from his homeland. While his bedroom was a dark shade of blue with a window, and when he opened the curtains it overlooked the downtown area. It was the perfect space for him, close to restaurants, his gym, and nightlife. He had plenty of time before his flight was to leave, but decided it would be best to head to the airport right away. He thought he could grab food and relax there for a while before he had to board the plane. The airport was a smaller one with only a few gates on either side of the security check point, but surprisingly the food options weren’t bad at all. He chose to eat at a place called Skyway Bar and Grill, a typical name for an airport restaurant. Ordering a grilled chicken salad and a water, he pulled out his laptop to check his email for any other updates on his mission. Just as he suspected, he had another email from Colt. This time it was short and sweet and he wasn’t sure why he hadn’t just called him to tell him.

  “You have to find her before the humans do. She needs to be protected from their laws. We would never put someone in prison in the shifter world for a mere accident.”

  That was all the email said this time. Again, he wondered why Colt had not just called him. In the shifter world it was normal for their animals to still hunt for food, even if their humans ate on a regular basis. It was in their nature. Usually they could tell if the animal they were hunting was also a shifter, but something must have been different about this shifter. Maybe he had done something to cover his human scent. They’d never know seeing that he was killed. It did however make Max wonder if he should find the place where he was killed and investigate the other shifters in the area. Shaking him from his thoughts, the server placed his food on the table in front of him. He thanked her and then noticed he had not even touched the glass of water sitting on the table. He hadn’t even noticed when it was brought to his table.

  He was lost in thought, the thought of the beautiful redhead in the photos. He had the file open, just wondering how someone so stunningly beautiful could be accused of being a killer. Other thoughts crossed his mind, causing a rise in the trousers he was wearing. He hoped the server had not noticed when she walked over to pick up his salad bowl. She did look a little happy about removing the dish from his table. He slammed his laptop shut and grabbed the glass of water, drinking it all down at once. Cle
aring his thoughts, he let his rock-hard cock ease before leaving the tip on the table, getting up to pay at the front.

  His gate was just on the other side of the wall from where he had just paid. Only twenty minutes were left before boarding time. He had no idea what his game plan would be once he got to Mississippi, but he figured he needed to find a scent and get on her trail as soon as he hit the ground. He picked up his phone to call Colt. Maybe if there was a wolf shifter in the area, they could help him get on the right track, but that would mean getting someone else involved. Besides, if Colton wanted to talk to him on the phone, he would have called instead of sending an email. Max sighed at the thought, rubbing his hand over his chest. He knew this was something he had to do on his own. Falcons were also known for their sense of smell as well as their keen eyesight. He had never used it, nor had he even thought of it during his training to be an Enforcer. Guess now was as good a time as any to figure it out. Raptors were, after all, the best hunters in the forest. Even humans use them for hunting. There is even a fancy name for it. Falconry.

  While Max wasn’t too entertained by the thought of a human using his animal to hunt, he knew he could use his hunting skills to his advantage.

  “Flight 129 to Jackson, Mississippi now boarding,” came across the loudspeaker. The flight would take two and a half hours. Putting his headphones in and listening to music was how he would pass the time. He also needed to clear his head and to put a plan in place. He thought he would begin at the prison and go from there. He knew there had to be other shifters in the area and someone would have seen her, and maybe had some idea which way she may have headed. He had never gone after a fox shifter—usually his missions were larger animals, and normally the Rogue’s female Enforcers went after other females. Max only thought for a second longer before he realized, Ah! It’s because I’m a falcon.