by Livell James
“Have you any idea where we are or how to get back to the ginger boy’s cabin?”
Max laughed.
“Well in that case I don’t need my clothes, I will shift and fly above. You follow on the ground. I will lead you. I promise you can trust me, Alley.”
“Well, I have no other choice in the matter at the moment. I could always just run the other way while you’re in flight, but I have a feeling you’ll catch me if I try. Let’s go.” She turned to walk away just before he swooped above her, causing a slight breeze to ruffle her hair.
Chapter Seven
Max thought to himself just before shifting to take flight that that he was going to have his hands full with this one. Beautiful, smartassed, and determined. He was bound and determined to earn her favor. Who hurt her to the point where she was unable to rely on anyone? Everyone needed that person in their life that they can trust. He didn’t know what it was about her, but he wanted to be that person for her.
He wasn’t in the air long before he spotted the cabin not far ahead of him. Looking below he searched for the fox. Seconds later she ran from under a patch of trees.
She didn’t run. His bird spoke quietly.
It was rare for him and his animal to have a conversation like other shifters. They were both okay with that, they were connected enough mentally that there was normally no need for words. He knew the animal liked this little fox as much as he did. He didn’t reply out loud, but he agreed and was happy that she had not tried to escape this time. Swooping down, he flew just a few feet above her, coming into the clearing near cabin. Alley tripped, again sending her tumbling into the leaves.
Max only saw the fall, not the object she tripped over. It wasn’t until he was standing on his human feet that he noticed another fox standing just on the edge of the woods. Alley walked up beside him.
“That asshole tripped me mid stride. That shit could have broken my neck.” She placed her hand on her neck, like she was making sure she hadn’t injured anything, just before running over to where Jordan was now also standing in human form.
“Why are you being such a fucking dickhead to me, I have been nothing but nice to you. First you call some rogue ass Enforcer on me and now you trip me. Are you scared of a female fox, ginger boy?”
“I am not scared of any foxes, or any other shifters for that matter. I am however scared for your safety. I called them to help keep you protected. I think it’s best you go with this guy and maybe just forget you ever met me.” Jordan walked up the steps and into the cabin, slamming the door behind him.
Max wasn’t sure what that was all about, but he walked forward, picking up the clothes he had left on the ground, and then slipped his pants on and threw his shirt over his shoulder. He had questions, but this wasn’t the time. He placed his hand on Alley’s back, letting her know he was there and everything would be okay.
“Are you ready?” he asked her, letting his hand slide further down her back, directing her towards the SUV.
Once they were in the vehicle, he stopped to think for a moment, realizing he had no idea where he was supposed to take her. She wasn’t a criminal according to shifter standards so taking her to their prison wasn’t an option. He couldn’t take her home with him, and at that moment in time she damn sure couldn’t go to any of her family’s homes. He looked down to grab his phone. He didn’t really want to call Colton with her in the vehicle with him, but he had to figure this shit out. Why did he not think of this before he found her?
He put the phone back down and reached for the gear stick, placing it in drive. He would have to stop when they got back to the exit for gas. He would make the call then, and he hoped Colton would have some answers.
“We will have to stop for gas before getting back onto the highway. You may want to put your hoodie on to cover your face.” He looked over at her, but got no response. She only stared out the window in silence.
He let her be, watching as she reached into her backpack to pull out a hoodie and a pair of shades. He began to laugh, maybe not at her, but with her.
“You do know the sun isn’t out right?”
He was trying to make small talk with his corny jokes, hoping it would loosen her up more and maybe she would talk to him.
Alley only giggled slightly before turning again to look out the window.
He wanted to talk to her, to comfort her. He had no idea why he had these feelings for the women sitting on the passenger side of the vehicle, but something, something pulled him to her. The need to protect her overcame him. A falcon and a fox had never been known to be with each other as mates, so he was sure that wasn’t the reason. Maybe it was just her beauty, and her booty. He laughed to himself, or so he thought. He must have let out some sort of sound because Alley turned to look at him.
“You find something funny?”
“Maybe, but it’s just something I was thinking about. I have to stop for gas and make a phone call. I need you to promise you won’t run again.” He had to keep his eyes on the road, but tried to stare her down until he got an answer.
This one is unbreakable he thought. Then finally, she turned to look at him.
“I have no reason to run right now. I have a man with all those muscles promising to protect me, why would a girl run from that?” Sarcasm at its best.
She didn’t turn away this time.
“Are you trying to make jokes right now?”
Max just shook his head as he asked the question, giving her a slight smirk before turning into the station.
“Me? Well I would never.” She laughed.
She took the hoodie from her bag and placed it over her shoulder, letting the hood cover her face.
“I’m tired, I think I will lay in the back seat and possibly take a nap, while you get us to where ever it is that we are going.”
Max still had no idea where that was. He just lowered his eyes and nodded before getting out to pump the gas. He tapped on the window letting her know he was going inside to pay with cash and asked if she wanted anything.
“Just a water,” she replied.
He wasn’t sure if he should leave her alone like that or not, but she promised she wouldn’t run. Could he trust her for a few minutes to go inside the store and make a phone call? Taking his chances, he locked the doors using the key fob and made his way into the store. As if locking the doors would keep her in there.
Of course, he was right. Upon returning to the vehicle Alley was gone. The closer he got, the more he noticed that the door was open and her backpack was still in the back seat.
“Fuck. Someone took her, but who?” The questions were coming one after the other. His mind started to race, wondering where she could have gone, and how no one even caught sight of what was going on. How does someone just take someone else from a car parked next to a gas pump in broad daylight? Much less take a woman out of a bright red Tahoe and take off with her. It had to be someone who had been waiting, and watching them, who knew Max had gone into the store. He had only been gone for a few minutes.
He rubbed his hand across his forehead before the thought of the security cameras came to mind. Maybe, just maybe they caught whoever it was on there. Surely, they did.
Max, could not have been more wrong. After asking the store manager, he was informed that the cameras went out just an hour before and he was waiting on someone to come in to fix them.
There were only two people who knew where they were, and he was sure Jordan most likely had something to do with this.
“Shit,” he cursed.
He pulled the SUV over to the side of the parking lot, he could feel anger building up inside him. Why the hell did he let her out of his sight? The fact that no one saw anything, and that the cameras just had to be out, today of all days, pissed him off even more. He could smell this awful, dingey, putrid smell emanating from the vehicle. It had been a long time since he smelled something this awful and he would never forget what it belonged to—wolf shifters.
M
axwell’s adrenaline took over and he shifted, the clothes falling off right there in the parking lot in front of God and everybody. He knew if he got caught shifting by the humans, the shifter world would be fucked, and normally he would never take that chance—especially since one of the laws Enforcers protected was the one stating they could never do anything to jeopardize their secret. None of that stopped them, though—he had to find her. It was a need burning inside him, and it felt like it was because of something more than the mission.
Within seconds he was in flight, not sure which way to go or where they may have even taken her, but in this moment, he just wanted to release his anger. All of the things he had built up inside. He soared just above the tree-line next to the highway, his silky black feathers shining in the sun. Even with his bum wing, his animal was still majestic. He always had to be careful not to be noticed by the humans. Americans had no idea what black falcons were for the most part. So, they saw them as a trophy.
It wasn’t long before he finally realized he had no idea who or what he was looking for and again, which way they had even gone. He remembered the smell from the truck. Wolves. As he flew around high above, he saw not one wolf in sight. Max turned to fly back to the station, hoping that his clothes would still be where he left them.
He didn’t really give a shit at this point; he would just go naked. He just wanted to find the fucker, or fuckers, who took Alley.
But then he started to think, maybe she had lied about not running and had taken off on her own. Did she play him just so she could have a chance to run? Something just wasn’t right about all of this. If she was going to run, then why would she leave her things in the backseat?
Just before he reached the station, he noticed something.
A hoodie—Alley’s hoodie.
Lying next to the road.
Chapter Eight
Alley had just dosed off to sleep when she heard voices just outside the vehicle. Startled, she jumped up in the seat just before the door flew open.
I thought those were locked.
A man reached to grab her, and he smelled horrible, like sweat and dog, a dog that had been left outside for days. Had he ever taken a bath she wondered. Long, dark, stringy hair fell from his head, the arm that reached into the vehicle was cover in ugly prison tattoos, and his face was rough with a scraggly beard. She kicked at him and jumped to the other side just as that door opened and another man reached in, grabbing her by the shirt.
This one wasn’t as big and burly looking as the other. Clean shaved, with a baseball cap turned backwards on his head. This guy, unlike the other, had an amazing sleeve tattoo down his right arm, but that was all Alley was able to noticed before he snatched her from the Tahoe, placing is hand over her mouth, not giving her a chance to scream. He had the same smell though, and then she realized they were wolves. Fucking wolves, but she had never been this close to anyone that was a wolf shifter. She only remembered her mother telling her about the smell when they were around. The smell only grew stronger when they were hunting, or mating, and this was by no means a mating moment.
She looked around eagerly, hoping someone would see what the hell was happening, but the parking lot was empty. Not a soul in sight. Just before she was thrown into the backseat of a beat-up Ford F150 king cab, a few other cars pulled into the lot. She yelled and tried to get the attention of anyone that would help her, but still not one person noticed her. This was fucked up in so many ways.
Could she shift, open the door and slip out before they noticed her? Wolves were much faster than the fox so she knew they could catch her, but she would take her chances. Or so she thought. The moment she began her shift the burly guy on the passenger side reached back to grab her.
“Dial it back, little lady. We’re not here to hurt you.” His rough voice was like that of a smoker.
How many times have we heard this now since we left the prison? Her fox was raging with anger.
“As if you’re the first person to say that this week, but I have to shift now, my animal has to shiiii—”
She didn’t get the words out before she was suddenly sitting in the back seat in her fox form. With one swift motion, her animal had bitten the man on his hand and grabbed the door handle, letting the door fly open just before jumping out onto the pavement, her hoodie falling out behind her.
At this point there was nothing Alley could do to get her animal in check. Once again, she had shifted in a moment of anxiety.
“Fuck the little bitch just jumped out, Jack.” The rugged man said with his head just inches from his friend’s face.
“I thought you had her Bo, you dumbass. How the hell do you let a little fox slip through your fingers? Guess getting outsmarted by the fox really is a thing,” Jack replied as he pulled the truck over to the side of the road.
“Once again I am having to fix your fuck-ups.”
Jack shifted and took off to catch Alley.
The fox ran, ran as fast as her four legs would carry her, but it wasn’t fast enough. She swayed back and forth, dodging him a few times.
He howled just before he took the leap that knocked her off her feet.
Fuck, why do these guys think it’s okay to keep knocking me down, she thought to herself. Tired from running, she just let herself lay there, hoping the guy wouldn’t cause her any harm. He didn’t seem the type, but she didn’t want to just take her chances.
Seconds later, she felt his hands on her, as with one swift motion he scooped her up into his arms and carried her back to the truck, as she shifted back into her human form.
“Sorry I had to run into you, I told you not to run, but you chose to anyway,” he said with heavy breaths.
Alley rolled her eyes and jerked away as he placed her onto the seat.
“Not going to hurt me huh? Is this how you not hurt me? Sorry, but you saying you’re sorry doesn’t help the fact that my ribs are probably going to be bruised.”
She sighed. looking for her hoodie, realizing it was gone. The truck had already begun to move when she looked out the back window, noticing it lying on the ground where the truck was parked just moments before.
Still pissed that she didn’t get away, this only made matters worse.
It’s a good thing. Maybe Max will see it and at least know we went this way.
You sure have been chatty lately to be such a quiet animal, she replied, rolling her eyes.
You speak enough for both of us, her fox joked,
Alley just let it go, laying down in the seat, giving in to the fact that she could not run as she drifted off to sleep.
Feeling as if she had been sleeping for only a moment, she woke to darkness and a cold hard floor beneath her. Only a small amount of light shined through from the moon outside. Moving, she noticed that a blanket had been draped across her.
What the fuck is this place, am I in prison again? Those fuckers said I could trust them, Alley thought to herself. She stood and walked to the window to look out. It wasn’t a prison; warehouse type buildings surrounded the landscape. She didn’t have any way of knowing what time it was or how long she had been there. The bigger question was why she had not woken up when they carried her in and placed her on the floor.
There was a bed in the room. Wondering why they had not laid her in it instead of the floor, she walked over and rubbed her hand across the bed as another thought crossed her mind. She had drifted off to sleep while it was still midday and many hours must have apparently passed, with it being after dark already. After making her way to the window again, she looked for the moon, its position would give her some sense of time. It had already begun to fall, letting her know that it was after midnight.
Letting her fox come forth to use her vision in the dark, she made her way to the other side of the room, knowing that there had to be a light switch in this room somewhere.
Found it.
Flipping on the switch, the room came into focus. It wasn’t a prison at all. As a matter of fact, it was a ver
y nice room. Yes, the floors were concrete which would explain the coldness, but they were stained with a very nice pattern, and shiny as if they had been varnished. The walls were a nice shade grey, almost charcoal in color. The bed was covered with maroon linens and there were a few beautiful paintings dotting the walls. She noticed a door to the left of the room and opened it. A bathroom, a very nice bathroom. The garden tub looked very inviting, but then she stopped and turned, making her way back to the door at the front of the room.
Alley reached down to turn the knob, and it opened. What the fuck, she wasn’t locked in the room at all. After pushing the door open, she made her way into the long hallway just outside the room. The hallway opened into a large living space with ceilings that had to be at least sixteen feet in height and windows lined the wall looking out onto the pool, which was lit with in blue lights.
She had hardly walked into the room before a deep, rugged voice spoke.
“Well hello, sleeping beauty.”
She turned to see a man standing behind her. The man was older, with salt and pepper hair, his skin tanned, but aged well, and his dark brown eyes could cut right through you. He had on a robe, but she hoped—God, she hoped—that he wasn’t naked under that damn thing. Because the man standing before her was her father. The father who she hadn’t seen in years. Only a few times had she seen him, to be exact. He was never around much while she was growing up.
Alley reached up to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
“Dad?” She questioned. Just before another voice spoke to her
Finally, I can be heard.
This startled Alley, it wasn’t her fox, but another voice inside her.
“That would be me,” the man replied as he moved closer.
“But why, why now? Why am I here? You haven’t spoken to me in years.” She wasn’t sure what else to say, words escaped her.
This new voice, the father who had hardly even known her, her whole life—for a moment, it all seemed like too much.
