Maxwell's Fall
Ellora's Cave
Genre: Paranormal
ISBN #9781419922596
Book Length: Plus Novel
Buy the eBook
Never threaten a werewolf’s mate…it just pisses him off.

Mandy wants to prove her father’s innocence and her friend Jackson has agreed to help. Only he’s acting strange. In one day he’s gone from “mild-mannered accountant” to “bad-boy Sex God” and she can’t keep her hands off him. Now she every secret submissive fantasy she’s ever had seems possible, even necessary. It’s very distracting.

Max came to Alaska to check on his brother. But Jackson’s missing. And a cute little blonde is claiming to be Jax’s fiancé. That would be okay if Max’s wolf didn’t want her, bad. Mandy isn’t Max’s type. He likes bold and bitchy, not curvy and innocent. But when Mandy mistakes him for his brother, he goes along with the charade. And discovers that innocence hides some wicked tendencies.

Now he’s got himself into a real mess. He’s sleeping with a woman who thinks he’s his brother, his werewolf has developed a strange attraction for Jax’s very best, very male friend and there are the bad guys after Mandy.

This can’t end well.



Excerpt:
When no one answered the door, Max dug into his pocket and pulled out the key ring Jax had sent him two years ago when he’d moved in. It was crazy. They lived a thousand miles apart, but still swapped keys. Jax had a set for Max’s Vegas apartment.

He put the key in the lock, calling out at as he walked in. There was always the possibility Jax was home and just didn’t want to answer the door. God forbid Max walk in on his brother with some woman. They were close, but he didn’t need to see Jax having sex.

“Jax! You around?” Silence echoed back. Max dropped his bag on the floor and stopped. Something was off. He scanned the room. Nothing blatantly out of place, no cushions overturned or pillows unstuffed but damn, it looked like Jackson’s house had been searched. It felt like the room had been tossed.

Jax was almost fanatical in his need to be organized. It helped his sense of control.

Max pushed the door closed behind him and sniffed the air, letting his wolf senses come to the front. His vision turned black and white. The loss of color sacrificed in favor of crisp sharp focus. Human sweat lingered in the room—surface scents, not imbedded in the furniture. Papers were scattered across the dining room table. Books were misaligned on the shelves. Not that Jax was completely OCD, but he had obsessive tendencies. He never would have left his place like this.

Max closed his eyes and listened. He was alone in the house. At least as far as living creatures.

If Jax is here, his heart isn’t beating.

Reining in the wolf’s volatile emotions, Max forced himself to move methodically through the house. If Jax were still here, he was beyond human help. Letting the anger simmer in his chest—that someone dare threaten his twin—he checked the kitchen, newly remodeled and gleaming. Nothing out of place. Whoever had come in, they hadn’t bothered to search this room.

Max finished examining the first floor then moved upstairs. He stopped at the top and sniffed again. The human smells continued. Jax’s scent lingered beneath the intruder’s. You know he was alive two days ago, Max reminded himself.

Strangely reluctant to continue the search, Max forced air into his lungs and urged his feet around the corner, moving to Jackson’s bedroom first. Empty. The bedside tables had been opened and not closed properly. So had one of the dresser drawers. Not like Jax. A quick peek in the master bath told him it was empty as well.

He retreated, not touching anything, and went to the next room. Jax’s place wasn’t big and he used the second room as an office-guest room. Max pushed open the door and sighed. Empty. Thank God. But here the disarray was more pronounced—files opened and emptied onto the floor.

What had they been looking for? And had they found it?

Questions that Max wanted answers to, but first he needed to answer the most critical one—where was Jax?

He flipped open his phone, ignored the message indicator—another call from Mik, one from Dad—and hit speed dial one. His heel bounced restlessly on the ground as he listened to the buzzing ring in his ear…and heard it echoed downstairs.

Sighing, Max followed the sound and found Jax’s cell phone on the kitchen counter. Wherever he was, he didn’t have his phone.

Max shook his head. Jackson appeared to most of the world as the stable, organized methodical brother. Only their family knew the truth. Jackson had to be organized. He’d forget his head if wasn’t attached—as their mother used to say.

Max paced the living room and debated whether to call the police. Would they even care? It wasn’t obvious unless you knew Jax that the house had been searched and for all Max knew, his brother might be on a plane flying into a remote Alaska village. Jackson consulted with a couple of the Alaska Native Corporations and sometimes had to fly to Nome and Bethel.

Not caring that he invaded his brother’s privacy, Max went to the phone and picked it up. The tone beeped in his ear indicating he had messages. He dialed in to Jax’s voicemail and waited. One message left two hours earlier.

“Jackson, it’s me.” He didn’t recognize the feminine voice. “I’m just calling to remind you about tonight. I know you won’t forget—you never do—but I’m compelled to remind you. If anyone understands that, it’s you, right?” She laughed like it was a joke between them. “Anyway, eight o’clock at Gideon’s. I’ll see you there.”

Max hung up the phone. Whoever the woman on the phone was, she was right about one thing—Jax didn’t forget appointments. If he was supposed to be there tonight, he’d be there. Or Max could officially panic.



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