Free By the Tail by Marie Harte Page A

since the last time he’d been in Cougar Falls seeking investors, Miles’s hair had been
blue
. Fucking Dean Chastell and his stupid pranks. Jesus, Miles needed a break from Cougar Falls already. He’d learned to tolerate Burke, but the other males… His head throbbed. At least Melissa and Amy seemed to be thriving in the far north.
    His taxi pulled into a section of drive not blocked by the security gate. Miles left the cab, accepted his bags from the trunk and paid the driver, including a generous tip for the man’s blessed silence on the way home from the airport. His house sat just down the road from the pride’s estate—Michael’s house. He refused to consider it Quince’s.
    After inputting the code, he waited until the gates opened, then strode through and up the drive. He didn’t mind the walk. He needed it to clear his head. He hated being cooped up in airplanes. Maybe it was time to invest in a private jet. But that would mean more time away from home.
    He sighed with indecision and let himself inside, not surprised to find a layer of dust on everything. Time to call the cleaning service again. Like most of the others in the pride, Miles used an in-house service as often as possible. Supporting the pride financially made sense. He’d call the Lorenz sisters tomorrow.
    After tossing his coat and briefcase on the couch and leaving his bags behind, he decided to stop putting off the inevitable and checked his personal cell phone messages. As usual, nothing from Joy, even though he’d left her six messages since last week. At this rate, she was neck-and-neck with Stacey for most annoying sibling of the year.
    He swore to himself then paused at the next message on his phone. Alissa Roberto? Hell, he hadn’t talked to her in months, not since the last time he’d shot her down. He wasn’t looking for a quick hook-up with a woman whose ego rivaled his own. He knew his worth, and he would pick and choose his mate on
his
terms. Not that he was interested in mating, not yet.
    He figured at some point he’d feel the urge, but he had too damn many things to do to spend time with just one woman on a regular basis. Sex was all well and good, but he could get that easily enough. At the thought, he wondered if Willow was currently unattached. A pretty cat with a good head on her shoulders, she never asked for more than he wanted to give. Like him, she didn’t want to settle down. Just a bit of fun every now and then.
    Miles listened to Alissa’s message with half an ear, not intending to call her back or get together with her, until she mentioned how Quince had been hounding his little sister. How the man continued to stalk her, going so far as to force her to spend time with him, or else.
    “Or else what, motherfucker?” Miles set down the phone and stalked to his side bar. After pouring himself a straight vodka, he downed it in one gulp. Not sure if he should deal with Quince now or later, he decided to give himself a break. Joy could handle herself, for the most part. After a good night’s sleep, he’d find the bastard who’d made his family’s life a living hell the past few months. Then he’d pound some sense into him. And if Quince thought about running Joy or any other Bermin into the ground, Miles would gladly disabuse him of the notion.
     
    Quince drove them back to the pride’s estate the next evening in the best mood he’d been in ages. Talk about a hell of a party. He and Joy had spent quality time together. He’d once again explained how everything had gone down with Lex, and this time she acted as though she believed him. Even better, she’d willingly shared stories of her time in Cougar Falls with him.
    But even knowing that she and Dean Chastell had never fooled around, he still wanted to beat the smooth-talking cat to a pulp. Then again, the poor guy was stuck with Stacey for life. Punishment served.
    “What’s that smirk for?” Joy asked. Her hand lay on his thigh as he drove. Since