Free A Matter of Pride by Marie Harte

Monty by the arm with his teeth and dragged him to the back door of the cabin before letting go . “Stacey, stay here. I need to talk to Monty for a minute. Don’t worry. He’ll play ball.”
    “He’d better.” Stacey shook her head, sat and began cleaning herself. “Friggin’ canine.”
    Monty deserved a little fun. Especially after being forced to leave Sophie behind in town, at the mercy of the chaotic wolf order. The damn gray wolves had been sniffing in her direction lately, and he didn’t like it. But was he back home, taking care of his…ah…friend? The hottest she-wolf he’d seen in ages? Nooo.
    Once outside and away from Stacey, Dean changed back to his man’s form.
    Monty bared his teeth at Dean in a parody of a smile. “So you banged Princess Kitty, eh? Didn’t think you had it in you, hillbilly .”
    Dean swore. “Fuck off, Monty. I didn’t bang anyone.”
    The annoyance on Dean’s face was worth the fist Monty was surely going to take. Usually Dean rolled with whatever female wanted some action, joked about it later—with said female—and didn’t let anything ruin his good mood. Dean Chastell had to be one of the mellowest, most fun-loving cats Monty had ever met.
    This tension in his buddy promised a helluva good time.
    “So was she any good?” Monty wiggled his brows. “Think she’ll want the taste of a real man, now that she’s had an inferior pussy?” Oh yeah. Dean’s eyes stared to turn, and the rage gave his scent a touch of musk. “You know, once they go wolf, they never go—”
    And there went his jaw.
     
    The stupid wolf kept laughing, despite the punch to his face. Stacey poked her head out a few times, frowning as she stared from him to Monty.
    “Fuck me, but you hit like a pussy too.” Monty spasmed with laughter.
    “Shut up. I’m serious, Monty. We have trouble close.”
    The wolf settled down after a minute, rubbed his chin and grinned up at Dean with ice blue eyes that never quite contained the predator within. “So some rogue cats are dancing around the woods. Didn’t we teach them a lesson a month ago?” Back when they’d routed the cats who’d kidnapped Gabby and shot Miles, killing Lex’s younger brother in the process.
    “Yeah, but we’re now in the middle of two sets of enemies. Lex, the number one asshole. And Quince, number two. According to Stacey, he’s got a thing for Joy.”
    “Oh hell. I like her .”
    For the first time, it bothered Dean that Monty didn’t like Stacey.
    “Stacey’s not so bad.”
    “Not if you’re fucking her,” Monty muttered and ducked the punch Dean couldn’t help throwing. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. She’s okay, I guess. Just high-maintenance. You sure you know what you’re doing?”
    “What do you think? I had to call you out here for pretend repair work. I’m hiking through the woods with a woman who goes on regular spa treatments and considers a long walk a trip to Macy’s make-up counter. And I’m seriously considering staying feline just so I can watch her get naked when she’s tired of going around four-footed.”
    Stacey snarled from within the house, her growl low enough to carry.
    “Dangerous, that one.” Monty shook his head, and Dean had to agree.
    He’d completely lost his ability to reason. He should have been telling Monty to go back and get the pride involved. Dean should have packed Stacey up and gone home. Her brother and sisters should have been forewarned that danger had come. But he wanted to make her happy. He respected her decision to take control of the situation and meet the enemy on her terms…so long as he could keep her safe.
    “Dean?”
    He shook his head. “Right. So I need you to take word to Burke without letting anyone else know. Stacey said Quince thinks someone’s been watching the pride. They’re reporting back to Lex.”
    “So he knows you two are out here.”
    “Probably. But another fly-by would give us better information to work with.”
    Monty nodded.