Chasing Tiger Tail [Tigers of Twisted, Texas 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Tigers of Twisted, Texas 3

  Chasing Tiger Tail

  Danna Harris grew up in a family of weretigers. Too bad she was born human. Instead of hoping for her destined mates to show up like everyone else in Twisted does, she has bigger plans. She’ll become an attorney helping shifters with their legal problems. In the meantime, she has to deal with a drunk for a father and a feline bitch for a sister, neither of which is helping to keep their ranch from going under.

  Weretiger brothers Cam and Phil Nordstrom know Danna’s the one. She even admits she’s their mate. The attraction and the primal connection between them are real, resulting in some ferocious fur-standing-on-end sex. So why won’t she give up her dream of going to law school and stay with them like a good mate should?

  Will Cam and Phil chase her until they finally wear her down? Or is she the one Chasing Tiger Tail?

  Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Shape-shifter, Western/Cowboys

  Length: 43,310 words

  CHASING TIGER TAIL

  Tigers of Twisted, Texas 3

  Jane Jamison

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at

  [email protected]

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  CHASING TIGER TAIL

  Copyright © 2015 by Jane Jamison

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-432-7

  First E-book Publication: June 2015

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Chasing Tiger Tail by Jane Jamison from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Jane Jamison’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Jane Jamison’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  Dear Reader,

  I cannot thank you enough for buying my book. My readers are the best and have supported me through good and bad times.

  The Tigers of Twisted, Texas series is one of my favorites. I hope it will become one of your favorites, too.

  Thanks,

  Jane Jamison

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  CHASING TIGER TAIL

  Tigers of Twisted, Texas 3

  JANE JAMISON

  Copyright © 2015

  Chapter One

  Danna Harris knew what she was walking into before she opened the front door of her home. She brushed the dust off her jeans and ran the numbers through her head. Once again, they dipped into the red.

  Cracked Creek Ranch was now as lovely as the name implied, named for a creek that stayed dry more often than wet. The Texas drought had taken an even greater toll on the once-green pastures. Dried-up land with little grass made it difficult to keep a sizeable herd of cattle, but she was doing her dead level best to keep the stock she had in good condition. If she had to sell the herd, she wanted to get top dollar.

  Why did she bother? She hadn’t been able to make the payment on the farm’s mortgage for several months. Could, in fact, feel the pressure of the Bank of Crosston weighing her down. Before the drought, before her mother had run off, leaving her father alone to raise two young girls, the ranch had been profitable. If she hadn’t used up every bit of savings they’d accumulated during the good years as well as relying on the sweet nature of Harold Nish, the manager of the B of C, the bank would’ve already foreclosed on them. But the money was gone and so was Harold, who’d retired to join his kids in California. Georgia Gills, the new manager, was as different from the affable and understanding Harold as night was to day. And Georgia wanted to foreclose. Hell, she’d probably enjoy foreclosing.

  Shit.

  The scene inside the house wasn’t unexpected. Yet just because it wasn’t unexpected, it didn’t mean it was easy to take.

  I should’ve known.

  But still… Shit.

  Her twenty-nine-year-old sister, Harriet, tossed her long, blonde hair over one shoulder and grinned at her, flashing the tips of her fangs. “Hey, sis. What’s up?”

  Danna didn’t react other than to scowl. She’d seen her sister having sex with her intended weretiger mates often enough. It didn’t make it any better, but she’d given up trying to get them to take their sexual romps to a bedroom.

  Harriet moaned, arched her back, and undulated her hips against Edward Wills. Harriet’s other mate, Ralton, slid behind her, clutched a hunk of her hair, and yanked her head back. Their amber eyes flashed, showing how close their tiger-shifters were to the surface.

  “Seriously, Harriet, get a room. Any room. Hell, even a tent will do.” Danna strode past them, doing her best not to glance their way. Edward and Ralton weren’t the brightest bulbs in the lamp, but neither was her sister. Besides, they shared the connection that brought all weretigers together to mate.

  Danna glanced hungrily at the kitchen, but there was no wa
y she’d be able to eat and watch the threesome in action. Instead, she snatched a bottle of water out of the fridge and made a quick right, down the hallway to her bedroom. She’d grab a quick shower—just seeing them made her feel dirty—then put on clean clothes.

  By the time she was out of the shower, Harriet was lounging on the bed.

  Shit and double shit.

  “Don’t you need to take care of your men?” Okay, that wasn’t what she’d meant to say. Or at least not how she’d meant to say it. Of course, her sister jumped all over her slip of the tongue.

  “Didn’t you see us? I already did.” Harriet sat up and scanned her gaze up and down Danna. “Jealous much?”

  Not again.

  It was an old discussion. Or argument. Or whatever it could be called. One she was very tired of having.

  “You know I’m happy for you, Harry.” She pulled a T-shirt out of the old battered bureau. Using the childhood name she’d given her sister wouldn’t help maintain the peace, but even she liked to get a lick in every once in a while. Besides, it had been a really long day.

  “Are you, sis? I mean, you’re getting long in the tooth and you still haven’t found your mates.”

  “Long in the tooth? Really? I’m five years younger than you and you just met your mates a few months ago.” She tugged on a thong and a pair of shorts. “Besides, you know I don’t care about getting mated. Connection or not, I’ve got a different plan for my life than eating dirt and spitting out babies.”

  Harriet smirked. “Oh, right. I keep forgetting. You’re out to be a big-time lawyer. You’re going to help all kinds of shifters, especially when we come out of hiding to everyone else in the world. Not that it’ll ever happen.”

  “That’s right.” She was out the door and choked back a groan when she heard her sister right behind her. “Leave me alone, Harry.”

  “First of all, it’s Harriet, not Harry. You’re not a little kid any longer, sis. Say my name the right way.”

  She made it to the door before she whirled around to confront Harriet. “Fine. I’ll stop calling you Harry if you’ll stop trying to make me jealous of you and your men. I’m not jealous.” She cringed. Was she protesting too much? “I’m ambitious. Like I said, I want more than just being someone’s mate.”

  Harriet’s face closed in, anger darkening the amber flecks in her eyes. “Yeah, sure. Like you could say no to the connection. No one says no to the connection.” Her eyes narrowed. “If you ever get lucky enough to meet a mate or two. Who knows? Maybe you won’t get the connection, anyway. Then you won’t have to prove you’d choose your precious law career over them. You’re a freak, sis, and you know it.”

  Danna closed her eyes, gathered her resolve not to strike out verbally, and then leveled her gaze at Harriet. “Just leave me alone.” She was out the door, but, of course, that didn’t keep Harriet from following her again.

  “You’re human. How did that happen when our mom is a weretiger and our dad’s half-shifter? Hell, even Dad thinks Mom must’ve fooled around. Maybe you’re not really even his daughter.”

  Pain seared through Danna at the old, all-too-familiar jab. “Bullshit. He’s part human. That’s how it happened.”

  She’d been born a full human while Harriet was all weretiger. Both outcomes were rare with a full-shifter and half-weretiger mating, but it did happen. Had Harriet somehow gotten her half of her parents’ shifter blood? It had taken her most of her life to accept she didn’t have a drop of weretiger in her, but she’d finally come to terms with it. At first, she’d hoped being human would keep her from getting caught up in the whole connection-mate thing, but that was before she’d realized how many of the female shifters in Twisted had been human at one time.

  “You went to college and you want to go to law school because you know you don’t belong here.”

  Sometimes she had to summon all her patience not to slap Harriet.

  “And where is ‘here’ anyway? Do you mean here at the ranch? Or here in Twisted? Either way, I do belong. Other humans have ranches and own businesses in town. Damn it. I’ve busted my ass to keep this ranch going. I belong here as much as you do.”

  Hell, more.

  She was so angry, spit came flying out. “Unlike you, I don’t spend my days fucking, sleeping, and eating. I work.”

  More amber filled her sister’s eyes. If Harriet got too angry, she might shift. Not that Danna actually feared Harriet would hurt her, but her sister was unpredictable. If she got angry enough, who knew?

  “That’s not all I do.” Harriet crossed her arms and adopted her usual pout. “I don’t work on this fucking ranch because I don’t need to. I’m going to live with my men soon enough.”

  She wanted to argue, to make her sister prove her assertion, but held back. She often felt like the older sibling.

  “And what about our father, Harriet? When I’m off to law school, who’s going to help him? What happens if the bank forecloses on the ranch? What then?”

  Hank Harris wasn’t much good to either himself or to his daughters. He helped a little around the ranch, but most days he was off by the creek with a bottle of his favorite booze tucked under his arm. He always said he was “going fishing” but he never caught a damn thing. How could he when he never took a rod and reel? Instead of cooking fish, she’d lost count of the number of times she’d had to drag him back to the house to sleep in his own bed.

  She’d clung to the hope that Harriet would step up and help her father handle the ranch once she was gone. But looking at her sister now, she realized once again just how useless it was to think so. Although from the way things were going, there wouldn’t be a ranch to worry about.

  “He can live with me.” Harriet’s angry expression morphed into an evil sneer. “We don’t need this ranch. My men have their own land.”

  “It’s our home. How can you just let it go?” Could Harriet really walk away so easily?

  “It stopped being our home when Mom left.”

  She gritted her teeth, fighting against what would come next. Please, don’t say it.

  “And she left because of you.” Harriet’s voice dropped to a menacing level. “She couldn’t handle having a human baby so she left.”

  If ever Harriet deserved to get slapped in the face, it was then, but still Danna resisted. “She left because of Dad’s drinking. Not because of me.”

  “And when did he start drinking, sis? I’ll tell you when. Right after you were born. Right after he realized you were full human.”

  “You’re wrong. Dead wrong. He started drinking a long time before that.”

  Yet a part of her couldn’t help but think maybe Harriet was right. Having a baby born human had to have been a shock to both her parents. The idea that her mother could’ve cheated on their father wasn’t as big of a stretch as she would’ve liked to believe. But she knew their father had started drinking before her birth. Had he started because he’d found out his mate was unfaithful? A weretiger cheating on its mate was as rare as a child being born full human. Getting hit by lightning was just as likely, but it wasn’t like it couldn’t happen.

  Harriet’s evil grin widened. “That’s bullshit and you know it. He didn’t drink hard before she ran off. Before you were born. But you keep on telling yourself your lies, sis. I hope it helps you sleep at night.”

  “I sleep just fine.”

  “And when you run off to law school? Will you still sleep good then, too? You’re running off and leaving us just like she did.”

  “It’s not the same thing.” Why was she trying? They’d had the same argument over and over, but nothing ever changed. She turned on her heel and headed for the mailbox at the end of the driveway.

  Why did Harriet give her such a hard time? Did her sister really blame her for their mother leaving and their father diving harder into the bottle? Was she the real reason the ranch was failing? Yet she couldn’t believe she was to blame for all of it. If she did, she’d never be able to go to law school.<
br />
  At the slamming of the front door, she glanced over her shoulder, thankful that Harriet had finally decided not to follow her. She let out a sigh and wished she could find a way to unwind. Harriet could find solace in the arms of her intended mates, but where was her peace?

  Her hand shook as she pulled the mail from the box. As she did every day, she skimmed each letter, studying the return addresses. Her fingers stilled over the next to last letter.

  It’s here. It’s finally here.

  She’d applied to four law schools. If she didn’t get into one of those four, then she’d take it as a sign that a career as an attorney wasn’t meant to be. It would break her heart, but she’d accept it and move on.

  She tore open the envelope and tried not to let how thin it was dash her hope. Slowly, with breath held, she read it.

  “Unfortunately, we are unable to offer you…”

  Her breath exploded out of her.

  Shit and double shit.

  She scanned the letterhead.

  At least it wasn’t my first choice.

  Still, it was a blow.

  She did her best to look on the bright side. She still had three schools that hadn’t responded yet. Plus, waiting would give her more time to figure out how to pay for school. As much as she hated the idea, she’d have to rely on loans to supplement the few scholarships and grants she’d received.

  She looked back at the house. Her father’s silhouette darkened his bedroom window and then was gone. At least he was home. She wouldn’t have to go track him down. Getting him poured into bed later, once he was drunk out of his mind, would be easier tonight.