Tridents & Tails: A Pawsitively Purrfect Match: Matchmaking Cats of the Goddesses, #9

By Pepper McGraw

It's a Pawsitively Implausible, Yet Purrfect, Match

Not witchy enough for the witches, nor demonic enough for Hell, Tempest has found a new home in Zero, Kansas, as part of the Zero Cum Laude Coven. Unfortunately, though you can take the girl out of Hell, you can't always get Hell to leave her alone.

Inundated with demonic proposals delivered by a constant stream of "eligible" demons and monstrous hell-kittens, Tempest is at her wit's end, which is not a good look for a weather witch with questionable control.

She definitely doesn't have time for a certain non-demonic, utterly human chameleon who keeps insisting they're mates. Then again, maybe that's the solution to all her demonic problems—a pretend mating. The only challenge will be convincing Matthew that it's all only temporary.

The matchmaking cats of the goddesses are a little uncertain about where this match is going. Hell-kittens, demons, chameleons, witches, and pretend matings, all with an interfering Lucifer in the mix—things are going to Hell in a cat basket.

• Language: English
• Publisher: PMG Publishing
• Release date: Aug 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215964392

Pepper McGraw

Pepper McGraw would love to be able to shift into an animal (any animal, really, though she’s rather partial to cats). Unfortunately, since she wasn't lucky enough to be born a shifter, she’s had to settle for writing about them instead. She's an advocate of animal rescue and supports local shelters and Trap-Neuter-Release programs for feral cats. She’s had the supreme honor of winning occasional head butts and meows from the local ferals in her neighborhood and even of convincing a few to come inside and adopt her as their own. You can follow Pepper on her website www.peppermcgraw.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/peppermcgraw.author    

Book preview

One

BYGUL PRIDED HIMSELF on his belief that no human or earthbound cat was unmatchable.

No matter how difficult—or frankly, feral—the target in question was, eventually every human and every cat could be tamed.

They were all of them redeemable in some fashion.

Of course, redemption often came in the form of true love, but then love was blind for the most part, which explained how he’d managed to match so many bears in his lifetime.

Even on those rare occasions when he thought perhaps he’d finally encountered an unmatchable (like that utterly insane grizzly alpha, Mason Worcester), true love always proved him wrong.

First, Mason had fallen in love with a bunch of cats. Then he’d met his mate and the rest as the humans liked to say, was history.

All of it, of course, was thanks to none other than Bygul himself.

Not that anyone was surprised by his many, legendary successes.

After all, he was the top matchmaking cat of Pawsitively Purrfect Matches, and the beloved companion to the goddess, Freyja, herself.

So actually, what Bygul really meant when he said that redemption often came in the form of true love, was that it came with the help of the matchmaking cats of the goddesses.

In other words, with the help of Bygul himself.

It was, in fact, his conviction that no one was unmatchable that made him so incredibly good at his job.

Of course, that was before he agreed to take on a coven of witches in Zero, Kansas.

A coven, mind you, that literally set the standard for unmatchable.

Between the firestarter and the necromancer, Bygul was fairly certain his unblemished record was about to become a thing of the past.

Then, frankly, a series of miracles occurred.

First, the garden witch managed to discover her own mate, practically before they even arrived, leaving them with the much easier task of matching her to her purrfect familiar companion. They were still searching for a cat who wouldn’t chow down on every plant the garden witch managed to grow (not as easy a task as Bygul had anticipated), but he was certain they would find one soon enough.

In the meantime, Bygul and his associates had turned their attentions to the firestarter and after her, the High Witch of the coven. Both targets were quite challenging, but in the end, they managed to match them both with their cat familiars and their fated mates.

At that point, Bygul tried to rein in his colleagues’ enthusiasm, reminding them that they still had four coven members to go, but the others were riding the high of two seemingly impossible, back-to-back successful matches.

I’m just saying that Pippa was easy, Bygul said.

Easy? Muezza repeated incredulously. She was setting fires left and right.

True, but⁠—

Also, Pippa had no desire for a mate, Soraya exclaimed. That made her especially challenging.

She changed her mind in like twenty-two seconds, Bygul said. "How is that challenging?"

It was longer than that! Soraya said.

"Fine. Twenty-two minutes then."

Silence.

Bygul could tell Soraya wanted to continue arguing with him, but she knew he was right. I’m just saying that the other witches will be much more challenging to match.

You know who’s going to be challenging? Tivali demanded, then answered her own question rather than waiting for a response. Morana, that’s who!

Well, she was right about that. The necromancer was not going to be an easy match.

I vote we leave Morana for last, Soraya said with a shiver. "Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll find her own mate and her own familiar by then."

I agree, Tivali said quickly.

Most definitely, Muezza said. As for our next target, I vote for Tempest.

I like Tempest, TIvali said. She should be a breeze to match, no pun intended. She giggled.

Bygul shook his head in disgust. Surely you’re not talking about the weather witch.

Of course I am, Tivali said. "Didn’t you get it? Tempest? Weather? Breeze?"

She’ll be purrfect! Soraya exclaimed.

Bygul couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d honestly expected them to leave the weather witch for last, in the hopes that maybe she’d stumble into true love on her own, like the garden witch had, but now he realized the other matchmaking cats had no idea who Tempest really was.

Which meant they probably thought she’d be a lot easier to match—and safer—when compared to the pathologically shy witch and the one who raised zombie spiders.

Too bad they were entirely wrong about that.

The only decision left for Bygul to make now was whether he should enlighten his colleagues or simply allow things to play out and hope for the best.

Ah, well.

Sometimes, ignorance really was bliss.

Tempest was not in a good mood.

At all.

She hadn’t had sex in more than a year and this was never ideal for any adult paranormal, but particularly not for one of her caliber.

After all, she might be a witch, but that wasn’t all that she was.

She had another side, one with the potential to cause both chaos and darkness, not that it had ever happened. Still, even the thought of it was terrifying, especially considering her witchy side already created plenty of chaos and literal darkness, what with all the storms causing blackouts.

Even more aggravating was the fact that her father kept sending representatives to try and convince her to move back home.

Not happening.

Especially since he’d been the one to throw her out in the first place.

Something about not being demonic enough.

Whatever.

Story of her life and all that.

After getting kicked out of Hell, she’d joined her mother’s coven for a while.

Not that they’d welcomed her with open arms or anything like that.

In her mother’s words, No coven wants a weather witch who can’t control her emotions. It’s why I sent you to your father in the first place. You destroyed our coven house within hours of your birth with your endless crying.

"Babies are supposed to cry, Tempest had protested. Besides, there’s absolutely no proof that I caused that hurricane!"

Her mother and the other witches of the coven had just given her a look that said they didn’t need proof to judge her guilty.

Given their feelings on the matter, it was something of a miracle they were willing to give her