Page 7 of Purrfectly Mated

Uzzi opened his cell phone while he took his first decadent bite of his third, or was it fourth, pastry? The famous black forest bear claw, he moaned and sighed. Cocoa powder and cherry filling had been added to the delicious morsel, making it a sinfully delicious way to end his gorging.

No more after this, liebling, I promise.

Just as he’d expected. The old Witch took another bite and reread the email he’d received earlier that week.

“Well Hank,” he said aloud. “It seems the big bad pussy of Maverick Point has finally admitted he needs Uncle Uzzi’s help to find a mate. Ha! What do you think about that?”

“Sounds like Hunter Maverick is making sense to me, boss,” Hank replied.

Well, it wouldn’t be the first time a pussy cat needed a Witch’s help. Still, this was a special case. TheNeta, orAlphaof the Maverick Tiger Pride, was having an issue with controlling his inner beast. That was never a good thing since Shifters, well, the whole supernatural world at large really, were kept secret from the humans, ornormalsas they were called by Magical beings.

This was not good. Rumors were spreading in Magical circles that Hunter’s ability to control the Pride was waning. If whispered in the wrong ears, challenges would be issued. With challenges, came war, and how could anyone expect to keep a war secret in this technological age?

A problem, for sure! But Uzzi knew this was something that could be solved by finding the Neta his mate. A mated Tiger was a powerful, controlled Tiger. With something as precious as that to lose, no one would stand a chance against the naturally dominant male.

As it was, word had gotten around that the unmated Tiger was losing ground within his inner circle. Rumors were spreading that he was too weak to lead. Hunter’s beast was on edge, and he was looking to Uncle Uzzi for help.

Shifters usually did at one time or other. A male Witch with a gift for matchmaking was rare for any age, but Uzzi had taken to his talents like a pro. He loved his work, and almost anyone would agree, it was a very interesting job. Besides, he could trace his roots back to the Goddess of Love herself.

Shifters operated a little differently than Witches, but not much has changed in the past hundred years far as Uzzi was concerned. It was troubling that so much talk was going on about the Neta of the Maverick Pride.

“Hank, correct me if I am wrong, but are open challenges still the preferred way for a Shifter to go after leadership of a Pack or pride?” he asked.

“Far as I know, yes,” the driver replied.

“Hmm. Interesting. So if a Shifter has a leadership position, what is it based on?”

“Dominance for one,” Hank explained. “Our animals can sense when a beast is more dominant. Challenges typically arise when two or more Shifters in the same group exhibit the same level of dominance.”

“And if the position was inherited?”

“It doesn’t matter, Uncle Uzzi. You only keep power if you can beat everyone else. It seems pretty base, but there it is. Only the strongest earn the right to rule.”

“I see,” Uzzi replied.

It was all quite fascinating, and very different from how covens were run. Now, the way he saw it, the person, or persons, who started these rumors were not following typical protocol. That in itself was worrying.

Worse was the fact that since these whispers had started circulating, the Neta had been forced to ignore his business. Maverick Development was the largest demolition and construction firm in the area. It accounted for ninety percent of the Pride’s income.

If forced to deal with the younger, and increasingly disrespectful, Pride members, to dispute these rumors, which Hunter had no choice but to do, then he was losing focus on the business. The firm needed to renew state and county contracts else take a pretty severe hit financially.

It was almost as if someone was gunning for the man and the pride. Uzzi snorted. The entire situation was no good. Bad business all around, he thought, and wished he hadn’t eaten all of that last pastry.

Of course, Uzzi wanted to help. Mount Maverick was a special community. A place Shifters were known as sort of an open secret. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to the wonderful little town or the Maverick family.

That said, he’d asked Hank to drive him to South Jersey Pride to get a feel for the Neta’s needs. By nature, Tigers were secretive, even in the Shifter world.

It was very telling that Hunter had come to a Witch with his problems at all. Serious business, indeed. Uzzi had dealt with his fair share of Tiger Shifters before, but he knew this situation would require something different.

Not that he was worried, of course. Uzzi trusted he could do the job as he had with countless other couples. The only thing that troubled him was the Tiger had not bothered talking about love, just mating.

Hmm.

That wouldn’t work, but it was a detail Uncle Uzzi was sure he could iron out with the big guy. He already had a few prospects in mind for the striped pussy already, but he was still contemplating it.

“Excuse me, Uncle Uzzi?” Hank looked at him through the rearview mirror.

Uzzi never bothered to raise the partition between them, but he jumped all the same. Sometimes, when he was deep in thought, Uzzi was easily startled. A clap of thunder sounded overhead, and he gasped again.

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