Page 1 of Purrfectly Kissed

Prologue

Uncle Uzzi stared at his calendar and shook his fuzzy white head. Could it really be this late in the season?

“Well, liebling, you were right. I need a new calendar system,” he mused aloud.

His beloved wife, Betty, would have been tickled pink at his admission. The old Witch grunted a thanks as Richard, his housekeeper, sat a plate of just frosted black and white cookies and black tea on the table.

“Can I get you anything else?”

“No, thank you, Richard,” he said, nodding at the man.

“In fact, I must call the car service. It looks like I have a reservation with Maverick pride, and I must not be late.”

“Yes, sir. I can wrap the leftovers for you to take,” the older man added.

“Ah, yes. That would be lovely, thank you.”

Uncle Uzzi approved of Richard’s baking skills and was glad his wife had hired the man to come work for them once she’d entered hospice. His heart squeezed at the memories of her that came surging back into his brain whenever he thought of his liebling.

“I know, I know,” he mumbled.

He felt the warm caress of her brush against his heart, and Uzzi stilled. Every now and then, he felt her energy as familiar and precious as his own.

She had been his true and fated mate in life and would remain part of his soul until they embarked on their next adventure, be it in this world or another. That was the thing about fated mates. Their souls belonged to one another.

Uzzi had already had his time on earth with his liebling, and as promised, he would dedicate the rest of his time to helping others find their soul mates.

“Come, I must get ready for my travels,” he said to no one in particular.

“Get ready, Maverick Point. Uncle Uzzi’s Magical Matchmaking Service is coming to town, and you pussies are in for it now!”

His laughter rang out, followed by a spark of blue magic that was both warm and bright. There was nothing quite like news of a fated mate to deliver.

“And here we go.”

ChapterOne

Swirls of clouds, stark white against an azure sky circled the top of Mount Maverick, looming in the distance like some far away fairytale mountaintop.

Jessica pushed herself harder, racing across the frost covered forest on her four furry legs. She cut a path through the trees, reveling in the glory of a perfect winter’s day.

The holidays were always hardest on her. Ever since both her parents had passed on, Jess had felt alone. True, she had a brother. Hunter Maverick had proved time and again that he was the best brother in the world. He’d been there through her somewhat difficult formative years. And yet, the man had never mistreated her over any of her teenaged tantrums and histrionics.

She was sure his Neta tendencies had often warred with his older sibling sympathy. Either way, the Alpha male had definitely gotten the short end of the stick when he’d had to take on the role of parent and Pride leader immediately after he’d finished college.

Jessica wasn’t bad per se, but she had a fanciful imagination. Her inner beast chuffed and growled at the memories of her heart laden journals and tear stained pillows.

Grrrrrrrr.

Truth was, she’d been dreaming of love everlasting and her mating ceremony, the equivalent of a wedding for normals, since before she’d even grown boobs. Once she’d received said knockers, she was alllook out Pride males!

Poor Hunter hadn’t known what to do when his green as grass sister had started sneaking around the Pride House, itching to catch a peak of his guards unclothed or mid-shift. That period of time had resulted in many a time out for the young female.

Sigh.

Well, how else was she supposed to learn about boys? Besides, Shifters were uninhibited when it came to nudity. Still, there was such a thing as etiquette.

Once Hunter had caught her staring in a rather un-Shifter-like way, he’d ordered all the men to change forms behind the house. Hell. He’d even had them construct a dressing room of sorts so they wouldn’t walk around his baby sis nude.

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