Going Catty

  A PAWSITIVELY PURRFECT MATCH IN ZERO, KANSAS

  PEPPER MCGRAW

  Contents

  Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Thank you for reading

  Other Books by Pepper

  Anthologies & Collections

  About the Author

  Going Catty Copyright © 2025 Pepper McGraw

  Digital Edition

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Cover and Title Page Images from Dreamstime:

  Hanging Bat with Kitten Looking Up © World of Vector

  Gothic Female Vampire © Vanilladesign

  Calico Kitten © Gerges Haleem

  Gray Maine Coon Cat © Ljoovseh

  Gray Cat with Bat Wings © Zsuskaa

  Paw Prints and Heart © Zsuskaa

  Cat Scratching Wall © Bluedarkat

  Pawprints © Fourleaflover

  Edited by J.L. Troughton

  PMG Publishing

  Description

  The matchmaking cats of the goddesses

  are back in Zero, Kansas,

  to work their magic on a witch

  and his pawsitively vampurrfect mate.

  Rowan and Dinara are about as different as night and day. He’s a witch. She’s a vampiress. Still, this will not stop them from finding their way toward each other. First, though, Rowan has to somehow gain control of his magic and Dinara has to convince him that she’s not going batty.

  From the main square in Zero, Kansas to the streets of Buenos Aires, the matchmaking cats of the goddesses will go wherever they must in order to find the purrfect familiar for the next witch on their caseload. No matter what it takes, this match will be pawsitively purrfect.

  One

  “I’VE FOUND THE purrfect match for Rowan,” Soraya announced.

  “You’re talking about a cat this time, right?” Bygul demanded suspiciously.

  “Of course, I am!”

  Bygul had no idea why Soraya said it like that, as if she’d never matched a human with their mate before matching them with a cat, when in fact, she had a terrible habit of doing just that.

  “Really?” Tivali exclaimed. “I didn’t think we had a single cat on our caseload who was a good candidate for a witch’s familiar.”

  “That’s why I asked the other matchmaking cats for help.”

  Bygul let out a growl of annoyance. “Which other cats?” If she said his brother’s name, or worse, K.C., Bygul would absolutely lose it.

  “All of them,” Soraya said cheerfully.

  “All of them?” Bygul repeated incredulously.

  “Yes, but Fannar’s suggestion had the most promise, so get ready, cats. We’re going to Buenos Aires!”

  Rowan’s life changed in ways he never could have anticipated when his magic pulled him and his best friend, Jo, to Zero, Kansas.

  There, they’d found five other witches, and together, had formed a coven they’d eventually named the Zero Cum Laude Coven.

  Zero, Kansas, had represented a fresh start for each of them, but it had also been a bit boring, with very few potential bedmates. So, they’d cast their first spell as a Coven, and the town had been forever changed as a result.

  That spell had drawn a slew of eligible paranormals to town in the form of a vampire coven, a wolf pack and a chameleon coalition.

  This would have been great if Jo hadn’t changed the spell ever so slightly by leaving off the word bed when casting for those eligible paranormals. The result had been six castings for bedmates and one casting for fated mates.

  Even though the spell had been weighted in favor of bedmates, fate was such a fickle bitch that six months later, five of the seven witches in their Coven were mated.

  Jo had found her mate first, followed by Pippa, Natalie, Tempest and finally, Amaryllis, whose mating ceremony had just taken place at the Vampire Coven House.

  Truthfully, even though Morana remained unmated, everyone knew she’d found her mate back in the very beginning.

  Blade was simply playing hard to get.

  This made Rowan the last holdout in his Coven, but that all changed when he showed up at Amari’s mating ceremony earlier that evening, caught sight of a vampiress and was struck by the sense of knowing he’d always associated with his magic.

  It was this sense that had brought him to Zero, Kansas, in the first place, that told him he belonged with the other witches they’d found there, that Natalie would one day be their Coven leader and that here in this town of Zero, Kansas, the Coven would reach its full potential and each member would find their true purpose.

  He simply hadn’t known the path toward that potential and purpose would involve fated mates and familiars.

  He’d rather been looking forward to the familiar part, but not at all to the finding of his mate.

  Now that he’d found her, though, he was all in.

  He’d seen the vampiress in passing just the day before at the Zero Cum Laude Coven House, but he’d been dragged away so quickly, he’d only been left with a fleeting impression of her.

  Tonight, though, he’d taken one look at Dinara and that sense of knowing had returned. He’d managed to edge his way toward her during the mating ceremony and hadn’t left her side since.

  Though Rowan was impatient to get to know his mate, he was also there for Amari, as was the rest of their Coven. Of course, they were there to celebrate with her, but since social events like this one often stressed Amari terribly, they were also there to act as a shield should she need one.

  It didn’t take long, however, for Rowan to see that Lassiter would serve as that shield when she needed it, which meant that Rowan could ease back and just enjoy his mate.

  The two of them mingled for a while, then eventually, found a quiet corner and spent hours just talking and getting to know each other.

  The more Rowan got to know Dinara, the more gobsmacked he became. That this woman was his fated mate was a miracle he’d never expected in his life.

  Despite the fact that this was the mating ceremony and celebration of the King of Vampires, who also happened to be her father, Dinara was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt that had a bunch of bats flying from the words, “Gone batty.”

  As someone whose entire wardrobe was made up of jeans and band t-shirts—and who was currently sporting a Pink Floyd one—Rowan found this to be incredibly attractive.

  When he couldn’t resist the temptation any longer, he finally asked the question that had been burning is his brain the entire night. “So do you? Go batty, I mean.”

  “Well, sure.” Dinara chuckled. “Everyone goes a little batty at times, right?”

  Was she messing with him? “I meant in the other way.”

  She just stared at him.

  He made flapping motions with his hands. “You know. Do you go batty?”

  “Are you asking me if I transform into a bat?” She asked incredulously.

  “Well.” Rowan hesitated. “You are a vampire, and the shirt seemed a little on point, so I just wondered, you know.”

  “I thought the shirt was hilarious,” Dinara said seriously. “In no way was it an advertisement of my ability to transform myself.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s rather disappointing,” Rowan said.

  Dinara snickered. “Can you imagine? I mean, how ridiculous. Bats are tiny. There’s no way a human could shrink into that small of a creature.”

  “I don’t see why not. There are shifter bears, right? And the humans are rarely the size of their bears.”

  “Bears are an anomaly that makes no sense in the rational world,” Dinara said.

  “So they’re the exception that proves the rule?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Then how do you explain the arctic foxes?” Rowan grinned. “Their fox is much smaller than their human side.”

  “Another exception,” Dinara insisted.

  “Yeah, but think of all those movies where vampires turn into bats,” Rowan teased. “Maybe you’re just ignoring a very important part of your vampiric nature. Have you ever actually tried to turn into a bat?”

  “Of course not. It’s ridiculous. I’ve never heard of a single, true vampire transforming into anything, let alone a tiny bat. It’s absurd. We’re demons, not flying rodents.”

  “Well, that’s awfully rude to bats.” Natalie settled onto a couch across from them. “They’re really quite cute.” She looked up at her mate. “Don’t you agree?”

  Corwin sent Rowan a look that made known exactly how he felt about being drawn into such an absurd conversation.

  Rowan just grinned back at him.

  With a huge sigh, Corwin settled at Natalie’s side and said, “Never seen one, so I can’t actually say one way or the other.”

  “Well, cute or not,” Dinara said, “vampires don’t turn into them.”

  “How can you be so sure if you’ve never tried?” Rowan teased.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. It’d be a waste of my time.”

  “Well, I think you should give it a try, at least once,” he told her.

  “Try what?” Jo asked as she and Annika joined them.

  “Rowan’s trying to convince Dinara to try and transform into a bat,” Natalie said .

  “Oooh,” Jo exclaimed. “Can you do that?” She whirled to Annika. “Why haven’t you told me this?”

  “Because it’s not a thing,” Annika said. “Vampires can’t just transform like shifters do. We’re vampires. That’s all.”

  “Well, that’s disappointing,” Jo said.

  “That’s what I said.” Rowan grinned at his best friend and her vampire mate. “But I’ll ask you, Annika, what I asked Dinara. Have you ever tried to transform into a bat?”

  “Don’t be absurd.” Annika laughed. “Why would I try something so completely ridiculous? It’s just not possible, Rowan. Trust me.”

  “All I’m saying is it wouldn’t hurt to try. You never know. It could be a thing.”

  “Fine,” Dinara said. “Let’s get my dad over here. He’ll clear this up in a hot minute. After all, if anyone knows whether vampires can transform into bats, it’d be him.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to—” Rowan began, but she was already gone.

  A few moments later, she returned with Lassiter and Amari.

  “Go ahead,” she told Rowan. “Ask.”

  Rowan cleared his throat. “I was just wondering whether it was true that vampires could transform into bats.”

  Lassiter stared at him a long moment, then looked at his daughter, who just shrugged.

  “I’ve never heard of a single vampire transforming into anything in all my years of existence,” Lassiter finally said. “I’m concerned that you’ve asked, though.”

  Rowan was startled. “Uh, why? I was just curious.”

  “Because you’re a seer. Right?”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “So, does that mean you’ve had a vision of vampires transforming into bats?”

  Rowan grinned. He could have explained that he didn’t have visions, that instead, he simply had a sense of knowing, but that wouldn’t be anywhere near as fun. He could also admit that he’d had no such sense about whether vampires could transform or not, but had simply been curious. That would have been even less fun. So, instead, he lied. “Absolutely.”

  Blade wandered by just in time to hear Lassiter’s question and Rowan’s answer.

  He froze, whirled to face them, then let out a squeal of excitement and raced out.

  Dinara eyed Rowan for a long moment, then said, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

  Rowan shrugged. “Not my fault he didn’t wait to hear the entire conversation. If he’d stayed, he would have heard me add the word not.”

  “Not?” Tempest asked.

  “Yes, as in absolutely not. I’ve not had any visions at all.”

  Dinara let out a snort of amusement.

  “You know, he’s going to spend the rest of the night trying his hardest to transform into a bat,” Lassiter said exasperatedly.

  “Maybe we’ll all be surprised and he’ll succeed,” Corwin said.

  “Highly doubtful,” Lassiter muttered.

  “That was so wrong,” Dinara said to Rowan with a chuckle.

  “I know,” Rowan said cheerfully.

  “I’m starting to realize there’s more to you than meets the eye.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to try and become a bat?”

  “Of course not.”

  Two

  BYGUL WAS NOT happy.

  They’d come to the exact spot Fannar had recommended, where they’d found a very magical cat, who was a purrfect candidate to become a witch’s familiar, just as he’d promised.

  The only problem was she was also the mama of a litter of kittens.

  Six kittens, to be exact.

  “Fannar did this on purpose!” Muezza said. “Foisting a magical mama cat plus her six magical kittens on us is just so darn⁠—”

  “Rude!” Tivali exclaimed.

  “Maybe we can take them all home to Rowan,” Soraya said. “He might adopt them all. Or we can give him half and the other half to Morana.”

  “Seven magical cats between the two of them?” Tivali asked incredulously. “That’s a disaster waiting to happen. You know witches usually only have one familiar.”

  “Tempest and Merry both have two,” Soraya said.

  “They’re demon hybrids,” Muezza said. “They need two familiars.”

  “Unlike our final two witches, who only need one familiar each,” Tivali said severely.

  “Fine,” Soraya sighed. “So what’s the plan?”

  “We find homes for five of the kittens, then take the remaining kitten and the mama cat to Rowan and Morana,” Bygul said. “So, let’s get to work, team.”

  Dinara and Rowan stayed up all night, talking about anything and everything. They then went into town for breakfast at Zero Diner, an outing that Rowan proclaimed counted as their very first date.

  “I won’t count last night, even though we spent the majority of the evening together, simply because it was the first time we actually met,” he told Dinara as they settled in a booth. “However, this morning definitely counts.”

  Dinara grinned. “Personally, I think last night was the perfect first date.”

  “Really?” Rowan looked surprised, though she couldn’t imagine why.

  The date has truly been spectacular. They’d talked for most of the evening, but had also hit the dance floor with enough regularity for Dinara to discover two things.

  First, Rowan was an amazing dancer with rhythm to spare, and second, being held in his arms was guaranteed to send flames licking down her spine. The man was sexy as hell and he revved all her engines.

  Just looking at him made heat rush through her. “Absolutely,” she assured him.

  “Well, then, I guess this is our second date, after all. Does that mean I get to kiss you at the end of it?”

  She smirked. “Maybe.”

  “Hot damn.”

  Dinara snickered and he grinned back at her. “To be honest, Rowan, the only maybe is in regards to who’ll be kissing whom.”

  “I’m thinking either way, the odds are definitely in my favor.”

  It was the grin that did it.

  She just couldn’t wait any longer.

  She surged up and across the table, but he was already moving as well.

  They met in the middle of the table with a kiss that sent flames rippling through her.

  He slid one hand around her neck as she clutched his shoulders and they battled for control of the kiss.

  “Right, that’s enough of that.” Two water glasses were shoved in between them, startling Dinara.

  She pulled back, heart pounding and glanced down at the steaming glasses.

  Yikes. She dragged in a deep breath and tried to gain control of the flames that were licking under her skin.

  “What’ll you have?” Mary Lou, the human owner of the diner, stood hands on hips, glaring at them.

  Keeping her eyes on Mary Lou out of fear she’d laugh if she looked at Rowan, Dinara gave her order quickly.

  Rowan gave his, then Mary Lou stalked off, but not before delivering a salty warning. “This is a public establishment, where food is prepared. Control yourselves.”

  Dinara waited until Mary Lou was back behind the diner’s counter before she peeked across the table at Rowan.

  His eyes were dancing with humor, which made Dinara snicker. “Don’t make me laugh,” she whispered. “That human’s scary.”

  “She is, isn’t she?” Rowan agreed. “I miss Starlight.”

  So did Dinara. More, though, she missed her brother, Talon, who now lived in the Hell Realm with Starlight, who managed Hell’s B&B, and their daughter, Jasmine.

  “Starlight wouldn’t have blinked an eye at that kiss,” Rowan muttered.

  Starlight wouldn’t have blinked an eye if Dinara had done what she’d wanted and used the flames of Hell to transport them back to her bedroom at Coven House.

  That’s what came of being a Traveler’s daughter, whose childhood was spent wandering the realms. By the time Starlight had settled in Zero, Kansas, nothing had the ability to startle her, not even customers wolfing out, witches raising the dead or trees stalking down Main Street.

 

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