Page 152 of Sigils & Spells

Jared regretted leavingPippa’s bed almost as soon as he left it.

He wrote her a note asking her to call and gave her his phone number, but he had a sinking feeling she wouldn’t bother.

She hadn’t acted like she knew they were mates, which he supposed wasn’t surprising since she was a witch and witches typically found their mates the same way humans did—through trial and error.

Jared loved being a shifter for many reasons, but recognizing one’s mate almost from the start was a huge perk in his opinion.

Thank goodness he wasn’t a bear. They were the exception that proved the rule when it came to shifters recognizing their mates right away.

Jared spent the day taking care of business for the pack and checking in on Chester, who had apparently hidden the night before and had only come out of hiding once the packhouse fell silent.

Jared’s mother had found him sleeping in the cat tree this morning, so he was calling that a win.

Maybe the tree wouldn’t just be a dust collector after all. It could collect cat fur as well.

“I’m surprised you’re not with your mate today,” Corwin said when he stopped by Jared’s office that afternoon.

“Too much to do.”

“And you didn’t want to risk her giving you the cougar treatment, right?”

Jared growled, annoyed at the memory of Tempest’s glee that morning when she’d caught him leaving Pippa’s bedroom.

She’d taken great joy in informing him that none of the cougars had ever been allowed to spend the entire night in Pippa’s bed, and in fact, that Pippa never let anyone stay, or return for a second round, once the sexy times were over.

Jared should probably count himself lucky that Pippa had fallen asleep in his arms, but mostly he was annoyed at the thought of all those one-night stands.

Corwin chuckled. “You’re completely gone for her, aren’t you?”

“Of course, I am. She’s my mate!”

Jared should never have mentioned the cougar story to Corwin.

Unfortunately, he’d been in a piss-poor mood when he’d arrived back at the den and Corwin had caught him at just the right moment.

“So what are you doing hanging around here? Go get her!”

“I’m giving her time to miss me.”

Corwin grinned. “How much time do you figure that’ll take?”

“More time than I want to give her, that’s for sure,” he grumbled.

“Since you’re mates and all, I bet it won’t be as long as you think. In fact, it’s probably been long enough already.”

Jared narrowed his eyes and glared at him. “Are you messing with me?”

“Not at all. I just don’t know how you can stand being away from her right now, especially since she hasn’t even acknowledged that you’re mates. I’d be worried some slick cougar would come along and snatch her up.”

Jared let out a growl of pure frustration. “That’s not gonna happen. Besides, there are no cougars in Zero.”

“Actually, that’s not true,” Becca, one of their pack mates said as she walked by on her way down the hall.

Jared bolted from behind his desk and stepped into the hallway. “Becca, what are you talking about?”

She turned and walking backwards, said, “I ran into a couple cougars at the diner. They said they were here to visit one of the witches.”

Jared’s wolf lunged for the surface and it was all Jared could do to keep from shifting.

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