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  Ask for the Moon

  A Fated Mates & Paranormal Dating Agency Novella

  Rochelle Paige

  Contents

  A Note to from the Author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  Also by Rochelle Paige

  About the Author

  A Note to from the Author

  Dear Readers,

  Ask for the Moon has been published as part of Milly Taiden’s new Paranormal Dating Agency Kindle World. If you’ve read any of the books in her series, you’ll see a familiar face—Gerri Wilder. Including her spitfire of a matchmaker in my story was so much fun since I’m a fan of the series.

  And if you’ve read my shifter romances (the Black River Pack or McMahon Clan stories), you’ll see some familiar faces from there, too.

  Happy reading!

  Rochelle Paige

  1

  Seth

  As the head of the shifter council, my job never seemed to be done. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. And the issues had only become more complicated when I gave a seat on the council to a witch six months ago. It had been a bold decision since shifters were wary of the power witches held, and witches were petrified of the possibility of being outed by shifters since they were the only ones who knew their secret.

  Both groups had a long history of staying far away from each other. Or, at least, most of them did. I’d met more witches over the years than anyone would ever expect. Then again, in my position as council leader, I had the advantage of being aware of the secret prophecy that proclaimed how important a witch would become to shifters.

  As the prophecy had been explained to me, it had come about when a dragon shifter had a witch for his fated mate, and he was the witch’s destined consort. Their union was unheard of—an impossibility in everyone else’s minds. His hold and her coven didn’t allow them to come together as nature had intended. They killed the powerful dragon, and the prophecy was born as the witch follwed him into death.

  I never expected to meet the young witch mentioned in the prophecy all those years ago, the one who’d be destined for a shifter. A powerful witch, unlike any who had come before her, able to face the challenges to her union with her shifter and hold on to her consort. Then Camden McMahon, the youngest triplet son of a member of the council, mated a witch, and I knew the prophecy was going to be fulfilled.

  I watched the situation closely, waiting for the moment when Selene Trevil proved me right. She didn’t make me wait long, and I swooped in with my offer for her to join the shifter council. Damien, the powerful dragon shifter who served as the council’s enforcer, had convinced me of the necessity of the plan when he shared with me part of the prophecy that was only known to his hold—since the dragon had been part of it. He had explained that the shifters needed to make the next move to fully unite our worlds, or else we’d never have a real alliance and this would all be for naught. I refused to fail all the shifters I was tasked with protecting. The only solution that I came up with that made any sense was creating a spot on the council for a witch and asking Selene to fill it.

  I expected there to be shifters who would be vocal in their protest of Camden and Selene’s mating. My fear was that they would push for the council to nullify it, not that I’d ever agree to such a thing. With Selene in a position of power on the council, I was able to demonstrate the degree of support she had. It left nobody, witch or shifter, in doubt about the permanency of the changes being made.

  With the prophey fulfilled, our world was evolving. It was my job to ensure that shifters continued to thrive. We had a tough road ahead of us, and my mind was on the long list of things I needed to get done as I walked to my car. Even though I was distracted, I was still completely aware of my surroundings. My senses never failed me, which meant our council enforcer couldn’t sneak up on me—much to the chagrin of the powerful dragon shifter.

  “Damien.” I didn’t bother turning around before I said his name. It was more enjoyable to let him think, for that brief moment, that he might have finally been able to take me by surprise.

  “Dammit,” he grumbled. “One of these days, I’m going catch you unawares.”

  “Not if I can help it,” I chuckled as he caught up with me. At six foot six, it didn’t take him long to eliminate the ten feet separating us. Unfortunately, his green eyes didn’t hold even the slightest hint of humor, and my laughter dried up. “I take it this isn’t a good news/bad news situation?”

  “Is it ever?” he drawled.

  “Not when you’re the messenger.”

  “Just so long as you don’t shoot me.”

  “Like that would stop you.” He wasn’t just built like a Mack truck, he looked like he could stop one from barreling into him with a flick of his wrist. It was hard to picture a mere bullet taking him down.

  “Keep that in mind when you hear what I have to say, since I have a feeling you’re going to want to shoot me.”

  “Shit,” I groaned. “It’s that bad?”

  “Or that good, depending on how you want to look at it,” he replied mysteriously.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “Not out here.”

  I jerked my chin towards my car, and he rounded to the passenger side while I climbed into the driver’s seat. Since it was cold outside, I started the engine and cranked up the heat. When he closed the door and turned to face me, I snapped, “Explain.”

  “You need to speed up the process to find your fated mate.”

  “Speed up the process?” I echoed, unsure how to react. Not only was it the last topic I thought he’d bring up, I had no idea how he expected me give fate a nudge in the right direction.

  “Yup.”

  “Yup isn’t going to cut it. I need you to help me out here by being a little more specific.”

  “Okay. I can do that.” He nodded, flames swirling in his green eyes—a sign he was tapping into his dragon magic. “Finding your fated mate is going to be more vital than ever in the near future. It’s time to consider... unorthodox measures.”

  “Do you have a particular one in mind?” I had the feeling that he did, especially since nothing he’d said so far made me want to shoot him.

  “Call in an expert, Gerri Wilder.”

  The name sounded familiar, but it wasn’t ringing a specific bell for me. “Who’s that?”

  “The owner of a paranormal dating agency.”

  “A matchmaker?” I scoffed, incredulous at the suggestion.

  “She has an outstanding track record when it comes to helping shifters who’ve had no success mate hunting on their own.”

  “I’m the head of the shifter council, I can do my own damn hunting. Of anything, including my mate,” I grumbled.

  “Sometimes even the strongest of us—and fate—need a helping hand.” There was something in his voice, the slightest note, that had me wondering if he included himself in that statement. “Besides which, who’s to say this isn’t exactly t
he way you’re supposed to find your mate? Maybe fate put me in your path so I’d suggest this course of action.”

  “Considering what a pain in my ass you can be, I somehow doubt that.”

  “Only when it’s absolutely necessary.”

  “Only when you’ve decided that it’s needed, you mean,” I sighed. “Completely ignoring the fact that I’m the head of the council you’re supposed to serve.”

  He quirked an eyebrow at me, an arrogant smirk on his face. It was a reminder that he could just as easily serve in the same role if he wanted it. “What can I say? When I’m right, I know it.”

  “And you think this is one of those times?”

  “Yes, Seth. I do.” Those damn green eyes of his swirled with flames again, making it more difficult for me to argue against the idea that I balked at with everything inside of me.

  “Shit,” I groaned. “A matchmaker?”

  “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

  “You calling me desperate?”

  “Nah, I’m just giving you a hard time,” he chuckled. “But do me a favor and don’t tell Gerri that I referred to her as a ‘desperate measure.’”

  I was skeptical about the idea of using a matchmaker to help me in my search for my fated mate. But I was also excited to meet the woman who was able to make Damien worry about her reaction to his choice of words. Anyone who managed to scare him was someone I wanted to know.

  2

  Jane

  I had a generic smile on my face when I looked up at the sound of the bell over the door to the specialty tea shop where I worked. It quickly blossomed into a huge grin when I recognized my favorite customer.

  “Gerri! How wonderful to see you again so soon,” I greeted her. “You look lovely today, as always.”

  “A little bit of flattery to woo me into giving up the goods?” She lifted the brown paper bag she was carrying and waved it back and forth.

  “Although I’m not above doing whatever it takes to get those delicious”—I sniffed deeply and caught the scent of sweet blueberries—“muffins, you really do look great. As per usual.”

  At only four feet and eleven inches, Gerri should have been hard to spot in a crowd. But the combination of her blue eyes that had the tendancy to turn golden, perfectly bobbed pure-white hair, and spitfire of a personality made her impossible to miss.

  “Damn shifter sense of smell. It makes it hard to keep baked goods a secret around any of you.”

  My smile only got wider. She talked a big game, but she really was a sweetie. She carried the proof of it in her hand. I made a come hither signal with mine. “C’mon, give it to me. You know you want to.”

  I ripped into the bag as soon as she handed it to me. My mouth watered as the scent grew stronger. “Aha! I was right. You brought me my favorite muffins.”

  “Of course I did,” she laughed. “I like baking them as much as you like eating them. It’s such a small gesture, but it makes you so happy. I love seeing the smile on your face whenever I bring you a treat.”

  “What can I say? I’m easy to please.”

  She gave me a doubtful look as I led her into the store and made my way around the counter. I didn’t ask her what she wanted since I had her usual order memorized. When I brewed her tea and turned around, she was still giving me the same look. The glint in her eyes made me uncomfortable. It was as if she was seeing me as prey, and that couldn’t be a good thing.

  “Why do I have the feeling that you’re up to no good?” I asked.

  “Stop being so suspicious,” she chided. “When you said you’re easy, it hit me. In all the time I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you with a man.”

  There was a good reason for that. Gerri had been coming in to the shop for more than two years, and I hadn’t had a man in my life in longer than that. “There isn’t a man in my life.”

  “Come sit with me,” she ordered. Since she tended to come in during slower periods of the day, I usually spent at least a little bit of time chatting with her. Normally, I loved our conversations, but I found myself wishing for a rush of customers to keep me busy. My love life was a topic of conversation I didn’t want to touch with a ten foot pole, especially with Gerri since I knew damn well that she was a matchmaker. Not just a person who liked to set people up on dates, but a bonafide, professional matchmaker. She’d never tried to force her services on me before, but I think my luck had run out.

  I grabbed my bottle of water from under the counter and reluctantly joined her at her table, bringing the bag of muffins with me too. If I was going to be forced to talk about my love life, then I was damn well going to do it while eating one of my favorite baked goods.

  “So—”

  I shoved half a muffin into my mouth and she burst into boisterous laughter.

  “The muffins are only going to serve as a distraction for so long if you wolf them down like that.”

  “What do you expect?” I mumbled after I swallowed the muffin down. “I am a she-wolf, after all.”

  “And a lone one.”

  My eyes dropped to the table, and I pressed my finger into the empty side of the paper liner from the muffin. Crumbs stuck to my fingertip, and I lifted it up to lick them off. Gerri grabbed my other hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

  “I know you have a good reason for it.” She was one of a few who did. My past was probably the only other topic I hated talking about more than my love life. “But you can’t go on like this forever.”

  “There’s nothing I can do to change the fact that I have no family left,” I rasped.

  She gave me another hand squeeze. “There’s no changing the past, but the future is a different story.”

  “I’m content with the way things are.”

  “You want to pull the other leg next?” She quirked a white brow at me imperiously. “Because we both damn well know that a girl has needs, Jane.”

  “Well, this girl has a vibrator for that.”

  She shook her head at me. “I think we can do better than a battery operated boyfriend for you.”

  “Gerri,” I sighed.

  “Have faith, Jane. In me, if not anything else. Give me a chance, and it will all work out.”

  She was a hard woman to say no to, and there was a part of me that wanted to say yes. A teeny, tiny part that missed sex. So damn much.

  “Fine,” I huffed. “But all I’m agreeing to is one date.”

  “Then I guess I’d better make it an amazing match the first time around.” She gave me a little smile that I didn’t entirely trust. “Tell me a little bit about the kind of men you’re drawn to.”

  “Shifters, mostly wolves.”

  “Tall, built, and handsome then?”

  I jerked my thumb over my shoulder, pointing at the handwritten menu on the chalkboard on the wall behind the counter. “Do you have a menu I can pick from? Check off all the right boxes, and you’ll find me a guy to replace my vibrator, if only for one night?”

  “One night, my ass,” she grumbled.

  “Okay, maybe two if you do a good enough job.”

  Her spine straightened, but it didn’t give her much more height. It wasn’t because she was sitting. It was because she was so damn short. But she was still an imposing figure as she glared at me from across the table. “Good enough isn’t my forte. Excellent is.”

  “I could do with some excellent sex.”

  “Couldn’t we all?” Her blue eyes twinkled with humor. “But if you’ve been depending on your vibrator for as long as I suspect, you can use it more than most.”

  “Mmmhmm,” I mumbled around another bite of muffin. It wasn’t as if I’d ever had a super active sex life in the past, but it wasn’t even about the orgasm at this point. It was about being close to someone, even if only for one night. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched me at all, other than Gerri’s gentle squeezes. Now that she’d brought up the topic of dating, I felt the loss deeply.

  “Enough that you’d conside
r an alpha?”

  I cocked my head to the side, pondering her question. “I don’t see why not. I’m only committing to one date, one night. It’s not like he’s going to be my fated mate or anything like that.”

  “Never say never,” she sing-songed.

  The bell over the door chimed, signalling the arrival of three women. They were expensive; dressed in designer clothing, faces perfectly made up, carrying bags that cost more than my car, and lugging around so many shopping bags that I wasn’t certain how they managed to stay upright. Women like these expected stellar service, so I hurried out of my chair and around the counter to beat them there. They ended up being difficult customers, with ridiculously specific orders. By the time I’d made their drinks and rung them up, Gerri had finished her tea and was ready to go.

  “I’m sorry I can’t stay longer, but I have an appointment in five minutes.” She offered me an apologetic smile.

  “It’s a good thing your building is only two blocks down the street. You’ll have just enough time to get there.” I walked with her to the door and held it open for her.

  “Thanks, dear.” She stopped and turned when she was a few feet down the sidewalk. “You’ll be hearing from me soon with details for your date!” she called out before hurring away.

  With all the craziness from the ladies-who-lunch orders, I didn’t get the chance to ask Gerri about what she was saying when they had walked in. Maybe if I had, I wouldn’t have been quite so surprised later.

  3

  Seth

  “You’re going through with it, then?” Jared asked.

  There was a thread of shock in my beta’s voice. He shouldn’t have been surprised since I’d told him a week ago about Damien’s idea. We’d discussed the pros and cons when I’d brought it up, and I’d come to the conclusion that using the matchmaker was worth a shot. “Have you ever known me to change my mind once I’d made it up?”