Before the Hat (Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow, #0.5)

Moira Tallowmere is dead. Her familiar is not.

Pippin has been keeping Gallows Gate since before the road was paved. He's outlasted every witch who lived here, every Stonehart who tried to take it, and every version of grief that comes with watching the people you protect cross the veil without you.

Now the house is empty. The wards are failing. The most powerful witch in town wants the property, and she's not wrong that it needs saving. She's just wrong about who gets to save it.

Pippin can feel the heir out there, faint and far away, a woman who has no idea what she is. All he has to do is hold the house together until she arrives.

The problem is, he's a cat. He can't file paperwork. He can't open a mailbox. He can't do anything except sit on the porch, push leaves off the steps, and refuse to let go of something he was never given the choice to love.

But he loved it anyway. And he's not letting go.

A prequel novella to If the Hat Fits.