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“Hang on, my sweet!” He called back.
I heard a small voice. “Shit! Look!”
“We’re boned,” another voice said.
“What?” A third one joined in.
“He got a cat.”
“Looks like a lion to me.”
“Who cares? It’s big and can mess us up!”
My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I hissed at the three gnome boys, swatting at them through my bars, laughing inside when they screamed and scattered.
Pussies.
Gnomes were mischievous, misanthropic assholes who created chaos wherever they went. They were known far and wide in the Forgotten Worlds and most of the time, if you left them to their business, they left you alone.
Those three were young, and if they followed the beanstalk up, you could be sure they were up to no good.
“Here I am, my sweet.” The man came back, opened my kennel, then stepped back, giving me space.
I waited. When he did nothing more, I sniffed the opening. I could still smell the earthy scent of the gnomes.
“I put out some dinner for you. I know they fed you at the sanctuary, but I bet it’s not very good.”
Lifting my nose, I sniffed the air.MMmmm, steak, almost rare.I licked my lips and slunk out of the kennel, following my nose. The closer I got to the food, the more I could smell one of those gnomes, too.
As I got closer, I saw it leaning over what was supposed to bemyplate and the little jerk nibbled my food. I slowed myself down, sneaking up on the thief. A smile crept across my face and I got close enough to smack them to the ground, keeping them pinned by my paw.
Thump!
“Did my brave girl catch a pest?” The giant walked over slowly and crouched down, looking at my paw. “Let me see, Pricilla.”
I took a bite of my steak and snarled.
I knew I shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds me, but I needed him to leave me alone. The last time I let myself trust someone, they cursed me to this form, knocked me out, and left me in what I now know was an animal sanctuary for giants. And I’m unable to shift at all.
I took another bite and watched as he took a seat on the floor, just letting me eat. I could feel the gnome poking and pushing my paw, trying to make it move.
A small dish of cream was being slid over for me and I felt my anger easing.
When was the last time I had cream?
I glanced over at the dish, noting the frothy goodness. I really wanted that cream, but to have it, I needed to be closer to the man. Finishing the last bite of steak, I took a couple steps over to the small dish, dragging my “catch” with me, and lapped up a small amount.
Creamy and sweet, I greedily lapped it up and saw movement from the corner of my eye. The man was moving his finger in slowly, trying to touch me.
“I’m just going to touch the top of your paw, Pricilla.”
True to his word, his finger touched the top of my paw, and then he stroked it. The people at the sanctuary were kind, but my skin still crawled when they touched me and I realized my skin wasn’t crawling with his touch. Between his gentle touch and the scent of his cologne, a purr slipped out. I welcomed his attention as I lapped up the cream and continued to purr.
His hand and my paw were close to the same size. I let my eyes roam over him, taking in his hairy arms, thick neck and wavy hair. Blue eyes twinkled at me and when he smiled, I stopped drinking and had to force myself to swallow. Instead of flicking in irritation, my tail betrayed me by dancing like the butterflies in my stomach.
Quick. Do something!
I snarled at him for good measure and lifted my paw so he could get to the nuisance. He smiled at me, flashing me a full set of gorgeous teeth, and took the thief.
