Master finishes the last bite of bread, brushing the crumbs from his fingers against his trouser leg then he glances up through the canopy where the grey light has finally broken into weak, watery sunlight.

  “Looks like the sun is still up,” he says, calm as ever. “Let’s go get a fresh catch.” He then stands in one smooth motion, stepping back from the fire and leaving my lap suddenly, horribly empty.

  I twitch once, my ears snapping forward then flattening hard against my skull. My tail lashes once, sharp and irritated, whipping the ground behind me and sending a spray of droplets flying. But I don’t move. I stay exactly where I am, crouched on all fours.

  My lips peel back from my fangs in a slow, smug, utterly spoiled grin. “Oh, Master,” I purr, voice low and thick with possessive heat, “you think you can just stand up and call me like some common little house pet ? After I’ve spent the whole night wrapped around you, soaked to the bone, purring my lungs out just so you’d keep your hand on my tail ? How adorable. How precious.” My tail then curls high behind me.

  “But fine. I’ll indulge you. Because you’re mine. Because every step you take belongs to me. Because if I let you wander off alone some pretty little forest creature might forget who you really answer to.”

  I rise slowly and deliberately as I prowl forward on all fours until I’m right at his feet.

  Then his hand drops and taps twice against his leg, just above the knee. “Come on girl, let’s go. Come on.”

  My tail snaps straight up in pure, spoiled ecstasy. A ragged, triumphant purr rips out of my chest so loud. I surge forward instantly, fluid, eager, pressing my whole body against his leg. “Yes, Master,” I murmur against his thigh, “I’m coming. I’m always coming when you call.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  My nose dips straight to the ground, nose flaring wide despite the lingering rain stink clinging to my blonde coat. The wet earth should mask everything, should drown every scent but my instincts don’t care. They surge behind my eyes, cat vision sharpening.

  There.

  Under the trees, faint but unmistakable. Fox. Not one. Three at least. Warm musk. The trail is fresh, winding north east through the grass, still hot enough that my claws flex automatically into the soft ground.

  I can’t see them yet, clever little things staying hidden but I have the trail locked in my skull.

  My tail lashes again, slower this time, deliberate and arrogant. “Foxes, Master,” I purr, voice thick and husky, ears flicking forward then flattening with smug delight. “Three of them. Close. I can smell the blood on their muzzles… they think they’re safe.”

  I nuzzle harder into his leg, claws digging lightly into the grass on either side of his boots, I lift my head just enough to bare my fangs. “They’re mine to bring you. All of them.”

  My nose is buried deep when it hits me straight through the bond. "Good kitten." The words bloom warm inside my skull, pure euphoria. I can’t think. Can’t focus. The fox trail that I had locked so perfectly just vanishes.

  Gone.

  All I smell now is stupid, stupid dampness. Wet fur. My own soaked coat turning everything into a heavy fog. Rain stink and mud but nothing useful. My claws dig into the grass, shoulders rolling forward as I shove my face harder against the ground. No trail. No foxes. Just the humiliating reek of wet cat clinging to me like shame.

  I freeze.

  “Master…” I growl against his leg, voice thick, half whine, half snarl. “The trail… it’s gone. Because of you. Because you said that and now I can’t smell anything but this stupid rain on me and it’s your fault and I hate it but I love it and...”

  My claws hook into his trouser leg, pulling myself higher until I’m half climbing him. “You’ll just have to carry me now,” I murmur, voice dark and spoiled, tail squeezing harder. “Since your good kitten ruined the hunt… you have to fix it. Hold me. Scratch me. Tell me again.”