Bound
an excerpt

Rain lashed at her in unending torrent. The smell of wet fur assaulted her nose. If there was anything Gian hated more, it was the smell of wet cat, especially when she was said wet cat. It pissed her off, almost as much as her unsuccessful search for her sister.
This was ridiculous. She’d landed in the middle of a heat soaked jungle. Two minutes later, she was soaked to the bone and ready to take someone’s head off. This was supposed to be a fire planet. Who had jungles on fire planets? Hell, who’d forgotten to update the planetary database?
“It’s ok, kitten.”
Her head lifted.
Kitten? She was the largest tiger she’d been known to create and someone dared call her kitten?
“The rains will stop soon. Then, father sun will come out and dry us both off.”
Gian scanned the jungle floor, finding no one near. Her gaze lifted to the trees. Vines arched from tree to tree in random patterns. Thick foliage blocked the sky from view yet somehow still let the torrents of rain to mark her fur lined face. Gods, this sucked.
There. A dark figure huddled against the trunk of a tree halfway up the thick greenery.
“Ahh, you found me.”
She watched him. Well, duh, he was the one talking.
“You’re a beautiful creature.”
She preened. Of course she was. She was a goddess after all. It was part of the job requirement. Who’d heard of an ugly goddess?
“Tigers are rare here. We had so many long ago.”
His heartfelt sigh wrapped around her. She padded closer, watching him, trying to make out his features in the haze. Water pooled in her eyes, and she blinked rapidly trying to clear her vision. Dark eyes. Dark hair. His features were hard to make out with the pellets of water assaulting her eyes. Even her sense of smell felt off with the rains.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of your coloring in our region though.”
No. She was pretty sure he hadn’t. Her coloring was rare on any planet, no matter how much she tried to match the local species; she always remained more golden than the rest. It was her mark.
She wanted to leap up to his perch, but that would show off her abilities too much as no tiger she knew would be able to make that kind of leap. But damn it, she wanted to see who was talking to her. The slow, sexy voice enthralled her. She hadn’t been enthralled in centuries.
“Many will try to hunt you here if I tell them I saw you.”
She growled. Let them try. She was on a mission, no matter how much she was entranced by the voice. She’d be damned if some planetary fascination with tigers was going to delay her from finding her sister.
“No worries, kitten. I will not tell. The balance here is off kilter. Too many focus on profit and less on their internal balance.”
She cocked her head at him, listening.
“As their priest, I can do nothing but guide them if they come to me.”
Priest? Ahhh, that explained the calm, hypnotic effect of his voice. And, his seemingly total lack of fear from her form.
She should leave. Phyxe was not here. This felt like an Earth-based worship. She was loathe to leave the voice though. He sounded hurt, yet peaceful. This was her planet, not Phyxe’s.
“You’re not sure whether to stay or go, are you kitten?”
Startled, she stared up at him. Her nose lifted as she tried to gather a scent from him. Nothing, but wet fur and rain. Damn the rains.
Phyxe was not here. Duty called to her across the dimensions. She had to continue on.
“Our paths will cross again. Get yourself out of the rains. This has to be far more unpleasant for you than it is for me.”
She sat on her hunches and ignored the rain, looking up at him. She made the decision that once she found Phyxe, she would return whether the people of this planet, Nian’ian, called her to or not. She would return for the voice.
Gain meowed. It was the best she could do without revealing herself. She lifted a paw at him and then turned and disappeared in the rains beneath the foliage. When she was a safe enough distance away, she faded into nothing as she transported herself into the dimensional rifts again.
She made a mental note of the coordinates though. She was going to return.
And she would hunt down that voice.