Finding Florian

“Are you ready for this?” Florian ignored the voice behind him as wild thoughts ran through his mind. The jungle he knew as home shrouded before him in harmony with the breeze swaying the trees from side to side around him and underneath the mountain he stood on. With a brooding look on his face, he stared behind him.

Standing at 6′4, with his shoulder-length black hair tied in a ponytail, he shrugged. “There’s no other choice.”

He knew what he must do, with the echoes of the words pounding in his mind, and the idea heaving passionately within the valves of his heart. A deep sense of fear arose in the pit of his belly from doing something he’s never done before. But he must, it was the right decision.

“I’m coming with you,” Dexter said with a conviction in his voice he knew couldn’t be extinguished.

“What about your family? Who would plow the grounds for your sisters?” Florian asked, he couldn’t ask that much from him.

“They can manage!” Florian’s brow rose at his answer, if it weren’t for his current circumstances, the thought of escaping wouldn’t have crossed his mind.

Leaving Asteria behind, without his loving mother could be the beginning of his hell, but nothing good was ever achieved in your comfort zone. “Alright,” he took a step away from the steep hill of the mountain and smiled at his best friend turned brother. “Have you spoken to your family? Did they agree with your decision? We might not be allowed back if I don’t come back with what I’m searching for.” He nodded.

“Nothing brings me joy than to follow behind you, so of course, they agreed. They were the ones that suggested I follow in your footsteps and see what else the world holds other than this land. Who knows, I could find her as well.” Florian tapped his back with a knowing smile, before tilting his head backward, taking in what would be left behind.

With nothing in hand, they both back-flipped into the lake directly underneath the mountain, shifting mid-air he recalled the incident that rocked him a few days ago.

"Where have you lost your head, Florian?” His father’s voice beamed groggily as he sped up towards him from the masses, punching his head to the side with the aquamarine crystal ring on his finger.

Florian’s lips tightened as his head bowed towards his father, the crowd quickly dispersed backward as both father and son stood in the middle. “I need more time father, it’s not my fault,” he met his father’s ocean blue eyes, his Asterian accent pronouncing his birthright.

An Asterian by birth and the only son of his mother, his father’s only mate. He was next in line for the throne. His father had other children birthed from three other women he’d wed but he was the only heir to the throne.

The day before, he’d gone to see the third woman chosen by his father to be his first wife, she’d insisted on kissing him. Backed him against the wall with her fat dancing down her arm as her lips touched his, he’d no other choice than to release a fine dose of his venom. He couldn’t imagine being with her or living the polygamy life as his father did. Caution breathed past him until her body started convulsing did he realize what he was doing. Quickly, biting her tongue he’d sucked out the venom absorbed by her. “Present to me a woman by the end of the years or forget the title.” He had elder brothers who were more than qualified for the role and had killed anyone for the position if the crown wasn’t meant for an offspring birthed from true mates.

He’d dreamt of wearing the crown for as long as he could remember, the crown was a huge part of his existence, the goal he knew he would grow up to achieve, all he had to do was grow up. And now that he was grown, the obstacle of not finding a reputable woman to wear the thrown with him just didn’t sit well with him. He wanted something more than just a reputable woman. He wanted a monogamous relationship with his mate especially after watching how much his mother suffered sharing the love of her mate with other women who made sure they competed with her for everything.

Blue scales covered his skin as soon as the water embraced him, and his tail wagged behind him as he dived inside the clear water bypassing the little fishes that swarmed past him. A few minutes passed underneath the water as they navigated their way until they both got out of the lake on the opposite side.

Their scales melded back to their skin as soon as their head popped out of the water. Florian drew in a deep breath, saying goodbye to his mother wasn’t as easy as he’d hoped but he had seven months to bring home a woman that his father would approve of and the key to unlocking the love of his heart.

A few days passed as Florian stared at the clear water penetrating from the white rock they’d been residing in beside the lake, he’s been away from home for the past two days and he couldn’t help but wonder if anyone felt his absence, staying close to the lake he’d emerged from had given him hope that he could still swim back and find his way home. “We should get moving, find somewhere better to stay, and find a job or something, we have to make new connections if we are going to find your mate,” Dexter said as he scattered the wood they’d camped with.

The cold breeze swept his hair at different angles, “we should go south,” he said, assisting himself with the leftover fish they had prepared the day.

Journeying out of the cave they were residing in with no money or clothes they could only hope to find someone kind enough to let them spend the night with them as their feet scathed the earth with the scorching heat of the afternoon sun beating the moisture out of them.

Exhausted with aching feet, they both watched the afternoon sun slowly retreat as dark clouds covered the sky. “It’s about to rain,” They looked up at the rain clouds before meeting each other’s gaze as they finally made it out of the thick forest.

With a border wall behind them they stared ahead, realizing they still had a few miles to go before reaching civilization, they fastened their footsteps. A cold breeze blew plastic from the ground spiraling around them like a mild tornado, as they made it to a four-way crossing. The lined shops covered with graffiti across from them caught Florian’s attention as they waited for the traffic light facing them to turn green so they could cross.

They cross and started their journey down the shops, he looked to the side at Dexter, his steps faltering and his jawline tight with exhaustion, since they’d both been walking since the brink of dawn. “Why don’t we stop, we can sleep outside these shops till tomorrow.” The place looked like a shopping center, most of the shops on top and below were closed.

As they took towards the shops quietly, he took notice of the CCTV cameras. “We can share the last fish for the night, tomorrow we might starve, we’ll need a change of clothes too.” Dexter said as they sat on the step in front of a closed shop. “Tonight is going to be a cold night, how do you suppose we’ll survive it? We cannot risk shifting, too many cameras,” he pointed at every sides the cameras were.

Out of the corner of his eyes Florian saw a woman cross the street in front of them, he tapped Dexter before getting up from the floor without a plan in mind and as the rain stoned their skin, he slowly made his way to the lady as she used the atm right in front of them. He waited patiently for her to turn toward him before taking a step slowly to her. He noticed her short dark hair swerve in a circle, “hi,” the woman’s legs slipped backward as a scream erupted from her mouth, he caught her hand, lifting her back on her feet. Fear creased her beautiful face as she snapped her hand from his, “we need your help.”

“You sure chose the perfect place to ask for help,” she snatched her bag from him so hard that books from the unzipped part slipped into the flooding ground of the step.

“Sorry,” she picked up the book before he could bend.

With a swift turn of her hip, she locked eyes with him, “look I don’t have any money I can give you, alright? The money I deposited doesn’t even belong to me, I can show you my purse it’s empty and if you want to kill me remember that’ll hunt you, your ancestors and your next generation.”

“No, that’s not it. My friend and I need a place to stay for the night, we’ll leave in the morning.” He felt awkward asking for that sort of help from her considering she was a stranger and by how she stared up at him judgingly, he couldn’t be sure of what her response would be. She was a shifter, from the scent perusing her, a young lady that could be staying with her parents or possibly living by herself.

“I stay with my boyfriend and he wouldn’t appreciate two strange men in our home.” Her response was sharp and clear with a sharp twist of her shoulder.

“Please, we’ll pay for the night by washing your dishes or something.” She chuckled and he bit his lips while staring down at her.

“Sure, invite your friend over.” She shrugged, and he eyed her change of thought skeptically, “but I’ll warn you, my boyfriend will kill you both if you try anything shady.” He nodded and waved toward Dexter.

“I’m sure you’ll have no problems with either of us, it’s only for the night.” He said as Dexter stood beside him.

“Hi,” he stretched out his hand to her, and she retracted her hand before their fingers could embrace.

“Hi.” She said cutthroat, giving him the stink eye, “walk before me and I’ll direct you, but if either of you tries anything I’ll stab you in your necks.” She brought out her pocket knife from the side pocket of her handbag. “My house isn’t far from here and I only have one umbrella, I’ll prepare soup for you at home so you don’t catch any cold.” They both nodded as her gaze grew suspicious and walked as she directed.

Before they reached her house they’d all delved deep into the conversation of the recent robberies happening in the city, which brought them to the reason why they needed a place to stay and couldn’t afford a motel that was supposedly two streets from her house. Since they couldn’t tell her much, he’d simply kept to the basics of the fact that they’d just arrived in the country and she immediately assumed they’d jumped the border since it wasn’t too far from where he’d spoken to her.

They stopped at a two-story building with a black spiral staircase at the front of the house, leading to the room upstairs. “This is my house, stay here I’ll get my boyfriend.” She handed him the umbrella before running up the stairs.

His eyes met Dexter’s concentrated gaze, before they slide back upstairs, “what’s wrong? Don’t you trust her to keep her promise?” He simply shook his head and rest his hand on him with a soft tap.

“Let’s hope her boyfriend lets us in.” He said.

“Don’t be bitter, keep your chin up. The worse that could happen is that we spend the next few weeks on this street with our drenched clothes as hard as sticks while we bathe in the public toilets with no food to eat.” They both chuckled at the bitter truth of their situation before the sound of feet pounding down the stairs brought their head up toward it.

A much shorter man as tall as she was stood beside her, he smelt human, and even as he approached with his thick muscles, he knew he could take him on with a single punch to his nose but he kept a serious gaze at the man as he approached. “Hi, my girlfriend told me about your situation, and she forgot to ask your name too. Pardon her, what’s your name?” He asked in a very stern voice as he could almost see why a shifter would want to be with a human like him. He looked like he’d spent years lifting weights with how buff his arms were, and his tone sounded as thick as an old car engine rustling back to life.

“Florian and this is Dexter, we are looking for a place to spend the night and we don’t mind sleeping on the floor either,” Florian said.

“Alright, we have a guest room you can both share for the night. But you have to pay.” He said, folding both his arms in front of him causing the muscles to ripple.

“We don’t have any money, but we can owe you with the thought of paying you when we get a job,” Florian said as seriously as he could.

“That’s alright, we can have a chat tomorrow. By the way, I’m Daniel and my girlfriend’s name is Caroline, hopefully, we will have no disagreements, it’s hard trusting anyone this days.” He stretched out his hand for a handshake at the same moment Florian lifted the umbrella with the drizzle falling on him.

“Thank you,” he said as the couple made their way up the iron staircase. It was getting dark out and he appreciated them offering their assistance. He walked behind Daniel while Dexter was the last in their line. They opened their door to a warm and clean parlor.

“Please remove your shoes,” Carolina said and he quickly did as told, before following behind to an open door.

“I’m sure, you both don’t mind sharing a bed. I’ll see if I can get some of Daniel’s old clothes so you can change the ones you’re wearing.” They both nodded at her.

“What’s the matter?” Florian asked his friend as he stared around the room. “Don’t you like the place? Should we take our leave? I’m not fully trusting of him, there’s an unpleasant feeling about him.” Florian said in a hush-hush tone as he started unbuttoning his t-shirt, Dexter’s head popped out of the bathroom shortly after.

“This room would do for the night, but we shouldn’t overstay our welcome.” Florian halted as he undid the zip of his trousers.

“What’s going on?” He decided to ask again, knowing his friend it was probably a superstitious thought preventing him from experiencing the moment with him plus he’d noticed how quiet he’d gotten since meeting Caroline.

“She’s my mate, and I cannot live under the same roof as her boyfriend.” Florian’s jaw dropped as Dexter closed the door behind him.

“Wha--what, wait?” He stepped away from the bed, almost sitting back on it with his wet trousers from the worry that immediately pulsate through him. He had no mate but had always cherished the prospect of having one. Despite the connotation, it proposes to him.

He walked back towards the toilet door with no idea of what to say, he hadn’t paid much attention to their interaction but he couldn’t put himself in his friend’s shoes.

“Let’s leave?” He rest his head on the toilet door moments before the door opened.

“No, I can’t leave her with him.” He said still within the vicinity of the bathroom, giving him a view of the wooden cabinet underneath the mirror. “She’s mine and I’ll wait for an opportunity to talk to her. Let’s get rid of these clothes for tonight alright?”

Florian nodded, removing his shirt first before pulling down his underwear along with his Jean trousers the same moment the door opened without a knock. “Here are the clothes,” Florian stared at Daniel, “I’m sorry,” he quickly placed his folded wet t-shirt to cover the evidence of his maturity.

“It’s fine,” Daniel placed the clothes on the bed. His eyes lingered on his body a second longer.

“What’s your penis size?” Florian’s eyes widened at the question, he tightened his hold on the wet cloth covering his private part.