Fiore

Fiore

It was tricky to avoid the full moon…or at least the public during the full moon. The glow of the moon filtered through the blinds landing upon a figure huddled in the corner trembling.

‘Please don’t let me kill anyone tonight...’ she pleaded with her animal side but then she issued a feral scream as her beast took over. Grey blue eyes widened as her nose and mouth elongated into a snout. Hands and feet contorted into wolf’s legs and paws, bones cracking and snapping into place. She fell to all fours silently screaming as a tail sprouted from her tailbone. Ears morphed into pointed wolf’s ears and as the fur budded from her skin she tossed her head back releasing a long howl. Like a wolf’s. As soon as the transformation completed she had to take a few deep breaths in order calm herself. Transformations never became any easier. She then trotted out of the flat she resided in, allowing instinct to take over. Sniffing about the place she caught the scent of the cat that had run from her the last full moon, and followed it. Fiore knew that the cat really was not a cat. There was a distinct notion in her being that gave her such an idea. She wanted to find him, not to harm him, but to befriend him. She just needed someone to be furry with once a month, not for mating purposes, but just a companion. The feeling of being alone on the full moon terrified her. She detested being alone.

Keeping to the shadows, she crept out of her building and out to the alley ways. It was better if she was not seen, because she was larger than a normal sized brown wolf and more feral than such, at least when she needed to be. Otherwise, she was cuddly with a rather sweet disposition. Unheard of for someone of her kind. A rarity. The scent became faint briefly, she nearly lost it, but then she picked it up again stronger than before. As she followed the scent she came to a small cottage on the outskirts of the town. Upon approaching the door, the scent hit her hard. It was so strong that she was positive the person she was looking for resided here. The weather outside was a bit chilly and she would rather not find herself naked in the cold on someone’s door in the morning so she commenced to whine like a dog and scratched delicately at the door with a large furry paw. She paused then began the scratching once more. There was smoke coming up from the chimney when she spotted the cottage so she knew someone was home. Once more she whined and scratched at the door. This time it opened for her and she was greeted by the sight of a young woman in grey sweats with curly black hair and brilliant violet eyes. She saw the smile on the woman’s face and her ears perked up.

“I was wondering when you were coming to find us.” The woman said and stepped aside. Fiore happily trotted in and shook her fur as if trying to shake the cold off of her. She then continued to a sitting room where a warm fire was blazing and proceeded to circle on the rug in front of it and lay down to warm her fur. Her blue grey eyes glanced up to a figure that stared at her in disbelief, his grey eyes widened in surprise.

“August!” he bellowed.

“Oh hush Leon. She’s harmless.” August said as she reentered the room and sat in the other overstuffed armchair, swinging a leg over one of the arm rests. Fiore glanced to the woman who smiled at her. The woman seemed to understand…perhaps she was a lycanthrope…but of a different sort. There were so many in the world and not all of them transformed on the full moon. Hesitantly she rose up on her paws and slowly walked towards the woman, whose name she had discovered was August, ears low in submission. August in turn looked her way and smiled reaching out and placed her hand on Fiore’s head. Her fingers lightly scratched Fiore’s ears. She liked this action from the human. Relaxing under the ear scratch Fiore’s tail began to thump lightly against the floor, panting happily at the attention.

“Woman what are you doing?!” Leon cried.

“Giving her attention. She’s nothing but a big sweetheart,” August replied as her hand then descended down Fiore’s back. Fiore relished in the attention she was getting from the woman then laid upon the floor rolling onto her back as if to ask for a belly rub.

“Awe do you want a belly scratch now honey?” August was entertained by this. A hind leg began to shake as August scratched and rubbed the fur upon Fiore’s belly.

“August,” Leon sounded displeased but Fiore did not care. She was enjoying the belly rub.

“Leon. She’s a rare type of werewolf. Look at how docile she is.”

Blue grey eyes glanced up at August looking a bit sad. How did the woman know she was a werewolf? She had hidden it so well. Her eyes met the violet ones, flames danced in their reflection.

“Your secret is safe with us honey,” August smiled at her, “you can stay here for tonight.”

Fiore could not believe her luck! First August had let her in to sit by the fire, then she was given an ear scratch and a belly rub, sure her secret about being a werewolf had been spilled but she did not care; August was going to permit her to stay the night anyway. She would not be alone.

“Fine but please keep her out of my bedroom.”

“Leon what do you have against werewolves.”

“August you know my favorite animal form is a cat. I tend to not like canines so much.”

Leon shifted uncomfortably. August knew there was more to Leon’s reasoning but she was not going to bring that up.

“Yes but honey she isn’t fully a canine. She’s a lycanthrope. She didn’t choose to be a werewolf.”

“Just…just keep her out of my room for the night…please…”

“Alright. She’ll stay in mine. Besides I could use a nice warm body to sleep with. I tend to get cold.”

“Don’t forget. Fion’s going to call in the morning.”

Fiore’s ears perked up and she rolled onto her belly at the mention of Fion. How did they know her cousin?

“He’s going to ask us if we’ve made any progress searching for this hydro kinetic guy.”

Leon heaved a sigh.

“I know…and I wish we had a lead…but we still don’t have anything. Your telepathy can only go so far.”

“I know. We’ll find him. He has to be here somewhere.”

“Night August.”

“Night Leon. Love you.”

“Love you too honey.”

Leon padded out of the room to his own bedroom. Fiore glanced up to the woman who had given her so much attention and placed a paw upon her knee. August glanced to her and ruffled the fur upon her head.

“Let’s go get some sleep girl. We’ll keep each other warm tonight.”

With that being said, August rose to her feet and headed out of the room glancing back at Fiore. It was if the woman was beckoning to her. Fiore followed obediently but what she heard intrigued her. The woman had telepathy. If she had that ability she could have more. Maybe Fiore was not the only ‘freak’ in this city. They spoke of her cousin and some man he was looking for. Why were they looking for someone who could control water? Fiore did not know but she was tired from the evening. All she would have loved to do was flop upon a bed and sleep to her heart’s content. As soon as they entered August’s room she bounded up and vaulted onto the bed. Apparently the sight received laughter from the woman as she crawled into the bed beside her. Fiore scooted closer to August as the woman reached her hand to stroke the fluffy brown ears.

“We can talk more in the morning with you. After a nice hot breakfast.”

August spoke to her like she was a person instead of a dog. Fiore was pleased with this fact and licked August’s face contentedly. Another giggle came from August’s lips as she ruffled Fiore’s fur once more.

“Sleep now.” She said soon drifting to sleep. Fiore licked her hand once more before curling on the covers. Things might be good with these two people, even if one of them was not too fond of her. She would get to talk to him later. For now she closed her eyes and began breathing deeply as she slipped into a peaceful sleep for the first time in months.