Just as we were saying our goodbyes and Titus agreed to walk with Sugar to see the village elders, a large green frog started to bounce towards us. It was about the size of a volleyball, so it was the largest frog I’d ever seen, but it was cute!
"Hi! Aren’t you a cutie?!" I said while leaning down to look at the large green frog.
Sugar smiled and leaned down, too. "Hi Clover, what’re you doing over here? Did you get curious about our new neighbors? Where’s your Mommy?"
I blinked while looking at the huge frog again. It’s a beastkin. Of course, it’s a beastkin. I need to stop being so surprised all the ti.
"Clover! I told you not to run ahead!" A short woman with bright green shoulder-length hair, dark red eyes that matched her red lips, small green spots on her cheekbones, and matching spots on her arms ran across the street after the frog that approached us. She was wearing a green and black spotted tank top and a matching mini skirt.
She stood in front of us and picked up the flog, placing it on her shoulder. "I hope my boy didn’t startle you. He’s really friendly, but he hasn’t managed to have his first shift yet, so he sotis startles females who don’t like frogs."
"I love frogs!" I held out my hand to shake hers, "I’m Perla, and I’ll soon be your neighbor. We’re going to move into this house," I said while pointing to the property behind .
"Oh! That’s great! It’s wonderful to hear that you don’t mind frog beastkin. I’m Lily, it’s nice to et you," Lily said while shaking my offered hand. "This little one is my son, Clover. He has a little bit of a problem with mana control, so he hasn’t been able to have his first shift yet, but we’re really excited to see what his beastkin form looks like. My mates said that he looks so much like my beast form that he’ll likely look like ."
"Oh! You’re a frog beastkin, too?"
She smiled. "That I am! My mates are Sheldon and Cove. Sheldon is a turtle beastkin, and Cove is an axolotl beastkin. I have nine hatchlings in total, eight boys and one girl. I’m sure you’ll et the others soon. My boys usually walk around in their beast forms, but my daughter is too young to have her first shift yet. It’s obvious that she’s an axolotl beastkin, though. She’s my pride and joy, and a beauty! Much prettier than I am," Lily said with so much pride and love that she was vibrating from it. "My sweet little Sophie."
"I’m sure she’s adorable! It’s nice to hear that there are other younglings in the area! I’m pregnant with my mates Oliver and Milo’s eggs," I said while pointing at them. "It’ll be nice for the hatchlings to have so playmates once they beco old enough."
"Oh? I suppose I wouldn’t be against setting them up as first mates after they hatch," said Lily.
I blinked while registering what she said, and then I blushed while thinking about my wording. "Oh! That wasn’t what I ant, not that I would be against it, just that I ant friends to play with. Playmate has a different aning where I’m from; I ant friend. Not that I would be against it after the hatchlings get a bit older and we see if they get along."
"Oh! Wow, I’ve never heard soone call a friend a playmate. You’re from pretty far away, hun?"
"You could say that," I said with a smile. "Nine hatchlings, though, wow, you must be busy!"
She chuckled. "Oh, believe , I am! I’ve thought about picking up a servant male to help out. Not that I would be against allowing him to beco my mate, too, it’s just that my family is cohesive and comfortable right now, and I don’t like drama. My two mates get along wonderfully, but I wasn’t expecting that when I had eggs for Sheldon, there’d be seven of them in the sa litter! I was so surprised! Unfortunately, the village healer retired while I was in the early stages of my pregnancy, and I was unable to travel due to having a rough ti of it. We ended up having to use Mabel, one of the elders in the village, to help deliver."
I grinned excitedly. "My Oliver is a wonderful healer and is planning to open up shop here."
"Wonderful! I’ll have to tell the other females in the village right away! Everyone’s going to be so excited! You must buy the house right away! Have you secured it yet?"
"Not yet," I said.
Sugar piped up, "Let’s do that. Are you ready to go et Mabel?" Said Sugar to Titus.
"I’m ready, I’ll go right now to fill out the paperwork and to put the property next to us on hold for Elara, alright, Sweetheart? Is there anything else you’d like to do while I’m gone?"
"See if you can find a village map while you’re out," I said.
"There are maps at the elder’s office building where we’re headed," said Sugar.
"Perfect!" I thought about how technically Titus and Ira aren’t my forever mates yet, so I’ll have to redy that soon. I also haven’t mated with Sam even though he has my mark. I love these n and have no intention of ever letting them go, so I need to properly claim them. Then there’s Kai. I wonder what he’s doing.
Titus walked off with Sugar at a sowhat brisk pace. I guess they were both anxious to secure my new ho. I smiled after them.
Then, from the property across the street, ca a tall black man with thick brown hair tied into a ponytail, wearing a brown leather shirt and a green tunic. He had friendly, chocolate brown eyes and a big, toothy smile on his face. He was also covered in large turtles, clinging all over him.
He crossed the street, and Lily pointed to him over her shoulder, "My mate Sheldon and our six turtle babies. My little Clover was in the sa litter, but he took after ."
Then one of the baby turtles clinging to their father climbed down onto the ground. There was a flash of bright white light, and then standing in the place of the turtle was an adorable little boy. He had milk chocolate colored skin, big dark red eyes, and dark green hair that transitioned into a lighter shade of green. He had cute, chubby baby cheeks and was wearing an oversized dark green shirt and shorts.
"Aww! What a cutie pie!" I gushed.
Lily grinned happily while her son walked over and took Lily’s hand in his while looking up at with his adorable big eyes. He gave a small, shy smile.
"Go ahead and introduce yourself," said Lily.
"I’m Toby," he said in a quiet voice, half hiding behind Lily’s leg.
"My Toby is the first of my boys to learn how to control his shift," she ruffled his hair affectionately. "We’re very proud of him. The rest of my boys are still on target, though; it’s just that Toby is a fast shifter. His teachers are very impressed by his progress," said Lily.
His face flushed happily at the praise, and his smile widened.
"This is our new neighbor, Perla, and she’s going to have so hatchlings of her own soo. You’ll all have so new friends to play with after they get old enough, won’t that be fun? She also likes frogs!" Said Lily.
"That is good news!" Said Sheldon. "Are you Perla’s mates?" Sheldon said to my guys.
"We are," said Ira with sparkling, happy eyes and a stunningly beautiful smile.
Sheldon blinked. "Wow, you’re a pretty one, no offence intended. What kind of beastkin are you? It’s a good thing you’re already mated, or the village females might get into an uproar trying to compete to snatch you up."
My eyes widened as I looked at Ira, and Sugar caught my look. "Don’t worry about the other females in the village. Most of them know how to behave themselves and not go after a male who’s already mated. It’s the outsiders, tourists, and wandering beastkin females that you have to keep an eye on. So of them live in large cities where trading males is a normal occurrence. The locals respect the mating bond around here."
"That’s good to know," I said. I wasn’t going to tell anyone that I hadn’t mated with Ira yet.
"Are you a unicorn beastkin or sothing?" said Sheldon while glancing at Ira’s golden and sparkling horn.
He glanced at , and I gave him a small nod of approval.
"I’m a hippocampus beastkin," Ira said.
"Oh wow! I’ve heard of them, but never seen one before. Your kind tend to stick to themselves. No wonder you’re pretty. It’s nice to have another water beastkin around," said Sheldon.
Lily’s eyes were huge with wonder," Do you happen to have any brothers who wouldn’t mind mating with a frog beastkin? I’ve always dread about being mates with a hippocampus! I think all water beastkin females have that desire and a rman, but good luck with that!" She laughed. "rn are even more picky than hippocampus males."
I gave her a small smile while considering coming clean about being a rmaid, but I wasn’t ready to let that one out and didn’t want the hassle from random n bothering .
"I have a lot of brothers, but I couldn’t tell you if any of them would be interested. Most of them are mated," said Ira.
"Figures," said Lily with a pout.
"I could ask the next ti I see them, though," said Ira.
"Oh my gosh! Would you? Honey, did you hear? Did you hear? He’s going to ask his brothers if they’d be interested in becoming one of my mates!" Lily said to Sheldon.
I looked at him, worried about his reaction, but he wasn’t upset in the least. He just gave her an indulgent smile. "Don’t get too excited, though; he just said he’d ask. It would be great for our family to have a strong mate for you in a species that you’ve always wanted. I could even stop being your temporary lead male, it’d be fun to just focus on our hatchlings. I was never ant to be a lead male," said Sheldon.
"Oh poo, don’t look down on yourself, you do an excellent job of being my lead male. Who’s your lead male? said Lily.
I looked at my mates and thought about how they’d been acting recently. "I haven’t really discussed it with them, but I think they’ve elected Titus for that role?"
They shook their heads in agreent. "We have," said Ira. "He already has extensive leadership experience, and he’s also quite strong."
"Hmm..." I thought about Kai while nibbling on my lower lip. I hope that wasn’t going to beco a problem, but I wasn’t going to worry about that right now. I’d prefer my lead male not to be Kai anyway, considering how he dealt with the situation with Elara. That sort of thing was arranged between the males, though, and I wasn’t going to step in on that front unless I found it absolutely necessary.
We talked for a bit longer before a toned man with long, dark pink hair and matching wings ca flying down from above and landed on the edge of the property.
Coming Next Ti: House into a Ho
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