FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

He couldn't hold back a smile, feeling slight tingling sensations of each of his mate's fingers sliding between his, tying their paws together. He had grown accustom to the gesture long ago, but still loved it. Each squeezed the other's paw and cuddled closer together on the wooden porch steps. The fur's smile stretched further up his muzzle, feeling a cold, wet raindrop land on his nose.

"This place still amazes me," one said.

"Definitely," the other responded.

////

Kale leaned back in his chair, forcing a squeak from its legs, and tossed his pencil on his desk with a large sigh.

"Done, finally," he said.

Gathering the scattered booklets into a distraught pile, he stood up and stretched. With a grunt at the climax of his stretch, he slunk back, relaxing into a standing heap of fur.

"Now, to get in some good quality time with Mr. TV," said the lupine before chuckling to himself.

The fur walked out of his room and plopped down on the massive couch in the spacious living room. He looked at the large screen that hung securely on the wall in front of him and noticed his reflection looking back at him in the dark screen that remained off. He smiled as he checked himself out.

Kale was an average sized, pale gray wolf. He was about halfway through the fifteenth year of his life and had recently started growing into his body. The lupine was a very awkward fur when he was a cub and was very excited to see himself adopting some grace and had finally began to obtain some good looks, not including the brilliant, grayish-blue eyes he had showcased since birth--which made no sense, for his mom had brown eyes. He had always guessed it came from his father since he had never met or seen him. He was quite skinny for his breed and didn't have any bulging muscles but still was well toned and quite handsome, making him very popular with the ladies--those of which he had contact with.

The wolf was also homeschooled and hated it with a passion, but still pushed through it in hopes of getting into a good college early. He lived with his mom in a beautiful apartment in the city. His mom, Roxanne, worked as a therapist--one of the best in the city--and always made sure to give her son the best. The two were very close; the only problem Kale experienced was when they would have an intensive discussion. His mother, being a therapist, would treat him like a patient, causing much of a nuisance. However, despite the occasional quarrel, they lived happily together.

The television hummed to life as the wolf's reflection blurred out of vision. Kale spent several minutes clicking through the list of shows playing before finally deciding on the comedy channel. He watched and laughed for a while as several stand-up comics came and left the stage. Just as one of the comics walked off the stage--one that the lupine was not impressed with--Kale heard keys jingling as they unlocked the front door.

"Hiya Mom!" greeted the wolf as Roxanne walked through the door with a couple of bags of groceries in each arm.

"Hey Kale," replied the lupine smiling, before carelessly dropping the bags on the counter, sending a couple of oranges to the floor.

"Oops," she said as she trudged to the kitchen.

The younger fur got off his nest and walked over to the counter, picking up the escapes on the way. He set the oranges on the counter and tapped a short beat with his paws on the hard surface.

"So, what we having for dinner?" he asked.

"What are we having for dinner." corrected Roxanne, putting thick emphasis on the word 'are,' "And to answer your question, whatever you cook, remember? It's Friday; therefore, it is your day to cook."

Kale raised an eyebrow, "Oh wow! I forgot," he exclaimed. "So . . . what ingredients did you get me oh mother of this amazing chef?"

"Spam and Jell-O of course!" the wolf lied.

"Oh, of course," laughed the teen, digging through the bags of groceries. "Measly selection though."

"Maybe you should start shopping for yourself then, eh?"

"Oh, did I say measly? I meant... mmm... miraculous!"

"Miraculous selection?" Roxanne said with a grin.

"Umm, yeah. Miraculous," repeated the wolf before failing to hold in his laughter.

After deciding on what dish to make, Kale grabbed what he needed and began to cook. He spent a half an hour making the Italian dish--his favorite genre of food was Italian--and served it on their small, glass dining table. "Dinner is served."

Roxanne got up from the recliner she was sitting in and inhaled deeply before sitting down. "Mmm, sure smells good."

"That's good considering most of taste is smell, so hopefully, it will taste good," he said hopefully.

The adult laughed before scooping a bite into her mouth. She chewed before stating that it was amazing, and then taking another bite. The two sat and enjoyed the scrumptious meal as they talked about differing things from Kale's progress in his homework, to the difference between aurora borealis and aurora australis.

After cleaning every scrap of the foreign cuisine from their plates, Roxanne grabbed them, and put them in the sink.

"So, what do you have planned for tonight Mr. Easter?" she asked.

"Hmm, I was thinking I would go hang with Jesse for awhile," replied the wolf before burping loudly. "Is that all right with you Dr. Easter?"

"Excuse you, and . . . okay, you made your point;" said the female lupine, laughing, "No more last names."

"You got it Doc," he coyly said.

"And none of that," stated the smiling wolf. "Yes, you can go 'hang out' with Jesse."

"Awesome," said Kale, gleaming with joy as he grabbed his cell phone, keys, and lastly, his coat and made his way to the door, "Hang loose."

"Yes, I will be sure to do that." Said the older lupine sarcastically. "Try not to get home too late."

"Kay, I will get home later than 'too late.'"

"Good, bye!" Roxanne said, laughing at the banter between herself and her son.

"Tah!" The young lupine shouted before shutting the door behind him.

Kale opened his phone and held the number '2' button down until he heard the familiar ringing coming from the earpiece. He called the elevator and entered just as Jesse answered his phone with a simple statement.

"Yo!" he said.

The wolf pressed the 'Ground Floor' button.

"What's up?" he asked while, for a split second, he lost his breath as the modern elevator made its quick journey to the ground.

"Hmm, nothing much at all," his familiar friend said.

"Good, cause I am coming over," the lupine blatantly said before the elevator slowed.

"Oh, okay master," replied the cougar, "and what will we do tonight for your entertainment?"

"Hmm, I will decide once I get there." Kale laughed.

"Fuck that!" Replied the feline, also laughing. "Anyway, see you when you get here."

"Kay." With that, the wolf closed his phone and walked out of the apartment building.

////

"Holy shit its cold!" Kale exclaimed as he burst through the door his friend had just opened,

shaking the frozen flakes out of his fur and took off his coat.

Jesse brushed off some snow that the wolf had shook off on him and smiled at his shivering friend. "Did you have a fun walk?"

"Oh it gets better each time," said the lupine sarcastically. "Why is it that I am always the one who makes the trek to hang out, huh?"

The cougar heftily sat down on the worn couch and grinned, "I will have to get back to you on that." That response resulted in a gray paw to the back of the head. "Hey!"

Kale quickly brought his paws behind his back and looked away casually, "'Hey!' what?"

"I hate you," said the cougar jokingly.

"I love you too." Quickly responded the lupine, accustom to this routine.

"Anyway, on my journey over here, I thought heartily about what we should do, but came up with nothing. So I decided to give you the honor of choosing." The lupine said with a smile.

"Oh, thanks," Jesse said as he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I thought you might enjoy the responsibility," Kale said as he took his coat and hung it on a nearby hook.

"I hate you." The cougar said.

"I love you too," the wolf said out of habbit.

"Well, I don't really know," Jesse said after a sigh following their laughter. "For some reason, combining two bored furs only results in . . . two bored furs."

Laughter leapt out of each furs maw before they got back to deciding on what to do. The two furs ended up not doing much else besides watching TV and playing some games. As with most fifteen-year-old boys, there were a few wrestling matches, and several sexually suggesting remarks and actions--all of which were jokes of course--which Kale found livened up the evening. They wasted hours away doing nothing productive, but still enjoyed each other's company.

The time came when Kale thought he should leave, not wanting to get in trouble or lose some of his mother's trust, so he said his 'goodbyes' and left. On his freezing walk back, he felt his phone buzzing in his pants. The wolf took it out and read the message displayed on the screen:

'Forgot to pick mail up. Please grab on way home. Mom'

The lupine laughed at awkwardness of his mom's text as he made a mental note to pick up their mail in the lobby. Kale started to shiver just as he walked up to the entrance of the apartment building. He walked up the steps, and grabbed the door handle. Coldness stabbed into his paw the instant he came in contact with the freezing metal. He quickly opened the door and pulled himself inside. The wolf exhaled deeply and rubbed his paws together.

"Mail, mail, gotta get the mail," he chanted to himself.

He pulled his keys out of his pocket and fiddled with them as he walked up to the grid of tiny mailboxes imbedded in the marble wall.

He instinctively walked to the correct box and opened it with his key. There were no unusual envelopes, no boxes, no postcards... nothing interesting. Kale sighed as he reached into the crevice and pulled out the pile of envelopes and shuffled through them, as he always did, after shutting the tiny door of the mailbox. He opened a couple that looked somewhat interesting, but was disappointed with ads and bills--ads and bills was all the Easters' mail ever consisted of. Just as the lupine was about to tuck the stack under his arm and forget about it, he came across one that caught his attention. He couldn't really put his paw on why it caught his eye; it just seemed different.

Curiosity welled up inside him and to relieve it, he tore off one end of the envelope and blew into the open end, giving him access to the folded paper inside. After briefly inspecting the contents, Kale reached inside it with two fingers and grabbed the mysterious paper. Unfolding it, his eyes glanced over the strings of words before they knocked the wind out of him. The rest of the useless mail fell to the ground as he ran to the elevator. Breath finally came to him in a big gasp and his heart boomed in his ears while he waited for the doors to open and grant him access to the lift. The doors finally opened and he hurriedly pushed the button that represented his floor while he tried to sort out all the thoughts, questions, and emotions that were pounding through his head.

After what seemed like forever, the door finally opened with a 'bing' and Kale ran to his apartment. He opened the door, hurried to his mom's room, and burst in.

"I have a brother?!" he exclaimed.

////

After several minutes of failed attempts, Roxanne finally calmed her son down enough to get the letter from him. She read the letter and tears started welling up in her eyes. This caused the younger lupine to release most of his anger and curiosity instantly burned inside him. Kale watched his mother as he read the rest of the letter. A tear fell from her face as she looked up at his son.

"I am so sorry." The adult lupine's breathing became more and more unsteady as emotions started to get the best of her, something her son rarely saw, seeing as she was a therapist. "I was waiting for the right time, and now look."

The young wolf was still lost and confused, "What's going on? Tell me?"

Roxanne wiped the tears from her eyes and sighed very deeply, trying to recompose herself. "Well... as you know, I wasn't your dad's first wife."

Kale's mom had spoken to him only a couple of times about his dad and his previous wife and always avoided the subject whenever he brought it up. The wolf had just assumed that he had just hurt her badly and it just hurt too much for his mom to talk about. "Yeah, Rachel, right?"

"Yeah," the adult sighed, "Rachel. Anyway, your dad fell your half-brother completely in love with her and gave her everything he had to give, including a cub. Right after their son was born, Rachel started acting differently. She would completely lose her temper randomly and try to injure your dad, and then the next day she would act like it never happened. This happened very rarely, but when it did, it was horrible and he would come to me and talk about it. Well, these 'episodes' started happening more and more often as their son started growing, and your dad started to wonder what kind of impact this would have on their son. He soon figured out, much to their family's dismay, Rachel was suffering from schizophrenia." She let out a sigh as she tried to regain her composure.

"Well, after one of her 'episodes', about two years after they had their son, your dad made a mistake. He needed someone or something to turn to with all his emotions. Therefore, his outlet, he decided, was sex. He called me, being one of his close ex-girlfriends who still loved him and all. From there . . . well . . . that led to you." She finished, wiping a tear from her eye.

That hurt Kale, deeply, but he waited to address it.

"Anyway, your dad started to notice that she never seemed to show these horrible effects around their son, only when she was with him, and he could see that it was starting to affect their cub." Tears again took their place in the aged lupine's eyes.

"He said he had no choice. He said it was the only way to fix things. He was worried if he stayed, who knows? She may have hurt their son and he couldn't let that happen. So he . . . so he . . ." Roxanne couldn't finish her sentence.

Kale's heart broke as he realized what must have been his father's last resort. As he watched his mom give in to her emotions, tears seemed to flow like rivers from his eyes and sobs filled the room. The younger wolf's eyes swelled in sympathy for his mother's pain and he wished he could help. Eventually, Roxanne gained control and slowed her breathing. It took a couple of minutes before she could resume her story.

"Apparently her condition didn't leave with him," the distraught wolf said, looking down at the letter. "Thank god their son survived."

The young lupine didn't know how react to all the emotions that pushed and shoved for dominance. So he didn't. Tear filled eyes were the only thing that hinted Kale had just heard all of what he had.

"I am so sorry I didn't tell you sooner," his mom apologized, tears still soaking her face, "I am so sorry I didn't tell you about your dad or brother . . . I just didn't know how to or when."

The words didn't even penetrate. He truly cared, but he just had too much on his mind.

"What's his name?" he asked.

Roxanne looked surprised. "What?"

Kale repeated, "What's his name? Their son."

"Oh, um . . . Akkia."

////

"Oh my gosh . . ." Akkia said almost to himself.

"What is it Ky?" asked the husky, looking over to his mate.

Silence continued to echo through the room as the wolf stared at the screen.

"What is it?" he asked again.

"I have a brother . . ." the wolf responded.

"What?!" Tobias exclaimed.

"...or at least half brother."

Tobias was shocked. "What do you mean?"

"I just got an email from a fur named Roxanne Easter." explained the lupine, "She claims she has a son name Kale and his father was Jared; my dad."

"No way."

Ky leaned back in the squeaky chair and tossed a pencil he was fiddling with on the desk.

"Yeah . . ." he sighed, "But it makes sense if you read her story." The wolf swallowed as a lump developed in his throat. "Things make so much more sense. I mean with my mom and everything."

Tobias leaned down over his mate's shoulder and kissed his cheek before reading the whole email for himself.

After a few minutes of silence, he stood up straight and uttered very quietly, "Wow." He wrapped his arms around his shocked wolf. "So, what does this mean?"

"I have no idea," Ky said unsteadily.

////

Over the next couple of weeks, Roxanne and Ky were in constant contact and they explained their lives to each other, trying to figure out the few mysteries that remained in their twisted family. Ky explained to her how his mom had told him that his dad had died in a military operation and Roxanne also learned about the young wolf's encounters with his mom's schizophrenia. He explained to her that he was living with his aunt in the city, he had most recently moved. He also told her how his life has gotten much better since the death of his mom.

Kale had slowly come to grasp all that was poured on him and he began to understand everything in a new light. It did not take long for him to forgive his mom for hiding him from all of this and he comforted her through her recollection of everything as she went into detail of it all for him. It seemed very odd to Kale that so many holes in his life that he didn't even know existed had been filled. It felt weird, but good; a bittersweet type of thing. He had been reading the emails from his half brother with his mom and soon got to know him pretty well. Eventually he started instant messaging both Ky and Tobias and became very good friends with them.

////

Tobias and Ky sat on the familiar, wooden steps and looked out over the spectacular landscape that lay behind the wolf's house. Their paws were laced together and they shared the warmth of each other as they sat and talked.

"I can't believe they found out about all of this only a month ago and now they are moving here to live with us," stated the confused wolf.

The content husky nuzzled his head against his mate's. "Maybe she feels somewhat of an obligation to help raise you."

"Why would she feel that?" Ky asked, nuzzling back, "She isn't even my real mom and I am almost eighteen. It doesn't make sense."

"Then maybe it's for Kale. You two sure hit it off and it sounds like he really looks up to you. Maybe Roxanne wants the best for him. And in her eyes, a brother is just that," Tobias stated.

The lupine turned his head and looked suspiciously at his mate. "Have you been talking with her about this?"

A grin spread wide on Tobias's face. "Maybe . . ."

"How you win confidence from furs so fast, I will never know," the wolf said as he nuzzled back against the canine.

"Just another hidden layer of the tasty cake that is me," responded the husky with a huge smile on his face.

"I love you Tobias."

"I love you Akkia."

The wolf squeezed his mate's warm paw and smiled as he pondered the idea of a younger brother.

"This is going to be fun."

////

~Hey! I am back after a long long period of time without submitting any stories or art, so I apologize if I let anyone down. Anyway, TOBIAS AND KY ARE BACK! I was having trouble getting into a couple of the other stories I started, so I decided to go back to something I both loved, and was comfortable with. I really hoped you enjoyed the first chapter of my new series and please tell me what you thought. Thanks a ton.~

(Two of the characters and a lot of the plot comes from my first series: A Name, Not A Number. I think this story works okay on its own, but if you have read this without reading A Name, Not A Number, you may be kinda lost, so I apologize. Though I would suggest you go and read my first series. It add a lot to this, but you don't have to, lol.)