the edge of this vision like a nightmarish shadow come to life.
“So this is your choice? You abandon your pack for him?” Father asked, shaking his head.
Yev saw red. “No! I demand you reconsider. I stand before you admitting this is who I am, and not giving up on my pack. Fucking a man, wanting to be with one, wanting to mate with one, even if it’s not possible, doesn’t make me any less of a werewolf than any of you!”
Father shook his head, his short gray beard unable to hide the twitch of his lips when he stepped closer, and Yev remained in the doorway instead of moving aside, as was the custom.
“You defend this man who I hear is not only your lover, but also a witness who could harm our business, and some kind of fox shifter himself? Have you lost your mind, Yevhen?”
“He’s discreet. Unlike some,” Yev snarled, glaring at Burian, who bared his teeth, ready to fight with or without Father’s consent. But the others held him in place, still true to their leader despite his son’s transgressions. Everything Yev did reflected on Father, which was exactly why he’d chosen to keep his true feelings secret in the first place. In vain.
“Bring him here,” Father nodded at the house with his chin, making Yev’s muscles turn solid with fury.
His jaw hurt from its rapid clench, and he growled as claws grew where his nails used to be.
Father raised his voice, standing unflinchingly, as if the display of aggression meant nothing. “Stop posturing, Yev! You can’t fight all of us, so step aside. ”
Yev snarled. “Watch me, I might just try. You wanna see how many I can take down before I’m overpowered? I’ll do it, I warn you.”
The lodge might have been Yev’s home, but one nod from the pack alpha was enough to send Burian straight for the door despite Yev standing in his way. Pushing him away was the only answer Yev had in him.
Father squinted. “I need to see this creature.”
“He’s not yours!”
Dad’s thick, wiry brows lowered, and his mouth twisted into a snarl as he stepped back, wordlessly urging Yev to follow his lead and place his feet on the densely-packed snow. “He’s not yours either, Yev, remember? He’s a man, and your scent can’t affect him the same way they would a woman. He will never become your true mate and take your scent. He will get bored and leave you. You’ve lived among humans long enough to know it happens to their flimsy bonds.”
Struck wordless, Yev stared back at him, sensing the searing heat of a dozen gazes ripping at his skin. He breathed in the ugly odor of their judgment, and while it hurt him worse than physical violence would have, he would not back down. He’d planned to walk the tightrope with Radek, always balancing the pack’s expectations while secretly keeping his sweet boy. He should have known the truth would always come out, but now was the moment to speak his truth.
“What if there is a way? What if you gave me a chance to prove how serious this is for both me and him?” Yev started, choking up at Father’s immediate headshake. “We could ask the other packs if they know of a way to bond—”
Father stomped forward with a growl. “We will not be talking to other packs about your deviancy! I hoped you might become my successor, but now—”
Yev’s chest felt heavy. He opened his mouth, ready to reason with his family when the door on the second floor broke, and Radek’s yelp prompted him to twist back, ready to dash upstairs.
Burian, and Anton, a child mate of Yev’s, who’d started ignoring him completely once Yev’s true nature came to light, grabbed his arms with a snarl, but it was Olek who spoke.
“Yev! Stay calm, please. They won’t hurt him.”
Burian twisted Yev’s arm much harder than the struggle warranted. “Or will we?”
Yev snarled, trying to shake off the two men holding him, but just as their hold loosened, a third pair of arms looped around his throat and cut off his air supply so efficiently that within moments his knees felt soft and unsteady. Still, as panic boiled inside, he lost the last of his breath to shout, “Don’t touch him!”
A heartbeat later, he heard Radek’s scream and a tiny but vicious barking that had to be Coal’s, but as he tried to shake off the three pairs of arms holding him in