Where Foxes Hunt with Wolves - K.A. Merikan Page 0,145

his face getting hot with the growing excitement of it al. “I showed her Ember. I’ve got so much to tell you.”

But Yev pressed his calloused finger to Radek’s lips and showed him a raven perched on a ledge outside the open window. Radek didn’t understand what this was about at first, but then noticed a piece of paper in the bird’s beak, with something written at the front.

As they walked up, the bird kept still until Radek finally got a glimpse at the note the size of a folded postcard. It had both their names on it.

“It wouldn’t let me have it, so I thought that maybe we both needed to be there?” Yev put his fingers on one corner of the letter, Radek on the other, and this time, the raven released the note and flew away, as if it had been an unwilling messenger, charmed until it performed its task.

Yev whistled and opened the folded paper. It couldn’t have been a long note, because he was done within only a couple of seconds and looked up at Radek with a frown. “We’re being summoned.”

Chapter 27 – Yev

It was dark by the time Yev and Radek reached the woods, and darker still when they entered the hidden valley of endless summer. With no time to pick up alternative footwear, they left their boots with their outer clothes, at the entryway into the witch’s sacrum. They walked on barefoot, the cool moss and grass tickling their toes as they hurried through the tangled woods.

“We shouldn’t get our hopes up,” Yev said, for the nth time.

He didn’t know details about the purification ritual, but now that he’d been summoned to the witch’s domain, the puzzle pieces fell into place. His dad did have knowledge passed from alpha to alpha, but for all Yev knew, he couldn’t do magic. It made sense that he took the widows to someone who could.

If Father chose to ask for their presence instead of sending Olek with a letter, did that mean he was ready to bless Yev and Radek’s union?

Radek shook his head, getting far too distracted by a pair of snow-white bunnies. Yev pulled him closer when he spotted a warm, bright light between the trees ahead. And it didn’t look like a torch. Was she having a bonfire outside? Tiny insects floated through the air, dancing in the faint glow of the flames as if they were sparks.

Radek must have picked up on it too, and he frowned. “Wait. What if this is bad? Like… she's made an agreement with your pack, and they’re all here to roast us alive?”

Yev stilled, his heart about to stop, but he squeezed Radek’s shoulder and walked on, even though his throat tightened. “My father wouldn’t have. But in the unlikely case you’re right, run straight out of the valley. Okay?”

Radek’s face twisted in that worried expression Yev couldn’t help but find cute, but he nodded, which built Yev’s confidence in the situation. Radek trusted him and would do as told.

“You’re my mate whatever anyone says, and I’ll protect you,” he whispered, focusing on the cool touch of grass on his feet.

It would be fine. And if it was really a trap, he’d just deal with it to the best of his abilities. He would. He would.

Relief sank into his flesh when they entered the clearing and only spotted three silhouettes sitting on logs around the fire. A massive cauldron hung above the flames, blocking some of their light, but before he could have worried what the witch was cooking, he picked up a familiar scent and dropped his hand from Radek’s shoulder.

Recognition bloomed in his heart when he realized how long it’s been since he’d smelled it on anything but food jars passed to him in secret, and his chest filled with the fragrant air as he struggled to keep his voice from trembling.

“Mother?”

“Yev!” She was already rushing his way, dressed in her usual outfit of loose pants and a sweater. She hadn’t changed a bit. Her nose was still small and upturned, her eyes big and dark, her black hair pinned at the back of the head. The lines at the sides of her lips might have deepened, but she carried the aroma of home when she hugged Yev, overwhelming him with a sense of loss and happiness all at once.

He closed his eyes, and lifted her off the ground, still doubting whether she was really here. “What… how?” he uttered when he finally