Where Foxes Hunt with Wolves - K.A. Merikan Page 0,56

you by accident.”

The golden eyes were so innocent when Radek met his gaze. “What do you mean? You’ll turn into a monster and wreck your own house?”

Yev exhaled. “I usually don’t have prey in my house,” he said softly and approached the fridge, because all this tension was making him hungry.

“Where did you go last month? That was right before you found me, right?” Radek asked with the underlying question being can’t you go there again? Still an entitled brat then.

“Deep into the woods, but that’s not fool-proof. People might come across me, because they’re idiots and sometimes camp out in the wild. Nobody would hear them scream if a werewolf tracked them down,” Yev said, pulling out butter for the eggs he intended to prepare.

“I don’t get it. How is it safer in the house then? It’s close to Dybukowo, and I bet a werewolf is perfectly capable of breaking down a door.” He stilled, swallowing as he gathered his thoughts. “Yev… I… If it’s at all possible, I don’t wanna see my mom yet. I don’t know what to tell her about the hand. I actually wish I could just be Ember again and not have to deal with any of this.”

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Yev cleared his throat, irritated that the blanket was slowly coming undone around his hips. The pajama pants should be dry enough to wear. “Break eggs into a bowl. I’ll have five. Be back in a minute,” he said and walked—or rather ran—past Radek, back to the pantry where the thin pants hung off the large chest freezer. He pulled them on, scowling at the cold hems irritating his skin again. How was he to deal with this? Radek wasn’t a werewolf. He couldn’t be told to run it off and come back once he was done sulking.

An egg shell broke, and the crack was followed by whispered swearing.

Yev swallowed and rested his hands on the freezer, letting his mind race. He couldn’t let Radek stay. Even the moonshrooms wouldn’t completely suppress his true nature when the Moon-Eyed God looked down on the mountains, so the only solution was to block all windows and stay indoors, out of the moon’s sight. But could he ignore his instincts with Radek so close?

Another egg breaking. More swearing.

This boy didn’t know how to crack eggs, so how was Yev to toss him out into a reality he didn’t grasp?

“I’ll do it,” Yev said, entering the kitchen.

“I got it!” Radek groaned, fishing out shell fragments out of the bowl, and Yev stood still, realizing why something as basic as cracking eggs proved difficult for Radek. He only had one hand now.

Ice hardened the contents of Yev’s stomach as he saw the boy hit the egg against the wooden counter, and then crush it once he tried to split it over the bowl. Shit.

He really should convince Radek to go home. “Your mom... she could help you with things like this until you relearn them. And you might need some kind of exercise too. And what about a prosthesis?” he tried as he opened the bread basket and pulled out the sourdough he bought from one of the local ladies who baked it at home.

Radek stilled. “I don’t want her help. I don’t wanna think about it, okay? A disabled fox is cute, an amputee gay dude is a curiosity at best. Fuck.”

Yev bit his lip, watching him in silence. What the fuck was he to say?

“You can overcome this. People live without limbs. It’s all a question of determination. It sucks now, but you will learn.”

Radek frowned and stepped away from the table “Oh yeah? Will it grow back if I’m determined enough?”

“That’s not what I said. But God throws stuff at us, and we just need to bear with it. That’s how life works.”

Oh, how much easier his life would have been if he were like everyone else. If women smelled like snacks, not flowers, and if men—men like Radek—weren’t so damn tempting. Yet he was the way he was, because no one would be sorry for him anyway.

“Thanks for the pep talk, Dad. Now can you do the eggs, because I’m clearly failing at making food?” Radek shook his head, hiding his face in the ginger cascades.

“What’s with that attitude? I’m trying to help. Feeling sorry for yourself won’t help you,” Yev said, taking over the breakfast-making duties.

Radek curled his fingers against the counter. “I just… I thought I’d be fine in the human form. That everything