Where Foxes Hunt with Wolves - K.A. Merikan Page 0,60
his throat. Maybe that was the real issue. Radek would be a liability and Yev was trying to gently let go of the responsibility before taking him back home in a few days. He couldn’t house and feed Radek indefinitely if he planned to go back to his village and fit in there.
Once Yev was gone, Radek would be alone with his secret and a disability he still didn’t want to accept.
A low growl echoed in Radek’s stomach, prompting him to roll to his back and stare at the ceiling again. He should have taken snacks upstairs, but no, he’d been so frustrated with his failings in the kitchen that he’d given up and fallen asleep far too early. Now, he was not only wide awake but also hungry.
Fuck.
Thankfully, he didn’t feel like relieving his bladder, because he’d also forgotten to bring a suitable container into the locked bedroom. Then again, he’d once gotten drunk and peed out of the window on the third floor.
That had been a night to remember.
He sat up and glanced at the small plastic alarm clock he’d once chewed on as Ember because Yev had left early and forgot to switch the thing off.
3:30 a.m.
And no sounds from downstairs. Yev had to be asleep by now. Would it really be such an issue if Radek sneaked into the kitchen for a quick snack and a glass of milk? It would take him five minutes tops. Back in Cracow, he used to make all these late night food delivery orders. Now that he knew he was a fox, his nocturnal habits made way more sense.
That life felt like light years away. Would he even be able to drive a car again?
Radek punched the wall in frustration, but tears still blurred his vision. He didn’t deserve this. Yet no matter how much he willed the truth away, every time he opened his eyes, the stump was there, staring back at him.
4 a.m.
Enough was enough. It was almost morning anyway, and Yev was surely asleep. He’d said it himself that he wouldn’t shift into a beast in the house thanks to some mushrooms, as long as the curtains were shut. That he might just be agitated.
It would be fine. Radek would be in and out of the kitchen, then hurry back into the bedroom.
But as he stepped close to the door and touched the lock, his heart sped up in anticipation of a massive body hitting it from the other side in an attempt to break them in, of giant claws scratching the wood. When none of that happened, Radek inhaled, held his breath and turned the little handle as silently as humanly possible. The hinges were well oiled, so he managed to make very little noise before he exhaled, sticking his head into the hallway.
The house was quiet. So quiet Radek almost convinced himself Yev had decided to spend the night outside after all, but he still placed his feet with care so the old wooden floor wouldn’t creak under his weight. He made his way downstairs, his pulse picking up as he first sensed Yev’s sharp, foresty aroma, and then heard him breathe.
So he was sleeping.
Not daring to follow the impulse to see him curled up on the sofa, Radek hurried straight to the kitchen, which, thankfully had tiles on the floor and offered far less risk of sudden sounds.
Radek opened the fridge and packed slices of ham and cheese on a plate feeling as if he were a character in The Quiet Place, and his life depended on silence or the monsters would com—
His stomach grumbled again, and he couldn’t wait to start eating, but then a box of homemade cheesecake caught his attention, and he remembered them getting some two days ago. He’d take that too, but he grabbed a glass and a metal jug of milk first. Yev got their dairy from a local farmer and it was as delicious as the fresh eggs from her hens. As Ember, Radek had loved licking up the yolks to the point that Yev would give him just the yolks and have the whites. For muscle mass, Radek assumed, because Yev had a huge body to feed.
He was almost done drinking when something creaked in the corridor. It was the nature of an old house to never stay silent. Radek looked back, but when he found emptiness in the doorway, he finished his milk, intent on rushing back to the room.