Where Foxes Hunt with Wolves (Folk Lore 2)

“Don’t ‘hi’ me!” Yev snarled. “What the fuck are you doing with Radek?”

Radek stared at him. “Wolf in the manger, huh?” He said, too bitter to keep the snark out of his voice.

Emil raised his hands. “Come on now. He doesn’t want to live with his mom, so he’ll be staying with us. I don’t know what you’re imagining this is, but I can promise you it’s definitely not that.”

Compared to Emil’s neutral tone, Yev’s had a growly edge, as if he were about to sprout fur and carry Radek deep into the forest by the collar. “Sure, and it so happens his partner’s not home? Some coincidence!”

Radek’s imaginary fur bristled. “You have no right to be here! You gave up that right when we broke up. Emil doesn’t need to promise you shit!” At least he didn’t feel small standing on the porch while Yev was at the bottom of the three steps.

Yev exhaled a cloud of steam, his gray eyes reflecting the light above the door with unnatural brightness that made Radek’s skin tingle in anticipation of violence. Behind him, Emil was starting to breathe more shallowly, ready to protect Radek from Yev’s jealous fit.

Just fucking great.

“Radek, I’ll take you to your mom’s,” Yev said, prompting Emil to step forward.

“He’s an adult, and he won’t go anywhere with you if he doesn’t want to! Shall I remind you you’re on my property?”

“I needed someone to talk to. That so hard to understand?” Radek’s anger might have been aggravated by the clash with his Mom, but Yev still deserved it.

“You could have talked to me. I have a stationary phone in the lodge!” Yev said, spreading his arms wide but had the sense not to come any closer.

Radek fought the urge to hiss at him in helpless rage. “I did talk to you! I told you I loved you, and you said you’d ‘take me home’,” he spat the last words as if they burned his tongue. “That was your answer. It’s all I needed to know!” His love life was a disaster, but he wasn’t ashamed of showing real emotion in front of Emil.

Yev blinked, and his shoulders dropped as if he’d been kicked somewhere tender, and couldn’t maintain the combative stance no matter how much he wanted to. “Only because you didn’t want to stay,” he said.

Emil cleared his throat and put his arm over Radek’s shoulders. “You should leave. I can take care of him, so no need to stalk around like a creep.”

“No way in hell!” Yev barked, shaking his head at Emil as he balled his hands into fists. “I will take care of him! Radek, come on,” he said, stepping toward the porch while Emil squeezed Radek’s shoulder, about to pull him back.

Radek was shocked to see the two men prepare for a confrontation. He couldn’t believe this shit. He shrugged off Emil’s hand, all too aware of just how much more vulnerable he was without half an arm. Maybe he really should have gotten a hook. Ripping people to pieces would have been a breeze

“The fuck? I’m not a kid. I don’t need to be coddled, I just needed a friend,” he said to Emil through his teeth, and rushed down the steps, pushing his shoulder hard against Yev’s on the way. “And I don’t need you at all!” A lie he needed to tell himself as well. He was hurting and craved to cause Yev even a scratch of his agony.

When Yev grabbed his wrist to stop him, Radek lost his shit. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, but when he opened his mouth, it vocalized a furious mix of yelps and screeches that only a fox could have made.

They both froze, releasing clouds of vapor into the space between their bodies. Yev’s eyes went wide, but the ghost of his touch was gone, and he turned on his heel, walking off without a word. Radek stared after him, his chest pumping ever faster while Emil thumped down the wooden steps, but Radek didn’t want to explain what had happened.

He ran off, both wanting to be alone and craving to be held in Yev’s arms. No one could truly understand him.

Radek ignored Emil’s yelling and focused on the one step that was always in front of him. He was hot despite the frost in the air, but it didn’t matter. He just needed to get away from it all. From Mom. From Yev. From Emil. None of them could offer him the peace he needed nor know what he was going through. They seemed to have their lives figured out. Even Yev, who’d helped him so much, didn’t feel like making adjustments for a fox who loved him so, so deeply.

Radek wasn’t sure how long he ran, lost in thoughts, focused on the vapor coming out of his mouth and the frantic heartbeat in his chest, but when he stopped, he found himself in front of a heavy gate topped with barbed wire.