“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 place, it only resulted in Burian’s knee hitting his stomach.
Yev was still catching his breath as a werewolf, who must have sneaked into the house from the back descended the stairs carrying Radek over his shoulder. The boy was kicking and screaming, but none of that was of any use against the mountain that was Fedir. Coal’s piercing shrieks made Yev stiffen with worry, but he was glad to see the tiny fox had enough sense of self-preservation to stay behind, screeching in anger and fear. If he’d have tried to bite or otherwise disturb Fedir, he’d have ended up dead.
Yev shook his head, frantically searching Olek’s gaze, but his younger brother wouldn’t look at him, flushed… with what exactly? Shame of what the pack was doing or shame of Yev and Radek smelling as if they’d just had sex?
“Leave him. Father. Please,” Yev begged, his gaze shooting to Radek, whose brave face slipped when he saw his abductor wasn’t alone.
Radek was wheezing by the time Fedir carried him outside and Father walked up to him with the face of a man who’d seen it all. “A fox shifter, you say.”
“Yes! So I know how to keep a secret. I have no reason to expose you,” Radek said, but he was only in his sweatpants, ghostly pale. Oh, how Yev wanted to tear him away from Fedir’s grip and carry him to Dybukowo, where the wolves would have surely left them be, for fear of getting exposed for what they were. Yev would have offered himself as sacrifice to the Moon-Eyed God if that ensured protection for Radek.