Where Foxes Hunt with Wolves (Folk Lore 2)

Olek could be such a weirdo sometimes.

He glanced at Radek while he cut thick slices of bread. “What about you? Do you want to learn how to shift at will or stay a human forever?”

Radek seemed restless, shifting his weight and stepping closer, then farther. “I want to learn. If I’ve got it, might as well use it, right?” he said as if his true self were a disease. “I could sneak into hen houses and steal people’s eggs, or leave cryptic messages in the grain to freak them out.”

“That’s your idea of living your life? What about the farm?” Yev asked, pouring the beaten eggs into the pan as soon as the butter started sizzling.

“I don’t know yet. Tell me more about the village. It’s all werewolves? Where is it?”

Yev stilled, his shoulders going tense, so he loosened them by vigorously moving the eggs around with a wooden spatula. “If you tell anyone, you’re dead. If they know you know, you’re dead. If they know you’re still around, you’re dead. Is that clear?” he asked with more aggression than he’d intended. But those were points he needed to communicate.

Anxiety oozed from Radek, but the boy nodded. “Are they the wolves you feed?”

Yev did not expect that question, so he pushed the scrambled eggs onto plates, next to the bread. “N-no. They’re just friends. I sometimes spend time with them as a wolf.” Which he felt oddly self-conscious about and never shared with anyone in his pack. Real wolves never judged him, and sometimes he felt as if they understood him better than his fellow weres. “My village is across the border.”

Radek followed Yev to the table where they sat opposite each other by the window. “And the witch? How did you know about the witch? You never told me!”

Radek had made attempts to ask with the letter cubes, but fox questions were much easier to ignore than human ones.

Yev shrugged, clearing his throat. “It’s just… that our ancestors were right. There’s more to the world and nature than meets the eye. Like you. Like me. Like magic. Like the old gods. You will understand it with time,” he said and pushed one of the plates at Radek.

“You’re so wise,” Radek teased with a growing smile, even though his eyes were still red. He poked his foot against Yev’s under the table but started eating like a bear that had just woken up from hibernation. “Are many werewolves gay?”

Aaaand that was it for pleasant topics.

“No. Only me.”

Radek bit his lip, squinting, which only made him look more vulpine. “And yet you’re not a virgin…” His toes climbed Yev’s foot.

Radek had asked him ‘VIRGN?’ with the wooden cubes in the past and then cackled his ass off, running in circles as if that was the best joke ever.

It had been so damn cute. This, however, was not. The touch sent a sizzle up Yev’s leg and made his balls tingle as if he’d been touched there. “I can smell it when human men want me.”

And he could smell it on Radek too. He needed to put a stop to the flirting, but it felt so damn good.

Radek’s scent sharpened, and he exhaled after swallowing another giant mouthful. It brought yet more of Yev’s attention to the mouth that had sucked him in so eagerly. “You know I’m not wearing underwear, right?”

Yev choked on the warm air and didn’t take in another forkful of the delicious scrambled eggs. He shouldn’t. He should not. “I’m aware,” he said in the end, hoping his apparent disinterest would send the right message without having to go into detail. He so damn didn’t want to share any details.

He pushed the food into his mouth and started chewing.

He should have been grateful when Radek’s foot disappeared but found himself missing its warmth instead.

“Was I really that bad?” Radek grumbled. “I thought I did a pretty good job at sucking you. And if I wasn’t, you could have just given me pointers.”

“Goddamn it,” Yev huffed and hit the handle of the fork against the table. “I’m done with guys, okay? Done. My pack is giving me a chance, and I’ll take it!”

Radek hunched his shoulders. “Oh. I'm sorry. Are they homophobic?”

Yev shrugged, pinning his gaze to the plate with a faded folklore trim at the edges. The eggs, while buttery and delicious, no longer held the same appeal as moments before. “If I don’t stop, I won’t be allowed back. That’s all.”

“I get it. Sorry, I didn’t mean to tease. I never came out to my dad, but he wouldn’t have liked it either.”

Yev exhaled and moved his shoulders to relax them as he continued eating. “But you have others who understand you. A whole world of them. I only have the pack, so… I need to do this,” he said, trying to forget the freckled legs under the table.