Where Foxes Hunt with Wolves (Folk Lore 2)

Radek slotted his fingers between Yev’s, making him realize that he’d never held another man’s hand this way outside of sex. “So there’s… lady werewolves?” At least his foot stopped tapping.

Yev nodded. “Yes, but only men turn. The women, they get… I’d say more animalistic on the full moon, but they don’t transform. And there’s less of them, so every girl born into a family is a cause for celebration.”

Which made Yev’s refusal to take a wife when she was offered to him even more of an insult to everyone involved. “And then, some werewolves can have children with human women too, but choosing one as a mate is a risk, because conceiving a child might prove difficult. My brother is in this kind of situation. Maybe that’s why he’s always so angry.”

Radek squeezed Yev’s hand and pressed his cheek to Yev’s shoulder. “If there’s more male werewolves overall, it shouldn’t be such a problem that you want a man. Less competition for everyone else?”

Yev exhaled, rubbing the middle of Radek’s hand with his thumb as he glanced into the golden eyes, which shone with curiosity. “It’s not that simple. Our population is dwindling, and it’s always been small. We need to breed, or we won’t survive. And werewolves like me… the strongest, largest of us… it’s imperative that we have offspring.”

No one had ever listened to Yev with so much attention. He would never have dreamed of sharing these secrets with a human lover, and now here he was, with a beautiful boy who could just maybe truly understand all of him. And he wasn’t allowed to keep that boy.

But he was getting ahead of himself. Would Radek want to be kept in the first place? And why consider this at all if it couldn't happen? A man could not mate with another male.

The smartass grin Yev knew so well was back on Radek’s face. “Ooh… the strongest, you say?”

Yev shrugged, leaning closer without thinking. “What can I say? Good genes. Maybe you can see me in my moon form one day?”

“Would that be dangerous to me?” Radek asked, but wouldn’t even blink, all of his attention on Yev. Few things felt better than this. Maybe knotting that tight freckly ass came close.

It had only happened once so far, but Yev felt as if Radek somehow belonged to him now, as if they had bonded in some mystical way werewolves only could with the mates who allowed it.

“It depends. I’ve never been around a man I liked on a full moon before,” Yev said, and a flush crept up his neck when he realized what he’d said.

“Would have been risky for someone to see those claws and canines? But if you get even bigger and badder in your full shifted form, I don’t know if I can take that kind of dick.” Radek laughed, but tapped his foot against the floor again.

Was this conversation making him nervous?

Yev swallowed and pulled on Radek’s hand so he could hold it in both of his, gently kneading. Warm shivers ran up and down his body, trying to fool his brain into thinking they were like any other werewolf-non-werewolf couple, and the same rules applied. “I never heard of a werewolf hurting his mate on the full moon. But I hear that a lot of action takes place,” he said, winking.

Radek snorted, and a flush crept to his cheekbones, locks of hair sliding off his shoulder as he leaned in. “Oh, my God. That’s kinda kinky. What do you mean by ‘mate’? Like, their wife?”

Yev chuckled and rubbed his face to hide his growing embarrassment. For a moment he toyed with the idea of telling Radek everything about what a mate meant for a werewolf. How once mated, neither partner could bear to be with anyone but their mate, how all sexual interest in others faded, and how it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be loved and understood.

But such concepts didn’t really matter to Radek, so Yev settled on, “Yeah. We’re very loyal creatures.”

Everyone but him. The one werewolf who’d forever remain a stray who took his pleasures whenever he got the chance.

Radek chewed on that in silence, and Yev would’ve paid good money to know what was going on in that ginger head.

“And silver. Is that true? Should I have some for protection? In case the other werewolves—”

“No,” Yev growled without thinking. The idea of Radek wearing silver against his skin had Yev bristling. His reaction was visceral, rooted solely in the emotion of wanting no barrier between them.

Radek groaned. “‘No’ it doesn’t work, or ‘no’ I shouldn’t get any?”

Yev had to take a deep breath to keep a sneer from forming. “Do not get any. Please. I will provide all the protection you might need, because yes, it does work. Even its touch is agony, and the wounds take years to heal, sometimes never in full. When we are still pups, each of us is taught how much it hurts, so we never play with it or consider ourselves above its effect.” He held out his hand to show the small circle burned into the flesh over the base of his thumb. The scar was still pink and plump as if it had barely healed. “This scar is over thirty-years-old, and can still ache when exposed to moonlight.”