“Do you always talk to her like this?”
Seriously? The last thing he needed to hear right now. “Did you even hear her? She’s the queen of passive aggressive guilt-tripping. You don’t know what it’s like to deal with her on a daily basis! If I didn’t stand up for myself she’d walk all over me!”
“She’s still your mother. No need to raise your voice at her.”
Radek hugged himself, biting the insides of his cheeks hard. “Why are you taking her side when you don’t know her like I do? Weren’t you the one to call her a bitch at the supermarket?”
Yev shrugged as they slowly drove through the village, passing the old wooden cottages with steep roofs and the few newer buildings made of brick. It was a boring, dreary place, with too few opportunities for entertainment. The farm buildings’ accompanying houses were all gray, the yards muddy, and the sunless weather only made everything Radek disliked about Dybukowo stand out.
Yev took his time to answer. “That was when I didn’t know she was your parent. I wouldn’t even think about screaming at my mother. She raised me. I might not agree with her on everything, but I’d never raise my voice at her. Try to look at it from her point of view. It must be hard to see the child you raised become their own person.”
Radek clenched his elbow so hard he could almost sense the nails digging in. “Easy for you to say if your mother’s nice!”
Yev’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he slowed down the car, parking it right next to someone’s property. The dog chained up in the yard gave a loud bark and rose to its feet, approaching over frosty mud, but Yev snapped his fingers to get Radek’s attention. His face was like cut from stone.
“Look at me. If I acted like you just had to any of my elders, I’d have ended up with bite marks. We have a hierarchy, and you need to obey those above you, so don’t tell me sob stories about your parents being unpleasant when you can essentially do whatever you want.”
Radek hunched his shoulders, looking into Yev’s eyes while his chest sank in on itself. “Is that how you lost your ear?”
Yev leaned back in the seat, biting his lips. “That was Burian. My older brother. I took his toy.”
“So there is a bit of a rebel in you…” Radek tried, poking Yev’s side.
Yev shrugged, rubbing the steering wheel as the corner of his mouth twitched up. “I did fuck you twice already, and that’s a big no-no.”
Radek reached for Yev’s hand and entwined their fingers. “A man has needs, it’s not fair of them to interfere. Does it mean we’ll need to keep things on the down-low so they accept you back?”
Yev’s nostrils flared. “A wolf shouldn’t have desires like mine. And they’ll watch me. Once I return, it’ll be the end of my freedom.”
Radek sucked on his lip, unsure how he felt about this at all. “But until then… can we be exclusive? I’ve got no grip on the shifting, and it’s not like there’s many options for you in Dybukowo. Would make sense right?” he asked, even though a friends-with-benefits arrangement was what had been so unsatisfying with Jan.
Yev’s shoulders relaxed, and so did his handsome face. “Yes. I think that should work for both of us.”
Radek couldn’t help feeling deflated. Shouldn’t Yev have said ‘no, I want you all to myself forever, and I’d sooner die than let my family take that away from me’? In Radek’s secret fantasies, Yev growled like a wolf about to claim his mate, and then fucked Radek in the back seat. But reality was no fairy tale even if his story prominently featured a fox and a wolf.
Radek squeezed his hand tighter. “Should I pay rent?”
Yev snorted. “I live in the lodge for free. But you can chip in for groceries,” he said, and his hand slid to Radek’s thigh… only to move away when an elderly man approached from the nearest house in dusty work clothes. His brows furrowed at the unexpected guests. The dog must have alerted him to intruders, but Yev quickly gave him a wave and started the vehicle, driving off.
“Should I take you to the farm now or later?”
Radek’s stomach sank, and he pulled away. The farm. “I don’t know how I can do this. It’s mom’s only income.” And his, because he’d quit his part-time job last year, bored with the office work and with his sights already set on travel.
Yev blinked. “She lives in a palace! She could just sell the damn thing and live out the rest of her days happy as a fat rat in a cheese factory.”
“Okay, okay! Let’s just go now. But… you’ll come with me? I’m scared I might shift again.”