Hunt Me! I Crave the Chase (Spooky Boys #3)

“I don’t mean to be insensitive,” I blurted out, fingers slipping into my pocket to play with the guitar pick I kept there. The hard edge dug into the pad of my thumb, soothing me. “But what’s up with the names?”

“The names?”

“Yeah.” I frowned. “I mean…Mutt and Butters—those are…kinda weird, right?” Fuck, I was not saying that right. “But Theo’s a normal name. Is that a wolf thing?”

Theo snorted out a laugh. “Butters and Mutt are the youngest.”

“Oh.” I blinked, frowning—because that didn’t exactly answer the question.

“They’re the cutest too,” he added, eyes dancing. Mutt-the-dog woofed, baring his teeth when Theo dug his finger in too hard along his ribs. He did not look amused. “When Butters was little he’d zoom around fast as a bullet—looked like a butterball flying around with all that blond fur.”

“Right.” Huh. So werewolves really did stay in their four-legged forms. I wasn’t sure if that was the proper term, but figured I’d have time to figure that out. Might even be something Avery knew about. I’d have to ask him on my next shift at work.

“Plus his name is Buchanan, and that’s a mouthful. Hard when you’ve got fangs especially. Most of us can’t manage a full humanskin shift till we’re preteens.”

Welp. That answered that question.

If this form was called humanskin, I could easily infer that the wolf form was called wolfskin.

I nodded, because that made sense. “And Mutt?” I asked, because realistically I didn’t give a fuck about Butters. Not to be rude—but I’d never even met him, and my curiosity was really reserved for his brother.

“Matthew,” Theo laughed. “When he was little he had a hard time saying it.” He shrugged. “You’d think our parents would’ve learned with Butters, but they didn’t. Besides, Mutt’s always preferred his wolfskin. Not much of a talker.” Dude talked my ear off every time I was next to him. Huh. “Not sure how Matt got changed to Mutt though. Seems like a more recent development.” Theo seemed to eye Mutt-the-dog curiously.

“That’s…cute.” My heart fluttered, picturing Mutt as a tiny, hairy little werewolf kid.

“Anyway,” Theo shrugged, a fond look on his face. He pulled away from Mutt-the-dog, already packing up the kit he’d brought with him.

“So, Mutt…” I wasn’t sure how to phrase this, once again getting stuck. “He’s not been…” Fuck, this was tricky. “Integrated into society long?” There.

“I dunno if I’d say that. He’s plenty integrated back home.” Theo shrugged again, rising from the floor with a gentle smile. “Just not in the way human society would expect,” he said gently. “It’s different.”

“Different how?” Fuck, my cheeks were burning. This felt so invasive, but…I just…I just wanted to understand. If I understood better, maybe I’d be able to navigate this easier.

Maybe I could understand him?

“He’s a hunter,” Theo explained. “Brings food back for the pack. Spends weeks out in the woods. One day he’ll be Pack Alpha, but for now, he’s content to provide.” Mutt-the-fake-dog woofed at Theo, and the large man huffed out an amused smile, folding over and gently stroking his head. “He’s a sweetheart,” he said to me, not answering my question—but giving me the information I wanted anyway. “But he’s stubborn. Dumb too, sometimes.”

Mutt-the-dog woofed, and I laughed. I’d never seen him look so disgruntled.

“We’re all dumb in our own ways,” Theo added, tone softening. “Mutt doesn’t understand humans because he’s never had to be around them. Me, on the other hand…well, I’ve had a lot more experience. The pack I was in before Mom and Dad adopted me was full of humans. I spent a lot of time with them. It’s how I learned what I know about most things.” Like being a vet. Was easy enough to connect the dots.

“A hunter,” I repeated, oddly charmed. No wonder why he’d wanted to eat squirrel at the diner. If he spent a lot of time out in the woods he probably ate that shit all the time. Ew.

Seriously.

Ew.

Theo flashed me another smile, and his golden eyes were knowing. Almost like he knew what I’d overheard, and was trying to reassure me. “If you’re asking me questions because you wanna know if you can trust him, you can.”

My heart ached.

I pressed my thumb hard enough into the guitar pick it made me feel like I was about to bleed. “Right,” I said, voice hoarse. “Of course.”

“There’s a lot of scary things out there,” Theo said, his voice low and sweet, like he was talking to a frightened animal. “But Mutt’s not one of them.”

My heart fluttered, cheeks still flushed as I nodded. I wanted to ask more questions, but it didn’t feel appropriate. I’d already been nosy enough. So I cleared my throat. “Is he chipped?” I asked, shifting the conversation back to my dog.

“Nah,” Theo replied. I wasn’t sure if he’d actually checked, but figured we were past that now. “Healthy looking guy, though,” he shrugged. “Nothing to worry about.”