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

“My man-whore days are over, yeah. Hard to feel sexy when you don’t…feel sexy,” Jeffrey grunted, voice bitter. “But yeah, I did. Have sex, I mean. A couple weeks ago.”

Me.

He had sex with me.

I helped him.

Pride buzzed through my veins. Inappropriate yes, but brilliant all the same. The hunger that ached inside me roared to the surface. I had provided for him. Had provided comfort and release. He had struggled with sleeping and sex, and I had managed to help with both.

“What changed?” the doctor asked, keeping her voice calm.

Surprisingly, it took hardly any prompting at all to get Jeffrey talking this time. About me. About me! My heart thudded and my tail thumped happily against the car seat as my ears perked up and I cocked my head to the side.

Tell me, pretty one.

Tell me what I did so that I can repeat it.

Tell me how to help you.

“He was a dude,” Jeffrey laughed, and his surprise was apparent. “A really…big dude.”

“Was this your first time with a man?”

“Yes.” Jeffrey laughed again, and this time it was lighter. “It’s weird…I mean, I never thought I’d be interested in that? But he…”

“But he?”

“I dunno. I guess he was special.”

“Are you going to seek him out again?” Doctor Mason’s voice was warm. “You’re smiling. That’s the first time you’ve smiled since you walked in here.”

“I am?” Jeffrey startled. “I mean. Yeah. I am. Smiling. I uh—I dunno. It feels weird to do that. He hasn’t approached me—at least not in a way I can like…reciprocate? It was just a one-night stand at first. But then he bought me dinner and I…guess maybe…it could be more? He’s a werewolf.” Jeffrey laughed, like that was the weirdest part of all of this. “We’re not even the same species.”

It wasn’t fair.

Not for him, or me.

If he had been born a wolf, there would’ve been no room for this insecurity. Through my scent, my heartbeat, my actions—the very bond that tied us as fated mates, he would’ve known immediately how important he was.

If he had been born a wolf, I could choose him. He could mate with me and keep me from going feral. But he wasn’t—and he couldn’t.

Fate had turned its back on the both of us.

“Do you want it to be more?” the doctor asked, and my heart pounded as I waited to hear his answer.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for more.”

“But do you want it?”

“I…” Jeffrey sucked in another breath, and my tail beat a happy thwap against the car seat. “I think I do?” He laughed again, and this one was more brittle. “Lydia would hate it.”

“Lydia hated a lot of things.”

I hated her. I hated her. I hated her.

A blinding, wicked hate that made my skin burn beneath the surface of my fur. Made my teeth snarl, and my head fill with visions of blood. I hated her, because I may be dumb—but even I could connect the dots. Even I could see what effect she’d had on my pretty, perfect mate. Jeffrey’s voice was small and shaky—childlike almost.

“I guess I’m just trying to figure out who I am without her pulling my strings.”