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

And any time I thought about leaving for good, I simply…couldn’t.

Because I’d remember his face every time he stepped out of the small shop on Main Street after his shifts were over. The same face, every damn time. So…hopeful. His copper hair would glint, and the broad span of his shoulders would sink, his head dropping infinitesimally as sad-loss-lonely-scent filled the air any time he didn’t see me immediately. He’d look both ways down the street, searching for me, and the scent only grew stronger as the seconds ticked by.

Until he’d see me again, waiting for him, and the air would fill with light again.

All my life I’d dreamed of the day I’d find my fated mate. The day I’d meet my perfect person, the other half of my heart’s duet. Only it didn’t take long to realize fated mates were a rare thing indeed, and I’d more than likely never meet mine. Most people didn’t.

So I’d decided to settle, when the time came. When the moon betrayed me and I had no choice but to take a mate.

Because though my head was full of the fairy tales I’d grown up watching on my parents tiny TV, I knew I needed to be realistic. I’d choose a wolf just like my father had, and his father before him. I’d bite the back of their neck and we’d bond, and I’d stop myself from going permanently feral.

Still young, and clumsy pawed, Dad and Mom would show me the mating catalog and I’d wag my tail and picture happily ever afters with the wolves inside it. I pictured frolicking in the woods, tasting cool stream water, pups. So many pups. I imagined feeling whole for the first time in my life. The gaping, gnawing emptiness inside me sated. I’d daydreamed and fantasized. It had been something I was excited for.

But now, the thought filled me with dread.

Jeffrey was human, not a wolf, and he couldn’t be what I needed, despite being the one my moon mother had decided was my fated mate.

It was a cruel joke, really.

Jeffrey was everything I had ever wanted, but I couldn’t choose him without losing myself.

Harry and Butters were still staring at me—waiting for an answer. They could probably smell my emotions. Sad-loss-sad, and as much as I wished I could cover up my own scent, I knew that was impossible.

I took a steadying breath, lashes fluttering at the thought of all of Jeffrey’s creamy, freckled skin, trying to think happy thoughts and not about the tragedy that awaited me at the end of my stay in Elmwood.

Colorado had always been home, but now it felt like a death sentence.

“Matthew…” Harry frowned at me, reaching out for me. I side-stepped his touch. I shook my head, my tongue tasting like ash. Harry backed off.

Butters made a confused sound, his tail thwacking against the couch as the ears on his head flattened. He glanced between me and Harry, like he was about to say something—but Harry growled softly and Butter’s mouth clicked shut.

“Silas says he’s happy you could make today’s meeting,” Harry said, offering me an olive branch. I nodded, my own ears flattened to my scalp. I preferred having them out, even in humanskin, as losing all of my true form felt uncomfortable. Butters was the same, he often decorated himself with his ears and tail, using them to emote in a way wolves better understood, especially wolves like us who preferred our wolfskin.

I nodded, trying not to huff in annoyance at the mention of Silas. He was alpha of the pack that resided on the outskirts of Elmwood. Tall and as severe as Harry but with a look on his face that made his mouth twist like he’d gotten a pine needle stuck in his paw.

He was a stick in the mud. And he wasn’t my brother, so I didn’t feel bad about saying that. So far, he’d been very specific about only ever wanting me, Theo, or Harry involved in negotiations. And he’d been a real prick about allowing Harry to come in the first place. The ass apparently hadn’t wanted a foreign omega on his pack grounds.

Harry had quickly shown him how idiotic that was.

And to Silas’s credit, he’d realized his error and no longer pushed for Harry’s silence.

But still, I didn’t like him.

“Don’t flash your teeth like that,” Theo said, entering through the front door and blocking the only exit with his bulk. I scowled at him, and he laughed good-naturedly. Of my brothers, Theo was the largest. Beneath his dark skin, his pearly grin, and his gold-beta-eyes, Theo was the sweetest of all my siblings. A gentle giant who was more bake than bark—on account of the amount of time he spent in front of a mixer covered in icing.

“What’s gotten into you?” Theo asked, concerned. He petted my head as he passed, the gentle way he always did, but it did nothing for my agitation. For a second, I debated diving for the exit now that it was free again—but thought better of it.

It was late. Far too late to be going out, but Silas—because he was Silas—often held meetings at this time. Probably so the head of SAC could attend as well, as he was a fanged-one and could not go out when the sun was up.

“He’s been running off a lot lately,” Harry sighed, annoyed—unaware that Theo knew this already. In fact, he was the only person who knew who I had been running off with—even though he’d been kind enough not to ask too many questions when he’d offered his help.

“Probably pissing on trees,” Butters snorted where he sat sprawled on the couch, the app on his phone pulled up again, his thick fingers swiping the screen, pink tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth while he concentrated.

None of them mentioned the sex scent again.

I’m sure they could smell my relief.

Harry handed Theo the notes he’d been drafting up at the dining table, and Theo accepted them with a grateful hum.