Hunt Me! (I Crave The Chase) - Page 207

So much had happened before that moment.

The spinning wheels as we struggled up the snow-logged roads.

When we’d gotten stuck, Theo had suggested going the rest of the way on foot.

The blaring lights of a car behind us—a car that ended up being Silas’s. Silas who had apparently picked up Mutt’s Dad on the way. His pack trailed behind us in the woods, hairy bodies dipping between the trees, the steadily falling snow making them look eerie and beautiful all at the same time.

Silas told us it was for insurance.

And the sick, terrified flip in my gut I got every time I saw the hundred or so massive wolves that trailed like an army behind us was just—yeah. Okay. Yep. If I was a group of hunters I would be incredibly hesitant to fuck with us.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to get away with what I’d done.

The shooting.

But I figured…if what Theo said was correct, I was pack now. Pack. And while that was difficult to wrap my head around—maybe it meant I could trust that we’d figure this out. Together.

Mutt’s eyes were swimming with tears when I approached.

He looked broken in two, his ribs caved in, blood smeared over this body, fleshy chunks splattered across the floor. I wasn’t sure what had happened—but I didn’t question it. Not now. Not when I had the opportunity to talk to him, to kiss him, to hold him again—when I hadn’t known I’d ever get to do that again.

When the hunters finally let Mutt out of the cage, my heart was in my throat.

And then he was on top of me, pushing me into the cement, his nose at my throat, snuffling loudly, happily, his bloody body smearing all over mine as his tail popped free and it thump, thump, thumped.

My favorite sound in the entire world.

“Matthew,” Mutt’s Dad’s voice was gentle. He jerked his head up, body a warm blanket on top of mine. The cement had skidded across my knees, but I couldn’t be assed to care—especially when I felt the weirdest fucking sensation ever as my skin began to knit back together.

“Dad,” Mutt trembled. He curled around me tighter, his voice rough. I expected him to pull off of me—or something.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he just squashed me tighter. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” His dad arched an eyebrow, blue eyes crinkling with amusement.

“Is there?” he hummed, waiting patiently for Mutt to get off of me.

Mutt’s dad was a nice-looking man. His scent was warm and spicy, but in a different way than Silas’s was. Or even Mutt’s. I was starting to think that fizzle was an alpha thing. He exuded calm, casting an unworried cloud of it in the air that immediately set me at ease.

He had a mustache and wore the most adorable plaid button-up and bowtie combo. Kinda like Santa if he was hot, wore pastels, and kept his hair short.

Mutt jerked to his feet, yanking me up easily, then bundling me in front of his body with a happy hum. He nuzzled the back of my neck, then pulled back to speak. “Dad, Jeffrey. Jeffrey, Dad.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” I held my hand out to him, then regretted it—because I’d been hugging Mutt, which meant that I was just as blood-soaked as he was. “Sorry.” I rubbed my hand off on my pants, which did absolute shit for cleaning it off, then offered it over again.

“It’s lovely to meet you, sweet one.” Mutt’s dad ducked his head, his eyes warm as he encased my hand in both of his, and gave it a gentle squeeze. I melted immediately, the oddest sense of safe-warm-loved flooding through me. “Thank you for looking after my son.”

“He’s the one that’s been looking after me,” I chirped back, because it was true. And maybe a bit of a joke—because of Mutt’s stalking. “But uh. Yeah. You’re…welcome, man.” My cheeks felt hot. “It was my pleasure.” I was too tired to filter my words, and I must’ve looked shocked as hell that that had managed to slip free, because he laughed, and just squeezed my hand tighter.

“I’m sure it was,” he laughed, lingering for just a moment longer, his eyes searching mine before he gently released my hand with a soft pat, and took a half step back.

Mutt was staring at his dad with heart eyes. Like he thought the world of him. And that was such a foreign idea it took me a second to wrap my head around it. I’d never had a father figure I could look up to, or parents that cared about me.

Mutt and his father had a conversation with each other without having to share a single word. The older, silver-haired alpha leaned forward, his forehead pushing against Mutt’s with a soft hum. Mutt was taller, but not by much. They shared more similarities than they didn’t.

It took a solid minute for them to stop their weird telepathic heart-to-heart. A solid minute of warm silence, and the gentle thump of Mutt’s tail thwacking my thigh. Without thinking, I reached back to halt it before it could hit me again—only to realize with shocked awe that it wasn’t Mutt’s tail smacking me at all.

It was mine.