Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
It was a commute to get home from the city, and by the time Jonah crossed the threshold into his childhood home, he was beat.
He leaned against the door, closing his eyes for a long second.
He had spent the day going from one adrenaline high to the next interacting with all those supes, and he really hoped things would get easier as time went on.
He was glad he hadn’t fallen asleep behind the wheel on the drive.
He wished he could’ve taken one of the portal stations, there was one not too far from their home, but if his parents hated supes, they hated magic even more, and if they saw his truck parked outside one of those stations, they’d lose their minds.
It was easier just to drive and park in the company lot.
Even if he’d had to roll down his windows and blast music to keep himself awake.
Worth it, though.
The day had been chaotic, he felt out of his depth most of the time, but he also felt understood for the first time in his life.
All the supes he’d gotten to know had been friendly, and they didn’t judge him for his ignorance.
Even the ones he’d reacted poorly to in the beginning gave him another chance, especially when they heard his story.
He knew if the situation had been different and someone wanted to know something about humans, the response wouldn’t have been nearly as kind.
He’d yet to meet humans like him, who didn’t see supes as something wrong with the world.
“You’re home late,” a snide voice commented.
Opening his eyes, he glanced at where his older brother stood blocking the hallway.
Saying without words that Jonah wouldn’t get past him without speaking to him.
He’d prepared for this though. He knew his family would never be okay with him working at a supe company, so he’d come up with a story to cover his tracks the same day he got hired at Charmed Away.
“Yeah, well, the only human companies hiring are in the city. I had to commute.”
James scoffed but couldn’t argue that. He didn’t have to find a job, he would be taking over the farm once Dad retired, but he had friends in the area who had to make the same commute.
Jonah had overheard them talking about it, which was where he’d come up with the idea.
The city, being as big as it was, meant no one would be able to find him to check his story.
“Found a job, then? Doin’ what?”
“IT,” he answered. Just another reply he knew they wouldn’t check. They knew he liked computers and went to school for it, but they didn’t care about tech and wouldn’t think to question it.
The answer got him a derisive snort in response that Jonah ignored, pushing away from the door to take off his shoes and jacket.
“Dad’s gonna be pissed. He told you to get a real job.”
“IT is a real job.”
Their dad wasn’t going to be happy no matter what Jonah did unless it was joining some anti-supe cult or something like that.
He was ashamed that his youngest son was a supe supporter and nothing Jonah ever did would change that.
His only hope was for indifference. As long as he got paid on time so he could keep up with the rent and bills his parents demanded from him, hopefully he wouldn’t care.
James blocked the way to the hallway just long enough for Jonah to get annoyed before grinning and stepping aside. “Mom said you gotta feed yourself since you’re so late. If you wanna eat, you gotta get home on time.”
That was a lie. They never had any intention of feeding him in the first place. Not until he gave them money for groceries at the very least. His parents said they were being nice putting a roof over his head while they waited for him to pay rent. They weren’t going to do any more than that.
Thankfully, he’d snagged a few cup ramens from the breakroom after Taron had shown it to him, letting him know that everything in there was free if he was ever feeling peckish and wasn’t comfortable going to the cafeteria by himself.
Jonah appreciated it, since he was a little worried he’d have to starve himself for the next two weeks while he waited to get paid, and no one batted an eye when he grabbed the noodles and stuck them in his backpack before heading out.
He stopped in his room first, tossing his backpack on his bed and changing out of his good clothes into something more comfortable.
Then he grabbed the noodles and headed for the kitchen, not surprised to find his mom washing dishes while his dad read the news on his tablet and grumbled to himself.
He barely glanced up when Jonah walked in, narrowing his eyes as he demanded, “You find work yet?”
“Yes, sir. An IT position. I’ll get paid in two weeks.” He noticed the way his dad glared and added, “Human company. No supes.”
His dad harumphed and went back to ignoring him.
Jonah used to feel bad for lying to his parents.
After he was punished for helping those vampires the first time, he learned to keep his mouth shut about certain things, like the fact that his university wasn’t human only and if he ever went to the in person campus, it’d be full of supes.
Or about how his mom’s favorite restaurant was run by a mage who he’d definitely seen using magic during prep when he’d gone down there to pick up food.
The lying came naturally after that. First by omission, then with little white lies.
It wasn’t until he got hired at Charmed Away that he had to really lie to them, but he didn’t feel guilty about it anymore.
He’d say what he had to so he could live his life on his terms.
While waiting for his water to warm, he checked his phone, masking a smile when he saw a text from Emmett waiting.
Supe Guru Extraordinaire: You survived your first day without being eaten. How do you feel?
Jonah: Disappointed. I thought there’d be magic flying everywhere and brawls in the streets. What’s there to be afraid of?
He got back a string of laughing emojis before Emmett followed up with,
Supe Guru Extraordinaire: See? Told you. A few days from now and you won’t even notice it.
Supe Guru Extraordinaire: If you want to see magic flying around, go to the research floor. That’s where all the crazy stuff happens.
“Who are you talking to?”
James tried to snatch his phone out of his hand but Jonah moved fast enough to keep it out of his grasp, locking it and shoving it into his pocket.
“No one,” he growled, keeping one arm extended to keep his brother away from him.
“Jonah. Answer the damn question,” Dad barked.
He glared at his brother, annoyed that he’d brought the attention back on him. He’d come to accept the way his family ignored him. He preferred it over being under their scrutiny all the time.
“Just a friend I made today at work. A human friend,” he added for emphasis.
“Oh, yeah? What’s his name?” James mocked.
He wasn’t going to give his brother the satisfaction of answering, but his dad turned around and glared at him, and Jonah knew better than to think he could ignore his brother’s question.
James could do no wrong in his parents’ eyes.
They probably saw James’s interrogation as him protecting the family name from the embarrassment of their youngest son’s actions, not just James being a nosy ass.
“Emmett,” Jonah finally grumbled.
Since James couldn’t find anything wrong with the name, he went with a different tactic. “You got the hots for him or something? Does he know you’re a pathetic supe supporter?”
That, he knew his parents didn’t care about and wouldn’t force him to answer. They didn’t care about his sexuality, homophobia was replaced by speciesism a long time ago, but they weren’t interested in hearing about it either.
“I’m going to eat in my room,” Jonah mumbled, snatching the hot water from the microwave, dumping it into the styrofoam cup, and grabbing a fork from the drawer. James sneered at him when he walked past, and Jonah knew the conversation wasn’t over just because he walked away.
As he sat at his desk, setting his noodles on the surface so they could cook, he dug out his phone, frowning at Emmett’s saved screen name.
It was playful and funny, and it made Jonah smile seeing the ridiculous title, but if his family ever saw it, it wouldn’t be good for him.
Even the little wolf emoji next to his name would be suspicious.
With a heavy heart, Jonah went into contacts and edited it, deleting not only the nickname and the emoji, but Emmett’s last name as well.
Moonfall was too blatantly supe. He had to edit Kian’s name too, since it was obviously a supe name, and he replaced it with just ‘K–Supervisor’ instead.
Hopefully that would make his parents turn a blind eye if they saw that name appear on the screen.
When he was done, he set his phone on his desk and frowned at it. He wasn’t sure what he hated more: having to lie to his family about what he did, or having to hide his new friends just because they weren’t human.
He considered moving out, but with his family charging him rent, it wouldn’t be easy.
While eating his noodles, he did some initial searching on apartments in the city, but even the cheap ones in the crappy neighborhoods required first and last month’s rent, and he wouldn’t have any furniture or anything to put in it.
He also had to acknowledge that if he moved out, he’d probably never hear from his family again.
Right now, they put up with him, especially because he was still good labor when they were short handed on the farm, but if he left?
They probably would forget he existed. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to go that far yet.
Sure, they didn’t see eye to eye, but they were still his family.
When he was younger, before he’d started asking questions about supes, they’d loved him.
He and his brother used to play together, and his sister used to help take care of him when he was sick.
His mom would feed him, and Dad would say he was proud when Jonah kept up with all the chores he gave him.
He kept hoping that maybe one day they’d realize that treating supes fairly didn’t change who he was as a person.
He was still their son. And he still wanted their approval.
His phone buzzed and his thumb swiped automatically to open the message as it popped up.
Emmett: Why does a werewolf never know the time?
Jonah: Why?
Emmett: Because we’re not called ‘whenwolves’.
Jonah cringed, snickering at the dumb joke.
Jonah: That was really bad. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Emmett: Oh, come on. One of the pups told it to me. I thought it was funny.
Emmett: If you’re so smart, you come up with one.
He thought about it for a moment before typing out a reply.
Jonah: Where does a werewolf get a new tail?
Emmett: I’m afraid to ask. Where?
Jonah: At a re-tail store.
Emmett replied with a string of laughing emojis, and Jonah felt his shoulders come down for the first time since he got home.
He let out a breath, leaning back in his chair as Emmett tried another corny joke, and when he finished eating, he took his phone with him to bed, unwilling to end the conversation just yet.
He had one good thing going for him right now, and that was a new friendship with a werewolf who somehow always knew when he needed a laugh.
He’d protect that for as long as he could.