Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
After a full week of working at Spellbound as a temp, Jonah no longer jumped at every interaction with supes. Emmett had been right that it only took a few days before he could at least assess a situation without panicking. The more he got to know the people he was working with, the easier it got.
There was a small problem of getting the attention of a few coworkers, which Jonah found kind of strange.
But he didn’t think it was a supe thing.
He assumed it was just a novelty thing. He still hadn’t met any other humans in the company.
Maybe they were just as curious about him as he was about them?
By the end of his first week, he no longer needed Emmett to join him for lunch to be able to walk into the cafeteria.
He still waited for him, but that was more of a personal choice than a necessity.
Emmett was his first friend at Spellbound and never failed to show up at least a few times a day to check on him and make stupid jokes.
And flirt. Gods, was the werewolf a major flirt.
Coming from him though, it didn’t bother him as much as the other flirting attempts he’d gotten throughout the week.
Jonah’s responses to the flirting surprised himself at first. Being so isolated from supe society, he’d never considered what kind of interests he might have outside of the human variety.
It had honestly never occurred to him that he’d be attracted to other species.
But when Emmett flirted with him? Yeah, there was definite attraction there.
It started slowly. Any time Emmett leaned into him to talk over the noise of the cafeteria, the low growl in his ear made Jonah shiver.
Then there were the many times Jonah ran into the werewolf, which he was absolutely certain Emmett was putting himself in Jonah’s path on purpose at that point.
Each time he stumbled into the werewolf, he was assaulted by his favorite scent, not to mention being pressed up against all those muscles.
He’d always had a thing for muscles, and apparently being covered in fur didn’t change that.
He didn’t think it was a good idea to start anything, not while he was living at home with his family at least, but that didn’t stop him from reacting whenever Emmett got close to him.
After a weekend at home with his family pretending he didn’t exist, Jonah was glad to be back in the office on Monday.
He walked in through the lobby doors with a little more confidence, passing by Miguel who was watching the doors.
He gave the werewolf a friendly wave and got a chin jut and a smile in greeting as a reply.
Jonah had gotten to know a few of Emmett’s packmates in the last week, they liked to eat in small groups so there were always a few of them who joined Jonah and Emmett for lunch.
Along with Taron, Kian, and Peri of course.
Taron wasn’t kidding when he said he was adopting Jonah.
He’d actually showed up with paperwork the other day, and it was only the fact that one of his mates was nearby and overheard him that spared Jonah from having to tell the shapeshifter there was no way he was getting adopted.
The tall man in a smart suit wearing his hair in twin braids gave Taron an exasperated smile and dragged him away, giving Jonah enough time to sneak away without Taron being able to follow him.
After a week of getting to know them, Jonah got the feeling the shapeshifter was more likely to kidnap him than Kian would.
He turned immediately for Peri’s Place, knowing if he didn’t check in with the fairy at the very least, he’d hear it by lunchtime.
When Peri had first invited him to his bakery, Jonah had tried to refuse, he couldn’t afford to eat out, but Peri had a special table behind the bar for his friends and they got to be guinea pigs for his new creations in exchange for free treats.
He hadn’t screwed up a pastry yet, so Jonah wasn’t complaining.
There was a line, like always, and Jonah wasn’t comfortable cutting it to go around them, so he waited his turn to go inside, checking his phone and letting Emmett know he’d arrived.
Emmett: Are you still in ED today?
Jonah: …ED?
Emmett: Yeah, you know, the Entertainment Division?
Jonah snorted to himself.
Jonah: ED means something different to humans.
Emmett: Really? What’s it mean?
Jonah: Look it up.
He wished Emmett were around so he could see his reaction. He got the feeling it would be hilarious.
Sure enough, Emmett’s response was just as shocked as Jonah expected. He snickered as he read Emmett’s flurry of responses.
Emmett: Oh gods!
Emmett: That’s a thing with humans?!
Emmett: How does that even work?
Jonah: It doesn’t. That’s the whole point.
Emmett: So it just sits there? That’s so sad! Is there a cure? Or are they just stuck like that?
Jonah’s shoulders shook as he typed out a response, shuffling along in the line without paying much attention.
Jonah: I mean, there are pills they can take to get a lift off, but no cure as far as I know. Not a human made one, at least.
Emmett: What about a magic one?
Jonah: No clue. Humans don’t like magic, remember?
He knew he’d certainly resort to magic if he had issues with that kind of thing, but some humans were just stubborn and would rather pay hundreds for a little blue pill rather than go see a druid for a magical cure.
He’d never been to a druid himself, but he got the feeling it’d be better than seeing a human doctor.
Most of them were in the back pocket of the companies that made those pills anyway.
It was the only way they made any decent money anymore.
Emmett: I just full-blown shuddered in the middle of a meeting. Don’t tell me scary things while I’m supposed to be meeting with my alpha.
Cackling, Jonah sent a thumbs up back and shoved his phone in his pocket just as Peri noticed his arrival. “Jonah! Get over here! I need someone to try this!”
Like he expected, he got to the front of the line and bypassed the register, ducking behind the bar to slide into the booth behind the counter. Peri flitted over, setting a plate in front of him with a big smile.
“I tried that combination you told me about, the one with the chocolate, marshmallows, and crackers? Let me know if this tastes right.”
Jonah eyed the cinnamon roll in front of him with a suspicious look. “Regular crackers, or graham crackers. There’s a big difference, you know.”
Peri’s nose wrinkled and his grin grew as he admitted, “Yeah, I figured that out the hard way. Or I should say, Wash did. He was my guinea pig for the first batch I made at home. He had to go to the store with me to find the right stuff.”
Chuckling, Jonah picked up the gooey cinnamon roll and took a big bite, groaning when the taste of smores filled his mouth.
“Well, my day is starting off right with sounds like those,” a slimy voice said.
Jonah’s eyes snapped open, and he jerked around to look at who had spoken. A werewolf he didn’t recognize in an ill fitted suit grinned back at him, waggling his eyebrows as he looked Jonah over.
“Bet I could get you to recreate those sounds doing something more fun.”
The treat turned to lead in his stomach, and he set down the rest with a frown, no longer hungry. “No, thanks,” he grumbled.
“Aw, come on. Don’t be such a tease. You obviously wanted attention making noises like that.”
Jonah grimaced, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
He’d never gotten that kind of attention before, and he couldn’t say he liked it.
His few relationships in the past were all covert glances and awkward conversations until someone broke and made the first move.
Even the supes who had expressed interest since he came to Spellbound hadn’t been creepy about it.
No one ever aggressively hit on him before.
Something about the way the guy was looking at him made him feel unnerved.
“Stop that,” Peri demanded, stepping between him and the werewolf with a deep frown on his face and his hands on his hips. “You’re making him uncomfortable.”
“Hey, I’m not the one being a tease right now,” the werewolf said, putting his hands up in mock surrender. The smirk on his face said he was anything but apologetic about it. “Maybe next time he shouldn’t make sexy noises where everyone can hear him. People might start to think he’s asking for it.”
Jonah’s stomach roiled with discomfort, and he felt his fingers twitch for his phone. Emmett always said if he was uncomfortable to call him. He could really use that steady comfort right now.
“What’s going on?” a familiar voice asked. Jonah looked up hopefully. Tasha wasn’t Emmett, but she was a nice person and part of Emmett’s pack. He trusted her.
She stomped into the room, full uniform and a frown on her face. She did a doubletake when she noticed the werewolf, and the way her mouth twitched said she wasn’t happy to see him. “Kyle. Are you causing trouble? You know you’re already on Ronan’s shit list.”
Kyle bared his teeth with a growl, but the snarl he got in response shut him up real quick. Tasha was a force to be reckoned with, and obviously not someone Kyle was willing to challenge. He tipped his head in surrender, grabbing his pastry and coffee before hightailing it out of the bakery.
“You okay?” Peri asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Letting out a breath, he nodded. “Yeah.”
It was a lie, he felt unnerved, but he didn’t want to admit to either of them that he’d been scared.
Maybe he would’ve handled the situation better if it had been a human saying stupid shit like that, but Kyle was a werewolf.
What were the chances he could fight the guy off if he got pushy?
He didn’t ask the question out loud or even text Emmett about it.
He didn't want them to think he was going backward. Kyle was just a person; a gross person, but just a person. He didn’t need to be afraid.
“Come on, Jonah. We’ll walk together to your next assignment,” Tasha offered, beckoning him with a wave of her claw tipped hand. Jonah slid out of his seat, shooting Peri an apologetic look when he left the pastry behind.
“Sorry. It’s good. You got the flavor right. I’ll, uh… see you later.”
He kept his head down as he ducked out of the bakery, his cheeks still burning and his chest tight. Why the hell couldn’t he settle down? It was just bad flirting. It wasn’t a big deal.
A hand landed on his shoulder, making him jump, and he winced when Tasha tipped her head, her expression full of understanding. “It’s a species thing.”
“What?”
“You look ready to jump out of your skin. You feel anxious, right?”
He nodded rapidly, staring up at her in confusion, because yes, even female werewolves were taller than he was.
“It’s called intimidation, and it's not okay to use outside of situations where we feel like we need to defend ourselves. It’s especially not okay to use on you. Humans have a tendency to feel like prey around more dangerous supes, including werewolves. It’ll take a minute for that to go away.”
“But I’ve never felt that way around werewolves before,” he pointed out, letting her lead him toward the security office in the corner. He didn’t feel okay enough to go to his job just yet. He still felt like he was on the edge of a panic attack.
“That’s because you’ve only been around decent werewolves.
Not only do we care enough to never throw those pheromones out into the air willy nilly, the security team was also trained to keep it to ourselves, even if we’re feeling big emotions.
We can control that ability. Kyle never bothered to learn.
He’s an arrogant ass and said he could figure it out himself.
If it happens again, tell me. I’ll need to let my alpha know.
Intimidating people isn’t okay, even if it was an accident.
If he can’t control himself, Ronan needs to know. ”
He really hoped it didn’t happen again. He’d finally gotten to a place where he felt safe working at Spellbound. He didn't want that to go away just because of one bad interaction.