Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Emmett still wanted to complain about the music, it seemed really unsafe for it to be played that loud, but if she was deaf…
“Why would you play music if you’re deaf?” Emmett asked before Jonah could respond to her question.
She’d been looking at Jonah and didn’t respond to him, but Jonah answered for him. “I’m assuming the music was that loud because she can feel the vibrations. My cousin is deaf, and he does the same thing.”
The fairy swiveled lazily to look at him, raising an eyebrow. Almost daring for him to argue with that. He bit back a growl. He still didn’t think it was safe.
Jonah waited for the fairy to look back at him before speaking. “My name is Jonah Mills. I’m a temp. I was sent to help set up the Cyber Security floor.”
The fairy’s eyes narrowed. “Do you have any experience with tech?”
Waggling his hand side to side, Jonah replied, “I graduated from university with a degree in Computer Science. My knowledge is mostly from books, though I got a little hands on practice with servers last week working with Wendell. He said I’m a quick learner though.”
She seemed to appreciate the honesty, pursing her lips thoughtfully before nodding and hopping out of her chair. “Follow me.”
They both did, because Emmet couldn’t seem to make himself walk away until he was sure Jonah was safe.
Jonah shot him a knowing smirk, but he didn't complain about Emmett’s hovering.
The scent of Jonah’s arousal was still in his nose from earlier, and he felt his tail wag as he followed the pair back into the hallway and past some construction areas to a smaller storage room.
The fairy waved her hand at the boxes of computers.
“I’m going to need all these out of boxes and set up, then put on the network.
I assume the first part will take a while, but I’ll help once you get to the networking part.
Once they’re good, you can come get me. Do me a favor and flash the lights when you need something.
I don’t need a heart condition on top of everything else,” she complained.
She left without a backwards glance, her clothes jingling as she went.
She didn’t dress like any fairy Emmett had ever met.
She wore all black, her clothes baggy, with rings on every finger, piercings all the way up her pointed ears, and several necklaces, plus some chains hanging off her in random places.
It wasn’t a bad look, it was kind of cool, just odd on a fairy.
They normally leaned heavily into the cute aspect.
Like Peri, who was almost always in pastel colors and never in black.
His attention swung back to Jonah, who looked downright giddy as he picked up the first box and set it on an empty table. Emmett snorted.
“You look like you just won the lottery.”
“I like tech,” Jonah said defensively, then grimaced.
“Sorry, that was snappy. My family never approved of my interest in technology. They always said I was ‘playing around’—” he made air quotes with his fingers “—and that it was a waste of time. I’d originally planned on helping them digitize their business so they could turn a bigger profit, but they weren’t interested. ” He shrugged awkwardly.
Stepping closer, Emmett put his hand on the back of Jonah’s neck, his lips quirking when the little human automatically leaned into the comforting touch.
“I’m glad you stuck with it even without your family support.
And I guess I know who I’m going to the next time I need a new phone.
The only tech I handle regularly is my gaming system and my phone. I am by no means an expert.”
His teasing tone made Jonah snort, and he relaxed, smiling up at him. “Sure, I can help with that. I haven’t gotten a new phone in forever, but it doesn’t usually take me that long to figure out new tech.”
Emmett couldn’t help letting out a contented growl of approval at Jonah’s ready acceptance that they’d still be hanging out the next time Emmett needed a new phone. Whether or not they started a relationship, their friendship was real and would hopefully stick around.
He left after making sure Jonah was comfortable where he was, reminding him to call if he needed anything before he headed for the stairs again.
His ears flattened when the music started again as he passed Rosalind’s office, and he made a mental note to mention it to Alistair.
She either needed to be facing the hallway or behind a locked door for him to consider it safe.
He was annoyed enough that the receptionist hadn’t noticed them when they arrived.
He could’ve gone anywhere on the IT floor, and no one would have given him a second thought because he was already past reception.
He was seriously glad his pack was here to whip these guys into shape.
For a top ten company in several realms, they had serious holes in their security.
Jogging down the stairs helped him work off some excess energy.
He was more careful about going full speed after crashing into Jonah that one time, but he needed to get some energy out before facing Kyle.
Werewolf packs were big, and he had a lot of cousins, but Kyle was always the worst. Arrogant asshole thought he was better than everyone else because he worked at Spellbound.
When he stepped into the security office, Tasha was waiting for him, arms crossed as she leaned against the wall.
She pushed off the wall when he arrived and took the file Kian had given him before she led him toward the meeting room in the back where Ronan had taken up residence while helping Alistair.
They shared the space since technically Alistair was only a consultant, and they seemed comfortable with one another as they sat side by side at the wide conference room table.
The meeting had already started, so he and Tasha slipped silently into the room, taking up residence near the door while he caught the tail end of Ronan’s growl.
“This behavior is unacceptable, Kyle. Intimidating humans goes against pack rules.”
Kyle made a face, arms crossed defensively over his chest. “I wasn’t intimidating him. He’s making that up. All I did was talk to him. Is it my fault the human overreacted? He’s probably speciesist and trying to cause trouble for me.”
Emmett growled low, he didn't like Kyle making up lies about Jonah, but it was Tasha who spoke first. “I was there, Kyle. I could smell the intimidation in the room. That wasn’t coming from the human. Don’t lie to save face.”
Kyle whipped around to snarl at her, and she and Emmett stepped forward together, more than happy to put the asshole in his place.
Emmett might not be as dominant as Tasha, who would likely become pack second one day, but he was more dominant than Kyle pretended to be.
The idiot could feel the dominance in the air, and Emmett took great satisfaction in watching him squirm uncomfortably under the weight of it.
“Enough,” Ronan barked, forcing him and Tasha to step back. Emmett’s hands flexed, claws itching for a fight, but he shoved down the urge. Ronan would lose it on both of them if they fought at Spellbound.
Kyle turned slowly back around, shrinking in his seat a little under Ronan’s glare. Without taking his gaze off Kyle, Ronan asked Alistair, “Do me a favor and ask your mate to join us. I want to know if this goes beyond these two incidents, and I don’t trust him not to lie to me.”
Alistair had been a silent, if not intimidating, presence in the room, respecting their alpha’s authority when it came to dealing with pack matters.
He likely stayed because this was also a Spellbound matter since Kyle worked in the building, but he didn’t interfere.
Even after Ronan’s request, he didn’t speak to anyone directly.
His stoic expression went a little distant and clouded, and Emmett cocked his head curiously at the response.
When Alistair blinked, his expression cleared, and he nodded once at Ronan. “He’s on his way down.”
“Woah, wait. I didn’t consent to a telepath reading me,” Kyle complained. “Why am I being punished because of one stupid human?”
“Watch it,” Emmett snarled.
“Or what?” Kyle shot back, then flinched when Ronan growled out a warning.
Ronan’s gaze flicked to Emmett, and he settled with a frown, crossing his arms and glaring at the floor.
“Emmett, while we wait, I wanted to hear more about the interaction from this morning. Is this the same human who you’ve been assisting in integrating with supes?”
Emmett nodded. “Yes. He’d been doing well, too. He doesn’t overreact anymore.”
Ronan scowled at Kyle. “And thanks to this incident, his progress was probably set back. I’d like to meet him. Kyle will need to give him a formal apology at the very least.”
Kyle squawked in protest but couldn’t argue. The growl from earlier had magic to it, Ronan’s alpha energy wrapped around the room and forcing them all to behave. They could only speak when spoken to when Ronan growled like that.
Fortunately, Alistair’s mate arrived before Emmett could get himself into trouble arguing with Ronan.
It wasn’t that he disagreed with the demand, Jonah very much deserved an apology, but he knew how much the interaction that morning had freaked Jonah out.
He was so happy right now surrounded by all the new tech.
He didn’t want to ruin that by dragging Jonah down here to listen to Kyle’s apology.
While Alistair stood to go to his mate’s side, keeping himself between the red haired man and Kyle, Ronan gave Emmett a considering look.
Being alpha, he could pick up on his pack members’ emotions.
He must have picked up on Emmett’s uncertainty because he nodded in understanding and didn’t make any demands of him. They’d come back to the topic later.
Letting out a relieved breath, he leaned against the wall next to the door, watching as Elijah was read into the situation, and Ronan explained what he wanted.
His fingers itched to text Jonah and check in, but he reminded himself he was safe and dealing with the Kyle situation was just as important.
He’d check on the man when he was through.
The meeting took longer than he would have liked, apparently Elijah had gotten several complaints about Kyle in the past, and Ronan was beyond pissed about it.
In the end, Kyle was forced to take a sabbatical and return to pack land.
Ronan decided he’d been living away from the pack too long, having gotten his own apartment in the city a few years back ‘for an easy commute’.
Ronan didn’t trust him anymore and said he needed correction before he’d be allowed back to work.
Kyle wasn’t happy about it, silently stewing while Ronan explained the precedent to Elijah, who filled out the paperwork for them, but he smartly kept his mouth shut.
Tasha and Axel were pulled to escort Kyle to his apartment to pick up some things and bring him home, where his parents would likely be waiting for their own turn to berate him once Ronan brought them up to speed.
Once Kyle was gone, Emmett couldn’t fight the urge anymore to go check on Jonah.
Having to hear the details of the incident from Tasha and from Elijah’s reading, he was more than a little pissed, and the only thing he could think to make him feel better was seeing Jonah and checking that he was okay.
He didn’t have to go far, Jonah was just heading for their normal meetup spot for lunch where Taron and Miguel were already waiting for him when someone stepped in front of him. Annoyed, Emmett picked up his pace, catching the tail end of the guy’s words.
“...was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me? You said you were busy before, but everyone has to eat,” the man purred.
Gods, Jonah hadn’t been lying when he said he was getting a lot of attention here. And Emmett couldn’t even argue, since he was hung up on the man as well. Something about his smile drew people in.
“Uh… I’m seeing someone,” Jonah replied uneasily.
The wannabe suitor, a vampire with weirdly slicked back hair, frowned at him. “Really? Who?”
Jonah locked eyes with Emmett just as he stepped around the vampire, putting his arm around Jonah’s shoulders. He gave the vampire the stink eye.
“He’s with me.”