Chapter 40
CHAPTER FORTY
Jonah’s whole body throbbed but not in a bad way. Even the ache in his shoulder didn’t take away from how blissed out he felt. He laid on top of Emmett, fingers sifting through the fur he could reach without actually moving, his eyes closed as he just basked in the moment.
“I’m not squishing you, am I?” he finally asked.
Emmett snorted, wrapping his arms around Jonah’s shoulders. “No. You’re good where you are.”
He felt a smile pull at his lips. Right there, in that moment, he felt like he truly belonged.
They didn’t have long to bask before Emmett’s phone started pinging like crazy, like the entire pack was messaging him at the same time.
Then, Jonah’s phone started doing the same.
Neither phone was within reach, they’d been left in pants pockets somewhere on the way to the bedroom, but Jonah could hear it from where he was and he lifted his head to look at Emmett, eyes wide in surprise.
“What’s going on?”
Emmett, for his part, didn’t look worried.
Instead, he winced, looking adorably abashed when he explained, “I claimed you. The whole pack knows when someone new gets added. They felt our bond snap into place.” He scrubbed his hands over his face, hiding behind them as he admitted, “I was supposed to speak to Ronan first and have you formally brought in. I… kind of lost my head a little.”
Jonah’s gut twisted with unease, and he pulled away, chewing on his bottom lip. “Do you think they’re mad?”
Emmett jerked his head up abruptly. “What? No! Of course not! The pack loves you, Jonah. They’re probably just confused because there’s usually an announcement and a party and–”
Pounding on the front door made them both freeze. Jonah turned slowly to look at Emmett again. “That doesn’t sound like a happy knock.”
Rolling out of bed, Emmett scrambled to grab his pants, hopping from foot to foot to get them on while he was still moving.
“I promise they won’t be mad. Let me just–” He cut himself off with a yelp as he nearly stumbled down the stairs with his pants still around his knees.
He was lucky Jonah had followed him to search for his own clothes and grabbed him just as he began to tip forward.
“Pants first, then stairs!” he demanded.
He hadn’t realized he said it loud enough for anyone outside to hear before a muffled voice replied, “I agree with that sentiment. Put on your clothes, Emmett. Then you can explain to your mother and I why you mated without introducing us first.”
Emmett froze, and Jonah was pretty sure if he wasn’t covered in fur, he would’ve gone really pale in that exact moment. “Whoops.”
Jonah slapped a palm to his forehead. They could still hear him.
“Whoops? Did he just say whoops?” a female voice screeched. “Emmett Moonfall, you better have more to say than just whoops!”
With an uncomfortable chuckle, Emmett turned to Jonah. “Hey, Jonah? Wanna meet my parents?”
“Oh my gods,” Jonah groaned. “You’re in so much trouble.”
They raced to pull clothes on, and Jonah made sure Emmett wasn’t at risk of falling and breaking himself before they headed downstairs.
The couple outside was still murmuring to each other, though not loud enough for Jonah with his paltry human hearing to understand what they were saying.
Emmett seemed to hear them though because he kept wincing.
Fear made Jonah hesitate at the foot of the stairs, worried he’d officially gone far enough to mess things up for Emmett, and Emmett noticed immediately.
He backtracked, taking Jonah’s hands and kissing the backs of them.
“I promise, it’ll be okay. They’re annoyed with me, not you.
And I had a legitimate reason. They’ll get it once I explain.
” He lifted his voice enough to be heard by the squabbling couple.
“I’m sure my parents wouldn’t want you to feel unwelcome in the pack by yelling at you during your first meeting. You belong here with us.”
Apparently done waiting, the door opened, and his parents swept inside, eyes narrowed on their son.
“Of course he belongs with us. His bond with the pack is strong enough that I felt it first before your mate bond was established. I just hadn’t realized the new pack member was your mate,” his mother sniffed, nudging Emmett out of the way and turning a kind smile onto Jonah.
“Welcome to the pack, my dear. My name is Cybil. I’m Emmett’s mother.
I’m sorry we haven’t gotten to meet sooner.
One of Emmett’s sisters is pregnant with her first and coming up on her due date.
I’ve been staying with her and haven’t found the time to greet you properly yet. ”
“I, uh– Nice to meet you,” Jonah stammered, freezing when she cupped his cheeks and looked him over seriously.
“You need to eat more, dear. What’s your favorite food? I’ll make you something.”
“Oh, you don’t have to–”
She was already moving, heading for the kitchen while waving a hand dismissively. “Nonsense. It’s dinner time, isn’t it? You need to eat.”
The older male werewolf stepped up to him next, an amused smile on his face. “Don’t mind her. Feeding people is how she shows she cares. I’m Rannulf, but everyone calls me Rex. Welcome to the pack.”
They shook hands and, like Cybil, Rex didn’t seem upset meeting him.
He patted his shoulder with a friendly smile before turning to his son and giving him the stink eye.
“So what’s this so-called legitimate reason you ignored proper introductions for?
And don’t say you were busy. I happen to know you’ve been spending plenty of time in The Lodge.
You couldn’t walk two minutes down the road to talk to us? ”
Emmett glanced at Jonah and seemed a little uneasy when responding to his dad. Jonah wasn’t sure why until he explained his reason for not introducing them sooner.
“Jonah first arrived after getting kicked out by his own parents. I didn't want to rub my family in his face right after something like that. And we hadn’t technically said we were together until today.”
Well, he had a point there. But he felt bad thinking Emmett was avoiding his family because of him. He couldn’t say he was wrong, though. Those first few days, if Emmett had brought him to see his family, Jonah would’ve had a hard time with it. The jealousy alone would have been suffocating.
“Emmett and Jonah have been working things out together,” a familiar voice spoke as they stepped inside.
Emmett’s parents hadn’t bothered to close the door, and Jonah could see a good number of people milling about outside, like they were just waiting for them to come out.
Ronan didn’t shut the door either, his arm around Harlem as they came to stand by Emmett.
“I’m sure he would have told you if he felt it was a good time.
What I’m wondering is why I didn’t even get a conversation before you made a claim.
” He turned a bland expression toward Emmett.
“A courtesy text would have been better than nothing.”
Emmett’s smile was sheepish, but he didn’t look like he regretted it in the slightest. “Sorry alpha. I hadn’t actually intended to bite him. It just kind of… happened.”
Harlem snorted, poking Ronan in the side. “That sounds familiar. I thought you were just getting rough because I’d riled you up. I didn’t realize you were claiming me until afterward.”
Ronan, the pack alpha, and the steadiest werewolf in the bunch, visibly winced.
Jonah’s mouth twisted as he attempted to hide his grin.
The poor alpha looked embarrassed to be called out like that, and Harlem had a look on his face that said he did it on purpose to make things a little easier on them.
When he noticed Jonah watching him, he winked, lifting on his toes to kiss the side of Ronan’s snout.
The alpha melted under his mate’s affection and his tone turned soft when he said, “I, uh… suppose I can let it slide. We had a conversation the other day, at least. I knew it was coming.”
Jonah couldn’t help it. He started laughing.
Maybe it was the adrenaline from the sudden arrival of Emmett’s family and the pack leader, or maybe it was the realization that they weren’t in trouble and Emmett’s pack truly accepted him, but Jonah felt giddy and a little lightheaded at the same time.
When Emmett joined in, chuckling as he drew Jonah against his side, Jonah leaned into him, his shoulders shaking as he tried to get himself under control.
Rex looked between Jonah and Emmett for a moment before nodding once. “I can see it now. He’s a good match for you, son.”
“I thought so too,” Ronan agreed. “They’ll make a good team at Spellbound.”
That caught both their attention and Emmett’s head cocked curiously. “Alpha?”
Ronan explained, “I was discussing things with Alistair. He thought it might be best to have a small number of our pack on staff permanently to make sure people don’t slide into old habits.
I agreed with him. And since your mate is on the Cyber Security staff, you’ll work closely with one another to ensure all aspects of Spellbound’s security are well maintained and follow our protocols.
Tasha has already agreed to remain as well, keeping her leadership position and taking my place on the first floor, and Nikki will join the Cyber Security team itself since she’s got the background for it.
You’ll still rotate like everyone else, but I figured you’d appreciate being in the same building as your mate at the very least.”
Jonah had honestly forgotten that the Moonfall Pack was only at Spellbound as consultants.
Their positions there were just as temporary as Jonah’s as a temp.
He was glad he didn’t have to worry about Emmett leaving right after he got offered a full-time position.
When Jonah looked up at him, Emmett looked thoughtful, nodding slowly.
“Sounds good. But do we really need to rotate? It might be better to pick a floor and stay put.” He glanced toward the door, then leaned closer to whisper, “It might prevent some people from running into certain someones who would definitely cause issues.”
That was vague as hell, but Ronan seemed to understand him just fine.
His eyes narrowed, and he dipped his chin once.
“We’ll talk later with Tasha, see what’s best. Now, after you’re done groveling for your parents’ forgiveness, come see me.
Official introductions to the pack need to be made, and we need to fill out the paperwork for the local pack registry.
” He turned to Jonah next. “I assume we won’t have any issues with your family when you’re officially adopted into the pack? ”
Jonah shook his head, opening his mouth to answer in the negative, then froze. “Uh… Well, technically, I’m being adopted by Taron. He might put up a fuss.”
Rex frowned. “What’s this now?”
Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, Jonah explained, “A friend of mine decided since my family didn’t want me and I was new to the supe community that he was going to adopt me. I kind of told him he could.”
Ronan snorted, raising an amused eyebrow at him. “Taron? Really? Do you enjoy chaos in your life that much?”
Shrugging, Jonah admitted, “He helped me through some stuff. He’d make a good dad. Better than my parents at least.”
Ronan seemed to consider that for a moment before nodding. “Okay, I can see that. Luckily, parental adoptions and adoptions into packs are two separate things. It won’t get in the way of you joining Taron’s family. We’ll need to invite him to the pack for introductions, though.”
Jonah and Emmett exchanged matching looks. Was it a good idea to invite the king of chaos to the pack? No, probably not. Were they going to do it anyway? Absolutely. Jonah got the feeling it was going to be hilarious.