“Don’t let him fool you, Jonah!” Axel called out from where they stood near the main lobby doors. “He did it on purpose! He wasn’t even near you!”
Jonah’s mouth dropped open, and Emmett shot his packmate a dirty look before giving Jonah an innocent smile.
“Don’t listen to him. He’s a liar. He lies all the time.”
“Uh huh…” Jonah said suspiciously, narrowing his eyes on Emmett. “Why do I feel like I shouldn’t believe you?”
Batting his eyelashes, he gave Jonah his biggest puppy dog eyes. “Would this face lie to you?”
He grinned when Jonah burst out laughing, covering his eyes to block out Emmett’s undefeated puppy face. “Oh gods! Werewolves can do that? I thought that was a puppy thing!”
“Oh, werewolf pups can pull it off even better than I can. Believe me, if a werewolf pup looks at you with those eyes, you won’t be able to resist. There are dozens of them in my pack, and they’ve got everyone absolutely wrapped around their fingers.”
Jonah peeked through his fingers, and Emmett felt his tail swish again as he grinned and dropped his hand. Playing with this human was fun. He was already looking forward to tomorrow when he could see him again.
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, theresponse 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 couldkeep 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 universitywasn’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?
