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 thedominance 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?”
