Page 1 of The Werewolf's Deputy
CHAPTER ONE
“Get off that stupid computer and get a job,” they’d said. Jonah was pretty sure this wasn’t what they’d had in mind.
He stared at the mass of supes streaming into the enormous glass building. Supes of all shapes, sizes, and colors, some of which Jonah had never even heard of before. Was that a… snake… person?
Swallowing hard, he considered yet again what he’d been thinking, accepting the job from the medusa at the cafe. He’d needed something fast, just so he’d have money to feed himself until he could figure out what he was going to do next, and temp work seemed like the way to go. Maybe he should have considered looking for a human temp company first. This felt a little like jumping into the deep end with lead shoes on. He had no clue how to even act around all these different supes.
Summoning his courage, he joined the throngs of people, heading for the front desk where… oh gods, was that a hydra? Weren’t they dangerous? He swore his dad told him something about hydras eating humans.
He backpedaled, panic swelling, and crashed into someone behind him. He spun around, his jaw falling open as he looked up at the actual wolf man staring down at him.
“You alright?”
Jonah was going to pass out. This really wasn’t one of his better ideas.
The wolf person cocked his head, brows furrowed. “Are you a courier or something?”
He needed to answer the man. He didn’t have to ask around to know he was being rude. It was just hard. He’d never seen a wolf man before.
“Are you Jonah?” someone spoke behind him, forcing Jonah to rip his gaze off the wolf man and turn to face the speaker. He jumped back immediately, crashing into the wolf man again, who steadied him with a surprisingly gentle grip on his elbows.
The speaker was a fae. Had to be. He had pointy ears, and one of his eyes was lilac. His brother had told him about fae. They’d kidnap humans if they pissed them off. But what did it mean that only one eye was lilac? Did that make him less dangerous or more?
The fae sighed, crossing his arms over his chest, and ignored him completely, glancing at the wolf man instead. “I assume you’ll walk him out? I swear, Morana needs to start warning them before sending them to me. They all act like this.”
That finally snapped Jonah out of his spiral, his eyes going wide. “W-Wait! I didn’t mean to– I’m sorry! I was just surprised. Please don’t fire me.”
That got him an eye roll from the fae. “I’m not firing you. I’m sending you back to Charmed Away so you can be given another job. No one is required to take a job. You must have learned that when you were hired.”
He had. He also knew he couldn’t afford to turn anything down right now. His parents’ lesson on finally growing up included demanding rent from him and making him buy his own food. He’d just barely graduated from university online, and they were tired of him taking up space. He needed the money.
“I know that. I want to be here, I swear. I’m sorry.”
He projected his sincerity as loudly as he could, resisting the urge to duck when a fairy flew over his head and landed in front of the reception desk. He didn’t want the fae to think he had a problem. He just wasn’t used to this.
There were some humans who had problems with supes. His parents were in that group. They still saw supes as ‘wrong’ and ‘abnormal’ and wanted things to go back to the way they were way back when humans were in charge of things. They’d raised all their kids to think the same way. His older brother and sister followed their lead without any argument. Jonah was the only one who asked questions. It didn’t make him popular at home, hence being the only kid of his parents who had to pay rent while still living there, but he was also the only member of his family who went to university. Yeah, it was online, his parents refused to pay for it, and he didn’t want to be drowning in loans by the time he graduated, but it still gave him a better idea of the world than the rest of his family. Supes were just like humans. Some were bad, some weren’t. It just depended on the person.
He’d always said he’d be better than his family, treat supes better at the very least, but apparently the lessons he’d been taught were hardwired into him because the first time he was around supes, he panicked. It was embarrassing, and he could end up losing his job because of it.
“I think he was just startled, Kian. Give him a chance,” the wolf man cajoled.
Jonah shot him a grateful look, then resisted the urge to wince when the wolf man smiled and showed off a hell of a lot of teeth. Gods, the guy could probably chomp him in two in one bite.
With another long suffering sigh, the fae relented. “Fine. Come with me. I’ve got an office upstairs. We can figure out where to put you for the time being.”
He forced his feet to move, even though entering the throng of supes again was a little overwhelming. He shot one last look over his shoulder at the wolf man, who winked and wandered off, before following the fae away from the biggest group of people and off to another set of elevators blocked by turnstiles. He handed a temporary ID card to Jonah, showing him how to use it, then stood with his arms crossed and his foot tapping as they waited for an elevator to show up.
Feeling guilty, Jonah apologized again. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m not… used to being around supes. It’ll take some getting used to.”
Glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, the fae looked him up and down. “Are you one of those humans who spends their whole lives isolated from supes?”
“Not by choice,” Jonah grumbled, following him into the elevator. He thought more supes would join them; there were plenty waiting, but they all seemed to reconsider when they saw who was inside. One even did an about-face when he saw him, and the fae smirked when he pushed the button to force the door closed.
The interaction made Jonah nervous, but he swallowed it down. This was supposed to be some big-name company. Surely they wouldn’t hire someone dangerous… right? Unless they didn’t think fae were dangerous. He wished he had someone he could ask.
“How many supes have you been around, exactly?” the fae asked, making him jump. He needed to be paying better attention, not panicking at every move a supe made.
“Uh, before this? Two or three, I guess. My parents homeschooled me and my siblings, and didn’t take us to any stores that weren’t human-run until we were older.”
