Page 39 of The Werewolf's Deputy
“Yeah, leave him alone,” Miguel chastised, coming to put his arm around Emmett’s shoulder affectionately. “If he’s going to talk to anyone, it’ll be me.”
Axel flipped him the bird, but Emmett ignored him and went willingly when Miguel dragged him outside. He was right that if he was going to talk to anyone about it, it’d be Miguel. They’d been best friends practically since birth.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” Miguel insisted once they were far enough away from The Lodge, out of earshot of the pack.
“It’s nothing,” Emmett sighed. “I just haven’t heard back from Jonah in a while. It’s not like him.”
“Did he get home safely?” Miguel asked, the concern in his voice making Emmett feel a little better. The pack members who worked with Jonah knew him and cared about him. They’d be just as concerned as he was.
“Yeah, he got home fine. He always texts me when he gets home. He said he was going to make something to eat, then call me like he always does, but he never called. I sent a text asking if he was alright, and it says he read it, but he never replied.”
Miguel frowned at Emmett’s phone when he showed him the read receipt. “Think maybe he’s just eating with his family or something?”
If it were anyone else, maybe, but Emmett knew how Jonah’s family treated him. They barely acknowledged his existence. He was only ever invited to join the family for a meal when it was a special occasion.
His phone rang before he could explain that to Miguel, and his heart leapt in his chest, thinking maybe it was Jonah, then dropped suddenly when it was his cousin’s name instead.
“Shaw?”
“Hey, man… I, uh… I think you need to get over here.”
Emmett straightened suddenly, instincts on high alert at the seriousness of Shaw’s voice.
“Why? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
He wasn’t on backup for the night shift because he was scheduled for the morning shift like normal. If someone needed to switch out, they had a list of people to call who weren’t on regular shifts. Shaw calling him was out of the norm.
“It’s Jonah. He showed up here like thirty minutes ago. Looked rough. He asked to park his truck in the lot, and I thought he was just going to hitch a ride somewhere so he didn't have to pay for parking or something, but when he didn’t come out, I went looking for him. Em… He’s sleeping in his truck.”
Oh, hell no. Emmett was moving before Shaw could even finish the sentence, Miguel hot on his heels. “I’m on my way. Is he hurt? Does he need an ambulance?”
“Not sure. The only scent I could get from him was sadness. That shit was heavy. I barely clocked you on him through that mess. Couldn’t catch anything else in the short convo we had.”
Unfortunately, Emmett couldn’t complain about that. Sadness and depression were such heavy emotions that it was sometimes hard to pick up any other scents besides that. Onlyhighly trained werewolves could ignore it. His chest ached at the thought of Jonah being that upset that his cousin couldn’t smell anything else on him. It was lucky he’d picked up enough to realize Jonah was connected to him. Emmett hadn’t introduced him to the night shift or the rest of the pack yet. They’d only heard stories.
“We’ll be there in less than ten,” he replied, then was immediately cut off by Miguel, who shoved him away from the driver’s seat before he could slide in.
“Fifteen. Dude, you’re not killing yourself to get there, and Ronan will tear you a new one if you get a speeding ticket. He’s not going anywhere, and Shaw’s right there to watch over him. Chill.”
His responding snarl was close to feral, surprising them both. It was enough of a shock that Emmett took a step back, his chest heaving as he fought to get himself under control.
Slowly, because he was smart, Miguel approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Let me drive. I’ll get us there. You take the time to calm down. You don’t want to be this worked up when we get to Jonah, yeah? Take a few deep breaths.”
Emmett nodded, handing over the phone and keys. He trusted his best friend to get him to Jonah quickly, and he was right. He wouldn’t be any help to Jonah if he was this worked up.
The fifteen minute drive to Spellbound was excruciating, but the gate was open when they arrived, Shaw waving him through and locking it behind them. Emmett was out of the car before Miguel even fully stopped, heading straight for Jonah’s truck. He only slowed down when he got close, not wanting to frighten the already upset man. When he crept closer and peeked in through the back window, his heart broke.
His Jonah, the eager and teasing man who greeted each day with a dogged determination to learn and be a better person, was curled into a ball, despair coming off him in waves so thick,Emmett could smell it through the truck door. There was no way he was sleeping, he was too tense for that, and when Emmett lightly tapped on the window with one claw, Jonah glanced up at him, revealing tear stained cheeks and so much heartache.
Emmett pulled the door open, wanting to reach in and pull the poor man out, and just barely holding back the urge. “Jonah? What are you doing here?”
Jonah’s words were choked when he responded, “I didn’t know where else to go.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
He should have known Emmett would come. His fake boyfriend was part of a close knit pack, and the minute Jonah showed up alone, the werewolf probably would’ve called him. He wanted to be annoyed, he’d wanted the night to get his head on straight before facing anyone, but he couldn’t blame the werewolf either. They were pack. Family. They cared for one another.
The reminder that his family wanted nothing to do with him made him curl in on himself a little more. He didn’t have it in him to explain things right then. He just wanted to go to sleep.
