The first thing Cortez wrote in this book; I love you, Sophie.
Sophie uncomfortably shifted in her seat as her eyes landed on her grandfather. The old man was sat on the back deck in a rocking chair. She was sat in one also, the one her grandmother used to sit in. He wasn't paying any attention to her with his eyes shut as he relaxed, but she still felt nervous. So Sophie bit back a smile and returned to the book.
After two more days of school and no Cortez, she finally had time to sit and read this. Studying for finals had taken up most of her time at home, and at school she was busy constantly having panic attacks that something would trigger her to lose control of another sense.
But now, the day was as calm and bright as normal, causing Sophie and Henry to sit quietly together on the deck. Daisy also sat by the steps and slept under the hot sun.
Cortez took the first couple pages to explain things about his own life. He was born a werewolf, his younger brother as well, and his parents and grandparents were also werewolves. His grandparents were the ones that started the pack that is now his. His parents had stepped down from their position as Alpha and Luna after his mother was nearly killed in during an attack. Now, they live peacefully among other elderly werewolves.
No wonder he wasn't on my side about Henry moving to an assisted living place. His own parents had already done something similar. Sophie scoffed to herself.
Sophie couldn't help but smile to herself as she read Cortez's literary rambling about his childhood. Werewolves were homeschooled so he spent a lot of time with his young brother a few other pups in his pack. Cortez explained that him and his brother used to be big trouble makers but claimed that she'd have to hear some of the stories from him, in person.
Cortez went on to explain the culture within werewolf society and their traditions. He explained old, forgotten traditions like what Gabriel had mentioned. An Alpha does not step down from his position until his son can defeat and kill him in battle.
Cortez reassured that his family did not believe in that tradition. Sophie was instantly relieved. She couldn't imagine seeing something like that take place.
And then happier traditions came into light. When a new Alpha is chosen, there is a grand celebration for an entire week. The hunters go out and come back with the best deer, pore, or meaty wild animal that they can find. There is music, a bonfire, liquor, and happiness all around. It is a more primal tradition so he explained how people danced around half, sometimes fully, naked. Although, it sounded a bit odd, Sophie could appreciate it.
Cortez specifically mentioned that he was excited for the tradition that takes place when a single Alpha or Luna, running a pack, finds their mate.
The celebration is much more romantic and sophisticated. The mate ceremony was where everyone wore dresses and tuxedos. There was more liquor, music, and happiness but it was a calmer atmosphere. The Alpha or Luna that found their mate got to flaunt around said mate and officially introduce them to the pack. It was a grand occasion.
Once you decide you are ready to be our Luna, I will throw you the greatest mate ceremony this pack has ever attended. Everyone will get to witness your beauty like I have and I will watch proudly as you take your place as Luna.
Again, Sophie broke out in an uncontrollable smile. A mate ceremony. Like a ball. That sounded like fun. Music, fancy dresses, love. It all sounded grand, as Cortez had put it.
Sophie continued on reading.
As my beautiful mate, you are bound to me as I am to you. The moment our eyes locked for the first time, I knew you were the one. The mate bond ties our souls together. If you pass away, I will follow shortly after. I live for you, die for you, dedicate my existence to you.
But there are a few steps. At first sight, the bond between us connects. Usually, the next step would be sealing the bond with a mark. I am required to bite you, right where your neck meets your shoulder, just above your collarbone. And you will bite me.
Sophie gulped as she reached her hand towards her neck and rubbed the spot that Cortez had traced with his lips. As her fingers grazed her skin, the tingles returned. Those only occurred when he had touched her but now, they only ignited in that one spot. Her body already knew what would happen there. It was strange, nerve-wracking, kind of scary if Sophie was being honest.
Typically, the marking will happen during sex.
Sophie's eyes widened. That didn't make her feel any better about the fact that he nearly bit her just the other day. What, did he think they were gonna have sex in the back of his car? On school grounds? Sophie scoffed once more, mostly to cover her embarrassment.
Even if only one mate is marked, the bond is still sealed completely. And instead of a female werewolf getting her period like humans, she will go into heat. After marked, a females heat can potentially be incredibly taxing if not taken care of. As time goes on, they get easier and less dangerous.
There are such drugs called suppressors, that can halt a female werewolves heat but those aren't very traditional. Like condoms. When werewolves mate, they mate to create a pup. Suppressors and condoms are frowned upon in the werewolf community.
Sophie slammed the notebook shut and shook her head. That was going to be it for today. This notebook has gone from core family values to the process in which werewolves have sex. Cortez must've just rambled on in this and let one subject bleed into the other. She couldn't imagine what else he had written and frankly, right about now, she was a little too overwhelmed to find out.
Smacking the notebook against her forehead, Sophie cringed as she pulled her legs against her chest.
Dirty thoughts of Cortez were flooding her thoughts. She had seen him without a shirt twice and it was the most beautiful, handcrafted sculpture that she had ever seen. Imagining him naked seemed impossible. She couldn't believe she was imagining him naked in the first place. He was eight years older than her.
And then the mark. Sophie had already been bitten once and that amount of pain was indescribable. It was so much that she had passed out. Just from a bite! What would it be like when Cortez marked her? A small part of her actually found that thought intriguing. A slight shiver even run down her spine. To feel his teeth on her neck, to feel his body so close, the amount of pleasure...
Sophie jumped out of her rocking chair and rushed inside. She had to stop thinking about all of this before it started haunting her dreams. She had to find something to keep her attention.
~
Sophie sat on the cold gym floor by herself as she began stretching, per Mrs. Bails orders. Her classmates never really paid attention or obeyed any of the teachers orders but gym was the worse. While about seven of Sophie's classmates actually stretched, the others simply stood around and chatted. Some of the boys had already begun chasing and flirting with the girls.
"I originally planned for us to play dodgeball since it's everyone's favorite but if nobodies going to listen to me, I guess we're just practice for the mile test." Mrs. Bails warned as she looked specifically at the students messing around in the middle of the gym.
Now that dodgeball was involved, everyone decided to listen. Everyone always loved dodgeball. It was a school wide favorite for as long as Sophie could remember. They even played it all the time in elementary school. It was Sophie's least favorite. She was shorter, skinnier, and weaker than her classmates so in no way was she good at it.
Mrs. Bails had the class stretch for about two more minutes before she asked for team captains. Harry and Jason were picked as team captains and one by one, their class split into two. Sophie waited patiently towards the back of the crowd with her hands crossed over her chest. She knew she wasn't going to be one of the first ones picked. It didn't bother her. It made sense.
Sophie ended up on Jason's team and trudged to one side of the gym with half of her classmates. As a couple students lined up the foam dodgeballs in the middle of the gym, Sophie swayed from side to side in boredom. Her mind started to wonder as she waited.
The lights in the gym are bright today. Did they switch out the bulbs for newer, brighter ones? Even the floors looked shiner, like they had just been waxed or something.
Sophie began to squint and frown at how bright the gym seemed to be. And before she knew it, Mrs. Bails blew the whistle as cue for everyone to grab for the dodgeballs in the middle of the room.
Everyone went crazy. Of course.
It wasn't very hard for Sophie to stay out of the way of the dodgeballs. All she had to do was pace back and forth behind everybody. She would've just sat and waited for class to be over but Mrs. Bails got angry when it looked like people were slacking off. So Sophie lingered aimlessly back and forth and she watched her fellow students hurl foam dodgeballs at each other as if they didn't float safely through the air.
Somehow, through a small gap in the crowd in front of Sophie, one of the dodgeballs came hurling at her from the other side of the gym. Sophie's eyes went wide as she watched the red ball fly directly towards her face. And just on time, she ducked and listened at the ball hit the wall behind her. Dodging a ball at that speed shouldn't have been that easy for her. She wasn't the athletic type.
Actually, if she had to, she'd claim her face was a ball magnetic. They never failed to hit her right in the head. How she managed to avoid that particular ball impressed even herself.
Sophie picked up the red ball as it slowly rolled towards her feet. She squished it in her hands a couple times as she inched closer to the front. She didn't dare to actually present herself as a thrower so she stayed a couple people back from the fearless ones dodging them up front. Awkwardly playing with the ball in her hand, Sophie debating who she should throw it at or if she even wanted to throw it at all.
Well, Aaron looked pretty distracted since he was taunting Jason to get him to throw his ball. Sophie took aim and launched the ball. In the blink of an eye, faster than it should've, the ball collided with Aaron's shoulder and exploded into a cloud of foam like a popcorn cornel. The collision knocked Aaron off his feet and caused everyone around him to gasp in shock.
Sophie's hands instantly clapped over her mouth in shock. It looked like Aaron just got hit by a wrecking ball. There was no way she had thrown it that hard. The foam from inside the ball was all around him as Aaron groaned and rolled on the ground in pain. The dodgeball game came to a halt as Mrs. Bails blew her whistle.
"Are you okay, Aaron?" Mrs. Bails asked as she hurried to the student. Sophie dropped her hands and rushed to Aaron as well, as did the other students.
"Dude, sick arm." Harry laughed as he slapped a hand on Sophie's shoulder. "I should've picked you for my team."
Sophie glared at Harry and shoved his hand of her shoulder. Drawing her attention back to Aaron, she listened as he told Mrs. Bails what exactly hurt. His shoulder was in pain from the hit but also his hip and his ankle from the awkward fall. Sophie nervously nibbled on her thumb nail as she stared down at Aaron. He didn't look too good.
"Sophie, since you hit him, would you mind escorting him to the nurses office?" Mrs. Bails asked as she looked up at Sophie.
"Sure. I can do that." Sophie anxiously nodded.
Mrs. Bails helped Aaron stand and then passed his body off to Sophie. To her surprise, his weight wasn't that hard to support. She supported him with one of his arms over her shoulders and her arm around his waist. Aaron grunted and groaned as they made their way through the gymnasium. Some whispered to each other as they watched the two hobble away. Just another thing to add to the Sophie gossip list.
Sophie endlessly apologized as she helped Aaron through the school hallways and towards the nurses office. Once they arrived, the nurse helped Aaron on to one of the small white beds and started asking what had happened. Sophie calmly explained as she stood beside Aaron's bed. The nurse then focused on Aaron and left Sophie to nervously bite her thumbnail beside them.
Even the nurses office was bright, Sophie suddenly noticed. All the blinds were even shut and still, the fluorescent light above them were like flood lights. It was starting to give Sophie a headache. All she could do was cup her hands over her eyebrows to block the light and even that hardly worked. The tiled floors were still reflecting the light right into Sophie's eyes.
The bright lights, her level of worry, Aaron groaning in pain, it was all very stressful. Sophie could feel the anxiety growing unbearable in her chest. She was becoming uncomfortable in her own skin.
Sophie looked up to curse the bright lights above her but instead, the lights fired back ten times worse. Her eyes instantly felt like they were on fire. The slightest amount of light pierced through her eyes like needles. Sophie collapsed to the floor with a cry, squeezing her eyes shut and burying her head between her knees. She could feel tears attempting to escaped passed her tightly squeezed lids as the hotness festered under them.
The nurse rushed to Sophie and tried to coach her to stand up. Sophie protested and protested, too scared of what was happening. She didn't know if this was part of the turning process. It did feel similar to when all the noises had nearly swallowed her whole. She had that same feeling of anxiety and panic in her chest that made her whole body tremble. She was getting the same painful headache like she did with the noises.
"Are you okay, Sophie? Can you open your eyes for me?" The nurse questioned as she knelt in front of Sophie, who was sobbing uncontrollably in an upright fetal position.
Sophie shook her head. "It hurts." She cried. "I can't. It hurts."
"Okay. Come sit over here, sweetheart. I'll take care of you in a minute." The nurse spoke sweetly as she carefully pulled Sophie upwards.
Sophie let go of her legs to stand upright again, her eyes still squeezed shut. Even that didn't work. The light still shone through the thin skin of her eyelids. Sophie continued to softly sob as she covered her eyes and blindly walked towards the second white bed in the room. The nurse guided her back on the bed and returned to Aaron.
All Sophie could do was quietly cry and cover her eyes as Aaron was attended to. She was frustrated with how difficult this turning process was. Why did it have to hurt to much? Why was it so inconvenient? Couldn't she just wrap herself in a cocoon and not come out until she was a werewolf? And it was taking so long. It had been days since the noises. How long before she was done with all of this?
After awhile of wallowing in her own pain and sadness, Sophie reluctantly moved her hands from her face but didn't open her eyes. The lights were still impossibly bright. Not even closing her eyes could save her. More tears pricked at her eyes from the pain, Sophie biting down on her bottom lip to keep from sobbing again after she had just calmed down. She couldn't help it.
It felt like her eyelids were sandpaper rubbing against her eyeballs, or even worse, steel wool. Sophie couldn't rub her eyes because that made them hurt. Squeezing them shut hurt but the light were too bright if she didn't. They were also hit. It was like each eyeball was a tiny lightbulb in her head and they had been on too long, making them burn hot and bright.
Cortez hopped out of his car and rushed towards the school. He anxiously asked the people in the office where the nurses office was and they pointed him in the direction down the hallway. Cortez hurried down the empty school hallways and threw open the door under the appropriate label. Inside was the nurse at her desk and two white curtains pulled across the other side of the room.
"You're here for Sophie Carter, correct?" The nurse asked as she stood from her desk.
"Yes." Cortez answered.
Sophie's eyes moved under her eyelids as she tried to put a name to that voice. It couldn't be Cortez. Who would let him into the building? How would he be in the nurses office? Why would he even be here?
"Are you alright, Gorgeous?" Cortez gently sat on the edge of the white bed Sophie was laid on. Sophie groaned and rolled away from him, her hands still glued to her face. "Is it your eyes?"
"Mhm.." Sophie weakly answered.
Cortez turned to the nurse and flashed her an awkward smile. "Would it be alright if you turned off the lights for a moment?"
The nurse looked over Cortez in suspicion before she reluctantly nodded and walked off. Cortez reached for Sophie and gently guided her to sit up and face him. When the lights flicked off, the room was nearly pitch black. Perfect.
"Open your eyes for me, Sophie." Cortez whispered as he reassuringly rubbed her forearms.
"I'm scared." Sophie sniffled.
"It'll be alright. I'm right here."
Sophie slowly dropped her hands but kept her eyes squeezed shut. It didn't hurt yet. That was a huge relief. With a burst of trust and courage, Sophie opened her eyes. Cortez stared at the two golden orbs in front of him, a smile spreading across his face. Her eyes were as bright as any wolves eyes but they weren't silver like any wolves, they were gold. Solid proof that she was a Luna.
Cortez swooned at the sight.
"Your eyes are glowing.." Sophie whispered as she stared at Cortez's bright gold eyes. She could see every detail of his face in a weird shape of grey spectrum. Everything except his bright gold eyes.
"No. That's you, Gorgeous." Cortez grabbed Sophie's hands and gently kissed them, his eyes glued to hers. "Does it hurt?"
"Not when it's dark." Sophie looked around. She could see everything. She could see Cortez's whole body, her whole body, the white curtains surrounding them. But she could tell it was dark. She could see in the dark.
Cortez couldn't get himself to stop smiling. "Your eyes look absolutely stunning, Sophie. You look like a true Luna."
Sophie's breath caught in her throat as she smacked Cortez's arm, causing him to silently cry out in pain. Her strength had amplified. That much was obvious.
"Stop gushing and tell me how to shut them off so I can get back to class." Sophie scolded lowly.
"All the pack doctors said was that you had to wait it out. They'll shut off on their own."
"I can't wait all day, Cortez! I have a final next period."
Cortez bit the inside of his lip as he took a moment to think. With her hearing, all he had to do was make her focus on one sound and then everything else would fade out. But it's not like he could apply the same logic here. Stare at one bright light, not all of them. That didn't make sense. She'd go blind.
"Is everything alright, Sophie?" The nurse asked as she pulled back the curtain with a mini flashlight in hand.
The first thing Sophie knew to do was squeeze her eyes shut, cover them with her hands, and further hide herself against Cortez's chest. The nurse watched with slight suspicion in her eyes as Cortez gently pet Sophie's short brown hair. She couldn't help but wonder what this man's relationship was like with this high school student. His name had only appeared on her emergency contact list a week ago.
"I think she still needs to rest and then she can get back to class, if that's alright?" Cortez asked, pushing past the awkwardness creeping under his skin.
Cortez really hated talking to, well, not humans in particular, but those that he had to hide from. He didn't like not being an Alpha and to this particular nurse, he was not one. That was one of the many reasons Cortez shyly avoided Sophie's grandfather. Not only did the man not see him as a powerful Alpha capable of achieving anything, but he knew the man doubted him as a man.
Everything he said to humans had to be meticulous and roughly translated to from werewolf references to human terms. Like when Cortez tried to explain what he did for work and manager was the closest he could get to Alpha. It was exhausting talking to humans so they'd understand. Even with Sophie's grandfather, who he was so scared of messing up around that he just avoided him.
Not to mention, he was worried he would say or do something to Sophie that her grandfather would deem as inappropriate. It was that very anxiety, the tip-toeing and forced persona, that kept Cortez, and most of the other werewolves, away from humans. There was no use in risking slip ups or trying so hard to fake a normal, human persona.
"Cortez, correct?" The nurse asked. Cortez nodded. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you suddenly show up on Sophie's emergency contact list? It's always been her grandfather. I wonder where you showed up from."
Sophie found herself intrigued by the nurses question. That was a brilliant question that she hadn't even thought of. At this point, Sophie was so used to Cortez showing up at just the right time that it didn't seem all that strange. But this was her school. There were multiple layers of people he should've had to go through to be able to waltz right in without a problem.
Well, at least, Cortez had rehearsed an excuse for a question like this. "Well, her grandfather is getting older and more incapable. Soon, he's even moving out of the house. Since he is unable to come to Sophie when she needs someone, like right now, I will take his place."
The nurse slowly nodded her head but had a look in her eyes, 'that answer was almost good enough to convince me look'.
"He's getting sicker, you see.." Cortez continued and gestured as if he were suddenly performing. Sophie internally rolled her eyes and listened to him continue. "Sophie hasn't been handling it well. You know, nightmares, childhood trauma, panic attacks, that sort of thing. It'll probably keep happening so don't be surprised if you see me here again."
Sophie rolled her eyes even harder and blindly smacked Cortez's leg. The nurse noticed and carefully eyed Cortez.
"She doesn't like to talk about it."
Again, hardly convinced, the nurse nodded and shrugged. That answer would pass for now. "If Sophie is going to stay here, she's going to need to rest and you can't stay on school grounds all afternoon."
Cortez grimaced and let out a defeated sigh. "Okay, I'll say goodbye."
And with that, the nurse was gone. She clicked off her little flashlight and returned to the other side of the room where her desk sat. That half of the room was still lit but not bright enough that it would weep through the curtains and disturb Sophie or Aaron, who was also resting.
Cortez cupped Sophie's face once more and stared into her brightly glowing eyes. "I'm gonna go but if you need to get out of here, I'll come right back. I promise you."
"You really can't fix this?" Sophie dramatically pouted.
Cortez lightheartedly smiled at her dramatic frown and shook his head. "You'll be alright, Princess. Don't worry too much. Just sit and rest."
With that Cortez gently pulled Sophie closer and planted a kiss atop her head, letting it fall within her hair. Sophie fought the slightest hint of a smile and looked up at him through her eyelashes. Cortez loved looking into her soft emerald eyes. He would stare into them all day. But like this, when they shone with the powerful light of a Luna, he was entranced. She had never looked so powerful, so strong, so dangerous.
Cortez stood from the edge of the white bed and disappeared behind the curtain. Sophie let out a heavy sigh and laid back against the bed, letting both her arms lay limp over her face.
Seconds passed. Minutes passed.
Sophie hadn't been keeping count since she had fallen asleep at some point. When she opened her eyes again, it was normal. The darkness surrounded her. Her vision of the curtains was limited but the light that shone through the space between the curtain and the ceiling was soft. It wasn't blinding.
Everything was normal again. Good.
Sophie simply needed time.