"The first thing I want to show you is the ballroom." Cortez said, his hands on Sophie's waist as he guided her through the house in front of her.
"That's where the ceremony is held, right? When the pack celebrates their new Luna?"
Cortez smiled and nuzzled beside her ear, his jaw moving over her hair as he spoke. "You read that but you didn't read any of the important stuff?"
Sophie squirmed. "That part was in the beginning. And then you went into graphic detail and I got nervous." Cortez chuckled. Sophie peeked behind them to see the pack watching their Alpha and Luna walk away without them. "They're not coming with?"
"Do you want them to?"
"Yes. This is their house. They should show me around too."
Cortez stopped ignoring at the desperate pleas in his head and finally granted them permission to come along. Sophie wasn't aware of their begging or the silent conversation they had with Cortez. A gust of wind surrounded Sophie as the pack ran by on either side of her and Cortez. She flinched like she had before but chuckled as she watched everyone excitedly rush in front of her. They were obviously excited to show her around, which made her happy and relieved.
The crowd of werewolves waited patiently by the ballroom doors as Sophie and Cortez approached. He threw the doors open just as Sophie had when they arrived. Sophie shuffled into the dark room and looked around as Cortez flicked on the lights. It looked just as she imagined.
The walls were high, wooden floor polished and shiny, red curtains hanging over the walls where large windows were hidden. The ball room stretched from one end of the pack house to the other and right in the middle, up against a wall, there was a short platform with a black, grand piano and a microphone. It even looked like there was enough space for more on the platform.
Sophie excitedly turned to Cortez and bit down on her bottom lip. Cortez proudly smiled. "This is why I wanted to show you the ballroom. That piano is all yours now."
"Really?" Sophie's emerald eyes twinkled with happiness. Cortez nodded and gestured for her to go to it.
To show her gratitude, Sophie gritted Cortez's shirt and placed a kiss on his cheek. He surprised himself by blushing at her adorable gesture. Sophie couldn't hold back her excitement as she ran across the ballroom to get to the piano. The rest of the pack flooded into the room as Cortez stepped on to the platform with his mate. Sophie waited for everyone to fill the ballroom before she started playing, just to make sure.
She wasn't too nervous, surprisingly. At first, she was terrified to meet all of these people but they turned out different than she imagined. They were so warm and welcoming. She liked them. It wouldn't be so scary to play in front of them.
Cortez sat backwards on the bench in front of the piano and gently gripped her thigh. She admired the piano for a moment, shooting Cortez a smile. "I haven't played in awhile. I might be a little rusty." She whispered.
"Don't act modest." Cortez teased with a playful glare.
"How do you know I'm being modest?"
"I have a feeling."
Sophie laughed and turned her attention to the piano. After a moment of pulling herself into piano mode, she finally began to play. Her fingers started slowly at first and her expression full of concentration. Some began to recognize the song but all were instantly impressed by her skills. Cortez, especially, who was intently staring at his mate with so much love and admiration in his eyes.
The song was Dance Of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker, the song Sophie had mentioned was her favorite to play when she brought up her piano skills on their date. He could tell it was her favorite as she started to hit the higher notes and a smile spread across her face. Her body slightly swayed, leaned, and dipped with the rhythm as she enjoyed the lovely sound of the piano. Cortez was thoroughly impressed and so was the rest of the pack as they watched and listened to her play.
Sophie hit the last notes of the song and everyone audibly oohed and awed. Some hands went up to begin clapping but before they could, Sophie led into another song. The last four keys were similar to the first three keys of her second favorite song, Flight of the Bumblebee. Cortez's eyes widened as they fell to her hands working their magic over the piano keys. The rest of the pack audibly gasped at the speedy rhythm of the song and how well she caught up with it.
Cortez watched Sophie grin wildly as she aggressive hit the keys of the piano, the intensity of the music growing and growing. Sophie was determined to make it through the song but even when they had a piano at home, she rarely could. Also, it had been a couple years since she had played so her hands quickly began cramping up. Her expression tangled in determination, excitement, and pain as she played to the best of her abilities.
And finally, the song came to an abrupt end and she let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding. Sophie winced at the cramps in her hands as she went to massaged her thumb into her palm. She turned to the completely silent crowd of werewolves and awaited their response. They were all so entranced by their Luna's musical talent that they totally forgot to respond at all. In an instant, there was an eruption of clapping and cheering from the crowd of werewolves. Sophie happily smiled and bowed her head in gratitude a couple times.
"You're amazing, Sophie." Cortez declared as he reached for Sophie's hands. He kissed her knuckles and starts massaging her palms for her.
"I messed up a couple keys towards the end." Sophie whispered slyly.
"And you played so magically, I wouldn't even have known." Cortez complimented.
Sophie smiled at Cortez, a true, loving, warm smile. She adored him and she was becoming more and more aware of that as they grew closer as a couple. The look in his eyes always stirred up her stomach. He looked at her in so many more ways than just one. It wasn't just love, but lust, care, admiration, pride. All of it directed exclusively at Sophie.
Cortez then led Sophie back through the crowd as they all praised her piano skills. She thanked everyone with warm cheeks as she trailed behind Cortez. He continued to show her around the house with everyone in tow. When they reached the kitchen, those that regularly cooked the meals butted in to brag to their new Luna. Sophie instantly recognized one of the girls that cooked.
"You go to the food market in Dixie's Square!" Sophie pointed excitedly at the woman she recognized as the one that had helped her grab a soup can on a high shelf.
"Yes, Luna." The girl blushed and nervously bowed. "I'm glad you recognize me. Of course, I didn't know you were the Luna at the time."
"Well, neither did I." Sophie's warm smile returned and everyone gushed at her beauty.
Cortez continued to drag Sophie through the house, taking her down the hallways where everyone's rooms were. The rooms were small, kind of like college dorms, but everyone got their own if they didn't share one with a mate. Some people excitedly pointed out which room was theirs and Sophie nodded with a smile like a mother would when their child brought them something cool that they found.
There were multiple living spaces with couches, tv's, and throw blankets all over them. It looked nicely decorated and everything was clean but still historic and dark. Sophie could even spot where the veins outside were crawling over the windows and blocking some of the light. She wondered how the guys felt painting Sophie's house if they didn't even take care of their own. Were they upset at her for requesting something like that when they obvious had more important things to be doing?
Cortez then led Sophie to the basement and showed her all the equipment they had sent up for training. It was accentually just a big cement box with bad lighting, filled with exercise equipment and wrestling mats.
Cortez explained that he spent most of his time training to distract himself from running to her house uninvited. And soon following his confession, the warriors bragged that they were the strongest in the pack and didn't even need to exercise. Sophie couldn't help but find the warriors very amusing so far. They hadn't stopped trying to impress her yet.
"You have a backyard?" Sophie asked as they appeared at the top of the stairs again.
She walked towards a window and moved the curtain to see. No, it wasn't really a backyard, but it would work as one. The fence extended far back enough that it could be a backyard but there was nothing out there but dead grass and mole hills. It was depressing to look at. Sophie was so proud every time she saw her garden at home that this dead land didn't look right.
"Remind me to start a garden back there when I can. Everything looks so dead." Sophie frowned as she turned back to Cortez.
"A garden?" His eyebrows furrowed as he began shaking his head. "No, we need that space for training."
Sophie was slightly surprised to hear Cortez say no to her. He hadn't ever denied her of anything so blatantly before. It put a little spark of attitude in her like it would to a spoiled child.
"You just showed me your training room. You have entire basement."
"Yes, Angel, but we're wolves. We need room to run."
"You have the woods to run." Cortez was without a retort so Sophie continued. "I'm not asking for a big garden, I just want to make the place look nice."
"I don't want it to look nice. The creepy atmosphere keeps wondering humans away."
"You have private property signs all over your fences. Isn't that enough?"
"Surprisingly enough, no, it's not." Cortez shot with a snarky tone. He almost sounded condescending.
Sophie felt even more challenged by his attitude. The rest of the pack realized how quickly the tension was building and slyly disbursed through the house. Even Jeremiah and Delilah exchanged awkward glances and scurried away. But still, Sophie and Cortez never once looked away from each other. They simply stared, silently challenging the other to continue.
"So, I guess I'll be staying at my house where my garden is." Sophie crossed her arms over her chest.
Cortez's eyes slightly narrowed. "Is your garden really that important to you?"
No, but it was if that meant spiting Cortez. Sophie simply shrugged with her attitude painted clear on her face. Cortez was growing frustrated with Sophie. He grew up in this pack and it had never changed.
The grass was always dead, the veins were always growing more and more out of control. That's how it was. He didn't want flowers and greenery all over the place. The eery vibe had done it's job by keeping people away. They needed that as a large group of supernatural creatures. They couldn't have people snooping around to admire the roses and then see someone shift into a wolf.
"We're not discussing this." Cortez stated firmly as he started down the hallway, his fingers starting rubbing the corner of his lips and then down into the scruff of his chin.
"Oh, well, I'm glad you've decided that on your own, Mate." Sophie rolled her eyes, venom dripping off her tongue with every word.
"I know these things a little more than you do." Cortez huffed.
Sophie lowly growled as she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, silly me for trying to make something about this pack house familiar to me." She mocked.
Cortez stopped and slowly spun on his heels. Sophie met his stare and carefully studied his pitch black eyes that, unfortunately, revealed nothing to her. That was, until, a smile pulled at the corner of his lips and his eyes grew soft. It had totally taken Sophie by surprised. He genuinely looked happy.
"Aren't you the one that was worried we'd never argue?" Cortez snorted a laugh as he pointed at his small mate.
Sophie's expression flattened as she remembered their conversation that took place not even hours ago. She had worried about that. Part of her was convinced that mates had no choice in thinking the other was ever wrong or not. Cortez had been so adamant to paint her as a perfect angel and she was so quick to come to his defense that it seemed like it was true. But now, they had just argued.
A smirk found it's way onto Sophie's face as she bounced on her feet. "I guess we did kinda argue, didn't we? It was bickering, at the least.."
Cortez marched towards Sophie and caught her face in his large hands, smacking his lips to hers. Sophie was caught off guard but happily kissed him back as she realized what was happening. Cortez kissed Sophie sweetly but with that slightest hint hunger. It only lasted a moment before Cortez pulled away and stared into her bright, green eyes.
"I can't wait to argue with you for the rest of my life." Cortez grinned.
Sophie felt an array of different emotions whirl within her stomach. She agreed. She did like arguing with him. It wasn't bad. But yet again, for the rest of her life? That sounded like a long time. It was like he was proposing and that thought made her a bit queasy. No matter how much she liked him, she couldn't forget about their age difference. He was proposing to a high school student.
But yet again, she knew that was coming from her own insecurities.
Sophie nervously separated herself from Cortez with her hands flat against his chest. She cleared her throat and fought to look him in the eye. "What else is there to see?"
Cortez gently rubbed Sophie's soft cheeks with his thumbs as he admired the clear embarrassment written all over her face. "My office."
"Take me there." Sophie's eyes lifted to meet Cortez's and she was surprised to see his already pitch black eyes darken with an emotion she could barely recognize.
Cortez's jaw visibly tightened as his imagination tried to consume him. "Watch how you say things, Angel. Miscommunication is going to lead you into dangerous situations." His voice came out low and rough, laced with a growl and smirk.
Sophie was confused for a moment before she reviewed what she said in her head.
Take me.
Her cheeks reddened and her mouth went dry, her whole body tingling with an oddly pleasurable feeling. She was embarrassed, undeniably turned on, but she tried her best to shun both of those feelings far, far away from her.
At the sight of Sophie so flustered, Cortez's slight smirk grew and danced on his lips. Part of him loved seeing her like this. Her innocence, blissful ignorance, and naive nature were all apart of her charm. He completely adored her.
Cortez enveloped Sophie's hand in his and started through the house to get to his office. She followed close behind him as she nibbled on her thumbnail. Just like him, her thoughts were wondering to very dangerous places. Sexual fantasies never really crossed Sophie's mind, unless she was met with a very scandalous part of a book she was reading. But with Cortez, she couldn't stop imagining all the different ways he would end up taking her.
It was haunting.
Before she had realized it, Cortez stopped with his other hand wrapped around the doorknob. "If I'm not training or with you, this is where I spend most of my time."
Sophie nodded and waited as Cortez pushed open the door. He gestured for her to go in first and she did so, hesitantly but with a hint of intrigue.
Immediately, Sophie noticed just how large his office was. And all his books. Three of the four walls were lined from floor to ceiling in dark wood bookshelves and books completely filled every shelf. She was amazed, to say the least. Towards the far wall was where his desk was, a laptop and a stack of papers on it. There was a small little sitting area, a sofa and two chairs, just in front of it.
As Sophie walked further into the room, she realized something a bit odd. There was a single pillow and thin blanket messily laid across the sofa. That wouldn't have seemed that odd if there wasn't a cup with a toothbrush in it on the coffee table and some clothes thrown over one of the chairs across from the sofa.
"A whole mansion filled with rooms and someone's sleeping on the couch in your office?" Sophie asked as she turned back to Cortez, who was stood with his hands in his jean pockets.
Cortez shrugged. "That's where I sleep."
"Why? Where's your room?"
"Upstairs." He was answering so casually. He looked so unbothered. It was confusing her.
"So what's wrong with your room? You work so late that you can't bother to walk up the stairs?" Sophie lightly teased.
Cortez pulled his hand from his jean pocket and scratched the back of his neck. Now he looked less casual and more awkward. Luckily, that was an emotion Sophie could cope with but it made her even more curious as to what his answer would be. Cortez wasn't the awkward, hesitant type, and yet, it was taking him longer than usual to answer.
Finally, Cortez dropped his hand and let out a sigh of defeat. He didn't look up as he spoke. "The last time I was in my room, you almost died. I almost lost you. I can't go up there anymore. I can't sleep where you almost died. It's haunting."
Sophie's jaw fell went slack as his confession. He hadn't slept in his own bedroom since she was bitten? That was... days ago. He hadn't recovered yet? Even Sophie had recovered and she was actually the one who was on the verge of death.
But to be fair, she figured it was easier for her to recover because she had no idea what was going on. All she remembered was being bitten and walking up to vomit. Cortez was the one who had witnessed everything that she didn't.
One reluctant step slowly led to the next as Sophie made her way towards Cortez. She couldn't help but feel an intense amount of guilt in her chest. He loved her so much, was so consumed by her, that he couldn't even sleep in his own bed. She couldn't imagine the amount of guilt that ran through him without her knowledge. All she wanted to do was embrace him and make all his worries wash away like he did for her.
Sophie lifted on to her toes and wrapped her arms around Cortez's neck, pulling him slightly down since he was so much taller than her. Cortez's arms easily snakes around her small figure as he held her tightly against him. His eyes fell shut as he buried his face in her neck and inhaled her scent. Sophie couldn't help but inhale him either. His smell, his warmth, his very presence soothed her and it was the same for Cortez.
"I'm okay now, Cortez. You don't have to worry." Sophie whispered.
"I almost lost you. You were dying. And it was my fault. That will never change, Sophie." Cortez whispered as well, his voice much weaker than Sophie's and his hold on her filled with more desperation.
"I've forgiven you."
"No." Cortez held Sophie impossibly tighter. "Please, never forgive me for failing you."
Sophie lifted her head from within his neck to rest her chin on his shoulder. She sighed. "What do I have to do to make you forget about what happened?"
"Sleep with me."
Sophie didn't reply but she didn't have to. Cortez could hear her heart race loud and clear. Besides that, he already knew she wouldn't. She couldn't. They had just a while longer until they could be with each other all day and all night.
"Cortez.." Sophie started.
"I know." He quickly cut her off.
Sophie rubbed her hands over his broad back. "If I'm not home before my grandfather gets back... Otherwise, I would.."
Cortez felt heartbroken. "I miss you."
"We haven't even let go of each other yet and you miss me already?" Sophie teased.
Cortez held Sophie tighter and inhaled her intoxicating scent. "I can't wait until you're always here and I never have to let go of you."
Sophie smiled.