Sophie had been on a mission the past couple days. Cortez has informed her about a very crucial part of the mate ceremony. Mind linking. At the end of the night, after all the dancing and visitors from the other pack left, Sophie would have to officially mind link with the pack. She was told that she could do so without knowing everyone but it would be a little more difficult. All she really needed was trust.
Still, Sophie took it upon herself to meet everyone. All two hundred and seventy-four of them. Delilah helped a lot, introducing Sophie to each pack member. Sophie greeted everyone with a warm smile and thanked them for welcoming her into their pack. Each and every wolf was flustered by that. They didn't expect to be thanked. She was the Luna. They would usually be thanking her.
It took four days, to be exact. Sophie developed a routine. Wake up with Cortez, eat breakfast with Cortez, split off so he could do work and she could meet more pack members, and then reconvene in his office. Usually, the last step ended in them making out on the sofa in his office. One of those times, it ended up with them having sex on that sofa.
And today, Sophie was hoping that would happen again as she excitedly skipped into Cortez's office. His eyes found hers as she bursted through the door and rushed across the room with a bright smile on her face. Cortez chuckled, knowing exactly what was coming. He pushed back from his desk and turned as Sophie skipped around it to get to him. She leaped into his lap and their lips collided.
"I missed you, Angel." Cortez muttered against her lips as his hands slipped under her shirt and his fingers grazed her spine.
Sophie trailed kisses down his neck and went for his mark, which always seemed to turn Cortez to putty. Right as her tongue graze the mark in a long wet, Cortez let out a moan and tilted his head back. Sophie chuckled and continued her assault on his neck as she pressed herself against him. It seemed she could never get enough of him now that they had marked each other.
A sudden knock on Cortez's office door interrupted their little playtime, but before they could even separate, the door flew open. Obviously, whoever it was, didn't care to have Cortez's approval before they barged in. Sophie was quick to climb out of Cortez's lap just as the person appeared in the doorway. She nearly fell on her ass in the moment of panic but managed to catch her footing.
"Hey, fathead! Mom wants..." Miguel started as he walked in but stopped as he noticed Cortez staring at Sophie and Sophie nervously fixing her clothes. A knowing smirk pulled at the corner of his lips he folded his arms over his chest. "Looks like I might've walked in on something, huh? No wonder it feels a little steamy in here."
Sophie gaped at Miguel in shock and then her stare turned angry. The cocky smirk on his face made her want to hit him. She darted forward to do so, which caused Miguel to run around the office to get away from her before she could hurt him. Cortez laughed he watched his little mate chase his little brother. Miguel passed behind Cortez chair with a cry for help, Sophie close behind him. Just as Sophie passed by, Cortez caught her waist and pulled her into his lap.
"Calm it, little sister! I'm only teasing you." Miguel skipped to a stop when he realized Sophie had been stopped.
"What do you want, Miguel?" Cortez asked. Usually, he would ask with an annoyed tone, but he was in a good mood so he didn't even mind.
"Mom says she's almost ready so we should be too. It's gonna take us a half hour to get to the city, anyways." Miguel spoke as he looked at the watch on his wrists.
Sophie jumped up from Cortez's lap with a mumbled curse. "I totally forgot that was today! I have to get ready!"
"It's not a big deal, Sophie! You don't have to stress about what you're going to wear! We're gonna get you new clothes today, anyways!" Cortez called after his mate as she ran through his office.
"Everything with your parents is a big deal, Cortez!" Sophie yelled back before she disappeared.
~
Cortez, Sophie, and Miguel all drove into the city to meet Maria and Antonio for lunch. Sophie found it a little odd that a bunch of werewolves wanted to meet and hang out in the middle of the public. Cortez had brought her on a date in the city once but he had also explained why it was so important for his pack and all other werewolves to stay out of sight. But, on special occasions, they got to experience the world.
As Cortez, Sophie, and Miguel all walked through the busy streets to find the little restaurant they were meeting their parents at, Cortez and Sophie fought the urge to hold each other's hands. Since they had been hidden away for awhile, it felt natural to be touching each other and be lovey dovey with no care in the world. But out in the public, Sophie was reminded of their age difference once again.
Their age difference was visible as well. Sophie was short and cutesy with her skirt and fluttering eyelashes, obviously only seventeen. And Cortez was big and gruff with a well kept beard and leather jacket. They didn't exactly mesh very well together. As a couple, at least. And as much as Cortez and Sophie hated it, Miguel was having fun teasing them.
"Oh, look over there. Two cops on their lunch break. Better not get caught smooching your underage girlfriend." Miguel teased Cortez as he skipped along side the two mates.
"Shut the hell up before I push you into the street." Cortez growled.
Miguel knew he wasn't joking and bounce around his brother to stand between Cortez and Sophie. They all stood tallest to shortest as they walked down the street. When they finally found the restaurant on the corner of a busy street, they rounded the corner to see an outdoor seating area on the sidewalk. Maria and Antonio were sat together at a family sized table with coffees already in hand.
Maria lifted her sunglasses from her eyes and stuck them in her long, wavy hair. She stood up to envelope Sophie in a hug. "I always get so happy to see you, Sophie. How have you been? Feeling alright? Have you been.."
Maria's next few words fell off the tracks as she pulled away and spotted the mark on Sophie's neck. Her mouth fell open and her eyes widened. Sophie nervously blushed, not knowing how Maria was going to react. Her reaction was delayed even further as she looked at Cortez and spotted a mark on his neck as well. She was in shock for a moment before she pulled Sophie into another bone crushing hug.
"Oh my goddess! You've marked each other! I'm so happy! It's been a long time coming!" Maria pulled away again, her skinny fingers holding firm on to Sophie's shoulders. "That means you've mated! Should I be expecting pups soon?"
Sophie felt her nerves reach a whole new level of stress as she nervously turned to Cortez. Cortez, who seemed very unbothered, spotted Sophie's expression and pulled her away from his mother to guide her towards her seat. Sophie was eternally grateful as Cortez decided to take this question for her.
"No, Ma. You shouldn't be expecting any pups. She's still seventeen, know. And she's still new to all of this." Cortez calmly answered as he sat beside his mate.
They all sat at the table, Cortez beside Sophie, Miguel beside Maria, and Antonio at the head of the table. Sophie was nervous to be in public with a bunch of wolves, but then she remembered she was also a wolf, and that made her extra nervous. All of this made her more jittery than she expected.
"Well, that's fine. Antonio and I put off kids for awhile, ourselves, you know. We wanted to live for ourselves before having to deal with you two devils for the rest of our lives."
"Ma!" Miguel whined.
"Do you come into the city a lot?" Sophie asked in a sudden change of topic. Maria caught on to why she would change the subject and followed suit.
"We come here for date nights or shopping trips but not very often. We don't want people getting too familiar with us, you know." Maria smirked and winked at Sophie. Her eyes studied Sophie's tense body language. "Are you nervous being out as a wolf?"
"I'm nervous for a lot of reasons." Sophie admitted. "I'm not even allowed to touch my mate out in the open like this. But yet again, I never imagined I'd have that problem so it's all a little strange."
"She wouldn't be so nervous if this assface didn't tease her the whole way here." Cortez shot a glare at his little brother.
"When will you stop terrorizing your brother?" Maria huffed with frustration.
"I hope you can take as much as you can dish." Antonio spoke up, drawing in everyone's attention. "When you find your mate, Cortez has every right to terrorize you as much as you've terrorize him."
"Antonio, that is not how you teach him to stop!" Maria huffed once more and turned to Cortez. "Cortez, I hope you'll know better and be the bigger man when the time comes. Stop bugging each other all the time."
Cortez shrugged with a cocky smirk. "I think it might be fun barking in his ear all day like he does with me."
Maria let out a defeated sigh, her elbows hitting the glass table they were sat at as her head fell into her hands. Miguel stuck his tongue out at Cortez and Cortez had no problem, as his older and more mature brother, doing so right back at him. Sophie tried to hold back her laughter as she watched Cortez's family bicker with each other. She enjoyed being in the mix of all of this. It wasn't everyday she got to experience a real family dynamic.
Undeniably, it made her miss her grandfather.
"Do we have a waiter yet? I'm fucking starving." Miguel asked as he twisted in his chair to look into the big windows of the restaurant.
Miguel obnoxiously waved down a waiter and everyone, one by one, said what they wanted and passed their menus across the table. Sophie could only find a small appetizer that sounded good and passed her menu along as well, noticing Cortez's furrowed eyebrows as he stared at her.
"What?" Sophie finally acknowledged his stare as the waiter left.
"You should eat." Cortez stated.
"I am eating. I ordered, didn't I?"
"You ordered a salad and a water. You're going to starve to death."
"Salad is food! I'll be fine. You have to stop trying to force food down my throat all the time."
"You're a wolf now, Sophie. You have to eat good and build up your strength."
"Maybe she's like me." Maria chimed in. "I was never one to eat that much. It upset Antonio off when we first met, as well, but I managed. I'm just not hungry all that often. I don't have a big appetite."
"I don't either." Sophie gestured to Maria as she looked to Cortez. "See. Your mother is fine. She's healthy."
Cortez never stopped glaring as his eyes shifted from Sophie, to his mother, and then to Antonio. His father reflected the glare. They were thinking the same thing.
"You know, my parents only stepped down from being Alpha's of our pack because my mother almost died. If she ate more, maybe it wouldn't have been such a dire situation." Cortez blurted.
Sophie gulped as she remember that being mentioned in the journal Cortez wrote.
"Cortez.." Maria warned lowly. Sophie turned to Maria with so much worry. "It wasn't that dramatic, sweetie. We went against a couple of wolves, I lost a lot of blood, and it scared the crap out of Antonio. Everything is fine now."
"Yeah, but Sophie wasn't even born a wolf." Miguel interjected, gathering everyone's attention. "Who knows how she'd recover in a situation like that. You already almost killed her once, Cortez, what happens when..."
Before Miguel could finish that thought, Cortez slammed his foot into Miguel's shin with enough force to shake the table. Miguel cried out in pain and rubbed his leg to relieve some of the pain. Sophie shoved the ambient sound of the city away and focused her attention on Cortez's heart. His heart was racing with anger at Miguel's comment. No wonder, he always hated talking about it.
"Alright! Enough, both of you! We're done with this conversation." Maria declared with the most angry mom voice that Sophie had ever heard from her.
Instinctively, Sophie reached for Cortez's arm and reassuringly rubbed her hand over his leather jacket. His black eyes found hers as his heart slowed. She flashed him a faint smile and it soothed him even more. Despite being in public, Cortez caught her hand in his and raised it to his lips to place a sweet kiss on her knuckles. The gesture made Sophie's smile broaden and her cheeks flush.
Maria pulled her binder from her the bag beside her chair and plopped it down on the table. Sophie looked at it and admired all the little pieces of art that made up the cover. It was labeled The Martinez Mate Ceremony Of '54. Maria & Antonio. Around the edge of the cover was a vintage boarder that Maria must've cut out herself and glued little flowers to. Sophie knew right away that it was a scrapbook.
Sophie and Maria instantly dove into the scrapbook, Sophie marveling at all the old photos. It was strange because Maria hardly looked a day over forty but these photos were from her grandfathers childhood era. Maria looked more youthful, of course, but she hadn't changed much. Even Antonio looked similar to these pictures, except for the fact that his famous mustache was gone now.
The mate ceremony looked like so much fun, though. Everyone was dancing in the photos, the women in plaid, collared dresses and big hair while the men appeared in tucked in shirts, jeans, and slicked back hair. Sophie could recognize the ballroom and the piano, the same one she had seen before. She didn't recognize most of the people, only a couple familiar faces from those she had recently met. There was a brand new, shiny convertible in the front of the pack house that everyone had taken pictures in and around.
Maria filled her in on all the stories. She explained that events like this were an extra big deal for other reasons, besides the obvious. Like how, with such a big mixture of different packs in one place, there would be a couple people that would find their mate at the ceremony. Maria bragged that four couples had met at her mate ceremony and informed Sophie that she'd get bragging rights, too, if mates found each other at her ceremony.
Sophie was intrigued by everything Maria said. Even as they ate, Sophie and Maria never stopped talking. Cortez liked seeing his mate and his mother get along so well. He couldn't help but let his hand sit on her thigh as he admired her. It made Sophie blush and anxiously look around but Cortez reassured her that nobody would be paying attention to it. But really, he just couldn't hold back from touching her.
~
The boys and the girls had split off after they ate. Maria wanted to help Sophie restock on clothes that were her own while Cortez, his brother, and his father all went shopping for themselves. Sophie was a little nervous to be off on her own with Maria, only because she wanted so badly to be liked and accepted by her.
It wasn't like Sophie hang out with people all that often so she worried holding casual conversation would be difficult. But luckily, Maria was a talker. They both linked arms as they walked down the street, Maria interrupting her own stories to stop and ask if Sophie wanted to go in a store they walked by. Sophie usually hesitated and refused since they all looked expensive but Maria dragged her inside, anyways.
"I think this would look lovely on you, dear." Maria gawked at the article of clothing in her hand. Sophie turned to Maria as she held up a short, lacey sundress. "What's usually your style?"
"That's actually pretty much it. I like cute things like this." Sophie grinned. She grabbed the dress and looked at the tag, instantly going rigid. "But this is a little pricey. I'm sure we could find something like this somewhere cheaper..."
"Oh, enough about the price. I'll going to spoilt you rotten. I don't care how much the dress is as long as it looks good on you." Maria huffed.
In every store, Maria handed Sophie an armful of clothes and shooed her away to the dressing room. Sophie hopped out every time she changed to show off the outfit and get Maria's opinion. Maria occasionally snapped a picture of her favorites, despite Sophie's protest. It was weird for her to be the center of attention for so long. It made her anxious.
"I can't wait until we find the boys and make them carry all these bags." Maria said as she tossed a couple over her shoulder. She pointed down the street to a home decor shop. "Ooh! I bet you could find some cute things in there for your guys' room."
"Cortez already has it decorated." Sophie chimed.
That was sort of true. The walls were a dark, navy blue color, the floors a dark brown, even the bed sheets were dark. There were a couple framed photos on the wall of mock treasure maps and a decorative lamp and whatnot. There was a theme, an atmosphere. Cortez seemed to have it figured out before Sophie showed up so she had no interest in messing with it.
"I've seen his room, dear. It may be fitting for him but it's your room now too. You should add your own touch to it." Maria declared.
Sophie was going to refuse, like she had a million times on this shopping trip, but decided against it this time. The room was kind of boring and it did feel like she was sleeping over at someone else's house every night. So Sophie and Maria trotted in and searched the store for goodies that would match the overall theme of the room but fancy it up a bit.
For the finale, Maria wanted to help Sophie find a gown for the mate ceremony. She dragged her into a big, fancy store that was all white marble and gold. Their were even chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling. As if Maria had been here a million times, she went straight to the back where all the big gowns were set up. Sophie gawked in awe at all the beautiful fabric sat on elegantly posing mannequins.
Surprisingly, it didn't take Sophie too long to find her perfect dress. Since everything in the store was so different and unique, she could easily pick out which ones she knew would look good on her. Sophie was trying to convince herself that she wasn't picking out a wedding dress, since none of the dresses in the store were white, but it was difficult since she knew where she'd be wearing the dress.
"Oh, Sophie. You look so beautiful." Maria's voice wavered as she looked at her daughter-in-law stood in front of the big three way mirror.
Sophie turned back to Maria and her mouth fell open at the state she was in. Maria had her hand over her mouth, obviously hiding her quivering lip, and her eyes were pooled with tears. Sophie gripped the skirt of her dress and rushed to Maria to hug her and beg her not to cry. Maria was acting as if she was, in fact, picking out her wedding dress and it was making Sophie emotional, as well.
"If only your grandfather.." Maria uttered weakly before Sophie pulled away from the hug.
Sophie turned and trotted back towards the mirrors. "Don't say it, Maria. Please. You're going to make me cry."
"Okay. I won't say a thing about him." Maria folded her arms over her chest as a loving smile spread across her face. Sophie could see her staring through the mirror. "I'll just tell you how proud I am of you and how gorgeous I think you look right now."
Sophie laughed once and nodded, holding back her tears. She couldn't think about her grandfather. Not at a time like this. She'd start thinking about how he would be missing the closest thing she would be getting to a wedding, and how he'd miss her graduating, and how he'd never get to meet his future grandkids. None of that. She wouldn't allow herself to think about any of it.
And by the time Maria and Sophie left the store with the dress stuffed in a big bag, the sun was setting over the horizon. But since they were being dwarfed over by skyscrapers, the sun was completely out of sight and everything was a lot darker than when they went in. Maria figured it was about time they meet back up with the boys, and so, the two walked down the sidewalk with their arms linked.
"God, I missed you." Cortez said as he wrapped an arm around Sophie's middle and pulled her in for a kiss.
They were still on the streets of the city, granted it was a street that branched off from the busier streets so there weren't much people around. Still, his display of affection in public made Sophie's heart skip a beat. She pulled away from Cortez, slapped his arm, and looked around to see if anyone was looking. Her paranoia made her cheeks go red and Cortez chuckle to himself.
"Nobody is looking." Cortez whispered, his lips nearly grazing her ear since he was so close.
"Security cameras still exist!" Sophie whisper-yelled as she shot him a glare.
Cortez rolled his eyes and only pulled her closer. "Like anyone can tell your age on a security camera. Besides, how would they even track us down if they bothered to?"
Sophie frowned, knowing he was right. Still, she wanted him to be more conscious of it since it made her so nervous. No matter how nice it felt to be in his arms again, she had to obey the social norms or the normal world while she was in it. They could return to their usual clinging when they got home.
"What'd you get, Gorgeous?" Cortez asked as he plucked a handful of bags out of her hand to hold them himself. "Lots of things, it looks like."
"Yeah. Your mom basically dragged me into every store and spent every dime she could find in her purse." Sophie said. "What did you get?"
One of Cortez's hands carried half of Sophie's bags as the other held three that he had appeared with. They weren't big bags so it was obvious he hadn't gotten a lot. Cortez simply shrugged and peeked inside to remind himself of what he got. But when he spotted something inside one of the bags, he quickly hid the bags behind his back. Sophie was instantly intrigued as her jaw fell slack in shock.
"Are you hiding something from me?" Sophie's soft emerald eyes narrowed up at Cortez as she playfully glared at him.
Cortez grinned and shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You just hid your bags behind you! What are you hiding from me?"
"It's a gift." Cortez caved.
Sophie carefully studied him. "What kind of gift?"
"I'm not going to tell you, Angel. It's a surprise." Cortez retorted with a smug expression plastered on his features. Sophie thought he looked enticing with that expression but couldn't really do anything about it out in public.
"That's fine." Sophie held her chin up and reflected Cortez's cocky expression. "I have surprises of my own."
"Wha-" Cortez was cut off by his mother as she approached to say her goodbyes.
Sophie thanked Maria over and over again for everything that she bought as she hugged her. Maria casually brushed it off and claimed she simply wanted to spoil her new daughter-in-law. Cortez swore he'd pay his mother back and she brushed it off again. Everyone said their goodbyes and separated to find their own cars.
Cortez reached for more bags as they walked but Sophie refused, insisting she could handle what she had since they weren't very heavy. Cortez looked back to his father as they got further away and noticed he had all of his wives bags in hand, which made him further demand she hand over the rest. Sophie groaned in annoyance and handed him her bags, all except for the biggest one with a fancy gold logo that she hid behind her back.
"What's that?" Cortez suspiciously asked as he tried to look over her shoulder.
Sophie turned her back away from him, walking sideways down the sidewalk with a cheeky grin. "One of my many surprises."
Cortez smirked as he eyed his adorable mate. "Is it something for what I plan to do to you tonight?"
"No, that's in one of the other bags." Sophie winked.
Cortez was only joking but the thought made him salivate. If she really had bought something sexy to wear for him, he didn't know what he'd do with himself. He was sure he'd die. The endless images passing through his brain made Cortez hungrily growl as his eyes trailed up and down Sophie's petite figure. The sound made Sophie giggled but Miguel fake more gagging noises as he walked casually ahead of them.
"Fuck, you two are disgusting." Miguel muttered.
"I love you so much." Cortez confessed, his eyes never straying from his mate as he ignored Miguel.
"I know." Sophie smugly shrugged and trapped her bottom lip between her teeth. She could basically see the hearts in his eyes as he stared at her and it made the butterflies in her stomach excitingly flutter. Now she couldn't wait to get home.
{ Pssst... Only Five more chapters of Volume One left! Also, thanks for all your love and support on this book! I really love to see you guys vote and comments get me SO excited! Tell me what you've thought of this book so far!❤️}