This morning in the Carter house started like any other morning. Sophie got up and let Daisy out to the backyard before making breakfast. Henry shuffled down the stairs and sat in the kitchen as Sophie let Daisy back in again. They were relatively quiet in the mornings since it was so early and they were so tired.

"Hey darlin'." Henry hesitantly started as he played with the oatmeal in his bowl with his spoon. Sophie stared at him and waited for him to continue. "You don't mind if I go visit that assisted living place, now do ya?"

Henry finally looked up from his oatmeal and to his granddaughter, terrified to see any sign of hurt in her eyes. Sophie was expressionless as she thought over his question. She wondered why he would ask her. He was a grown man. He could do whatever he'd like. What if she said no? It's not like she had the power to say no. She couldn't trap him here.

Sophie dropped her eyes to own bowl of oatmeal and shrugged. "You're just visiting or apartment hunting?"

A sad smile pulled at Henry's lips. "Just visiting. For now."

Sophie nodded. A moment of silence went by. "Will you be back by the time I am?"

"No. Mabel offered to take me and she works at the food market until four so that's when I'll be leaving. You'll have the evening to yourself."

Why did Sophie suddenly have the urge to roll her eyes. Yeah, a whole evening to myself with nobody around and nothing but silence. Sophie grumbled to herself. She didn't like being alone here. It was deafeningly quiet. But she couldn't bare to stop him. If he wanted to go then he should go.

"That's fine." Sophie said as she got up and rinsed her plate off in the sink. Henry carefully watched her do so before she stepped behind his chair and planted a kiss on his cheek. "As long as you're safe and you have fun, I don't mind."

And with that, Sophie trotted up the stairs to get ready for school.

School was boring. As usual.

When Sophie came back, she got to eat lunch with her grandfather and chat with him before Mabel showed up to take him away. Sophie said her farewells as Mabel helped Henry into the car. She went back inside and tore out all her homework in the silence, Daisy being the only living thing in the house that kept her company. Daisy's presence wasn't much since she was asleep on the floor.

Sophie tried to get through as much homework as possible, letting the minutes slowly pass. The house was deafeningly quiet. Usually, Sophie enjoyed the silence and found it rather soothing and peaceful, but this was too quiet. This was why she didn't want Henry to leave her. She may have liked the quietness but she didn't like the loneliness.

Sophie's eyes drifted in boredom and suddenly landed on the phone hanging on the wall. Call me anytime, Sophie. I don't care if you just need help on a math question for school. Sophie rapidly tapped her pencil against her notebook as she stared at that phone. She could call Cortez. But did she really want to? Did she have to? Would he be busy? It was only four thirty. He was probably still at work.

~

"These recent reports are lacking." Cortez's father, Antonio, spoke lowly as he took the paper on top of the pile in his hand and tucked it in the back. He looked at Cortez over the top of the papers. "You've been busy lately?"

Cortez scratched the back of his neck and avoided eye contact. "Something has more recently required my attention, yes."

"A mate?" His mother, Maria, beamed happily as she turned to her son. Cortez fought a smile, which failed miserably. Maria's eyes widened as she reached for her sons arm. "Cortez, did you really find your mate? When? How? Where is she? Tell me all about her!"

Cortez sighed and sat up in his seat. "Her name is Sophie."

Everyone stared silently at Cortez, even his little brother, Miguel, who never bothered to entertain anything he said unless he had a snark remark. Cortez's eyes bounced between his family members and shrugged, signifying that was all he had to say. Maria's smile faded as she looked to her husband, both of them exchanging confusing glances.

"That's it?" Maria blurted. "Where did you meet her?"

Cortez was hesitant to answer, knowing his answer might give it away. "Dixie's Square, where the girls sometimes go to restock our food supply."

Cortez could see the wheels turn in his mother's head. He could tell it had already clicked in his fathers head as he dropped the stack of paper on Cortez's desk. Miguel was the only one not shocked into silence.

"She's human, isn't she?" Miguel snorted a laugh. As the thought processed, Miguel began to laugh harder and harder until he was gripping his stomach. "Oh my god! I can't believe you have a human mate! That's fucking hilarious! You got scammed!"

Cortez turned to his brother in his chair and kicked his shin. Miguel cried out in pain, which stopped him from laughing. "Fuck off, Miguel. You don't even have a mate yet, you're in no place to talk."

"She's human?" Maria drew in Cortez's attention. Cortez slowly nodded. "Okay.. Well, it has happened before."

"Like ten times in all of history! Wolves never get human mates." Miguel laughed.

"Enough, Miguel." Antonio grumbled and relaxed in Cortez's desk chair. "How long since you met her?"

"Not long enough."

"So what's your plan? What are you going to do?" Maria urged, anxious to know everything.

"Wait until she's of legal age.." Cortez answered, his eyes on the floor since he was too nervous to see the looks on his parents faces.

Maria and Antonio exchanged glances while Miguel burst out in laughter again. This time, he laughed louder and harder. His legs started to stomp on the floor as the joy within him began too much to handle. Cortez quickly grew annoyed with his brothers obnoxious behavior and reached over to grab the bottom of his chair. With one easy push, Cortez tipped his chair and watched Miguel go falling backwards.

"Ow, fucker!" Miguel cursed as he jumped up and violently shoved his chair back on it's feet again.

"Shut your fucking mouth or I'll do it again." Cortez barked.

"Stop it, both of you!" Maria scolded as she slapped Cortez's arm, since he was closer.

Cortez and Miguel shock mocking expressions at each other like children as Miguel slumped back into his chair. Maria sighed and ran her long fingers through her dark, wavy, brown hair that reached all the way down her waist. She then stood and waltzed towards her husband, snaking her hands over his shoulders and linking them in the middle of his chest.

"How old, exactly, are we talking?" Antonia asked.

"Seventeen." Cortez answered.

"Oh, that's not bad! That's acceptable for werewolves!" Maria excitedly exclaimed.

"Yes, but she's human. If I get too friendly, she's going to think I'm a pervert."

"Well, does she like you?"

Cortez shrugged. "We've only met a couple times. For now, I'm only focused on gaining her trust."

Everyone was silent. Maria tapped her fingers against Antonio's chest as she brainstormed. Antonio, who was a rather serious and silent man, already let the subject go. He grabbed the stack of Cortez's work and started looking through it like he was before. Miguel tried his best not to make a snide remark, which was probably the hardest thing he could ever do when it came to his older brother.

"You really got screwed." Miguel finally chimed.

Cortez growled as he looked to his little brother. Miguel flashed a cheeky smile and shifted in his seat to get more comfortable. They all settled for a moment before Cortez's phone went off. Cortez fished his phone out of his jean pocket and saw it was Sophie who was calling.

"Speak of the devil." Cortez grinned as he told from his chair to leave.

"Oh! Let me talk to her!" Maria bounced across the room as she gestured for her eldest son to hand over his phone. "Maybe I can explain everything to her."

"What? No!" Cortez jerked his phone away from his mother as she reached for it. He started towards the door of his office. "I can handle this just fine on my own. I'm a grown man and she's my mate."

"You're a grown man and she's a child." Miguel added as Cortez pushed the door to his office open.

As Cortez stepped out, he held his middle finger up to Miguel, who chuckled with satisfaction. Cortez leant against the wall as he answered Sophie's call, greeting her with a light and cheerful tone. Sophie felt a smile come on but she fought it, nibbling nervously on her thumb nail as she also leant against the wall to talk to Cortez.

"Are you busy?" Sophie asked.

"Not at all." Yes. Very.

"You're not at work or anything?"

"No, Sophie." Cortez smiled, knowing she was trying make sure she wasn't bothering him. "What's up? Need something fixed?"

"No, it's just.. You said I could call if I have a homework question. I don't want to bother you if you're busy, you know. I don't want to waste your time or.."

Cortez cut Sophie off from her tangent. "I can be on my way in two minutes."

"Are you sure?" Sophie cringed.

"Yes, Sophie. It's no big deal. If you need help, I'm there." Cortez said his farewells to Sophie and hopped back into his office. "I have to go. Sophie needs me."

"But we're not done here." Antonio deadpanned.

Maria scoffed at her husband and waved her hand. "Go, honey, we can take care of everything. This was our pack at one point, anyways. Have fun with you mate. Tell her I said hi. Or don't. That'd probably be weird."

Cortez chuckled at his mother's flustered rambling and gave a thumbs up to leave. Just as Cortez was jogging through the house, he heard another pair of footsteps behind him. Miguel called out to him before he got far, catching up to his older brother as he turned and slowed down.

"Can I come with?" Miguel asked as he slowed to a stop. "I want to meet her."

Cortez could tell Miguel wasn't being an ass, which almost made him consider it. But Cortez has already went to go see Sophie with Jeremiah. He didn't want to keep bringing new people around whenever he went to see her. He just wanted to see Sophie. They had to build their relationship somehow and that would be more difficult with a third party around.

"Uh.. Not this time. Maybe when we're closer, I'll let you meet her. I don't want to overwhelm her." Cortez patted Miguel's shoulder.

Miguel nodded and watched as his brother inches backwards. "Okay. Good luck, bro."

~

Cortez was surprised, but relieved, to find out Sophie's grandfather wasn't home. Being around the man made him a little tense and he was happy to have some alone time with Sophie, so it wasn't a bad thing, but he wondered if that's why Sophie had called him. She had explained before that she didn't want to be lonely after he moved to that assisted living place. She must be more serious than he thought.

They old man couldn't have been gone that long and she had already called someone to keep her company. Cortez was proud that he was on the lis of people she called for comfort, if there was one.

"Grandfather's gone?" Cortez asked as he followed Sophie into the kitchen.

"Uh, yeah. He went with Mabel to that assisted living place for the evening. He usually helps me with my homework but since he's gone, I've been struggling." Sophie answered.

Sophie fell into a chair at the kitchen table that had all her homework on it and Cortez took the spot beside her. As if it was instinctive, Cortez sat sideways to face Sophie and slung one arm over the back of her chair to lean in and look at her homework. Sophie's heart rate spiked their sudden close proximity as she stared at the side of Cortez's head. She could smell him from this close. He smelt like oak wood and dark chocolate.

Cortez could hear her rapid heartbeat and smirked, pulling away to look at Sophie. She was visibly flustered and he didn't know if that was because she was bad at hiding her emotions or because he had such a strong effect on her. Either way, he was thoroughly enjoying it. It was nice to see her like this when she did that to him every time he saw her.

"I'm pretty good with history." Cortez said, referring to Sophie. He could only imagine his little brother making a stupid chemistry joke. He was glad he hadn't taken him with.

"Huh?" Sophie blinked. Cortez's smirk broadened. He really did have an effect on her. Good to know. "Oh, right! History!" Sophie turned to her studies. "Yeah, I just need to do this and, it's not homework, but I have a science test I need to study for."

"Okay. Sounds easy enough."

"You're not upset that I called you for this? I mean, it's school work. You don't want to be doing school work on such a nice evening." Sophie cringed as she looked to Cortez.

Cortez shook his head, his pitch black eyes locked with Sophie's soft emerald ones. "No. I'm not upset. I'm the opposite, actually. I'm glad you called."

Sophie's heart did a flip again and she quickly averted her eyes. She didn't like how sincerely Cortez said that, like he meant it with his whole heart. He wasn't just glad and she knew it. It made her nervous. Just how much did he like her? Why wasn't he trying harder to hide it? Why was she not totally disgusted that an older gentleman liked her? Probably because he was insanely handsome.

Cortez kept his arm on the back of Sophie's chair as he helped her with her homework, and she was hyperaware of it. He would lean in close every once in awhile to read something that she stumbled over or if he needed more context. Sophie tried to focus to the best of her ability, which wasn't too difficult. Cortez proved to be very smart, which made them a good duo in the act of studying. She was smart herself but everything she didn't know, Cortez easily filled in.

Sophie began writing in an answer on her worksheet since she knew it and didn't have to ask Cortez. That was before he caught her wrist to stop her. A spark of electricity shot up Sophie's arm and she instantly yanked her hand away, her eyes locking with Cortez's. It was just a static shock. She knew that, especially, because of the way her wrist tingled with the loss of contact. Her was racing as she gulped.

"Forgive me, Sophie." Cortez retracted his hand and looked to her worksheet. "I was just going to say that that answer is incorrect."

Sophie's eyes were hesitant to stray from Cortez, worried he might reach for her again and cause that spark and tingling sensation again. When she finally looked at her worksheet, her eyes focused on what she had just written in the question that was asked of her. Her eyebrows furrowed as she flipped the paper over and pointed at one of the first questions on the sheet.

"No, because I put that here too. It's the same thing." Sophie pointed out.

"That's wrong too." Cortez chuckled.

"What? How?" Sophie reached for her textbook and sat it in her lap, up against the table, as she looked for the subject they were talking about.

Cortez and Sophie argued back and forth for a moment. She pointed out where she was right and he proved her wrong by pointing to a previous sentence that was needed for context. Sophie frowned as she realized Cortez was, in fact, correct. It was good though. He just saved her from getting two answers wrong. She had to admit, it was a good thing she had called him even though she was reluctant to.

When they moved on from history and Sophie pulled or her study guide packet from her science class, it was Cortez's turn to take to textbook. He put his feet on the wooden bars under Sophie's chair to block her view of the book behind his legs. She told him the subject and he flipped to the right section, asking her questions from the information provided. Sophie tried to answer on her own, but when she couldn't, she flipped through her packet to find the answer.

Cortez enjoyed asking Sophie a question from the textbook and then looking up to see her eyes drift off in thought. Her lips always slightly parted when she fell into thought and he found it very endearing.

"Okay. Coma versus persistent vegetable state." Cortez blurted with his eyes on the textbook. Sophie watched his bushy eyebrows furrow as he stared at the textbook. "Being in a coma is scientific?"

"Well, sorta. In terms of Biological Science. You know, the study of what your body is doing when unconscious or whatever." Sophie explained and then went looking for the answer in the textbook.

When she gave the answer, Cortez rejected it. "That's wrong."

"What? My study guide can't be wrong. It's not homework, it's a cheat sheet." Sophie huffed.

"Well, you're cheat sheet is wrong." Cortez dropped his feet and placed the textbook on the table to show Sophie the entry in the textbook.

Sophie was shocked that he was right and was quick to correct her study guide. Cortez watched Sophie was a soft smile as she violently erased what she had wrote and began scribbling new words atop of it. He liked the way her short hair fell so easily to block her face like a perfectly lengthened curtain, but at the same time, he didn't. He wanted to see and admire Sophie's features when she was this intensely focused on her studies.

Without even thinking, Cortez reached towards Sophie and gently pulled back her hair that blocked his view of her face. Sophie froze, not moving a muscle or even letting her eyes stray towards him. Her heart hammered against her chest as she felt Cortez slowly brushed her hair back and tuck it behind her ear. It was such a simple gesture but at the same time, spoke magnitudes about his level of comfort around her.

The moment Cortez's finger grazed Sophie's ear, another spark of tingles erupted under her skin. Sophie flinched away from his touch and stared wide eyes at Cortez. She couldn't understand why that kept happening. Was it just her? Did Cortez really make her so flustered that it took a physical form?

"I'm sorry, Sophie. It was an innocent gesture. I meant nothing by it." Cortez spoke softly and with so much sincerity as he held her stare. "Forgive me."

"If it was innocent, why would you have to apologize?" The words spilled off her tongue before she could stop them. But now that they were out, Sophie waited for his answer.

Cortez studied Sophie's tense body language. "Because I frightened you. I wish I hadn't."

"You didn't frighten me." Sophie deadpanned.

Cortez's expression slightly faltered in a smirk. "I find that hard to believe. You're gripping the table as if it's the only thing that could save your life."

Sophie looked at her hand that was gripping the table, her pencil wedge between her fingers. She let go and tossed her pencil, her eyes failing to find Cortez as she tried to force back the anxiety festering in her chest. Yes, he pulled a raw emotion out of her that she didn't recognize but she knew it wasn't fear.

"I'm not scared of you, Cortez." Sophie muttered and ran her hands through her hair, pushing back all her soft brown locks to make sure Cortez's attempt didn't go to waste.

Cortez went to speak before his phone went off in his pocket. Sophie kept her attention on her study guide as Cortez pulled out his phone and saw his mother was calling him. He mentally cursed and excused himself to answer her call. Cortez was slightly frustrated that his mother was interrupting when she knew he was with his mate. Luckily, their conversation didn't last long as she simply notified him that they were done in his office and were taking off.

When Cortez returned, Sophie followed his large figure walk around her to sit back in his chair. "Was it work? Asking where you've been all this time? If you have to go, it's no big deal."

Cortez chuckled, knowing Sophie was trying not to be bothersome again. Why she thought she would ever be an inconvenience to him was incomprehensible. "No. It wasn't work. Just my parents saying farewell since they are returning home."

"Returning home? Were they at your house?" Sophie forced a pout as she stared at Cortez. "Please tell me you didn't abandon your parents to help me with homework."

"I didn't abandon them. They're perfectly capable grown adults." Cortez reassured with a handsome smile.

"Cortez.."

"Sophie.." Cortez mimicked Sophie's less than intimidating warning, which made her visibly fight a smile.

"Fine." Sophie gave up and looked at her study guide. Although she was staring at it, her thoughts were still on Cortez and his personal life. She couldn't deny how curious she was. "Where do you work, anyways?"

Cortez hesitated, his mouth agape as he fought for the right words. "I manage a group of people.. I handle all the big and important stuff in order to take care of them."

Sophie curiously tilted her head. That was a weird way for him to put it. "So you're a manager somewhere?"

"Yeah, sure." Cortez shrugged. "The title differs, I guess."

"Oh." Sophie nodded and her eyes fell on her study book again.

She was going to ask another question that came to mind before the phone in the kitchen started ringing.