"You alright darlin'? You've been quite quiet all day." Henry asked.

Looking to his granddaughter on the couch, he couldn't help but frown. She was laid across the couch with her grandmothers quilt atop of her and Daisy laying at her feet. Her eyes stared dead at the tv and the only movement in her was her soft breathing. She had been so quiet and even when she got up, she awkwardly trudged. It worried him. What had happened while she was gone for the night?

"Sophie." Henry verbally nudged.

Sophie looked to her grandfather, having no clue that he was even talking to her. "Huh?"

"Are you feeling okay? You've been acting off." Henry asked once more.

Sophie rolled on to her back and rubbed the heels of her palms into her eyes. "I'm fine. I think I might've just gotten sick."

"So you had fun with Delilah?"

Sophie sighed as she nodded. She couldn't find any words to answer that. There was no way a verbal yes was gonna fall off her tongue. She wanted to tell him that they're all liars and supernatural beasts. Cortez, Jeremiah, Delilah, all the strangers they've ever let in their home. Besides, Mabel and Henry's friends. Hopefully.

"I think I need a bath." Sophie muttered as she threw the blanket off of her.

Henry nodded and watched his granddaughter hug herself as she shuffled off. Daisy followed Sophie up the stairs and towards the bathroom. Sophie turned on the bath faucet and put her hand under the stream to feel the running water against her skin. All she wanted to do was appreciate the fact that she could touch things, see things, hear things.

There was a strange feeling deep inside her, screaming that she should appreciate these things because she almost lost them. She almost died. She could feel it.

Sophie sat in the bath with her eyes closed as she focused on taking slow and deep breaths. Daisy sat beside the bathtub, quietly whining over and over again. Sophie sighed and popped one eye open to look at the needy golden retriever. It was a bit odd. Daisy was usually always by her grandfathers side but, since she got home, Daisy hadn't left her side.

There was something eery about Daisy's sudden clinginess. Couldn't dogs smell stuff like cancer, anxiety attacks, and seizures and stuff? Having Daisy stick to her like glue made Sophie wonder if she was doomed but didn't know it. If she was doomed, she'd curse Cortez until the very end. This was all his fault, he admitted that himself.

"Why didn't you warn me, huh?" Sophie narrowed her eyes at Daisy, who simply sat and panted. "You knew they were part dog, didn't you? You didn't feel like sharing that information beforehand?"

Daisy huffed and stepped closer to sniff Sophie's arm that rested on the edge of the tub. Sophie looked at her arm, exactly where the bite mark was. Luckily, the human teeth marks had faded but the two puncture holes stayed prominent in her skin. Sophie groaned and let her head fall back against the tub.

"You're not trying to tell me I'm part dog as well, right?" Sophie pouted.

Daisy simply sniffed the bite mark again. Sophie pulled her arm off the tub and let them both sink into the warm water. She gently splashed water over the mark and ran her fingers over it. The spot was a little sore and her skin around it was hot still. She silently prayed that it wasn't true. She hoped it was just a psycho who believed he was a werewolf but actually wasn't, because they didn't exist.

Maybe they were all psychos. Maybe it was a cult. They were all mentally ill and convinced themselves that they were werewolves. But then... How did she explain the fact that she saw Cortez shift from wolf to human right in front of her? It was as if there was a light that flickered and suddenly, he went from four legs to two. It wasn't even a physical transition. How?

Sophie lifted her hand out of the water and carefully examined it. It didn't look like she was growing hair all over her body. That was a plus. She didn't have claws like Gabriel did. Sophie reached for her mouth and felt her small canine teeth. They weren't any bigger than normal. She couldn't check her eyes but she assumed they were fine if her grandfather hadn't mentioned them. He would surely start panicking if her eyes lit up like flashlights.

Sophie wanted to stay like this. Normal. Plain. Boring. It was the first time in her life she wanted to be what people mocked her for.

~

"Okay, everyone find a computer and sit quietly so I can pull up the program." The teacher commanded as he followed his students into the computer lab.

Sophie's classmates fanned out and threw themselves into the chairs in front of the computers all around the room. Everyone found computers besides each other so they could chat, despite the teacher asking them to be quiet. Sophie went to a far computer and took her seat. She logged in with the student code and simply sat back as she waited for her teacher to pull up the program.

As Sophie quietly waited, a girl and her friend sat beside her. Sophie didn't pay much attention as they pulled out their phones and clicked on Snapchat. The girls sat and took photos together before one of them caught sight of Sophie. She nudged her friend and whispered in her ear, her eyes still glued to Sophie as she did so. Sophie knew but she didn't want to acknowledge them.

The one closest to Sophie, who went by Cherry since she hated the name Cheryl, whispered to Sophie. "That guy last week was your boyfriend, right?"

Sophie mentally cursed Cortez for ever showing up at her school and shook her head. "No, he's not my boyfriend."

"Are you not allowed to call him that because he pays you?" The other girl, Taylor, blurted smugly. "It's part of your contract, right? You're his sex doll, not his girlfriend."

"This isn't Fifty Shades of Grey, Hailey." Sophie scoffed as she shoved her hands in her hoodie pocket. Both Taylor and Cherry were shocked at Sophie's retort. She wasn't known to have an attitude.

"So what is he, then? Michael thinks he's your sugar daddy. Maggie thinks you're getting blackmailed. I'm pretty sure he's just a child predator." Cherry snorted a laugh and nudged Taylor.

"You don't even know him." Sophie defended.

Taylor and Cherry looked intrigued by Sophie's defensive behavior. They were instantly convinced she was in love with him. Sophie rolled her eyes at her own outburst. She didn't want to defend Cortez. She didn't like him. She never wanted to see him again. He was a liar. He was a psycho. He potentially ruined her forever.

"If you think he's a child predator, what does that say about you and Mr. Stevens?" Sophie asked, her eyes locked with Cherry's.

Cherry's smug expression fell into anger glare as Taylor turned to Cherry with her jaw dropped. Sophie proudly grinned and turned back to her computer. That was enough to shut them up for the rest of class.

It made Sophie even happier when Mr. Stevens came by to check everyone's computer. He asked Sophie if she was good and Sophie gave a thumbs up. Moving to Cherry and Taylor, Mr. Stevens leaned towards Cherry and claimed he had to fix her computer. Taylor watched as stiff as a statue as her teacher shamelessly flirted with Cherry, who nervously chuckled at the things he said.

As Mr. Steven walked off, he placed his hand on Cherry's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze as a loving gesture. Cherry trapped her bottom lip between her teeth as she nervously looked at Taylor. Sophie ignored those two as they now whispered about their own scandals and not hers. She had too many things on her mind to focus on them any longer.

Just like most of her classmates, Sophie minimized the program Mr. Stevens pulled up and switched to the internet. Sophie clicked on google and started typing in what had been haunting her for the past two days.

Werewolves

Of course, there is an entire Wikipedia. Sophie scoffed.

Sophie read as much as she could, scrolled, read some more, and continued scrolling. Most of Wikipedia was references to movies, tv shows, books, stage plays, everything that wasn't real. Sophie easily grew frustrated. This was all made up. Werewolves weren't real. Even the pictures were ridiculous. All she could find was art of personified wolves, references to movies and TV shows, and furries. It was aggravating.

Relentlessly, Sophie continued searching all the terms that Cortez had spewed during his rambling. She googled what a Luna was, skimmed the articles and found out the general meaning, although, no two websites were alike. Basically, a Luna was equal to the Alpha and took care of the pack along side him. Sophie already knew she was not equipped to be doing something like that.

Then, Sophie began to wonder if the Alpha and Luna had to be mates in order to run a pack. That part was a little harder to find out. Everything about mates was relatively the same in consistency. Two werewolves are chosen as soulmates by the Moon Goddess, which Sophie assumed was like Jesus or something. Those two wolves were drawn to each other indefinitely. They loved unconditionally and with their entire mind and soul.

Some websites went into details about what happens when a mate dies and how the other mate can no longer live with such heartbreak. That seemed a little intense. Apparently, mates were very protective, territorial, and rather obsessive when it came to their mates. Also very extreme. But the mate bond seemed very strong. They couldn't help it. Werewolves were compelled to love each other.

Sophie let out a stressed sigh. So, was she mated to Cortez? Was that why he could never leave her alone and kept coming back? Is that why she was so compelled to see him again and again? He didn't have a choice in loving her, he just did. She couldn't tell if that was better or worse than a human relationship. It definitely seemed more convenient.

After awhile of skimming articles and reading things that didn't really match up, Sophie grew more and more frustrated. Everyone seemed to have a different take on werewolf rules and behavior. And almost every single website talked about the mythology and lore behind them as if they were fake, which further convinced Sophie that she had gone insane. She felt like she was wasting her time looking at all of this.

Sophie moved on from articles and simply looked at google images. The art of werewolves was very detailed and cool but nothing she had ever seen. But to be fair, she had only seen Cortez shift. Otherwise, she had seen werewolves in one form or the other. But still, when she met some of Cortez's wolves they weren't beasts that stood up on two legs and ripped people in half. They also weren't humans with hair all over their body.

It was all ridiculous. All of it. Sophie kept running into pictures of furry suits and screen caps from tv shows or movies. Teen Wolf, the tv show and old movie, showed up a million times. Neither of them were like Cortez. And then fanfictions started showing up. Celebrities with photoshopped glowing red eyes and fangs. It was all made up. And that frustrated Sophie more than anything.

Sophie deleted all her tabs on werewolves and rested her head in her hands. She had reached peak level of anger and she knew she had to calm herself down. Removing her thoughts from shapeshifting beasts, Sophie focused on the sounds around her. Everything was normal. All her classmates were normal, talking about the football game this past weekend and their relationships and tv shows they were watching recently. It was all normal.

That was helping. Sophie feel herself come back to earth as she was reminded of how simple everything was. Her ears then listened to the sound of her classmates frantically typing on their keyboards and clicking their computer mouses. After a moment, her hearing zeroed in until the noise got a little too loud for her comfort.

Sophie lifted her head and looked around, the noise not getting any quieter. She could feel herself start to panic. The sound of their keyboards was swirling in her head and tapping desperately on her eardrums. The mouse clicking made her flinch and jump as it pounded against her temples. The noise was growing louder and louder and suddenly, she felt like she was suffocating. It was too much.

Sophie grabbed her backpack and threw it over her shoulder as she jumped out of her seat. With her hands cupped over her ears, Sophie rushed out of the computer lab. Her hands didn't stop any of the noise. Especially, when Mr. Stevens started calling her to sit back at her computer. Sophie didn't listen. All she wanted to do was get away from all the noise before she threw up and/or passed out.

The hallways weren't any easier on her ears. Sophie could hear the teachers in their classrooms shouting about the lessons they were teaching. She could hear students flip the pages of their textbooks and notebooks. She could hear students snickering with their friends, tapping their pens against their desks, and even the one single student on the other side of the hallway that closed their locker.

Sophie picked up her pace to get out of the building as fast as she could. Finally, she reached he front of the school and shoved open the main doors. Sophie collapsed on to the hot pavement in front of the school and listened to the doors shut behind her. It was quieter outside, besides the wind blowing through the trees and thrashing leaves around. She felt luckily to live in such a small and empty town at a time like this.

A sudden door slam made Sophie flinch and then footsteps against the pavement pounded endlessly in her head. Sophie groaned in pain as the sound got louder and louder. That was, until, Cortez grabbed Sophie's arms and pulled her to her feet. Sophie looked up at Cortez and noticed just how blurry her vision was. She had tears pooling in her eyes from the pain and panic and she hadn't even noticed.

As the tears poured down her cheeks, Cortez reached up and carefully wiped them. He stared into his mates beautiful eyes as he raised his hand to block the sun from them. "It's okay, Sophie. I'm here. Is it your eyes or your ears?" Cortez whispered so quietly, but it sounded like he has shouted at her.

"The noises." Sophie's lip quivered as she spoke and split Cortez's heart in half.

Cortez nodded and knelt down to scoop Sophie into his arms, bridal style. Sophie's arms instinctively wrapped around his neck for support as he walked through the parking lot. Cortez was careful in opening the back door of his car and placing Sophie inside. Sophie cowered back as Cortez also climbed in and slammed the door shut behind him.

The loud collision of metal made Sophie yelp and cup her hands over her ears again. Cortez cringed and reached for her hands, pulling them gently away from her head. Sophie stared at Cortez as he took a moment to study her. She was wary of him. She didn't want to be around him, but at the same time. It felt so nice to be in his presence again. She felt safe. That was probably the worse feeling to have around a man that let her get kidnapped and bitten.

"You're burning up, Sophie." Cortez whispered. He reached for Sophie's sweatshirt but she jerked away from him.

"Don't touch me." Sophie warned coldly.

Cortez hated it but he understood. He sat back and dropped his hands. Sophie took it upon herself to wiggle out of her sweatshirt since she was, in fact, sweating underneath it. She only wore it because she didn't feel good and she didn't want anyone to see the bite mark on her arm. She figured a sweatshirt was the best option. But now that she was melting, she really regretted it. Not to mention, the sound of the sweatshirt brushing past her ears made more tears stream down her face.

"Hey, look at me. I'm right here." Cortez shamelessly reached for Sophie's face and gently caressed her. Their eyes met as Sophie sniffled back some tears. "Focus on my voice. Dial all your attention into me and nothing else. Can you do that?"

Sophie slowly nodded.

"Okay, good. Just listen to me. Focus on my voice. Pay attention to my words and how I say them." Cortez went on and on as Sophie's eyes fell to his lips.

Slowly but surely, Cortez's whisper turned from a haunting hiss floating around in her head to a gentle, reassuring, regular whisper. The sounds outside of the car died down, her breathing and heartbeat calming to a normal pace. Sophie almost got lost in his voice as he continued to ramble on. As he noticed her calm and relax, a smile inched at the corner of Cortez's lips and he raised his voice to a normal volume.

"See.. You're fine." Cortez lovingly rubbed Sophie's cheekbones with his thumbs on either side of her face.

A spark of clarity hit Sophie and caused her to grab Cortez's wrists and push his hands off of her. She looked out the rear window of the car, where her school sat quietly in the sun. The anger returned. She couldn't stop being angry. Cortez made her angry. Werewolves made her angry. The fact that she had to go through any of this made her angry.

"Are you stalking me? Have you always been stalking me?" Sophie asked coldly as she glared at Cortez.

"No, Sophie." Cortez sighed. "I was just too worried about you to sit at home while you're in the middle of turning. I had to make sure you were okay."

"Turning?" Sophie broke down and deciphered the word, feeling that spark of panic return. "No! I'm not turning into one of you! You're not real! This isn't happening!"

Sophie clawed desperately at the car door before Cortez caught her arm and pulled her back towards him. He secured his small mate in his arms, resting his forehead on her shoulder as Sophie fought more tears. She couldn't keep crying. She couldn't keep getting this angry and panicky. She hated all of this. Why did this have to happen to her? Why did Cortez drag her into all of this?

"It's not gonna be that bad," Cortez whispered as he gently tightened his grip around Sophie's waist. "As long as you stay by me. I will help you. I will take care of you. I promise."

It was the amount of relief Cortez felt while hugging Sophie that made him realize how much physical contact he been lacking with his mate all this time. The most contact they had was holding hands and him carrying her in her moments of distress. But now, he had her in his lap and in his arms and he loved it. He didn't want to let her go. The feeling of her warmth and her softness completely melted him into goo.

Sophie didn't want to admit it, but she liked it just as much. She felt safe in his presence but being in his arms was a whole other story. It felt as if he was securing her and protecting her from all harm. She even felt her anger slip away. They, as mates, lacked physical contact to the point where it became an irresistible addiction. Cortez didn't want to let her go and Sophie didn't want to escape.

"The last time you promised me something, you failed." Sophie stated, her voice quiet.

Cortez groaned and held Sophie impossibly tighter. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I will never, ever let you down again, Sophie."

Sophie reluctantly reached for Cortez's arm around her waist. Her fingers grazed his tensed forearm and made his heart skip a beat. That was the first time Sophie had heard a heartbeat that wasn't her own. She pulled her hand away and listened to his heart. It was a strong heartbeat, thumping with determination and recklessness.

This time, she reached for his head on her shoulder and let her fingers slip into his short black hair. Cortez held back an audible purr at the feeling but internally, somewhere deep in his chest, Sophie heard it. So she did have a strong effect on him. That meant they were official mates, right? They were bound to one another whether she liked it or wanted to have a choice in the matter.

Now, she just had to decide what to do.

What else was there to do?

"How do you make it easier?" Sophie's voice barely came out over a whisper as she was reluctant to even ask.

Cortez lifted his head. "There's a book in the front passenger seat that I made for you."

"Huh? You made it?" Sophie questioned, peeking over her shoulder to look at Cortez. He nodded.

Sophie partially escaped Cortez's lap just long enough to grab said notebook. It was small, barely larger than her hand. She fell easily back into Cortez's lap as she opened the book. Cortez rested his chin on her shoulder as Sophie flipped through all the pages.

It was all handwritten. Cortez took the time to write down everything there was to know about werewolves. The first couple pages were filled with information about humans turning into werewolves after a bite. Cortez had to talk to the pack doctors for that information. The rest was everything. Werewolf traditions, habits, and their hierarchy system. Page after page was completely filled until only a couple blanket pages were left towards the back.

"You wrote all of this?" Sophie asked as she continued to flip pages. Cortez hummed a yes in response. "When? How long did it take you?"

"I started it after you ran out the other morning. I was going to explain everything myself but since you said you didn't want to be around me anymore, I started writing." Cortez explained.

Sophie let out a sigh and dropped the notebook in her lap. She looked at Cortez over her shoulder. "I googled werewolves to see if I could find any information myself. It was all dumb tv show references."

"Don't listen to google." Cortez scoffed.

"Are you aware of how much werewolf fiction there is out there?"

"Yes. Humans have a weird fetish for the supernatural."

"The? Are there others like you?" Sophie was slightly scared of his answer. If there were others that she had never seen, that would make her feel incredibly small and oblivious.

"Vampires. They're a pain in the ass so we try not to cross paths too often. Ghosts, I guess. I've heard of them from elderly werewolves but I've never seen one. Witches went extinct a couple decades ago but the ones that do show up usually die by their own magic. There are some rarities like hellhounds, fallen angels, Goblins.* My great grandfather used to swear that he saw a dragon when he was a kid."

"Geez. Anything else?" Sophie sighed and rolled her eyes. She didn't like how long that list was.

"Santa Claus." Cortez smirked.

"Shut up!" Sophie laughed and pushed Cortez away.

Sophie attempted to escape Cortez but it was easy for him to pull her back into his lap. A deep chuckle rumbled in his chests and vibrated through Sophie's back. Cortez nuzzled into the side of Sophie's neck as he took in her scent. It was a familiar smell, simple, soft, nostalgic. Her scent was similar to that of an old antique shop. He loved it. He loved her.

Cortez carefully traced his lips over the spot he would eventually mark, which tingled more than anywhere he had ever touched her before. Sophie's eyes fell shut as the pleasure of his lips teasing the spot on her skin completely engulfed her. The slightest moan spilled from between her lips and Cortez instantly went dizzy and near blind. It was the most enticing sound he had ever heard.

Gently gripping the opposite side of Sophie's neck, Cortez tilted her head for better access to the bare skin. His teeth grazing the spot and igniting Sophie's skin with hot fire. She had to bite back a moan at the feeling as her mind went all fuzzy.

"I can't wait to mark you, Gorgeous." Cortez's voice came out as a throaty growl that Sophie found irrationally sexy.

"Mark me?" Sophie whispered breathlessly.

A knowing grin danced on Cortez's lips as he rubbed his thumb over the spot. "I wrote it in the book. Unless, you'd like me to demonstrate."

His words were slow to process in Sophie's lust intoxicated brain but when they did, she was quick to attempt an escape again. She didn't know what he meant but she would rather read about it than jump in blindly. The knowing grin on Cortez's face faded but didn't leave as he watched Sophie throw her sweatshirt back over her head.

"Seriously, Sophie, you shouldn't be in school when you're turning. Your senses are going to heighten and amplify one by one and you shouldn't be around a million people when it happens. Look what happened just now, you collapsed in pain and in tears." Cortez said.

Sophie huffed as she fixed her hair. "I don't really have any choice, Cortez. I have finals towards the end of this week and then all next week."

"Finals?"

"Yes. You know, the big long tests you take to see if you've learned anything at the end of the year. Or do werewolves not have to take finals?"

Cortez ignored her question. "At the end of the year? You're graduating already?"

"I'm graduating my junior year, yes. I still have an entire senior year to get through and then I'll be done with high school."

Cortez's grin broadened again at that sudden information. She was almost done with school. She was almost a senior and graduated. She was almost an adult. What excited him was the fact that the human school systems gave kids a couple months off between school years. He wouldn't have to wait for her to get out of class for a couple months, finally.

That would make all of this so much easier. Not the turning part of this but after she was done turning, it would be just in time for her to spend time in the pack house. Cortez wanted to show her everything. He wanted to introduce her to his world. Even the pack was anxious to meet her after hearing she had survived the bite and woken up. This was great timing.

"Can you just give me some time? You know, without waiting outside my school and stalking me and everything."

Sophie's sudden question wiped the smile clean off Cortez's face. "Some time? What do you mean? How much time?"

"Just give me enough time to read this and get through finals. Also, I should be spending more time with my grandfather before he moves out of the house." Sophie explained. She held Cortez's stare as she paused. "That means no werewolves, no Jeremiah or Delilah, no more of you."

Cortez frowned and reached for Sophie's hands, cupping them gently in his hands as he placed kisses on her knuckles. "I can't leave you alone, Sophie. Not when you're turning. I have to make sure you're okay. I have to take care of you."

"I'll be fine, Cortez. I need some time to be me for awhile. Me before you came along. I want to hold on to this human thing for a little while longer." Sophie shrugged.

Cortez let out a heavy sigh and pressed his forehead to her knuckles. He couldn't say yes to this. He couldn't walk away from her again. He had done it too many times and it hurt worse and worse every time. Sophie was turning. This was the absolutely worse time for them to be separated.

"Call me, at least." Cortez finally looked up. "If you don't, I won't be able to hold back from coming to look for you."

"I'll call." Sophie reassured.

"Every night."

"Most nights."

"Sophie." Cortez warned.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll call you every night."

"Good." Cortez relaxed and let go of Sophie's hands. He took a moment to look her over and admire her. "Be careful, Sophie. If it gets too hard for you..."

"I'll call." Sophie reminded with a knowing smirk.

She pushed open the car door and stepped out, grabbing her backpack out of the car as well. Cortez dropped his head into his hands and let out a groan. He hated when she left. All he wanted was to be in her bubble and for her to be in his. Letting go of her was painful and holding her was addictive. How he could give her space for another two or so weeks was going to be inevitably impossible.

{ *Cortez mentions that Goblins are real and I didn't want you guys to imagine little troll creatures so I'm here to clarify. Just imagine Goblin: The Lonely & Great God.

The story of the Goblin in that Korean drama/tv show is that he has killed too many people in cold blood so god punished him by plunging the sword in his chest and making him live forever. It's a very painful life because he will never forget another face of someone he has killed and the sword in his chest is very painful. BUT the sword can be removed by the Goblin's Bride, which is someone who is destined to fall in love with him. It's bittersweet because pulling the sword out will grant the Goblin's wish to finally die but he will be leaving behind the love of his life.

So yeah. Goblins exist in this little world I've created, although I don't think I'll ever introduce you to one in this story. Go watch Goblin though. It's probably the best show I've ever watched in my entire life. The soundtracks in that show still make me cry whenever I listen to them. Those songs will also be featured in this book so look out for those! }