It was late in the middle of the night when Cortez's phone buzzed violently in his pocket. He shifted slightly in his seat to fish the phone out of his pocket. There was a text from his little brother. Miguel was asking how Sophie was. Cortez stole a glance up at Sophie, who was fast asleep on the couch with a flimsy blanket over. She didn't look comfortable but maybe that was because she didn't look well.

She's hanging in there. Cortez typed and sent his message.

Mom is dying to meet her. She's looked through all their family records already. She won't stop gushing about Sophie's good grades, clean record, volunteer credits, all that shit. Miguel sent.

Cortez couldn't help but feel prideful of his mate. Sophie's an angel. See, she's amazing. I told you to stop making fun of her.

I'm not making fun of her, I'm making fun of you. She's fine. You're the chump.

Cortez rolled his eyes. Fuck off.😒

Dad keeps telling mom to prepare for funeral stuff too and she keeps waving him off. You think the old man's gonna make it?

Cortez sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He stared at the old man, wishing he didn't even have to ask. It had been a day and a half already. Sophie insisted on spending the night here, which didn't do her well. She was in the same clothes and the bags under her eyes were even worse. Cortez knew she was suffering.

I'm not sure. Hold off on that for now. We've still got a little faith here. Cortez sent to his brother and stuffed his phone away.

"Are you bored? Does someone see you at the house?" Sophie's soft voice traveled through the darkness. Cortez looked to see her still laid on her side and eyes shut. "I know you're important. If you can't be here all day and night, I'm not going to hold it against you."

Cortez shook his head, his elbows resting on his knees. "No. It was just my brother. I don't want to be anywhere but here, Sophie." He whispered.

"What did Miguel say?"

Cortez couldn't help but smile a bit. She was clearly tired, exhausted even, but still trying to stay up to talk. He wondered if she was genuinely that curious or if she was just trying to make conversation for his sake because she thought he was bored.

"He was telling me how much him and my parents want to meet you." Cortez answered and reached to gently let her hair and move it out of the way of her face.

A faint smile pulled gently at her features but she never moved or opened her eyes. She started wondering again. What would it be like if Cortez's parents met her grandfather? Would that officially make their relationship real and serious? Maybe as a human, it would. Typically. But Sophie didn't live a typical life anymore. Still, she wondered what it would be like to sit and have dinner with Cortez's family and her grandfather.

She liked to imagine it, strangely enough.

What a big family we'd make. Sophie muttered in her head.

Since she was sleepy and had learned little practice in mind linking, that internal thought went straight to Cortez. He could tell she didn't mean to say that to him so he didn't say anything back. He simply tucked her stray thought away for himself.

"I don't want to stress you out," Cortez spoke up again, Sophie's eye popping open in response. "So I told them not to get their hopes up until Henry has recovered."

"I hope they're not upset." Sophie settled again.

"They're definitely not. My mother is obsessed with you. You could probably do no wrong in her eyes."

"Like with you?" Sophie teased.

Cortez's smirk broadened and he began petting her short, soft hair again. He liked the smallest amount of joy she would give him in her darkest hours. If only there were no dark hours.

"When I said you were an Angel, I wasn't joking."

~

Cortez seemed to have left in the middle of the night, slipping Sophie a note that he had pack business to take care of. He claimed he would've stayed by her side if he could but he couldn't ignore his pack duties. He also said to mind link him if she needed, which she wasn't completely sure how to do. Sophie didn't mind though. She just wanted to be with her grandfather. Of course, she wanted to be with Cortez as well, but she knew he'd come back when he could.

Towards the afternoon, Sophie heard a knock at the door and turned to it, watching it reluctantly push open. She expected it to be a nurse, like usual, but there was someone else instead. A boy, maybe her age or older, stepped halfway inside with an awkward smile on his face. He had dark hair, dark eyes, was of Hispanic descent like Cortez. He had a very sweet and refreshing face. Youthful but charming.

"Uhh.. Hi. I'm Miguel, Cortez's younger brother." The boy awkward forced the words off his tongue as he stared at Sophie.

"Oh!"

Sophie's eyes went wide as she pushed off the couch and skipped towards the door. She offered a genuinely happy smile as she approached. He stood a couple inches taller but at this close proximity, she could definitely tell he was Cortez's sibling. Miguel only got to study Sophie for a moment before she wrapped her arms around his neck in a warm embrace. He was totally caught off guard with his hands hovering off her body.

"It's so nice to finally meet you. Cortez has told me all about you." Sophie pulled away and tucked some strands of hair behind her ears. "Sorry you have to meet me like this. I haven't showered or changed clothes in awhile."

Miguel couldn't fight the smile itching at the corner or his lips. "It's no problem. I don't mind. Cortez is my brother, after all, I've smelt my fair share of stench." He joked.

Sophie felt a little dose of joy fill her for a moment. She was beyond excited to meet Miguel after everything she had heard and what he had just said fell in perfect line with what Cortez always told her. He's the biggest brat I've ever met. He uses every opportunity he has to get under my skin. Since Sophie didn't have any siblings, she found sibling rivalries rather adorable and enviable.

"I brought you Chinese food." Miguel said as he held up the brown paper bag in his hand. "If you don't want me to stay and disturb you, you can just snatch the bag out of my hand and shove me out of the room. I don't mind."

Sophie chuckled and shook her head. "No. Please stay. I've been wanting to meet you and it's so quiet in here, I think I'm going insane. A little chat might be nice."

Miguel shrugged, a look on his face as if that sounded reasonable. Sophie placed the brown paper on a small table with wheels and guided it towards the loveseat so she could sit and eat.

Miguel sat and silently watched Sophie as she unpackaged her food. He had never seen her in person so he was trying to take in as much as he could. She was small, that was for sure, looked about seventeen, but also extremely drained and tired. He tried to picture her without the stress weighing down her features. She probably looked just as angelic as Cortez claimed but he didn't plan on giving his brother the satisfaction that he was right.

"You're parents didn't come with?" Sophie asked with a mouthful of food. She tried to be polite by blocking her mouth with her hand but Miguel was still amused.

"No. Cortez is trying to keep us all away from you so we don't stress you out. You've already got one parent to worry about." Miguel gestured towards Henry, who laid unconscious in the middle of the room.

"And somehow, you've showed up. Does Cortez even know you're here?" Sophie teased.

"No." Miguel answered seriously.

Sophie paused with her fork halfway in her mouth. Miguel held her stare. "Really? How did you find me?"

"I asked Jeremiah." Miguel shrugged.

Sophie nodded and finished chewing this time before she spoke up. "Why did you want to visit?"

"Well, you're about to be apart of our family. I figured we should be with you now more than ever. Why wait for the bad stuff to be over when we can support you and help you get through the bad stuff now?" Again, Miguel answered sincerely but casually.

Sophie felt her eyes prick with hot tears and before she could hold them back, they started rolling down her cheeks. Miguel's eyes widened as Sophie wiped them away. He instantly felt guilty, sending a spark of panic through him.

"I'm so sorry, Sophie. Please, don't cry. I didn't mean to... Cortez is totally gonna kick my ass if he knows I made you cry." Miguel panicked as he watched Sophie catch her tears.

"No, no, no. I'm not upset, don't worry." Sophie sniffled back as many tears possible as she tried to gather herself. She took a deep breath and looked to Miguel, who was staring at her as if he had just accidentally squished a gross bug. It made her smile. "That was just the sweetest thing I think I've ever heard. Also, probably in the best timing."

Sophie finally gathered herself and continued to eat, Miguel carefully watching her to make sure she didn't burst into tears again. His eyes eventually strayed to Henry and he grew curious. He reluctantly stood out of his chair and walked towards the unconscious figure. Sophie watched him while she ate. Miguel was just as hard to read as his older brother. She couldn't tell what he was thinking while looking at her grandfather.

"You've really been taking care of him your whole life?" Miguel asked, his eyes glued to the old man before him.

"Yeah. Most people would consider it a burden but he's my family. I would do anything for him. Wouldn't you do anything for yours?" Sophie asked.

Miguel snorted a bitter laugh. "My father is not the warmest man you'll ever meet. He'd rather die than rely on my brother or I to take care of him." As his words processed, Miguel's eyes widened as he turned to Sophie. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that. That came out more insensitive than I meant it."

"No, it's fine." Sophie laughed and waved her hand in the air. "Don't sensor yourself at my expense."

Miguel nodded and stepped back towards the loveseat seat. He collapsed with a sigh, his eyes landing on Sophie. She held his stare for a moment, knowing he was studying her. Miguel didn't know what to say. He had too many questions and didn't know which ones were appropriate. If he was with his brother, he wouldn't care.

Even though Sophie had claimed he didn't have to sensor himself, he liked Sophie more than his brother. He didn't want to throw away his filter yet. Key word; yet. When they got more comfortable with each other, he fully planned on treating her like his own little sister. But she was having a difficult time with everything right now so he just wanted to support her.

That's why he was here. After he talked to Cortez and found out he was stuck in the pack house to handle business, he figured someone should be here to support her. It might as well be him. It wasn't like he was busy. He wanted to meet his new little sister anyways.

"Is this werewolf thing weird for you?" Miguel asked, his voice unintentionally low. It was almost on instinct since he was out of his natural element. He didn't know how to talk about these things outside of it's natural habitat.

Sophie nodded. "Very. I shifted the other day and it was probably the weirdest out of body experience ever. Literally."

"You shifted?" Miguel blinked, his eyes filled with shock.

"Yeah. Cortez didn't tell you?" Sophie asked casually.

"Have you mated? Have you marked each other yet?" The sense of urgency in Miguel's voice was outshone by his incredibly personal question.

Sophie blushed as she tossed her food around with her fork. "That seems like an awkward question for my future brother-in-law to be asking me.."

Miguel leant closer with his voice still low. "You've been mates for quite some time, Sophie. The mate bond might not have been that strong before but it existed. If you're fully a wolf now, the connection is stronger. It's not going to wait much longer."

Sophie froze as she took in all the sincerity that Miguel was trying his best to portray. She nervously gulped. "What do you mean?"

Miguel sighed. "Has Cortez told you about female wolves going into heat?"

"Maybe..."

"You've been connected for too long to not have mated yet. The mate bond is going to get sick of waiting and force you into a heat, which usually wouldn't happen until you're marked. I know it's not exactly convenient right now, maybe it won't even happen until your marked, but you should at least be prepared." Miguel explained.

Sophie slowly nodded as she absorbed that information. So, it was likely that Cortez and Sophie were taking too long to get their romance on. To be fair, she was only seventeen. Cortez has said before that he didn't want to cross any lines with a minor. But he also said it was getting difficult to keep from touching her, painful even.

It wasn't like they had endless opportunities. Maybe a couple but they weren't ideal situations. Sophie had thrown herself at Cortez, but not for good reason. And he was gentlemanly enough to stop her since she wasn't thinking properly. The last time things had gotten anywhere near heated, Sophie was half charred after the explosion. They couldn't do it then.

It made Sophie wonder if Cortez planned on waiting until she turned of age to do anything with her or if he was simply being a gentleman. Was this all on Sophie's shoulders? Everyone was just waiting for her? The mate bond was waiting, the pack was waiting, Cortez's parents were waiting. Sophie wished she could be better at all of this. She wished things were simpler so she wasn't letting so many people down at once.

"Sixteen is acceptable, by the way." Miguel spoke casually again and he sat back. Sophie's emerald eyes flickered up to meet his dark brown ones. "For wolves. I don't know if you're worried about age or not, just wanted to let you know. I know the country says eighteen but we're different so we have different rules."

"Different rules?" Sophie snorted a laugh and shook her head. "So, I suppose werewolves get away with murder too." She joked.

"The government hardly knows we exist. They're not going to know if a couple rogues go missing." Miguel answered seriously.

Sophie was really getting unnerved with Miguel answering all her jokes with serious things she didn't know about. There was so much she didn't know. It was stressing her out, causing her to shovel more food into her mouth. Adjusting to a whole new society while struggling through her own was a lot to handle. It was never ending.

"You don't have to either, you know." Miguel drew in Sophie's attention once more. "If the mate bond forces a heat, it'll pass after a few hours if you endure it."

"Cortez says it hurts." Sophie spoke through her mouthful of food, her eyebrows furrowed in.

"It does but it's not going to kill you. You have a choice. You have a choice in everything you do. We may be guided by the Moon Goddess and mate bonds but we are not controlled creatures. You can do whatever you want to do." Miguel calmly explained.

Sophie felt a weight lift off her chest at Miguel's words. "That surprisingly makes me feel better about all of this. It's kind of scary giving up your humanity. I don't know if you can understand that or not."

Miguel chuckled and nodded, suddenly pushing himself out of his seat. "You'll make it just fine, Sophie. You've got us. You've got everyone. There's no pressure on you to be a certain version of you or fulfill some high position. We just want you. We just want Sophie."

Sophie could feel more tears prick at her eyes but she forced them back. She playfully threw a kick at Miguel, which he avoided. "You're going to make me cry again. Get out of here."

Miguel laughed and walked towards the door. He opened it, glanced back at Henry and then at Sophie. "Hang in there, Sophie. And take a shower."

Sophie genuinely smiled and nodded. Miguel reflected her smile and turned to leave. Sophie was happy he had bothered to visit and even bring her food. He was a gentleman, just like his brother. It made her excited to meet their parents. Cortez has said that his mom was obsessed with her. They must be good people too.

Out of everything on her shoulders, Cortez's family was definitely the least of her problems. They weren't a problem at all. They were like a little light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.

Sophie felt lucky.