For the first time in too long, Cortez dared to crawl into his bed for the night.

Sophie was already under the covers and drifting closer and closer towards the soothing darkness that called to her. It had been a long night, a lot of pain, and a lot of adrenaline that was causing Sophie to crash. The pack doctors had her up for two hours as they made sure her wounds were healing properly. Since she was still turning, not fully yet a wolf, they were extra careful in examining her.

Her body was healing, which meant she had to be more wolf than she was human at this point. But that was too easy. She hadn't even shifted yet and most of her cuts were sealed she as if they never existed. Some young wolves in this very pack didn't even heal that quickly. After bickering for awhile, both doctors came to the conclusion that it wasn't just her Luna blood, it was more.

"She will shift soon." One doctor told Cortez as they spoke outside his bedroom.

"Soon? She's done turning?" Cortez questioned. "She hasn't even healed completely yet. What makes you say she's ready to shift?"

"She has already conquered all the changes. If it was a normal night, I would just say she'd shift someday. But now that she's hurt, her body is racing to heal her and that is coaching her wolf out of her. I wouldn't be surprised if she shifted in the middle of the night." The other doctor explained casually.

Cortez took a moment to process that information. It was strange, he had been so panicked when she was bitten and anxious as she was turning, by now that it was almost over, it didn't make him feel any better. Shifting for the first time was dangerous for every werewolf but one that was turning from a human, he couldn't imagine it would be any easier. But she survived the virus. And she was a Luna. He had to have faith in her.

"Thank you, doctors." Cortez shook both of of their hands and walked back into his room.

Settling beside Sophie, Cortez hesitated before touching her. He just wanted to look at her for a moment. Her lip was no longer busted, the cut on her forehead had at least shrunken, but the big charred patch on her cheek wasn't any smaller. But she was clean now, and smelled wonderful. With her eyelashes rested on her cheekbones, she looked so peaceful and angelic. He could've laid there for hours and looked at her without ever touching her.

But there was no way Cortez would last a whole night without her in his arms.

Sophie was alive. She was hurt, but she was alive, and existing beneath the covers of his bed. Nothing made him happier than wrapping his arms around her and enveloping Sophie in as much warmth and love as possible. To hold her while she slept was a blessing. To sleep beside her was a blessing. To get to hold her at all after the attempts fate took to take Sophie away from him was a blessing.

For the first time ever, Cortez would get to sleep besides his beautiful mate.

"Chief.." Sophie whispered as she nuzzled closer to Cortez, her arms snaking around his middle.

"No, Cortez." He corrected lowly.

"No." Sophie groaned. "How's Chief?"

"Oh." Cortez mindlinked Jeremiah, who was half asleep. He apologized but still asked, and then thanked Jeremiah for staying the night at the hospital in case anything went wrong. "He's recovering. His lungs are filled with smoke and he has a broken arm but overall, he's okay. He's not too badly damaged."

Sophie felt her whole body relax with relief. She tangled her legs with Cortez, wincing when his knee brushed a burned patch. He whispered an apology and loosened his arms around her so he didn't hurt her. Sophie whined in protest and held him tighter. She need his comfort, his warmth, that safe atmosphere that he always wrapped her in. And Cortez was happy to deliver.

"Sophie.." Cortez gently pet her hair. "You have to tell me what happened. You said there was a grenade."

Sophie didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to admit that she failed to fight back, that she was so scared that she couldn't. It made her feel weak and pathetic, which she had convinced herself she was. The men had mocked her for it.

Luna.

She was no Luna. A Luna wouldn't have handled the situation like she had. She could only imagine how upset Cortez would be to hear the story. Maybe he would finally realize, she wasn't what he wanted her to be. It scared Sophie but at the same time, she wanted it. She wanted the relief to know that Cortez didn't love her as much as he said he did. Then she could let go of all this false hope.

We've found them. We're bringing them in. Trevor is wounded from the fight but the rest of us are good. Kano mind linked Cortez.

Thank you, Warriors. You've fought well. Cortez closed the mind link to keep his attention on Sophie. "They've caught the guys who did it. Two rogues we've had trouble with before. Tell me what they did, Sophie. Did they hurt you?"

Sophie shook her head. Finally, she started to tell him what happened. She told him that she had heard something but couldn't figure out if she was hearing right or not. She told him that she got up to let Daisy out and check out the sound, which reminder her that she had forgotten about Daisy in the backyard after the explosion. Cortez reassured her that someone already retrieved her and brought her to the pack house.

Relieved, Sophie continued. She explained that one guy held her still and both of them threatened her to stay quiet. Cortez tensed, knowing another wolf had dared laid a hand on her. She told him that they mentioned that they didn't like him and they wanted to ruin his life. She realized that they wanted to kill her but to spare her grandfather from getting killed by their hand, she had no choice but to listen to them.

"I'm not a Luna, Cortez. I can't run an entire pack." Sophie said, her voice quiet in the darkness.

"What? This has nothing to do with you being Luna, Sophie." Cortez stated firmly.

"I was so scared, I just listened to them. I have no backbone, no courage, nothing that showed I had any strength or power whatsoever. It was pathetic."

"You did what you thought was right in the moment, which ended up saving both you and your grandfather. Nobody would've expected you to fight back. Just because you're a wolf now, doesn't mean that you should be able to take on the world. With time, you will become stronger and skilled and courageous. For now, you're perfect as you are."

Cortez's words soothed Sophie's worries. So much that it made her cry. She always found herself wishing that she was more than she was, it was a huge insecurity of hers. But Cortez, from the moment they met, had continuously been trying to convince her that she was perfect as she was. He loved her unconditionally. And to feel that love when she hated herself the most, felt overwhelming.

"Don't cry, Angel. Please, no more crying." Cortez held Sophie closer as he felt her breathing stutter in silent sobs.

Sophie shook her head, grabbing fistfuls of Cortez's shirt as she tried to regain her voice through the quiet sobs. "I can't help it. I love you too much."

Cortez smiled and kissed the top of Sophie's head. "I love you too, baby."

Sophie wiggled away from Cortez, causing his smile to fade. Their eyes locked in the darkness, only the soft moonlight coming in from the window providing any sign of light. Sophie reached for Cortez's face and gently brushed her fingers over the scruff of his jaw. Cortez was happy to see the cut on her forehead was gone now and the patch on her cheek was smaller. She was healing quickly.

Propping herself up on one elbow, Sophie leaned closer to Cortez with her lips slightly parted. He simply watched her and waited patiently to see if she'd actually kiss him. And she did. Sophie gently planted her lips on Cortez's and let her eyes flutter shut. That familiar tingling sensation ran through her body at the contact, relieving her muscles of any stress and filling her with so much warmth.

Sophie and Cortez kissed each other gently and lovingly, cherishing the feeling of one another's love. Soon, Cortez's hand was creeping behind her neck and pulling her closer. He deepened the kiss but kept it slow so he could savor all that she was giving him. A quiet, soft moan rolled off Sophie's tongue and disappeared into Cortez's mouth. The euphoric sound gave Cortez a shot of adrenaline that had him needing more of her.

Cortez also sat up but guided Sophie back against the bed, half of his large frame dominating hers. He kissed Sophie a little harder as her fingers found their way under his shirt. His muscles flexed under her touch, allowing her to properly study the pattern of mounds and indents that made up his abs. It was Cortez's turn to moan at the wonderful feelings of Sophie's touch.

Sophie was so engulfed in Cortez's determined lips that she couldn't even feel any of the pain and aching under her skin. That was, until, his hand suddenly glided over her thigh beneath the blankets and his fingers brushed over the unhealed wound where that piece of wood used to be. Sophie gently pushed Cortez, breaking the kiss as she winced in pain. His heart rate spiked with fear and retracted his hand.

He lifted half of his body off of hers to make sure he wasn't touching any part of her anymore. "I'm sorry, Sophie. I didn't mean to hurt you." Cortez whispered as he studied Sophie's expression that was twisted in pain.

"I know." Sophie let out a long breath and softly panted as she opened her eyes to look at Cortez. "I'm okay. You can kiss me again."

"No. I don't want to hurt you." Cortez fall back into his place in bed. "You should sleep and let your body heal."

Sophie turned into Cortez's body, sliding her hand across his chest and planting a kiss on his shoulder. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Gorgeous."

~

Sophie was up at the crack of dawn and couldn't get herself to fall back asleep, knowing her grandfather was hurt in the hospital. She was up before Cortez and didn't want to wake him so she tried her best to wiggled out of his grasp. Unfortunately, it seemed her muscles and joints had locked up in the middle of the night and getting them to move again was sending her into excruciating pain.

Cortez woke up soon after Sophie as his wolf pleaded for him to help his mate. He pried his eyes open and propped himself up to see Sophie wincing in pain as she tried to coach her legs over the edge of the bed. Cortez threw the blankets off of him and hurried around the bed to help Sophie stand up. She tried to walk forward on her own but nearly collapsed before he caught her.

Despite Sophie's protests, Cortez urged that she try to stretch before she just started up and walking around. Sophie took a moment to do so, holding on to Cortez's shoulders to keep herself from tipping over. It hurt him to watch her in pain like this, but on the outside, she looked alright. All her gashes had closed and disappeared, burned patches small enough to cover up and make her appear presentable.

Cortez was proud of her fast healing. It showed she had the power of a Luna and her body was more powerful than she thought it was. Any other wolf her age wouldn't have healed this quickly. She had so many cuts, bruises, and complicated scar tissue that should've overwhelmed her body and taken longer to heal. But the opposite happened.

Cortez realized the pack doctors were right. Sophie's body wasn't just healing, it was racing to heal. Her wolf should be close to emerging from within her. Very, very soon.

Sophie borrowed some clothes from a female werewolf in the pack that was around her size, just as she had last night after getting out of the tub. Cortez advised her to wear something that would cover her up so no doctors could see the wounds that would be healing while they visited the hospital. She decided on a long sleeve, pink, knitted sweater and some plain black jeans.

And as for that patch on her cheek, it was small enough for Cortez to put a larger bandaid over. Sophie didn't like it but Cortez thought it looked cute.

The two drove to the hospital after Sophie decided she didn't even want to look at their house. Since Jeremiah confirmed that Henry wasn't awake yet, Sophie didn't rush. She knew she probably couldn't even if she wanted to because her muscles were so sore. Still, Sophie wrapped her arms around Delilah and Jeremiah, thanking them both for watching out for her grandfather when she couldn't.

"She healed fast." Jeremiah whispered to Cortez as Delilah walked Sophie into Henry's hospital room.

Cortez sighed and scratched the back of his head. "The pack doctors say it's because her wolf is on it's way. They said they wouldn't be surprised if she shifted last night, which makes me wonder if she's going to start shifting while we're here."

"Sounds like there's a chance Delilah and I will be here for another night." Jeremiah chuckled.

"Most likely, yes." Cortez answered.

Jeremiah nodded and patted Cortez's back as he walked off. If they were going to be spending another day and night here, they'd need a change of clothes. While Jeremiah ran off, Cortez started into Henry's hospital room. He instantly spotted Sophie sat beside her grandfather, who laid unconscious with tubes in his mouth and IV's that hooked him up to plenty of machines. Sophie had his hand in hers as she visibly held back sobs.

Cortez pulled a chair closer to Sophie and rubbed his large hand over her back to comfort her, planting a quick kiss on her shoulder. Sophie sat and stared silently at her grandfather for awhile. It took a couple long minutes before she found the words she wanted to say to him, and when she did, she let out a long string of apologies. Cortez hated to hear Sophie apologize but he understood and he knew he couldn't tell her to stop.

Sophie only got an hour with her grandfather before two policemen walked into the room and asked if they could speak with her. She hesitantly agreed and followed them so they could talk outside of the room. Cortez nervously leant forward to rest his elbows on his knees and listened to their conversation. He knew that she couldn't tell them about the grenades, unless they found out, but he wondered if she knew that.

It's not like she could tell them she was targeted by two rogue werewolves because she was a Luna of a pack and a mate to an Alpha they didn't like.

When they did ask if Sophie knew what happened to cause such a huge fire, all Sophie could do was  nervously shake her head. They asked where she was during the fire and she claimed she was staying at her friends. When they asked if she could continue to stay there since their house was unlivable, she nodded. It made Cortez a little happy. He was excited to finally have her home. But, it was incredibly unfortunate that it had to happen like this.

When the two policemen started talking about investigating and home insurance and hospital bills, Sophie stopped them by claiming she didn't want to talk about any of that until her grandfather was conscious again. That seemed to work as they gave her a number she could call when her grandfather woke up. They shared their condolences and she thanked them before walking back into the hospital room.

Sophie let out a relieved but still stressed sigh as she collapsed into the chair beside her grandfathers bed. Cortez reassuringly massaged her knee as he watched her think for a moment. The room was silent besides the humming and beeping coming from the machines Henry was hooked up to, but Sophie's head was spinning like crazy.

She suddenly sat up with a pained expression. "I don't feel so good."

"What's wrong? What is it?" Cortez asked as he watched Sophie push herself off her chair to stand.

Sophie swayed so much that she nearly tipped over and Cortez stood up to grab her and stable her. She held her stomach and closed her eyes as the swaying continued. Cortez pushed on and on, asking if she was alright but Sophie waved him off, claiming she was and just needed to go to the bathroom. He allowed her to and watched in the doorway as she collapsed in front of the toilet and instantly threw up.

As Sophie sat bent over the toilet bowl, Cortez noticed a flash of white and gold light that surrounded her for a split second. His posture straightened as he waited to see if it would happen again. When it did, it was a little different time. The white and gold light flickered very quickly before it disappeared but while it showed, he could see the shape of her wolf. His heart started racing at the sight.

"Delilah.." Cortez called, never letting his eyes stray from Sophie as she threw up. Delilah hurried to stand beside her Alpha. "Tell me if you're seeing the same thing I am."

Delilah cocked her eyebrow at her Alpha's strange tone and looked to Sophie. She was just throwing up. She couldn't understand what he meant. Cortez made it sound like he had just seen an alien or something.

But then, it happened again. A flash of white and gold light flickered a couple inches off Sophie's body. This time, the flickering lasted longer and pulsated down the length of Sophie's wolf before it disappeared. Delilah gasped and cupped her hand to her mouth. Cortez and Delilah both stood in shock.

"She's shifting." Delilah breathed.

"Fuck! And we just got here!" Cortez cursed as he stepped into the bathroom, scooping Sophie into his arms. "She's going to hate me."