Previously, on Love bite
I then walk over and open the back door. "The only place that would be fitting, Luka," I reply.
Luka stops right in the doorway, he looks at me. "And where might that be, Sophie?"
"The perfect spot Luka," I give him a smile. "The spot that I gave you my farewell."
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Now Sophie's P.O.V
Within an instant Luka and I are on four paws, like always, he shifted first, followed by me a moment later.
I turn and start to head down the hill, as I reach the bottom, I feel all the pack links connect to mine. Once we're both at the bottom, me and Luka let out a howl. The dark forest then comes alive with song, the crisp howls echoing off the trees, seemingly rattling their thick trunks.
Once I have my mate at my side, I connect my pack mind link, along with a private mind link to Luka, so that I can talk to him one on one, while also speaking to the rest of the pack without them being able to hear each other.
I test things out.
"Testing, testing, can you guys hear me?"
There's a definite yes from all the pack, I can feel their response mixing with their thoughts, after a moment, a lone wolf speaks up.
"Yes, Sophie, we hear you," replies my uncle.
I turn my head towards Luka. "Luka, can you hear me?"
Luka then turns towards me. "Yes, Sophie, I could hear you crystal clear."
"Could you hear any of the pack just now?" I ask him.
"No, not at all," he replies, then he backtracks. "Well, besides the howling, but not anything coming off the link."
I turn my head back around to face the trees once more. "Did you guys hear Luka just then?" I then ask.
There's a strong hollow silence over the link, a wave of confusion washing over the entire packs thoughts for a moment, like they didn't know Luka was even here with me.
"No, Sophie, we didn't. At least, I didn't hear my bro's voice" Elliot's voice is the one to ring out over the mind link this time.
I turn towards Luka again and give him a nod, I then turn back.
"Alright everyone, let's start this marathon," I say.
The pack them bubbles up with excitement. I give Luka another nod, flatten my ears slightly against my skull, and take off into the dark forest in front of me, my mate on my flank.
***
About three hours in to the night Luka and I round the corner that will take us around the patch of forest that leads to the meadow, the dark of night making the trees look almost black.
It's been a quiet night, nothing to come of Ace so far, Luka and I have crossed paths with two teams who reported to me that everything was fine, but that was it
Too Soon. I spoke too soon, suddenly an urgent howl rips through the night air from the meadow, Luka and I double back sharply and head towards the sounded alert. I jump over logs, weave in between the pines. My fur than bristles up on the back of my neck, as I then bear my teeth slightly.
This could be it.
I come running into the meadow, Luka running hot and heavy, trying to keep up with me heading towards the River bank, we see my uncle along with, Cody, Art, and Jayson standing at their posts, waiting for us.
"What do we have?" I link with my uncle, coming to stand at his side.
"I thought, I smelled you and Luka coming, Sophie," he says, still not taking his eyes off the other side of the river. "Ruby Stone pack wolves on the other side of the border, just behind the treeline."
"We can hear them as well as smell them," Art interjects.
I cock my ears forward and listen for a moment. From the other side of the quiet water, I hear the faint paw thuds, one to two wolves at the most tapping out a continuous beat. A fire lights in my eyes, I then take a whiff, for a split second, my stomach drops, and then a wave of relief washes over me.
"Bad news, they are Ruby Stone wolves. Good news, it's not Ace, I inform.
I then get out of formation, and start to pace the River bank in time to the wolves on the other side. Once I've done this a few times and I hear the other wolves stop, I then stop myself and face the other side of the bank.
I curl my lip back. "You know I'm watching you. Don't even try it," I let out a warning snarl.
I then hear the wolves step away slightly.
That's what I thought.
With that, I turn back to face my uncle and the others.
"Looks to me like they were just guards, Luka and I have to get back to patrol. If those two do however decide to make a move and come across later, let us know."
My uncle nods. "Understood, Sophie."
"Good work you guys," I compliment, I then turn towards Luka. "Come on, Luka, let's go."
He nods and sprints off alongside me.
***
We come in to the line of trees that overlooks the Meeting Valley, taking the opportunity, I look up at the sky. The moon is so bright out here, it's practically illuminating the landscape. Its sites like these that make me happy to be a werewolf.
I look back down, the nightly wind brushing through, and over my fur. Oh how I've missed this on full moons, the feeling of freedom, and not having to be cooped up in that bunker all night, never again.
Since we're here, might as well check up with my aunt, Shelby, and the other humans.
We slow to a walk as we come into the Meeting Valley, my aunt and the others taking a break from their drills. My aunt smiles, and I give her the best smile I can in this form.
"Hey there you two, how's your night been so far?" my aunt Sherry asks.
"So far so good, we did get one alert though," I link her, just to be safe.
"I heard that a while ago, everything okay?"
"Oh yeah, just some Ruby Stone wolves that were getting a bit too close to the border for our liking," I reply. The boy's said they'd howl for us if they step over the line.
"Well that's good, no danger yet."
"Yep, that's a good si...."
I see Shelby out of the corner of my eye, she's rubbing her temples, and her eyes are a bit glazed over. I look at her more closely, Shelby's looking down, trying to avoid the light of the moon as much as possible, she then pinches the bridge of her nose.
Is she okay?
"Hey Shelby, what's wrong?" I ask, walking over towards her.
Shelby looks up towards me, and then starts rubbing her temples again. "Oh nothing, Sophie," she replies, her voice in agony. "I've just got a stress headache from work."
I whimper slightly. "Are you sure it's from work, Shelby? Maybe you should go to the Pack Hospital."
"No, Sophie, I'll be fine."
I'm about to speak to her more on the matter, but then I feel my aunt's eyes on me, equivalent to her placing a hand on my shoulder when I'm in human form. I look over my shoulder, and see she's giving me a look.
"Don't worry, Sophie, this happens to Shelby sometimes on a full moon."
It didn't last month.
"Okay, well as long as you are alright then I'm okay with you staying out here," I say to Shelby turning back to face her.
I then turn slightly, so that I'm now facing all the humans. "Before Luka and I leave, how are you guys doing tonight?" I then ask.
"We're good," they all say.
I give them all a nod.
"Well, I'd hate to keep you guys from your drills, so I'll leave you to it," I take off running. Luka joins me after getting some of my aunt's last minute snuggles. "Keep up the good work."
"Bye, Alpha Sophie," they all call out to me.
***
It's in the early morning hours by this point, things our starting to wind down now, but Luka and I are still running.
It's just a few hours before the break of dawn, we will let our wolves take control then, or at least that's the plan anyway. I'm listening to my paws land, as I'm trying to figure something out.
Something's not adding up still. Why would Ace still think I'm his mate? Even though I've told him time and time again he isn't, why can't I figure out the answer to this? And then something clicks, something I haven't thought of up until now.
What if he's already giving me the answer?
My mind then flashes back to what he said when I asked him in my dream from this morning.
"Think back to when we first met, Sophie."
It's then that a shiver runs down my spine, could it be as simple as that? And if so, what does he mean by telling me that?
"What are you thinking about, Sophie Jane?" a voice snaps me out of my thoughts.
I look up to find Luka staring at me. "Oh, nothing."
Luka gives me a smug look. "Come on, Sophie, you know I know you better than that," he says. "Besides, just because I can't feel the rest of the packs emotions yet, doesn't mean I can't feel yours."
He's got me there.
I let out a huff. "I just can't lie to you, can I?"
"Got that Right, so what's the matter?" he asks.
"I had a dream this morning where I met with Ace in the meadow," I reply.
Luka's eyes then go wide. "Wait what, why? What happened?"
"Look into my eyes and I'll show you," I tell him, since it will be a complicated dream to explain.
I go through the memories of the dream, it still being clear and fresh in my mind. This is one of the reasons, Luka has a private mind link with me tonight, for personal things like this, some dreams I want to keep to myself and share with my mate. When the shows over, Luka snaps back.
"Interesting dream," he tells me.
"I know right," is my response.
"So why are you worried about it?"
"It's not so much I'm worried about it, just confused."
"Okay, well, why are you confused about it then?" he then asks.
I drop my head slightly.
"It's just how Ace answered my question right before I woke up, it's the, "think back to when we first met, Sophie," that has me confused , Luka, I don't know what he meant by telling me that, What does he mean? I don't know."
Luka then turns around for a moment, I can see the gears turning. After a moment, he turns back to face me.
"Sophie, I can't believe I'm about to ask you this," he says. "How did you and Ace meet?"
"What? No, Luka, I'm going to feel so awkward telling this to you now," I tell him, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Come on, Sophie. Besides, talking it through with me might help you find the answer to your question faster," my mate says, with a slight wag of his tail.
Again, Luka gets me every time, how does he do it?
"You just don't know when to give up, do you?"
Luka chuckles. "Dang right, so...Wait, Sophie," he pauses. "Did you accidentally meet while he was in the Bath House?"
I shake my head
Where in the world did he get an idea like that?
"No, Luka, it's not that awkward, and where did you get an idea like that?" I ask him, questioningly.
"Just a random thought, Sophie."
I'll say.
"Okay, fine, I'll tell you." I then take in a deep huff. "It happened like this, Luka. My Uncle knew Ace's father which meant he also knew Ace. When the word got around about what happened to my father and my brothers, Ace and his pack decided to help us out."
"Thanks, Sophie, but I already knew that," Luka interrupts.
"I'm getting there, and its part of the story, so I have to tell this part," I huff again. "Anyway, After Ace crossed the river, he decided to walk the rest of the way in human form. Well, little did Ace know that there was a snake in the grass, he wasn't watching where his feet were going and as a result, the snake bit him on the leg. I however had heard that Ace had crossed over and was on my way to go to meet him. Out of know where, I hear a howl, the next thing I know, my Aunt was on the mind link with me, telling me they've got to take Ace to the Pack Hospital. Rather Me go back home and meat Ace another day, I decided to meet him at the hospital, so that's what I did."
"Was it venomous?" Luka asks. "The snake?"
"No." I shake my head. "No, it wasn't venomous, but it did leave a scar on his leg."
"So, you really met Ace in the hospital?" Luka asks.
"Yes, I did," I then let out a chuckle in a grumble.
"What?" Luka asks again.
"Oh nothing it's just..." I trail off, trying to figure out the right words. "I find it funny that the hospital is the place I met Ace, and the hospitals the place where I also broke up with him."
"Oh, is that it?"
As Luka and I continue our patrol into the early morning hours, still guided by what's left of the full moon, my mind starts to wonder.
What if there really is a connection between how Ace and I met, and why he still thinks I'm his mate? But if that's the case, what am I missing here? I feel as if something's not adding up, what could be the missing link.
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Sorry this was a shorter chapter then my other ones, but as I told you guys before in Chapter 24, I needed to split the chapters up to make it easier for you guys as well as myself to read, and that's what you get with split off chapters, the second chapter is often smaller. I wrote this chapter in two days of writing time, I wrote 2,000 words on day one of this chapter, so as you can figure, I totally went the distance on this one for you guys. That's why I put that song in this chapter so that you could listen to it while you read, that, and it's also one of my favorite Disney songs of all time.
What do you think the missing connection could be?
What do you think was wrong with Shelby?
Did you find it funny how Sophie and Ace met?
As always to all of our new Emerald Shifters please be sure to keep reading, because we like to watch the numbers go up. Vote, because we love the support. Comment, so that you can give your opinion, and if you find any mistakes, feel free to let us know. Add it to your reading list and library, to stay updated. And share it, to get it out there, Bye guys
See you guys next time on Saturday :)