Previously, on Love bite 

 My heart then goes out to her

"You'll find your mate someday soon, Shelby, I just know you will, and when you do, he'll like you for you," I reassure her, looking back towards the water myself.

"I hope so too Sophie."

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Now Luka's P.O.V

Once I'm outside the training center, I shift into my wolf and take off after Cody, in the opposite direction as Shelby and Sophie.

Cody's silver gray wolf is a good distance in front of me by the time I get him in my sight, and even though my wolf is faster than his, I decide to hold back and follow. From here, I can sense that Cody's uneasy about something, I don't have to be connected to him to know that, it's rolling off of his wolf in waves.

The question now is, why?

I think back to when we all saw Shelby snap at him, when she walked out of the door, Cody clenched his fists and his body started trembling, almost to keep from snapping back at Shelby and saying something he might regret later.

Could this be the same thing that's causing him to be uneasy?

After a few more minutes of running, Cody finally stops at a look out point overlooking the main pack border, Cody then looks over his shoulder and sees me coming up behind him. I approach him cautiously, not knowing if he knew I was following him or if he's happy about it.

"Hey Cody," I yelp slightly.

"Did Sophie send you?' he asks.

"No, not technically," I shake my head, coming to stand at Cody's left side. "I volunteered."

Cody then turns around to look out over the main border, the twilight looking sky casting a dull shade of blue across the landscape.

"Why did you follow me out here Luka?" he asks with a slight huff.

"I want to know why you ran off after Shelby did, that's why," I reply. Cody is about to speak up and tell me nothing's wrong, but just before he can deny it, I speak up again and stop him. "Before you contradict me and tell me nothings the matter, I know you're uneasy about something Cody, I could feel it rolling off you on the way here."

"Shelby thinks she's got it tough, she doesn't know what I'm going through."

"What are you going through Cody?" I then ask.

He then faces me. "Luka, promise me you won't tell Heather this until I'm ready to," he says, whimpering slightly.

I nod. "Don't worry Cody, I won't, what is it?" I grumble.

Cody then lets out a larger huff. "I'm, I'm afraid of being a father, there I said it." After a few moments to let it sink in, Cody then explains. "I don't want to end up like my parents. When I saw Heather going through her first heat and hearing her screaming out for me to make the pain stop, I just froze, I hadn't been faced with a situation like that before. I felt weak in that moment, I didn't know what to do. It was only after my wolf took control, that I was finally able to stop my mate's pain. When Sophie's Aunt Sherry told me that Heather was pregnant, I felt scared and I have ever since. Cody then turns back. "Whenever people congratulate us, I want to tell them how scared I am, but instead I just smile and thank them," he says.

I get where Cody's coming from, becoming a new dad is always a scary thing, whether you're ready for it or not. I also know where Cody's fear is coming from, and do no he won't end up like his parents, he's not as sick and twisted as they were. Before I met Sophie, I would've thought differently of Cody and his brother, but now that I know the real them and what went on for years at their house, I know Cody becoming his parents won't be so.

"Listen Cody, I may not know a lot of things, but I do know one thing. You're not weak, you were in shock when you walked in to see Heather like she was, not knowing what to do. Trust me my friend, if Sophie were to go into her first heat, I would've done the same thing, me being an Alpha wouldn't change that," I tell him.

Despite me telling him my thoughts, I can still feel that Cody's uneasy, less than he was before, but still uneasy.

It's then that I get an idea. "Cody, turn towards me and look into my eyes, I want to show you something," I grumble.

He does so, I then use my wolf eyes to replay the memories that he and his brother showed me when I found out the truth, I don't show him any of the torment and abuse. No, that's the last thing he needs. Instead, I just show the memories of him standing up for what he believed was right. I then play him the memory of him carrying me away from danger when the pack came to save me from Ruby Stone. When there's nothing more to show, my eyes return from yellow back to my brown ones.

For a moment afterwards, Cody looks at me confused. "Luka, why did you show those to me?" he asks.

"Cody, please don't take this the wrong way, but any wolf that stands up against his abusive parents to save a friend and defend what he believes is right, I would be proud to call my father," I reply. "On another note, if anyone decides to help their injured future Alpha by carrying him all the way through enemy territory and to safety despite the risk of being killed. I wouldn't call that weakness, I would call it bravery/"

I then look up at the sky for a moment. "Besides, if you weren't ready to be a father, then whatever God or goddess is up there wouldn't have allowed it to happen in the first place," I say.

"How do you know that?" I hear Cody ask me.

I look back down towards him. "Because from my experience, that's how fate works. It'll only step up and show you the way when it feels ready to." I then add. "But listen I can tell you one thing, weather boy or girl, I think that little tike is going to be lucky to have you as a father, oh and Elliot, Sophie, and myself as Aunt and Uncle."

My mind then flashes back to when I thought Sophie was cheating on me with Cody on my first morning back from Alpha training, that day happened so long ago it seem like, but I can still feel the worry eating away at my insides now that I'm looking back on it. After a long moment of silence and looking away from each other, Cody looks at me.

"Luka, now I can sense that you're uneasy, are you okay,'" Cody whimpers.

"No, nothing's wrong, Cody, I was just thinking about something that caused me to worry for a second" I tell him

"Come on, Luka, spill, what is it?" He then adds. "I just spilled my beans to you, now, you have to give the answer."

I let out a sigh. "Alright fine, on the first morning I was back from Alpha training, I thought Sophie was cheating on me with you," I admit. "It was before the baby bomb and everything came out, and I should've known better than to think something like that but I couldn't stop my mind from thinking the worst."

Cody then looks towards me stunned by what I've just told him. "Why would you even think something like that, Luka?" Then he pauses for a moment to reflect. "I know it looked that way at first, but Sophie wouldn't do that, she loves you, she loves you more than you'll ever know," he tells me. "And I wouldn't ever think of doing something like that to you ether, you're a friend, and I would never think of doing that to a friend."

"I shook that scenario out of my mind when we walked into the room, and my eyes landed on Heather's bulging stomach," I tell him.

"Yeah, how could that not be the clincher." He then explains. "The reason we didn't just tell you, first off, our predicament is too complicated to explain, for me or Sophie. Secondly, and the reason why Heather wasn't down there that morning, was because that It takes her a few hours to get out of bet, that baby bump sometimes makes it hard for her to even stand up. So, that morning rather than trying to get her downstairs, Sophie and I thought it would be easier to take you upstairs."

"Hmm, good to know," I tell him, we then fall silent for a long while.

Suddenly a long howl rips through the cool late winter air, both our ears perk up. Is this it? Is Ruby Stone attacking?

"Oh Snap" Cody snarls slightly, he then turns back to face me. "Luka, I forgot, I have to fill in for Keith on nightly patrol, since Keith wants to be at the house to watch over Alex." "I have to go," he says. "It was nice talking to you."

"Yeah, same here," I say. "Good luck on your patrol, and stay safe."

Cody nods and starts to walk away, but after walking just a few feet away from me, he stops and looks back over his shoulder. "Hey Luka, if you handle things like you just handled that conversation, I know you're going to be a great Alpha," he tells me. "Take care," he adds as he then walks away for good this time.

With me being alone now, I sit down and look over the landscape. I then draw my mind link out, but I don't connect it to anyone, I just plan to let it wander, like a string blowing in the breeze. As my mind link line starts its journey it's all quiet, then it happens, I start to hear mutters along with the emotions they're feeling at this time.

The emotions and feelings of each pack member is front and center in my mind and then gone within just seconds. If I wanted to, I could connect their mind link to mine to listen to it longer, but I'm not going to do that or go that far.

After a moment traveling through the sea of mind link connections, I come up on Shelby and Sophie's links, If I wanted to, I could connect and find out what Shelby's been hiding, but I decide against it. Besides, I'm sure Sophie will tell me sometime soon, that and I really don't want Shelby to snap at me like I saw her do with Cody if she found out that I knew.

But as I draw my mind link line back in it connects to a line accidentally for a split second before it disconnects and comes back to me. During that one moment, I could feel the emotions felt by the owner. The emotions themselves surprise me, not happiness or joy, but confusion and frustration.

Wanting to know more, I turn around and face the darkened surroundings. Judging from my mind link line, the owner of these emotions isn't that far away, he may even be hiding right in front of me. Not getting anywhere with my eyes from the lack of light, I decide to call out.

"You're creeping me out keeping yourself hidden like that, would you mind showing yourself?"

Out from the shadows of the trees, a pair of dark brown eyes comes into view, and with them comes the form of a gangly darker furred wolf. Quinn, I think that's what I remember his name being from around the pack.

He comes trotting over, making light thuds on the ground with paws that look a bit too big for his body.

Quinn comes to a stop when our noses are inches apart. "Quinn, I'm assuming?" I ask, he nods. Sophie says you're a Beta, is this your look out post?"

"Yes, Alpha Luka, it is," he replies in a slight whimper.

"Just Luka if you don't mind," I tell him. "I'm not the Alpha of this pack yet."

"Oh, I see," Quinn then slightly huffs.

I take in his mood. Quinn's posture is lowered, his head is slightly lowered, and his gangly frame isn't helping matters. Like with Cody when we first came up here, I can also feel Quinn's emotions as they roll off him in waves. The emotions actually rolling off him are the same ones I felt over his connection, telling me he's been thinking about whatever's been causing this for a while. I wonder

"Hey, Quinn, can I ask you something?"

His ears go slightly flat. "What might you want to ask?" he whimpers softly.

"Are you feeling okay? You're looking a little down," I reply.

His ears fly back up as soon as the last words leave my mouth. "No, no nothing's wrong, I guess I'm just a little tired from the day."

I take one step towards him. "If nothing's wrong, Quinn, then why could I feel the confusion and frustration in your thoughts when our connections connected for that one instant?" I then add. "I can still feel the same emotions rolling off your wolf even now, so I know that there's something wrong with you, or at least something bothering you."

Quinn then takes a step back from me. "Even if there is something bothering me, why would an Alpha like you want to know what's troubling a wolf like myself?" he asks me, curling his lip back, but he doesn't growl.

"Because you're not just a random pack member, you're my friend, and part of our family," I tell him simply. "I would like to help you if I can," I then whimper.

Quinn then lowers his lip back down. "Thanks for the kind words, Luka, but I don't think you can fix me," he then pauses for a long moment. "Not unless you can travel back in time, and repair my DNA before my life changed."

Now it's my turn to be confused. "Wait, what do you mean by repair your DNA?" I ask him.

Quinn takes in another huff. "No matter how hard you and the rest of the pack try, Luka, you'll never be able to understand what it's like to be a glitch like me..."

At the last few words to come out of Quinn's mouth, I cut him off. "Is that what you see yourself as?"

He nods. "Yes, whatever you call it, glitch, freak, bad apple, I'm the definition."

I take a peak back into his mind again, and see the one thing I never expected to see in a werewolf's mind.

"Why do you think being a werewolf makes you a glitch?" I then ask him.

"Because for the first ten years of my life, I didn't know what was to come and nobody told me, I was just a normal boy. In fact, my father didn't even know what werewolves were. Then one night, I unlocked something inside me that I didn't even know I had. The next thing I knew, suddenly I found myself being thrown out of the house by my own father and being taken to an orphanage. As the months dragged on, I could feel whatever was inside me was growing bigger each day, it scared me to have a thing inside me that I didn't know what it was or how to control it. That was about the time my adopted father Chris adopted me, and flew me home," he then explains. "After I first Shifted, I finally understood what I was holding back, but that in itself got me more confused. I started to wonder what I am and what I should be, I'm not a human but I'm not a wolf either. As a result of this, I can't figure out my path in life."

Hearing this and understanding clearly, I decide to speak up. "You know, Sophie's pretty good at understanding this kind of stuff, why don't you just talk this over with her?" I suggest.

"No, I can't tell Alpha Sophie," he rejects. "At least, at least not until I figure this out on my own."

"Okay, okay" I tell him.

"Promise me you won't tell her, Luka, promise," he says to me firmly.

"Alright, I won't tell my mate if you don't want to."

But I don't know how long I can keep this secret under wraps from Sophie once I mark her, only time will tell.

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Finn, well that was chapter 28 guys, hoped you liked it. This chapter was the longest chapter I've had of Quinn actually talking, he's normally in the background staying quiet. It felt good to actually let you guys inside of his head and see why he is the way that he is. I can also understand where Cody's coming from as well, becoming a new parent is scary. Even I'm not afraid to admit it, I'm years away from being a mom, and I'm scared. The first part of this chapter was all about tapping into the emotions that every new parent faces.   

Do you guys think Cody will make a good father?

Do you guys think Cody is weak or strong?

How  long do you guys think Luka can keep Quinn's secret away from Sophie?

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