Previously, on Love bite 

  "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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Now Luka's P.O.V

A week later.

Luka and I are now sitting around the Kitchen table surrounded by the rest of the pack, a few are sitting, but most are standing.

We're having a meeting to go over the formation for when battle day arrives, I have a pretty good idea of where everyone's going to go, but I want to make sure I have my thoughts together before I begin to speak. Taking a moment, I turn and look out the kitchen window.

The scenery outside has done a one sixty in such a short amount of time that it first takes my breath away, the front yard has gone from a pure white from the start of this month to a yucky dark brown color as it mixes with the dirt to create a mud snow slush, not even the golden orange rays of the setting sun that still streams across the surface can make it look better.

Don't you just love the end of winter? Yuck.

I snap out of it and turn back to the rest of my pack, like always, I then clear my throat and begin to speak. "Alright, without any further delay, we're going to get this underway," I say and everyone's head snaps towards me. "These last couple of weeks of training, I've observed all of you, seeing who's better at what and making a list in my head of who I want to go in what line. Now that training's pretty much over, I've made my choices, if some of you do not feel comfortable with the places I put you in, I want you to speak up and tell me why."

Everyone nods or gives a mumble.

"Okay here we go, this first line in the battle formation will be made up of our high ranking wolves. These include Luka, myself, my Uncle, Elliot, Beta Chris, Cody, Misty, Colt, Andrew, Faya, and Maloney, they will be the first into battle," I call out.

The owners of those names all nod.

"Okay, the second line of the formation will contain most of the Humans and Hybrid's, so that they'll have time to draw their knifes. The only medical personal that will be on the battle field will be my Aunt Sherry and Shelby, their jobs will be to fight alongside the others, and take any wounded to the medical teams waiting just behind the trees, " I say, turning towards them.

Shelby just nods her head.

"Can do, Little Sophie," replies my Aunt.

"The last line of the battle formation will be made up of our strongest wolves including Dylan, Art, Mia, Keith, Esme, and my Grandfather."

They too all nod their heads.

"Alright next up, okay everyone listen up please this is important." "Like the last full moon, mothers all the pups, kids, and babies will be locked up at Den House with Debby so that they'll be safe," I in form, Maple and the other mothers of the pack nod. Speaking of that, I turn to face Cody. "Be sure to get, Heather down in that bunker before the attack," I tell him. I then turn towards Keith. "The same also applies to Alex, Keith. Ace does not know about the bunker so there's no way he'll be able to get to the girls. I'll leave the hatch door open, so if we're defeated, they'll have a way to get out."

"Understood Alpha," both the brothers say.

"Alright, does everybody understand everything I've just said?" I ask.

Everyone nods or gives a word or two.

"If anyone has any objections, I want you to speak up now," I say, and the room goes dead silent.

After a moment, I speak up again. "Alright, one final note before we're done here. We don't know when exactly Ace is attacking, all we know is it will be sometime soon from what Misty told us, the odds are more likely than not, it's probably going to be a blood bath when it does happen, but I hope that I and my pack come out of this fight with as much minimal collateral damage as possible."

My train of thought is broken by someone tapping on my shoulder, I turn to see Luka staring at me. Just by looking at him, I can tell that something's not right.

"What is it?" I ask simply.

"Sophie, can I be excused?" he asks me back, his face looking pale.

"Yes of course," I reply, not wanting to push the matter.

Luka then scoots his chair back and gets up from the table, but as he's about to walk away, Elliot stops him, I keep an ear out.

"Are you feeling okay bro?" Elliot asks him. "You're looking like you're going to puke."

"Huh? Oh, no nothing's wrong Elliot, I'm just tired from today. "I'm going upstairs early for the night, goodnight Elliot," Replies Luka. I then listen as the two brothers perform their secret handshake.

"Goodnight, Luka, sleep tight," I hear Elliot tell my mate as he gives him a hug.

I then hear Luka thud up the stairs one step at a time

Once I know he's on his way to our room, I speak again.

"With the threat of Ace looming around the corner, all we have to do now is wait for him to make the first move."

Suddenly hit with a case of curiosity, I end the meeting and thank everyone. I then get up from my chair and go upstairs to see what's really bothering my mate. Going to bed early is normally not like Luka, not like him at all.

An image of Luka's pale face flashes through my mind as I climb.

When I enter our room, I expect to find Luka asleep, instead I find him sitting on his side of the bed looking scared. I walk over towards him, I don't bother getting his attention, he already knows I'm here.

"I came up here to check up on you. What's up, are you sick or something?" I ask softly.

Luka looks at me his eyes far off, like he's lost in his own little world. "No Sophie, I'm not sick. Well, not physically anyway," he replies, coming out of his trance.

"Okay then, if that's the case, what's on your mind?" I ask, and then I add. "Cause whatever it is, I'm sure we can get through it, like we always do."

Luka turns back to the wall and thinks about it for a moment.

"Come on Luka, we're mate's you can tell me anything you know that." "It's okay, you can trust me, there's nobody in this room but us," I attempt to comfort him.

Luka turns back towards me. "I know I can always count on you Sophie Jane," he says, a bit of his normal color returning to his face.

"That's what I'm here for Luka," I tell him, a smile spreading across my own face. "So what's the problem?"

Luka then lets out a sigh. "I'm terrified for the fight. I don't want to see everyone I know or love die, if you, Elliot, Aunt Sherry, Shelby, your Uncle, or anyone else gets killed in this fight, I'd don't know what I'd do," He then says.

I try to calm him by saying. "Luka, we don't know if anyone will die in the battle, we're trying everything in our power to make sure that doesn't happen."

"And if they do die it will be because of me," he retorts. "Trust me, Sophie, I know more them most what can happen if that Alpha gets mad."

Luka begins to breakdown, his body starts to tremble a bit. After Luka lets a few seconds pass, he then removes his shirt, allowing me to see what lies underneath.

My heart breaks at the sight, my eyes are not drawn to how tall he is or how toned he's gotten, but rather they are drawn to the many many scars that litter his body. I didn't notice the scars the first day when Luka got back, but there they are, just as clear as day, they've been there all along.

"You don't have to tell me this battle is going to be a bloodbath, I already know it will be," says Luka. "You know, if you and I were both to die in the battle, I would like for us to be able to enter the afterlife together."

That takes me aback. What does he mean by telling me that? I ask myself

I then figure it out when my gaze wanders from Luka to his unmarked shoulder, Luka wants to be marked. It's in that moment when I realize I want to make it happen for him, if that is indeed what he wants

I put my hands gently under Luka's chin, forcing him to look up at me. "Is this really what you want?" I ask, a slight blush tugging at my cheeks as I stare into those mouthwatering dark brown eyes of his. Luka gives me a longing look and nods, I smile. "Well then, looks like I have a job to complete."

At that, my body explodes into a sudden burst of heat, it feels like I'm on fire. I then push Luka gently onto his back, getting him into the proper position, not wanting to waste any time, I climb on to Luka and kiss him passionately on the lips, causing sparks to shoot across my body every which way.

After a moment on his lips, I move slowly, trailing my lips down Luka's neck, leaving a thin path of saliva in their wake. A shiver runs down my spine, my body then trembles a bit, but I don't care, I then shake them off and keep going down. When I get to his chest, I take my lips and start to kiss each one of his burn scars, one by one.

Luka suddenly lets out a moan.

Well, I must be doing something right.

As I kiss the last of Luka's burn scars, I travel back up his neck and come to a stop at his unmarked shoulder. My heart's racing so fast that I can hear it in my ears. After all this time, and after all Luka and I have been through, it all leads to this one moment.

I look down at Luka and ask him a question I've wanted to ask him since the first day we met. "Luka, are you ready for this?"

He gives me a nod. "Sophie Jane, I was born ready for this," Luka replies, a kind smirk spreading its way across his face.

I then shift my gaze over to Luka's unmarked shoulder, checking to see if it's still chapped, even though it has been almost a year and all of his wounds have healed, I can't stop myself, I don't want to have come so far only to have to stop like last time. Relief comes when I see that the shoulder in question is perfectly healed, not even a scar remains.

I then kiss his shoulder passionately, like Luka did right before he marked me. I sigh and let my wolf take slight control, allowing my canines to come through. I then stop, hovering over the spot between his shoulder and his neck, preparing myself for what I'm about to do.

"Here we go," I say, preparing him as well.

Within a second later, I sink my sharp canines deep in Luka's flesh, the metallic taste of blood comes full circle into my mouth, you never get use to the taste of human blood.

Luka winces and then grits his teeth, trying to keep from screaming out at the pain. Even though it hurts me to hear, it doesn't bother me too bad, I'm too busy putting all my love for him into this one bite.

The sound of Luka gritting his teeth quickly is replaced by a moan of pleasure in just seconds, I release my canines from his shoulder soon after, satisfied that the bite lasted long enough for the future mark to be permanent. Using my tongue to perform the last act of the marking, I lap up the gathering blood, the pungent copper taste spreading its way across the organ.

Once the newly marked shoulder is licked clean from any blood, I look down at him with a smile

"We did it, Luka," I tell him. "We're marked."

***

As the minutes tick by, the after effect from the marking slowly take hold of Luka as the endorphins starts to stream through his system. By now, we're chilling on our bed, I'm spending some one on one time with my mate, trying to sooth him a bit before he falls into the abyss of sleep.

Out of the blue, Luka looks at my shirt, his face looking concerned.

"What?" I ask.

"I've gotten a bit of blood on your shirt Sophie," he replies pointing a finger sleepily towards my shirt, his voice sounding a bit raspy.

I look down and see the spot in question, it's a blood stain the size of a saucer that sits just to the side of my shirt collar, I look back up at him.

"No worries, Luka, I'll change in the morning."

My mate than yawns and rolls over onto his side, a signal to me that Luka's close to crashing. He snuggles into the bed, and starts to fall asleep. In that moment, I feel something snap from deep within me, like snapping a string. I go into my mind to find out what it was, "It" was what remained of my connection with Ace Summers, it just snapped like a twig.

So long, I think bitterly.

I'm snapped out of my mind by my Alpha eyes kicking in, along with that, a long howl rips through the night air. My eyes travel to the Ruby Stone Pack grounds, just beyond the cluster of thick trees just on the other side of the Citrine River, there I see Ace standing on a nearby lookout post howling, rallying his wolves.

A shiver runs down my spine when my eyes return to normal as I realize what Ace just sent my way.

"I'm coming for you, Sophie, at dawn."

For a moment after that, I'm stunned, but once the penny finally drops, I get into Alpha mode.

I connect the mind link to my uncle, I feel him connect his end to mine.

"Did you hear that?" I ask.

"Yes Ma'am, Sophie, the rest of the pack and I are heading back to your place as we speak," he replies to me.

"Alright," I tell him. "I'll be out on the front yard when you and the pack arrive."

"Excuse me, Luka, I have to go," I tell him simply, trying to get up.

Just as I'm about to get out of bed, Luka stops me. "Where are you going, Sophie?" he asks sleepily. "What's happened?"

"Ace declared he's coming for me, he and his pack will be here it dawn," I'm able to reply, finally getting to my feet.

Luka's eyes go wide. "Hang on, Sophie, I'm coming with you," my mate says, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, but just as he's about to sit up, I stop him this time.

"No, Luka," I shake my head. "The mark will take hold any moment, you won't even make it out of the house by this point if you did come." Swinging Luka's legs back into bed I look at him and smile. "I'll just ride this pack meeting solo, I'll be back soon," I tell him.

Luka just nods, too tired to even talk now.

Making my way out of the house, I head towards a corner of my yard and shift, just in time to see my uncle and the first few pack members show up. It isn't long before the rest of the main part of the pack shows up.

My uncle is the first one to speak. "Do you think that declare was legit Sophie?"

"Yes, to me there is no doubt about it, why else would he have addressed me if it were otherwise?" I reply with a slight snarl. I then address the rest of the pack. "This is the real deal, at this moment Ace himself is rallying his pack, I know, I've seen it, now we should do the same with ours." I pause, hearing Cody come up beside me.

"Sorry I'm late, Sophie, I was helping get Heather to the bathroom when I heard Ace's message," Cody slightly whimpers.

"No worries Cody," I tell him with a slight whimper of my own.

I then feel Dylan connect the mind link. After the meeting from earlier, Dylan hopped into my uncle's truck to go get Angie for a few days and now they're on their way back.

I turn towards Art. "Does your brother know what's happened?"

"Yes, Alpha Sophie, he and Angie were on the road and heading back when he heard the howl, he then mind linked me and I told him what was going on, he will try to get here as fast as he can," he tells me.

I turn my attention back towards the pack, just then the Humans and Hybrid's show up including my Aunt Sherry and Shelby.

"Sophie, why would Ace decide to attack us now?" Any ideas?"

Because he felt what was left of our old connection break.

"You'll find out when you see Luka and me in the morning Aunt Sherry," I tell her simply.

"Well now that he has declared an attack, how do we prepare for in the morning?" asks Art, changing the subject.

"Okay, I need Elliot to run and go tell Debby to start locking the kids and pups up," I inform, turning to only find that he left as soon as the words poured from my mouth.

"Gladly Sophie," he howls slightly back.

I swear that kid takes his orders too literally sometimes.

I then look towards the group of Humans and eye the women. "Mothers, the same can be said for you, you and your husbands need to go home, round up your little ones, and start taking them to Den House." I then look through the pack members, and find the red wolf with the scar over her eye. "Amanda, that goes for Victoria to."

"Yes Alpha."

I then turn towards Cody. "You make sure to get Heather inside that bunker well before dawn. For your mate's sake, and your unborn child's as well. "

"I'll be sure to do that."

I then look across from Cody to his brother. "Keith, the same can be said for Alex, get her into the bunker as soon as you can."

"I'll do that, I will even go and get her right now if you want me to," he offers.

"I think that would be the right thing to do." Before I can speak another word, Keith takes off in a flash towards his home.

I then look towards Michelle. "You and the rest of you Hybrids, and Humans, go and get your knives sharpened and ready to go."

The Hybrids all nod in sync. "With pleasure Alpha," says Michelle in a firm tone.

"We're ready, Alpha Sophie," Jayson says. "I at least, was born ready.

Art's tail wags at the ground slightly at his friends comment.

I then look towards the group of Humans. "Aunt Sherry, Shelby, you two go to the Hospital and prepare it for wounded if need be. Also get the medical teams ready to move out at dawn."

"It will be done Sophie."

Shelby interjects and faces my aunt. "Doctor Sherry, I think I should be the one to prepare the medical teams," she tells her. "I can get to the Hospital faster."

My Aunt and Shelby then turn around to face me, seeking my approval or disapproval. I nod. At that, Shelby takes off running, just as fast as Keith and Elliot did.

"Some of our best wolves such as, my Uncle, Beta Chris, Art, and Quinn will be on lookout overnight, just in case Ace tries to pull a fast one on us. The rest of you can go on home and get some rest if you wish, but be ready at a moment's notice if Ruby Stone strikes."

Everyone on my yard in front of me nods.

"Now as for me, I've got to go upstairs to protect Luka who's sleeping soundly in bed," I say, eyeing the window of the room my mate is snoozing in. "I'll see you all in the morning."

All the pack members then bow their heads in respect.

After a moment, I turn, heading back towards the house, hearing the rest of the pack go the other way, their feet and paws thudding over the ground.

As I walk back into our silent bedroom, I find Luka sound asleep on his side. I walk up to him quietly, his face looks so peaceful when he sleeps, like a little kids, worry free and relaxed.

I wonder if he's already dreaming of me.

Climbing onto the bed myself, I lay down right beside him like I do every night, and interlock my fingers with his.

Don't you worry about a thing, my love, I'll be the one protecting you.

I already know I won't be getting any sleep tonight.

If Ace does make a move to try and kill Luka now, when he's at his most vulnerable, I'll be waiting.

I'll do everything in my power to keep my mate safe, and that's one promise I'll keep till the day I die.

==========================================     

Yay guys, it finally happened, it finally happened. Luka and Sophie are now both marked, I am so happy. I feel like that was one of the best scenes I've ever written, I hope I didn't make it too much like Sophie's marking scene. Now it's all hands on deck to prepare for the long awaited battle, I can't wait till you guys get to read what I've come up with, it is going to blow your minds, and you won't believe how it all ends.

Did you guys like the mark scene?

What did you think of that twist after?

Do you think Ace will try and pull a fast one?

 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