Chapter Four

Author's Note: Hey everyone I have finally updated after so many months. Sorry it took me so long. What can I say I'm just lazy! Please enjoy chapter four and keep sending me reviews! I really love getting them, they brighten my day! Have a nice day!

Chapter Four

Luke shut the doors to the balcony and pulled Sophia into a hug. "You were great against her, you know that? I love you." He murmured into her ear and kissed her on the neck and shoulder. "You are going to be a great leader one day."

"Leader! Who ever said I wanted to be leader of the pack?" Sophia asked surprised.

"I'm sorry to tell you babe, but you're a white wolf. You automatically will become the alpha when people find out."

"What about Ruby? She is a white wolf too, won't there be trouble?"

"Everything was changed when you flipped. You know Ruby is in love with that cop, so she would never try to take control of the pack and risk him getting hurt." Luke said and walked back to the bed with Sophia's hand in his. "So you will be in charge some day. You're gonna be the big momma in town. Don't worry though; I'll always be there by your side."

"Thank you." Sophia genuinely replied and climbed onto Luke's lap where he sat on the bed. "You don't know how much that means to me." She looked into Luke's eyes and could see how genuine he was. She kissed him and the light feathery kiss soon turned into a heated make out session that would have had serious consequences if either Sophia or Luke would have been involved with someone else.

"Sophia wait, I need to ask you something. I know you want to be serious about a relationship, and believe me I do too, but I want to know how serious you want to be."

"What do you mean? I want you and me to be together, pissing off Presley, and as corny as it sounds, living happily ever after."

"Yes I want that to, but I want to solidify our link. I want to claim you by marking you." He said and waited a few seconds to see what Sophia would say or do. "Now please, think about what I said before you refuse. I'm not joking, and I want you to know that I am serious about this."

He was still trying to explain to Sophia when she grabbed his face and kissed him, stopping him mid-sentence. Luke took this as a signal to continue and started making his way down Sophia's body. The kisses he trailed across her neck felt like a red hot branding iron that left her skin burnt by his lips. Luke had just made his way down to Sophia's shoulder when she felt it start to happen.

Sophia knew that when she had flipped she had gained all these new senses that would allow her to detect when another skinwalker was going to change, but it shocked her when she saw Luke's eyes turn gold and could sense his wolf coming forth. She had looked down at Luke when his eyes changed to the gold glowing orbs that were particular to those who were skinwalkers, and then saw his canines elongate in his open mouth. The two white teeth that were on the top and bottom of his mouth extended and looked like dangerous weapons waiting to be used. "Luke?" She started to ask but was answered inside her head by Luke's reassuring tone.

"It's all right, just trust me." Luke told her and lowered his head to her body. Luke then bit Sophia and left a gash across her shoulder that had immediately started to bleed. It hurt Sophia at first, but when Luke started to lick up the blood across the cut the action became oddly sensual. Luke kept licking at the wound until it stopped hurting and all that was left was two long gashes across Sophia's shoulder. She didn't know why or how, but Sophia knew that in order to complete the ritual that Luke was performing on her, she would have to do the same to him.

So even though she felt very scared and apprehensive she let the wolf inside her come out and did the same actions to Luke that he had done to her. Except when she had finished she could tell something had changed. She could feel and hear Luke in her head and all throughout her body. She had been able to hear him through the mental pathway that all of the skinwalkers of Wolf Lake shared, but now it seemed like every inch of her was saturated with Luke. It was as she felt this that she suddenly realized how tired she was. She lay slumped across Luke's chest and was almost asleep when she heard Luke ask her how she felt.

She was about to answer him when she realized that he had not asked his question out loud but had said it over the newly formed mental pathway that Sophia knew only existed between just herself and Luke. "I'm fine. No I'm great." She answered him back and snuggled even closer to Luke. "So is that it?"

"Yeah babe we are connected and nothing but death can separate us now. But don't worry I don't plan on that happening anytime soon to either of us."

"I love you." Sophia said and closed her eyes drifting off to sleep.

The next morning Sophia woke up not remembering where she was, but then realized when she felt Luke holding onto her waist. She was leaning back into the warmth that was radiating off of her mate when she glanced over at the clock that sat on the nightstand next to Luke's bed. It read 7:57 A.M. A time that Sophia knew was dangerous if her father had come home last night. "Luke honey, wake up." Luke just lay still next to Sophia, but because of her new wolven traits she could tell that Luke was just feigning sleep. "Luke I should probably get home. My dad is most likely freaking out right now if he came home last night." Sophia knew with her father being sheriff of Wolf Lake, let alone being a workaholic, there was a chance that he had not even come home the night before. But she figured it would be better to get home and not risk getting in anymore trouble than se could already be in.

"No I think you should stay her with me like this for the next three weeks." Luke said and pulled Sophia back down on the bed as he lay back and shut his eyes once again.

"Luke honey do you really want me to stay here and have my father come over to choke the living daylights out of you? You know he will eventually figure out where I am."

"Oh all right. Do you want to stop for breakfast, or should I drive you right home?" Luke gave in.

"You better take me right home, I have to work at the dinner at 11:00 and I need to get my uniform. Oh wait! What are you going to drive me home in? I demolished your windshield the other night."

"I'll borrow my Mom's car." Luke answered as he put his clothes on. He put on a pair of dark jeans and a long sleeved black shirt which Sophia noticed made him once again look like the bad boy that her father had warned her about. Sophia knew though that Luke had changed after their night together. Yet he still would have to convince her father. "You ready?" He asked Sophia as she grabbed her jean jacket from the bed.

"Yep, let's go." Sophia said and gave Luke a quick peck on the lips before grasping his hand and letting him lead her out the door. They had only been walking down the hallway towards the stairs a few seconds when Luke's mom walked out of her office.

"Good morning you two." Vivian said the whole time looking at the paperwork in her hands. "Did you two sleep well last night?"

Sophia blushed when she thought about what had happened the night before and the fact that Luke's mother had probably heard the whole thing. "Just fine Mom, I'm taking Sophia home. I'll see you later. Oh yeah, I gotta use your car today."

"And why is it that you can't use your own car?"

"Because Sophia broke the windshield." Luke smugly answered and continued down the hall.

"Fine, but I need to talk to you later Lucas. Oh and Sophia, congratulations."

"Ok Mom I will see you later." Luke knew that Vivian must have wanted to talk about something serious. She never called him Lucas unless she had something important to say, or if she was really mad at him for something. He guessed it probably had something to do with Sophia or maybe Ruby had finally been caught and they were planning on sending her back to Tyler. By then though they had already reached the garage and Sophia had already started to get into the red Mercedes that his mother was so fond of. The car was silent as Luke drove back to Sophia's house. Luke was busy thinking about what his mother wanted to talk about when Sophia suddenly shouted "Luke stop!"

"Sophia what's the matter?" He asked and looked into the trees where Sophia was staring. He then saw her; Ruby was waiting by the side of the road looking directly into the car. "Hey sis." He said and got out of the car after shutting the motor off.

"Hello you two, how are you feeling Sophia? I know you had a hard flip the other night." Ruby asked as she changed to her human form so known of the other skinwalkers could hear their conversation of the central pathway.

"I'm fine thank you Ruby." Sophia said as she got out of the Mercedes.

"So Ruby how much longer are you planning on running around in the forest like a coward?" Luke asked hoping to egg his sister's temper on.

"Luke! What was that for?" Sophia asked amazed at how rude Luke was being to his sister.

"I want her to get off her lazy butt and go be with that cop of hers already. I'm just trying to egg her on."

"Hey you two no talking about me when I can't hear it!" Ruby said and gave her brother and his mate her best stern look possible.

"What are you talking about Ruby? Luke and I didn't say anything." Sophia spoke up and gave Luke a warning look that she was sure Ruby saw.

"Ha Ha very funny Sophia. You can't deny it; I know you two marked each other and when you pledged your life to each other you got that special link that only mates can have." Ruby warned and sat down on a nearby log. I know a lot more about being a skinwalker than you do, plus I can sense things have changed in you.

"You can really tell that I have flipped and become a white wolf?" Sophia asked.

"Sophia, every skinwalker in Wolf Lake will be able to tell that you have changed and are special. For now though there are only certain people who know you're true color, which I think is for the best."

"I think so to." Sophia timidly answered and thought about having every member of the pack coming to check her out. "Who all knows?"

"Well there is Luke, your father, Vivian, Sherman, and of course myself. But with how important you are I don't think it will be long before news gets around."

"What about Presley? Didn't you mention I was a white wolf when you were talking to her last night?" Sophia questioned.

"Yeah but knowing Presley, she probably didn't believe me when I was telling her to leave us alone." Luke sighed and had a look of disgust on his face as he thought about Presley. "She's not always the sharpest tool in the shed. Ruby you need to stop being such a coward and face up to my Mom." He continued after a few moments of silence. "You said you found your perfect mate in Kanin. If that is true, you need to not give into the pack and be with the one you love."

"Love, perfect mate! I don't think I have ever heard you talk like this Luke, what brought it on?" Ruby asked and looked towards Sophia with a grin on her face that said she already knew what had affected her little brother.

"Actions speak louder than words Ruby, and last night I went for something that I have wanted for a long time. My actions lead me to a good place." Luke finished and put his arm around Sophia's shoulder.

"Ah Luke, what a load of crap." Ruby said and stood up to flip back to her wolven form and run into the forest.

"Ruby! Think about what I said, you're never going to be happy if you don't." Luke yelled at her and then got back into the car with Sophia and drove off.

Ruby watched the car roll away and then did what her brother told her to do. She looked around at all the trees, and thought about John. Surely he would understand and accept who she was. He had come all the way to her hometown just to find her. That surely had to be a sign that he loved her and would stand by her. Ruby watched as the last of the dust and exhaust from the Mercedes settled and everything was once again left still. Then she ran. She ran so fast and hard to a curious onlooker she knew she must have looked like a white streak flying through the trees. She had one destination in mind and she wasn't going to let anything stop her from getting there.

At the same time that Ruby was running through the forest, Luke was walking Sophia up the path to her front door. When he had stopped the car in front of Sophia's house, they had both grown silent at the sight of Sheriff Donner's police cruiser sitting in the driveway. Luke had tried to say he was going to come in to face Sophia's father with her but Sophia insisted that it would be better if she went in alone. When they got to the front door Sophia turned to Luke and gave him a small smile. "I guess this is it."

"Yup." Luke answered and pulled Sophia into a hug. "I'll see you later."

"That is if my dad lets me out of the house to do anything. He's either going to turn into Mr. Protective Dad or he will be really upset that I was out all night."

"Don't worry I will see you later." Luke kissed Sophia and walked back to the car.

Sophia watched him pull away and then opened the door to her waiting father. He was sitting in the big recliner in their living room and looked as if he had been their all night. Sophia quietly walked over to her father and saw that he was still wearing his uniform and he had a five o'clock shadow on his face. She knew this was her chance to get by but accidentally stepped on the squeaky step as she snuck up the stairs.

"Sophia!" Her father shouted as he woke up and sprung from the chair he was in. He looked around for a few seconds and then rushed over to where Sophia was standing silent at the bottom of the stairs. "Are you all right? Where have you been? Do you know how worried I have been?" He spouted question after question at Sophia and was inspecting her hands and face for any trace of harm done.

"Dad, Dad! I'm fine." She shouted at her father. "Dad I'm ok, you don't have to worry."

"Well then where were you? I got home late last night and got worried when you didn't come home." Matt sighed and sat down again in the chair he had spent the night in.

"Last night I went for my run and ended up at Luke's house." Sophia timidly told her father and waited for his reaction. When he didn't say anything Sophia continued but knew that she needed to be cautious as to what she said. "I was running and when I realized I was at the alpha house I was going to leave. But we then started talking and we realized a few things about what the state of our relationship is."

"What relationship?" Matt carefully asked. He already knew the answer to the question, but wanted to believe that until Sophia said it out loud it could possibly not be true. He could smell Luke's scent all over his daughter, and even though she had her shoulder covered up, was sure that the special mark reserved only for those of the pack was there. He bet that if he looked at Luke's shoulder he would find a similar mark.

"Luke and I have um, marked each other Dad." Sophia quietly said. "Are you all right?"

Matt didn't talk for a few seconds and then quietly asked "Did you come to this decision last night?"

"Yes we talked about how we feel about each other and figured out what we wanted our future to be like." Sophia stopped talking and waited for her father to speak but was only met with silence from the normally forward and steady sheriff. "Daddy please say something."

"I guess you not my little girl anymore." Mathew Donner said and gave his daughter a small smile.

"Oh Daddy I will always be you little girl." Sophia exclaimed and wrapped her father in a hug.

"I hope so." Matt answered and relished in the hug his daughter had enveloped him in.

"But Daddy you do need to understand that I am growing up and I am going to be making decisions for myself."

"I know." Matt said and gave his daughter a pat on the cheek. "So it's still early, should I make us some breakfast?"

"You make breakfast! Really funny Dad, you know you can't cook."

"You used to like my cooking when you were a little girl." Matt said and pretended to put. "You would tell me I was the best cook in the world."

"Dad…" Sophia said and gave a look that said you are such a liar. "Besides I've got to be at the diner in an hour. How about we have dinner later?"

"Sounds good sweat pea, I have some more paperwork to finish at the station. I'll see you later." Matt said and gave his daughter a final kiss on the forehead before going out the front door. As soon as he heard the door close behind him, he let his head and shoulders sag. He had tried to fool his daughter into thinking he was fine with everything that had been happening to her. He thought maybe he had succeeded, but knew that Sophia had seen right through him.

An hour later, Sophia walked in the back entrance to the diner, and set her stuff down in her locker. Sara was getting ready for her own shift when Sophia came in. "Oh my god Sophia, you finally did it! Congratulations!" Sara exclaimed and ran over to Sophia. "How was it? Was it really painful? What color are you?"

Sara's stream of questions made Sophia laugh and be happy that she had at least one friend among the pack who was a female. "Sara stop I will tell you everything later, now we need to get to work before cook comes back here and fires us."

"Fine but tell me one thing, how was it?"

"How was what?"

"Oh don't play innocent with me Sophia; I totally know you did it!"

"Sara!" Sophia gasped. "Can you really tell?"

"I can smell Luke all over you girl. After that I just put two and two together."

Sophia blushed and was going to tell Sara all about the previous night when cook stuck his head in the back and yelled at the two girls. "Sophia! Sara! Get out here now, we got hungry people waiting for service."

"Yes boss." Sara said and saluted Cook as he went back into the kitchen. "Details later." She said to Sophia and then walked out to her waiting customers.

Things went smoothly in the diner for about twenty minutes and then the hill kids showed up. They walked in and took their usual spot at the pool table in back and waited for their chance to hassle Sophia. Torturing Sophia for being only half skinwalker had always been one of their favorite pastimes, but today when they walked they could all tell that there was a different feel to the diner. They had just lined the balls up on the pool table when Sophia brought out table 3's food.

All of the young males saw her and dropped what they were doing to watch her. Sophia had felt when they had come in but decided that she wouldn't let them bother her. She was walking back to give one of her tables water when Sara sidled up next to her and asked, "Do you want me to get them?"

"No thanks. I'm going to have to deal with them eventually. I might as well get it over with." Sophia said and walked to the back room. "All right guys, what can I get you today?"

"Looking good Sophia, when did you flip?" Sean asked when none of the other males spoke.

"Friday night. Now can I get you anything?" Sophia said and looked them all in the eye. She was determined to not let them intimidate her or make her feel small in anyway like they had done so many times before.

"You would be just fine sweet cheeks." Randy said and sidled over to where Sophia was standing. He was smelling her neck and trailing his hand across her stomach when she heard him. Luke had just parked his mom's car and was walking towards the front door to the diner.

"You might want to get your hands off of me." Sophia warned Randy.

"Oh yeah? Why is that?" He questioned with a smile still across his dumb face.

"Because Luke is coming, and he doesn't like other people touching his mate." Sophia let the words sink in for a few seconds and was delighted to see the confused expressions on their faces. "I'll bring you a round of cokes and a couple baskets of fries." She said and turned around back into the main dining room of the diner.

As she walked out Luke walked in the front door, and right away noticed the stares of all the young skinwalkers. He gave them his best warning look and walked over to where Sophia was turning in her order. "Hey. How did things go with your father this morning?"

"Fine. He accepted it and didn't make a big fuss. He was surprisingly calm."

"Well that's good then. Right?" Luke was at first pleased, but his good mood started to vanish when he saw that Sophia wasn't as happy as he was.

"I don't know." Sophia said and sighed. "I have this bad feeling that he was hiding how he really was feeling." Sophia knew her father well enough to tell when he was hiding something from her. She was about to ask Luke what his Mom wanted to talk to him about when Cook's voice came out of the kitchen shouting Order Up! "I better get back to work or I won't have a job anymore."

"Ok, I'll see you later." Luke said and made his way back to the pool table. All the skinwalkers were waiting for him when he got to the back of the diner. They looked Luke over and at once knew Sophia's earlier statement hadn't been a lie.

"Luke man you've got some sharing to do." Sean had clapped his leader and best friend on the back in order to get the details he was sure that Luke would share with all the young males.

"About what?" Luke asked and grabbed a pool cue in order to break the long forgotten triangle of balls laying on the pool table.

"Come on man, this is big news, you and the half breed." Randy piped in.

"Hey asshole, you will never call her that again, you hear me?" Luke had grabbed Randy's throat and was squeezing just enough to make the warning really stick in the young skinwalker's head. "She is a very important member of the pack and you better learn to respect her."

"All right Luke, we will." Sean interjected and tried to calm Luke down. He had seen how destructive Luke could be when he was angry, and didn't want to take any chances at making Luke anymore mad. "So when did Sophia flip?"

He thought maybe the question had been to bold when Luke remained silent while he took a shot on the pool table. "Friday night, during her date with that human meat boy. She was having a hard time for awhile, but she made her way through it." He answered Sean's question and looked for another ball to hit into one of the pockets around the table.

"What color is she?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out." Sophia announced as she brought in the sodas and fries she had promised the boys. "Here's your food boys, can I get you anything else?"

"No thanks babe, we were just having a nice chat about what has been going on this weekend."

"Oh really? Well don't talk to long or your food will get cold."

Sean was amazed at the interaction that was going back and forth between Sophia and Luke. He knew that last week if anyone let alone Luke had called Sophia "babe" she would have been furious at them. Now she and Luke talked like they were an old married couple. "So Luke, are you and Sophia coming to the rave at the lake tonight?"

"I don't know, it depends on how her father is dealing with her flip. It's no secret that he isn't my biggest fan." He told Sean. "Sophia said he was acting a little weird when she told him we had mated. I'll ask her though."

"Sure man maybe we'll see you later." Sean said grabbing a pool cue and leaning over to take a shot."

"Sophia."

"Sean wants to know if we are going to show up at the rave tonight."

"Well… I told my dad we could have dinner together just the two of us."

"That's fine we can go later to the party after you and your dad have dinner. I'll pick you up at 9:30"

"Ok I'll see you then. I love you."

"I love you too. Hey Sean, Sophia and I will be there later on tonight."

"I thought you were going to ask her if she wanted to go."

"I did." Luke answered and took another shot with his pool cue.

"How? She wasn't in here, and I didn't hear you ask her over the link."

"You might want to go back to Sherman's class Sean. You need to review the basics of being a skinwalker." Luke told him and dropped his pool cue onto the table. "I'll see you later man."

Luke made his way out of the pool room and kept walking. It was nice being mysterious who expected him to be their bad boy leader. That personality would no doubt fade to a certain extent with Sophia now in his life, but that was all right. His life was only going to get better.