I would like to thank hcsd1719 for his help in editing and offering encouragement. Again, there are no actual sex scenes, since the main characters are underage. All italics indicate communication through the mental bond.
Please remember to vote and comment, I appreciate all comments and feedback. Thank you.
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As the women walked into the kitchen still holding hands, they felt the eyes of their mates fall upon them. Each man had glanced at their mate and smiled as they walked into the room, then scowled as they saw that they had been crying.
"What's wrong?" "Are you hurt?" "What happened" flew across the room at them, who had said what statement was lost as they all talked at once. The men immediately came to their mates and pulled them into their broad chests, scenting their necks and hair to ascertain that they were indeed alright.
"Carlo, we are all fine," said Gina, "talking about the mating pull and seeing how grown up the girls had become just brought up memories of Angelica. We were talking about her and sharing my memories."
Carlo pulled her into his chest even tighter and said, "I love you so much my dear mate and I am glad that you were able to share your memories with your two closest friends. I think of our darling Angelica often too, maybe we could talk about her together, you've never been able to before. I would like that my love."
Anthony walked over to his parents and hugged them both, "I would like that also mom. I was too young to understand what happened, but if you are ready to talk, I would like to be included."
Gina looked at both men in her life; their faces looked so much alike that except for the difference in age, they could have been twins. Carlo was still taller and broader then Anthony, being 6'6" to Anthony's 6'3", but Anthony was only 17 and not done growing yet, when he reached his full height and weight thought Gina, he would be even bigger then Carlo.
"I would like that," said Gina quietly, "maybe it is time for the three of us to talk of her. Right now though is the time for other things. Don't worry, I am fine."
Just then Anthony turned towards the hallway and lifted his nose and scented the air, "Sophia," he said softly, but everyone heard him.
"Oh, he has it bad," joked Damian.
Anthony waited at the doorway for Sophia and Maria to come into the kitchen. He held his hand out to her and waited for her to come to him, and then he gently pulled Sophia into his side and scented her neck and hair. After he reassured himself that she was fine after their separation, they walked towards the furthest bench in the kitchen so they could talk quietly. He got her settled comfortably, and sat down next to her, put his arm around her shoulder and leaned in to whisper in her ear and sniff her neck and hair again.
"The first thing that I need to do is apologize for acting like a pompous ass, excuse me for cussing, but that's exactly what I was," said Anthony with true remorse in his voice, "I was going to declare myself after I spoke with my parents, and Mr. and Mrs. C and of course you, Sophia. But when Scott held your hand, I couldn't help myself; I've never felt like that before, and again, I want to apologize if I scared you. I never want you to be scared of me; I would never hurt you or cause you any pain. Please believe me Sophia."
Sophia pulled away from Anthony gently and looked into his deep brown eyes and said, "I know you would never hurt me Anthony. You didn't scare me, in fact I thought it was kinda cute, and Maria thought it was hot."
All of the people assembled in the kitchen were eavesdropping though they were trying to be subtle about it. When Anthony had called himself a pompous ass, there were numerous chuckles, but when Sophia made the statement about Maria, all eyes shifted to Maria and she said, "What? It is hot, scorching hot." Which brought out numerous eye rolls from her brothers and cousins and from her father, "Young lady, we'll have a talk later."
All of the men were hungry again even though they had finished all the leftovers from the party. Rose, Annie and Gina proceeded to get bread and lunch meat and the needed condiments out of the fridge and set up an assembly line and proceeded to make sandwiches for the men. The men were talking up the upcoming football season at South Mountain High, all the while still trying to eavesdrop on Anthony and Sophia.
Anthony asked Sophia if she was hungry and if she wanted him to get her a sandwich, she shook her head no.
"When did you discover that I was your mate?" Sophia asked quietly.
"As I held you when we fell into the pool, to protect you I had my arms around you and my nose buried in your neck. One scent of you and I knew that you would be mine forever. I didn't want to let you out of my arms, all that I wanted was to keep holding you forever, but I knew that I couldn't," replied Anthony just as quietly, though with the exceptional Were hearing that everyone had, they heard every word.
The adults looked at each other and smiled, Maria sighed and most of the boys rolled their eyes and some made gagging noises.
"Your dad gave me permission to start driving you to practice in the mornings and then to school. My dad is going to buy me a new truck tomorrow so that we can all fit, since it will be me, you and two of your brothers, and I should be getting it Monday afternoon. What's your favorite color? Or maybe I should just get emerald green to match your eyes," teased Anthony.
"My favorite color is pink, specifically pink with white polka dots," answered Sophia with a giggle.
"Babe, I would do almost anything to make you happy, but I am not riding around in a pink truck with white polka dots. I'll see if I can get a black one with a gray interior, then when you put some accessories on your side it will match. Is that okay?" replied Anthony. Sophia nodded her head and giggled quietly.