South Mountain Pack Ch. 04

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.

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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.

Anthony and Sophia just sat there quietly with Anthony's arm around her shoulders sniffing her neck for the next couple of minutes, while Sophia continued to giggle. He simply could not get enough of his intended mates smell, it was intoxicating to him.

"Your son is smooth, really smooth Carlo. I know he didn't learn that from you, so it must come from Gina's side of the family," said Joe with a laugh.

"I've got moves that you haven't even thought of Joe. You need to pay more attention and learn from the two masters apparently," replied Carlo and everyone laughed.

Frank looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 2 AM so he called a halt to the evening's festivities. All three families had a lot to do the next day; everybody was getting the kids ready for the start of football and cheerleader practice on Monday morning. Anthony reminded Gianni and Marcus that they would be picking him up Monday morning, and they agreed on a time.

Carlo looked at Frank and Joe and said through the Alpha bond, "We need to finish our earlier discussion about the Millers and the other issues that were brought up. With Todd and Holly having ten daughters and no other protectors, we are going to have to figure out a protection detail for them, plus increased security at the school. I want the two of you to come up with a list of possible protectors for the girls, remember no unmated males. Can you both be free Wednesday afternoon about 2 PM? I want you to contact the head of the security at school and have all his people there so we can talk to them and also do an on-site inspection of the new security systems that were installed. In the meantime, I am going to call Todd and find out how his girls were protected in their current pack."

Both men looked at their Alpha and replied, "Yes Alpha, it will be done."

"I remembered that I won't be able to see you tomorrow, since I have to work, but I'll call you when I get home. I got your number from Gianni and programmed it into my cell already. Sweet dreams, my Sophia," said Anthony at the front door, as he held her to his side and sniffed her neck and hair one last time before he left.

On the way home, Carlo said to his son, "You know what you have to do Monday morning, don't you?"

"Yes Sir," said Anthony, "I must apologize to Scott; he had no idea that Sophia was mine and was just flirting with her like he normally does to all the girls."

"Since it was done in front of your football team, then the apology must be done in front of the football team. Remember as the Alpha-heir, you lead by example," said Carlo firmly.

"Yes Sir," said Anthony, "I will do it as soon as we are assembled so that the matter is cleared up immediately." The rest of the short ride home was completed in silence, as all three Rossi's thought of the events that transpired that night.

As excited as Sophia was, as soon as her and Maria got into bed, they both fell asleep immediately. Sophia dreamt of Anthony and Maria was wondering who her mate was and how soon he would find her, she hoped that it would be soon and also that it was her secret crush that Sophia didn't even know about.

Sunday was busy for both Carlucci families. The men made sure that all the boys had their gear for football practice and after realizing that most of them had outgrown their equipment since last year, Frank talked to Joe and scheduled a trip to the sporting goods store. After purchasing cleats, running shoes, shorts, t-shirts, socks and assorted other paraphernalia that the boys just had to have, the men were grateful that they had good jobs. Franks bill came to $3,200 and Joe's came to $2,900. It was a good day for the owner of the sporting good store, who was also a Pack member.

They met their wives and daughters for lunch, also at a Pack member's restaurant, then proceeded to go grocery shopping at Rossi's Grocery. All Pack members supported Pack businesses whenever possible, and the Carlucci's believed in this, often traveling to other Packs if they couldn't find what they needed locally. This benefitted them in several ways; they supported other Packs businesses and they in turn returned the favor plus they also managed to become friendly with other neighboring Pack members and picked up bits of gossip here and there which gave them a better idea of what was going on in the other Packs other then what filtered through in official channels. Rose referred to it as 'shopping with a spy'.

Rose and Annie already had gone grocery shopping for their families' weekly needs. This trip would be for lunches and snacks for the boys and the girls during practice. It was decided between Rose and Annie that with all twelve boys attending football practice and the two girls attending cheerleader practice, that it would be easier for them to take turns every other week making lunch, just like they switch off working at the Construction office and bringing in lunch to whomever is working.

Frank, Joe and the boys couldn't understand why Sophia was so dressed up to go grocery shopping, but the women knew. They understood that Sophia was hoping to see Anthony while he was working. Rose looked at her daughter and thought that she looked adorable. Sophia was dressed in white shorts and had a pink with white polka dot shirt with a white tank underneath and had KEDS with pink and silver shoelaces. Her long curly black hair was held back with a simple pink headband and her jewelry consisted of small platinum hoop earrings, bracelets and also several pink Swarovski beaded bracelets, all purchased from a Pack jewelry store in the territory next to theirs.

As they entered Rossi's Grocery, Rose noticed that Sophia was distracted, she told her quietly, "let him come to you, he is at work and you don't want to get him into trouble, do you?" Sophia shook her head no, and proceeded to follow her mother and Aunt Annie who had both grabbed carts to gather the week's groceries for the kids.

They first went to the drink aisle and loaded one cart with Gatorade and water then topped that cart off with twenty loaves of bread. Rose figured that she would need at least four loaves of bread for sandwiches every day. They then went to the baking aisle to pick out cake and brownie mixes for snacks, as she figured that she would bake at least two cakes and one tray of brownies per day for snacks. Suddenly, there was a loud commotion at the end of the aisle and all of the Carlucci's started smiling as they scented who was coming around the corner.

"Anthony" "Sophia" both said at the same time. Anthony came running down the aisle and skidded to a stop in front of Sophia, and he pulled her into his side and scented her neck and hair.

"I didn't know you were coming into the store today, but I'm glad that you did, I won't be able to call you tonight, like I promised, I forgot that I have some training classes this evening when I get off work, and they won't end until after 10 and by the time that I get home it'll be too late to call you, but we'll still ride to practice together in the morning and you can sit next to me during the mandatory policy meeting and then we can have lunch together and your dad invited me over for dinner tomorrow night so I'll come to your house right after practice, so I'll take a shower at school and clean up before I come over and Dad and I already picked out my new truck at Vinnie's before I came into work and it's a beauty, black with grey interior just like I promised so if you put some pink stuff in there it'll match, he's picking it up tomorrow and then dropping it off at practice so I'll have it with me and maybe after dinner we could go for a ride, you, Gianni and Marcus and I can go to Fred's and get some ice cream, or we could go to the auto parts store and you can pick out some pink stuff that you'd like to put into the truck or we could go to the mall and you could do some shopping, and I'll even hold your pocketbook if you want, then maybe if we aren't too tired we could watch a movie, or do whatever you want," rambled Anthony in a rush.

"I hope that when I meet my mate, I don't start acting like a simpleton," said Dominic.

"Who would have known that Ant, our cool calm collected friend would turn into a raging moron?" said Gianni with a laugh, "Did anybody even understand that? Did he even take a breath during all that?"

Sophia just looked at Anthony, this was the longest conversation they had ever had and she hadn't even said a word yet. "That sounds wonderful Anthony, but tomorrow is Monday, Maria and I have dance class every Monday from 6 PM to 8 PM. I would like it if you could go with us though, the boys generally sit in the observation room and watch us, and then maybe we could go to Fred's afterwards."

"Dance class? Where the hell is this class, who is in it? What do you wear to this class? What do you mean the boys sit and watch you? What boys? Is Scott going to be there?" asked Anthony with jealousy raging in his voice, he stepped back from Sophia to look into her face with his hands clenched tightly at his sides at the thought of Scott being near his mate.

"The boy was doing so well and then he just blew it," said Joe to Frank in a whisper that was heard by all.

"Anthony, I have had dance classes since I was three years old. I am NOT going to stop my classes just because you are my intended mate. As far as clothes go, I wear a black leotard with pink tights and a pink tulle overskirt. Yes, there will be boys there, there have to be boys there since the dance class is made of underage females just like Maria and I. Yes, Scott will be there, his younger sister is in the class. Any other questions, you jealous ass?" said Sophia belligerently with her hands on her hips, "If you can't accept the fact that I have other things in my life beside you, and try to remember that you only came into my life yesterday, then you better start praying to Luna to find you a new mate, because this one isn't going to put up with your attitude. Come on Maria, let's go, I need to get away from this overbearing Jackass!" She grabbed Maria's hand and both girls flounced off down the aisle, with Paulo and Michael following them.

"Jealous much?" asked Vincent while he tried to hold in his laughter and failing miserably.

"Damn Ant, you've been mated for less then a day and you've already had an argument with your intended. I wonder if that's a record," said Sal laughing.

"What have I done? Why can't I control my temper when I think of other boys around her? One day, one day and all that I've done is show her that I'm an idiot who can't complete a sentence and what an overwhelming jealous jackass that I am. And we have three years of this to go through? I'll drive us both insane by that time," Anthony said forlornly as he slumped down against the metal shelving holding his head in his hands.

Rose looked at Frank and said through their bond, "While you take care of this, Annie and I will finish up with our shopping. Anthony doesn't need us, he needs you right now." Frank nodded his agreement at her.

Frank asked Carlo through the bond, "Carlo, are you in the store? Your son is having a meltdown in aisle eight; he just lost it when Sophia mentioned her dance class." Carlo responded, "I'll be right down, damn that didn't take long, did it?"

On his way to his son, Carlo contacted Joe through the bond and asked him to fill him in on what happened.

Frank came over to Anthony and put his hand on his shoulder. "Well Anthony, that conversation could have gone better. Don't you think? Remember what we said in the basement, take a step back & a deep breath before you say or do anything. Do you think that Sophia would have invited you to her dance class if she was interested in Scott? Maybe next time tone down the jealousy and overbearing jealous attitude a little."

"Just think Anthony, you haven't even watched her cheer in front of hundreds of people shaking her pom-poms, just wait until that happens," said Damian with a laugh.

"Damian, you're not helping here. If you can't help your friend out, I suggest that you go with your mom and Aunt Rose and finish getting the groceries," said Frank.

Carlo came around the corner arriving just in time to hear Anthony say, "Damn it, how am I going to get through that? Thanks Damian, now I have mental images of hundreds of people staring at my girl and her pom-poms watching her bounce up and down and whatever the hell it is that cheerleaders do. Like I'm not in enough misery," said Anthony with a glare at one of his best friends.

"Anytime that I can help out," said Damian still laughing then turned serious. "Dude, you have got to get your shit together. This is a girl that you've known your entire life, granted you never really paid attention to her, but still. You know how she was raised and what values and morals she has. Do you honestly think she would be interested in other guys now that you are intended mates?"

"He's right Ant, get your shit together. Our dads explained it to us last night, you know how possessive you are going to be, but you've got to remember to stop and think before you act. Acting like a gigantic ass is not going to win you any points with Sophia," said Enzo who had moved to sit on the floor near Anthony.

"Scott has been a friend of ours almost since the time we were born Ant. Once he becomes aware of the fact that you are mates, do you honestly think he would try something with Sophia? He knows that once mates are chosen, they are mates for life and nothing can break the bond, except death," said Marcus who also moved closer to Anthony.

"I know, but she's mine. I don't want anybody else looking at her or being around her," said Anthony and then a hopeful look came into his eyes. "Maybe I can convince her to quit cheerleading and dance class."

"That's bullshit and you know it Anthony," said Vincent forcefully. "She has worked hard for years at dance and to make the cheerleading squad and is proud of herself because of it. And you want her to give it all up just to make you feel better? Do you think that would make Sophia happy to sit at home while all her friends and family are out enjoying themselves? I don't think so, it would make Sophia miserable and you know it."