Chapter 15 - We're gonna need a homing pigeon

I would like to thank hcsd1719 for his help in editing and offering encouragement, Spiridon for helping me with the Greek translation and mythology and Tammy for keeping me from going off the rails.  Again, there are no actual sex scenes, since the main characters are underage. All italics indicate communication through the mental bond.

The complete list of Pack members is on the blog, but if anyone would like an excel spreadsheet of the ‘cheat sheet’ of Pack members, please send me an email and I would be happy to provide one for you. I would like to thank mrtdust1 for his invaluable help in putting the cheat sheet on an excel spread sheet that can be added to as details are revealed.

Please remember to vote and comment, I appreciate all comments and feedback.  Thank you.

“I’VE GOT FILES, EMAILS, EXCEL SPREAD SHEETS, RECORDS OF BANK TRANSACTIONS, WE’VE GOT FUCKING EVERYTHING,” Paulo shouted.  The men glanced at the monitor and saw him pumping his arms in the air and jumping up and down, as the youngsters stared at him like he had lost his mind.  

Dante looked at Carlo with concern as he said, “What is happening?”

“He cracked it, he fucking cracked it,” Carlo said with a grin as he ran out of the study with Frank and Joe a step behind.  It took Dante and the others several seconds to realize what Carlo was talking about and a proud smile covered Annie’s face as they raced out of the room after them.  They found Paulo still jumping up and down before Carlo engulfed him in a hug, “I knew you could do it, your father says you’re a fucking genius and he’s right.  I’m so proud of you.”

“I need a printer, it’ll be easier if we had hard copies to tie things together,” Paulo said with a smile. 

“Let’s go to the study, we have a printer and another computer in there if you need it,” Todd said as Paulo grabbed his laptop and ran down the hall. 

“I’m printing the emails first.  They’re not addressed to real names, but to code names; I’ll see if there’s a master list of who they belong to,” said Paulo as his fingers flew over the keyboard and a minute later, the printer came to life as document after document spilled out.  “I’ll start a program for IP addresses to see where they’re originating from and we can use that if we need to get their real names.”

“Don’t take time to read them; we’ll do that after we’ve sorted them into folders for each code name.  As we open the files we’ll label each document, make copies and put them in each corresponding file,” Carlo said before turning to Todd.  “You have folders or highlighters?”  Todd shook his head and Carlo said, “The youngsters are still out, I’ll have them get some on the way back from Fred’s.” 

Todd added, “Paulo only brought one pack of paper when he set the printer up, so you’d better have them bring paper too.”

Paulo looked at his dad, “It’d be a lot easier if we were in my office.  I have printers, paper, folders, plus twelve large monitors so we can see what’s in the files easier.  Not to mention a computer that makes this laptop look like a kids toy.” 

Joe nodded, “Let’s go.  Who’s coming?”  Everyone nodded and they were halfway to their cars before Joe said, “Wait a minute, we forgot the youngsters.”

“Some uncles we are,” Matt said with a laugh.  “The first exciting thing that happens and we forget our nieces.”    

Todd whistled loudly and hollered, “MILLERS LOAD UP NOW.”  Within seconds, the girls were running out of the house, Brianna and Morgan dragging Vin and Dom who were asking what the hell was going on.

“I don’t know, but Daddy said to load up now,” said Brianna as she dragged Vin off the porch.  “He always says when he hollers like that whatever we’re doing we’re to stop and load up.”

“We’re going to Uncle Joe’s, Paulo needs to be in his office and…just get in the vehicle, we’ll tell you on the way,” said Frank as he opened the door and motioned them in.  There was a scramble as everyone piled into two vehicles.

As they pulled out of the driveway to begin the less than five minute drive to Joe’s, Vin asked, “Uhmm Dad, why are we packed in two cars like sardines?”

Frank turned around from the front seat of Matt’s SUV and began to laugh as he said, “Damned if I know, I guess it just seemed easier.”

Dom snorted and said, “Having thirteen people jammed in here and fourteen in the other is easy?  Maybe for you, you’re sitting up front.”   

“Not really… I have your mother on my lap,” Frank responded and grunted seconds later when Rose hit him in the stomach with her elbow.

“I’ll have you know Francesco Carlucci that I only weigh six pounds more than I did when you made your declaration for me.  And that is after gifting you with eight little ones within four years,” Rose said in a voice laced with steel.

“You’d better not even open your mouth Giuseppe Carlucci.  If you do, it’ll be the last thing you utter this evening,” warned Annie from her seat on his lap. 

Joe scented his mate’s neck and said, “Why would I ever complain that you’re close to me?  Twenty three years you’ve been mine and I want you as much today as I did back then.”  Feeling her relax and lean into his chest he added, “Even if you are beginning to get a middle age spread… there’s just more to love.”  As Annie hit Joe in the stomach with her elbow and the back of her head connected with his forehead, his pain filled grunts and groans filled the interior of Matt’s SUV.

“You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?  And I even warned you to keep your mouth shut,” Annie said with a growl.  “Let’s see how much you like getting to know your left hand again, because you’re not touching me for a while.”

Hearing the girls giggle, Joe said in a teasing tone, “Sweetheart, you know I love everything about you.  I was just teasing …now take that back, you know you can’t go more than a day without me.” 

Annie got even angrier if possible, “Girls, this is a good example of ‘How not to take any shit from your mate’, especially if he’s a Carlucci.  They’ll tease you, aggravate the absolute hell out of you, irritate you to no end and get on your last nerve.  You can’t let them get away with anything, you need to put them in their place constantly or their egos will get out of control.”

Joe cleared his throat, “That may be true, but we’ll also treat you like a lady, cater to your every whim, do whatever you tell us to do, protect you until our dying breath and love you like you’re the most precious thing in the world.”

“You’re lucky we’re home,” Annie retorted angrily as she opened the door and got out.  “Another minute of your bullshit and I would’ve hit you again.”  She turned on her heel and opened the door for everyone as Paulo immediately headed towards the new addition where his office was located. 

 

“Give me a sec,” he said, powering up computers, monitors, printers, and several odd looking pieces of equipment.  As Todd walked into the L-shaped room he was in awe of the setup Paulo had.  On the short right wall there were kitchen cabinets, upper and lower, with a small fridge under the countertop and a microwave on top.  On the back wall were two windows with blue plaid curtains and between them was a dry erase board with a table and four chairs underneath.  The left wall had two deep oak shelving units; one containing printers and other electronic equipment, the other with electronics that had been torn apart.  Between them was a smaller window with a workbench underneath with more electronic equipment torn apart and scattered around.  On the last wall, in the alcove of the ‘L’, sat a curved desk with twelve extra large screens mounted to metal brackets that could be swiveled. 

“Dad, can you get me something to drink and a snack, I’m hungry.”  Joe put a bag of popcorn in the microwave and got a Coke which he poured into an insulated cup that said, ‘Is it plugged in and turned on?’  As Paulo sat down he said, “Supplies are in the cabinets, manila folders and notepads in the upper cabinets, highlighters and Sharpies in the second drawer from the right, pens in the first.  There’s colored paper in the bottom, fill printer 1 with green for financials, 2 with blue for spread sheets, 3 with pink for files and 4 with white for emails, leave 5 white for any copies you need to make.”  The men hurried to follow his instructions.  “I’ll print the rest and also a set for each of you.  I’m going to open the financials.”

“Let’s organize ourselves,” Frank said as he saw how many emails there were.  “The Italians will sort them into alphabetical piles.  Papa Mike, they’ll give you any emails addressed to several names, you’ll make a copy for each name, highlight it, and then they’ll get sorted.  I’ll handle A-D, Joe E-H, Carlo I-L, Todd M-P, Phil Q-T, and Matt U-Z.  When we’re putting them in the folders, earliest emails go on the top.”  The men nodded and got the necessary supplies.

The women walked in carrying trays of beverages and snacks and after placing them on the countertop Gina said, “Is there anything we can do?” 

“We’re sorting the emails,” Carlo replied pointing to the files.  “Once that’s done, I’ll call you and we’ll read them, then we’ll go through the files so we have a better understanding of the players.  Can you tell the youngsters what’s going on?  We left in such a hurry they’re probably wondering.”

Gina nodded, “Let us know when you need us.” 

Carlo nodded and turned to Frank and Joe, “I’m contacting the other Level 4’s.  There’s too much to tell them over the bond, I’d rather they read it directly.”  They nodded and sent a message to their mates to expect more company.  “Paulo, we’ll need six more sets of emails.”    

*****

Erin was looking at the display cases at Fred’s in amazement.  Her entire life the only ice cream she’d been allowed had been vanilla and chocolate but since they moved here she had tried strawberry and rocky road.  What was displayed in front of her was beyond anything she could have imagined and she had no idea what to choose.  Then her eyes lit up even further when she saw the menu board with the list of toppings for sundaes…who knew they had this many. 

Lorenzo saw her conflict and whispered, “Go sit, I’ll order.”  He pointed to a table in the corner and as she walked away her hand slipped out of his, immediately feeling the loss he was tempted to call her back.  Feeling more confused than ever, he shook  his head to clear his thoughts before he explained to Amy what he wanted; hiding her smile, she said it’d be ready in a couple of minutes.  Uneasy about leaving her alone even if she was within his sight, he hurried to the table and sat next to her draping his arm possessively over the back of her chair as if it was the most natural thing in the world.  Seeing her shiver in the cool room, he took his hoodie off and handed it to her, and put his arm over her chair again.

She put it on and smiled shyly before saying, “Thank you.”  He watched as she closed her eyes and pulled the neck of the hoodie to her nose before rubbing it against her cheek.  Knowing she was scenting it, he growled low in his throat and closed his eyes as his wolf started to pace back and forth, throwing his head in the air.  For some strange reason, this felt right to him but he wasn’t sure why.

The others sat down with huge sundaes and talked excitedly about the games before stopping as Amy and Fred set two trays in front of Erin and Lorenzo.  There were small cups with two scoops of each flavor of ice cream and in medium bowls there was sauces - hot fudge, butterscotch, caramel, marshmallow, strawberry and peach; and toppings - chocolate shavings, sprinkles, peanuts, brownie bites, Reese’s pieces, M & M’s, crumbled Oreo’s, vanilla wafers and whipped cream.    

“I knew you couldn’t decide, so I got a sampler and next time we come you can order what you like,” Lorenzo said with an uncertain smile.  Erin burst into tears and he frowned and said in a biting tone, “You don’t like it?  Fuck it.  Even when I try to do something nice, you fucking cry.  I can’t win with you.” He pushed his chair back and stood, hands fisted at his side as he said, “I’ll wait outside.”

He strode out the door, anger apparent in every step and there was silence at the table before Gianni said quietly, “I know Lorenzo can be an ass, but he’s trying Erin.  I don’t see what he did wrong but maybe I’m missing something.”

“He didn’t… do anything wrong… I’m such… an idiot… but it was… so sweet that he… did that…and I messed…everything up again…by crying…,” Erin said between sobs and hiccups.  “Get him…tell him… I loved it…and I’m sorry.”  She got up and ran to the bathroom, followed by the other girls.

“Well, do we get him now or do we eat first?” Damian asked as he ate his apple pie sundae.  The boys looked at him and he said, “What??  Its ice cream for fucks sake, it’ll melt and if it melts it turns into milk soup and then what’s the point?”

Anthony grinned and got up, “I’ll get him.”  He didn’t see Lorenzo near the vehicles so he scented the air and followed that around the side of the building to see him hitting his head against the wall.  “Let’s talk.”

Lorenzo stared at him before sliding down the wall to a crouching position and sighed, “What did I do to make her cry now Ant?  I’m trying, really trying here, so tell me what the fuck I did.”

Anthony leaned against the wall and said in a calm tone, “She didn’t cry because she was upset or mad Lorenzo.  She was crying because she was happy.”  Seeing his look of disbelief, Ant told him what happened after he left. 

Lorenzo was silent for a couple of minutes and his head hung down as he whispered, “What the hell is the matter with me Ant?  I know I’m a moody bastard, but lately I’ve been all over the place, going from happy to ready to rip somebody’s head off in the blink of an eye.  My wolf isn’t much better either; he’s either rolling around on his back or snarling and pacing back and forth.”

Anthony looked at the tortured expression on his face and debated what to tell him, “You have to follow what your instincts and your wolf are telling you my friend.  Why don’t we go for a run after we drop Erin and Caitlin off?  Maybe that’ll help get you in touch with your wolf.”

“Maybe I just need to get laid, it’s been weeks,” Lorenzo said with a sigh.  “After we drop the girls off maybe Gianni, Marcus, Damian and I could go out.”

Anthony shook his head, knowing Lorenzo would hate himself for doing that after he realized Erin was his mate.  “Let’s go for a run instead, your wolf needs it.”

Lorenzo nodded, “You’re probably right, the thought of some strange piece of tail is getting my wolf agitated, which is confusing me even more.  You know how we’ve been taught to keep a balance between our two halves and not let one totally rule the other?”  He leaned his head back staring at the darkened sky and took a deep breath.  “I’m just so on edge and I don’t understand why.  I feel like my wolf is going to break out any minute and I keep pushing him back but it’s getting harder and harder to control him and I’m scared of what he’s going to do Ant.”  

“I get like that when I’m around Sophia,” Anthony said as he ran his hands through his hair.  “Dad said it’s because my wolf wants out to claim what’s his.”  He looked at Lorenzo hoping he would take the hint; he wanted to tell him Erin was his mate but knew he couldn’t.  He wasn’t sure why but his dad had told them their wolf would let them know who their mate was when they were ready and nobody was to interfere, they had to figure it out on their own.

“Yeah, but you two are intendeds.  Erin and I…hell, I don’t even think we’re friends,” muttered Lorenzo as Ant stared at him wondering if there was anybody in the world as hard-headed and dense as Lorenzo and realized Damian was just as bad.  They stayed quiet letting the sounds of the nearby woods soothe them for almost five minutes before they scented Alberto coming around the corner. 

“You guys okay?  Ant, I brought your sundae and Lorenzo, here’s the one Erin made for you,” he said as he handed them to the boys. 

Lorenzo looked at his sundae and smiled, it had everything he liked; mint chocolate chip ice cream, brownie bites, hot fudge, marshmallow and whipped cream.  “She made this for me?  How’d she know what I liked?”

“Sometimes you’re really stupid,” Alberto said with a sigh.  “She’s with your family dumbass, so how the fuck do ya think she found out?”  A sheepish smile crossed Lorenzo’s face as he began to eat.  “Go inside; Erin’s having a blast trying everything.  You did good Carlucci; don’t blow it by being stubborn.” 

Lorenzo began to smirk, “I did, didn’t I?  Come on; I need more brownies.”  Ant and Alberto rolled their eyes as they noticed his cocky arrogant swagger present once again as he walked around the side of the building.  As soon as he stepped inside the door he noticed Erin was laughing and talking to Victor and his eyes narrowed as he noticed his brother was in his seat and he let out a growl.   

Victor paled, “I’m only helping with flavor combinations.  Honest.” 

Lorenzo said in a cool even tone, “Get the fuck out of my seat.”  Victor jumped up and moved quickly to his seat between Maria and Angelo.  Lorenzo calmly sat down and glanced at the trays asking quietly, “You like it?”  

“Thank you, it’s the best thing ever,” she answered, excitement filling her sparkling grey eyes.  “You’re so sweet to do this and I’m sorry I started to cry but it surprised me and I was so happy, I just kinda got all jumbled inside.” 

Lorenzo put his arm over the back of her chair and whispered, “I may be a lot of things shortcake, but I’m definitely not sweet.”  He leaned back and raked her with his eyes and let out a growl, “Now you on the other hand, are pretty fuckin sweet.”  He started to laugh as a blush covered her face.  “Come on; let’s finish this before the others eat your ice cream.” 

*****

Carmelo, Vinnie and Ed along with their Italian cousins arrived within minutes of each other and Annie brought them straight to Paulo’s office.  As Carlo updated them, Paulo shouted, “ALPHA CARLO… I found the money… 600 fucking mil… I’m printing the statement.  What do you want me to do?”

“Can you empty the account without them knowing where the money went?” Carlo asked as he moved across the room to stand behind Paulo.

Paulo grinned and they watched screen after screen appear on the monitors.  “Done.  I left the initial deposit, they probably have a hard copy, but all subsequent transactions have been wiped.  When someone tries to access the account, a trace program’ll send an alert to us.  I kept a 20% finders fee and for the balance, set up an account to look like a long-standing one, with deposits and withdrawals going back ten years.  Papers will be ready to send to President Roberts tomorrow; they’ll verify the authenticity of the account as well as his password so he can access it.”

Carlo nodded, “What did you do with the 120 mil?”

“Deposited it into the account I set up for our escape, figured it would be the best use for the money,” Paulo said with a shrug as Carlo nodded in approval.

“Apparently not all Carlucci’s are as stupid as we thought,” said Dante with a smile as he glanced at Frank, Joe, Ric and Rocco.

In unison all four said, “Fuck you Dante.”

“Look at last week’s deposits,” Paulo said pointing to the screens. “There was a 4 mil deposit on Saturday and a 20 mil deposit on Tuesday. I’m going to run a trace to see where they originated.”  Ten minutes later he shouted, “GOT IT.” 

“The Bank of Stirling,” Dante said as gasps were heard and he quickly told everyone else what his Archivist found out.  Paulo turned back to the computer letting the sounds of the men talking become background music as he looked at the financials and made a note to look into the de Moray family. 

*****

Ant and Alberto pulled in the Millers driveway and after Erin unlocked the door and disabled the alarm everyone entered the house laughing and talking excitedly before she reset the alarm.  As they walked down the hall they saw Todd’s empty study and quieted down noting the silence surrounding them.  Hearing sounds coming from the back of the house, they moved towards the family room and stopped at the scene in front of them; the room was empty but the TV was on, textbooks were lying opened on the floor, drinks and snacks were on the table, and laptops were running.  Gianni looked around and said excitedly, “I’ve seen this on TV… I think they were abducted by aliens.  Damn, that’d be so cool and we missed it.”

“Fuck that.  I don’t want to get probed.  And what the hell is up with that?  If aliens are so intelligent why do they keep probing people?” Damian asked waving his arms around before he started to laugh. 

The youngsters stared at him and Ant said, “You’re seriously disturbed Carlucci.  Our families are missing, and you’re on a rant about getting probed?”

“I’m imagining the ass whoopin E.T. is gonna get when he tries that on Alpha Carlo, Dad or Uncle Frank,” said Damian as he began to laugh harder

“Fuck that, could you imagine the beating Madame Gina, Mom or Aunt Annie would inflict on them?  Those aliens would leave and never come back,” said Gianni as he began to laugh and was soon followed by the other boys.

“If you bunch of idiots are done laughing, we need to go to Uncle Joe’s,” said Sophia with a long suffering sigh. 

“Why do we have to go there?” asked Lorenzo with a frown.

She sighed loudly again, “Cause I asked Daddy where they were, you idiot.  You didn’t ask?”  He shrugged and she rolled her eyes.   

Erin looked at Lorenzo with a grin as she whispered, “I’m glad you’re good looking, because you’re really not that smart, are you?”

“You think I’m good looking?” he asked with a smirk as Erin blushed.

“Face it bro, she only thinks you’re good looking because you’re my twin, and we all know I’m the best looking Carlucci,” Damian said with a big grin as Caitlin rolled her eyes.  “And in case you missed it, she said you’re not that smart.”

“Leave her alone,” growled Lorenzo as he pulled Erin to his side.  “And what do you mean I’m not smart?  I have a 3.96 GPA.” 

“Okay, you’re smart, but you have no common sense,” Erin said with a giggle.  “As soon as I saw the empty room, I contacted Daddy.”

“I did too,” said Maria with a shrug.  “Daddy wants us to bring his and Uncle Frank’s SUVs over to the house.”

Anthony was quiet before he looked at everyone, “Paulo cracked the code and they need to talk to us.”  The youngsters cleaned up before walking outside.  Ant told everybody which vehicles to get in since they had the extra vehicles plus Lorenzo’s truck and minutes later they were pulling in front of Joe’s garage.

Annie looked at the youngsters as they walked into the kitchen and said, “Those aren’t the outfits you left in boys, what happened?” 

Vin and Dom turned from the fridge and saw the guilt in the boys’ eyes.  Vin stared at them and said in a menacing voice eerily similar to his Dad’s, “Did we or did we not tell you to behave yourselves?”  The boys glanced at each other before lowering their eyes to avoid looking at the two oldest Carlucci’s.  “Are you going to tell us what happened?  Or do we have to beat it out of you?”

“I’d pay money to see that since you two can’t take all of them at once,” Sophia said with a smirk before looking at her intended and raking him with her eyes.  She turned to her oldest brothers and their resemblance was uncanny as they glared at each other, “And I know the two of you combined can’t take Anthony, he’s too big and strong.”  Ant’s eyes flickered amber and he let out a low growl as he and his wolf reveled in the fact their mate was acknowledging their superior strength.

“Last time we sparred, Sophia and I took your ass down.  Remember?” Maria asked with a wicked half smile that mirrored the one on Damian’s face and muffled laughter was heard from the boys before a glare from Vin quieted them. 

“You got lucky Pipsqueak,” retorted Vin with a frown.  “I told Dad and Uncle Joe it’s not right to spar against you two.  We’re supposed to protect you for fucks sake, not try and hurt you… and good try with the distraction, but it didn’t work.  Somebody better start talking NOW.”  The youngsters were quiet and Vin turned to the weakest links – Erin and Caitlin and stared until they started to squirm.

“We had ice cream,” Erin blurted out unable to stand the pressure.

“We got to the movies late,” added Caitlin as she blushed.

Vin’s smile was triumphant, “Why did you get ice cream?  Why were you late?  Why are the boys in different clothes?  And where are Pat and Bob?”

Sophia rolled her eyes, “Stop the inquisition Dad.  We were late because Gabby joined us, the boys changed because Lorenzo spilt his snacks, we left the movie because there was too much fighting, Pat and Bob went home because the date was over and it was early so we decided to get ice cream.  Satisfied?”

“No,” Vin and Dom answered as they crossed their arms over their chests.

“Well too bad, because I’m done talking about it,” Sophia said with a shrug as the older women put their heads down to hide their grins.  “All you need to know is we had a first date none of us will ever forget.”  The youngsters looked at each other and burst out laughing while Vin and Dom scowled.

“Boys, leave them be,” admonished Rose with a smile. 

“No, they’re hiding something and I’m going to find out what the fuck it is,” Dom said with a mutinous expression as he looked at his mother. 

“We’re handling the situation,” Frank said with a frown as he walked into the kitchen and the younger boys paled.  He saw the smiles on the girl’s faces and said in a gentle tone, “How was the date?”

“It was wonderful Daddy, we had a good time, it was the perfect first date,” Sophia said as she gave him a hug.  The girls smiled and nodded in agreement.

“That’s all that matters,” Frank said with a smile before looking at the boys and narrowing his eyes.  “The rest will be taken care of at the lake.”

“Sorry guys,” Lorenzo said as Anthony opened the bond.  “I’ll talk with Uncle Frank and Dad later and tell them it was my fault.”

“We’re all to blame,” Marcus responded with a sigh.  “We knew you were acting like an ass and kept annoying you.  Though the fight was fun, we need to do that more often; it was a good way to let off some steam.”

“Just not when we’re on a date with our intendeds,” Alberto said as his smile was replaced with a frown as he saw a flash of pain cross Maria’s face and her family turned their attention to her.  He noticed her swollen fingers and growled low in his throat as he scooped her in his arms and set her in the recliner.  Hollering for Annie to bring ice and her meds, he gently placed a pillow under her casted arm to elevate it.  “Why didn’t you let me know your arm was hurting Gattina?” 

She sighed and leaned into his chest as he knelt next to the recliner, “It’s okay.  I think I might have just overdone it a little.”

Joe ran down the hallway snapping at Annie, “I knew it was a bad idea for her to go to the game and then on a date.  It was too much too soon, she should be resting.”  He glared at Alberto until he moved and knelt down to examine his daughters arm, frowning when he saw the swelling and slight bruising.

“Calm down Joe,” said Annie with a frown.  “She’s fifteen, not two.  If something is bothering her, she can tell us.” 

Seeing his concern, Maria closed her eyes wondering how to tell him how badly it hurt and that it had been aching for a month, even before she broke it the first time.  Several minutes went by as she thought it over and decided to ask Doctor Parr when she saw him; she opened her eyes and asked quietly, “Daddy, can I have my meds?  It’s sore and I promise I’ll rest and let it heal.”

Joe took the juice out of Rose’s hands and Annie gave her the pain meds.  “Do you want to stay here, or do you want me to carry you upstairs?”

“Stay here Daddy, it feels better if it’s propped up and I don’t move much,” she said snuggling against her Dad as he stroked her hair.  As she began to relax her eyes snapped open when she felt somebody slip off her shoes and saw Damian putting on her favorite fuzzy socks, Gianni with a cup of hot chocolate, Sal with her favorite snack - sliced apples with honey and Lorenzo holding a pillow.

“I’ll lay down with her and help her relax,” Sophia said softly as she kicked off her heels.  The boys moved out of her way as she snuggled next to her cousin before Victor covered them with the blanket from her bed.

Vin scowled at the boys, “This is what I’m talking about.  Did you pay attention to her and make sure she was okay?  Or where you too busy focusing on yourselves and whatever the hell you were doing?”  He turned to Alberto and narrowed his eyes, “And you’re supposed to be her mate and…”

“Hold the fuck up Vin.  I know you’re not implying I neglected my mate and caused her harm.  I would never do anything to hurt her and you fucking know that,” Alberto said in a near roar as he stepped aggressively towards his friend and they heard the men running down the hall.  “And what the fuck do you mean ‘supposed’ to be her mate?  She IS my mate.”

Carlo, Carmelo, Frank and Joe stepped between them and Joe looked at his nephew, “Vincent, you know better than to accuse a male of hurting their mate.  I know Alberto would never hurt my daughter.”

“Thank you Poppa Joe.  You know she means everything to me, without her I have nothing,” Alberto said with a frown as he looked at his father in law. 

“You have a funny way of showing it,” Dom said before he turned to his brothers and cousins.  “And the bunch of you are worse, he’s only cared about her for a few weeks.  She’s your fucking family, I expect...”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Maria interrupted with a sigh.  “The boys didn’t do anything wrong, it’s my fault for not taking my medicine but I didn’t want to because it makes me sleepy.”  She looked at Alberto and smiled, “I wanted this date to be perfect and it was.”

Vin snorted, “Perfect my ass.  It sounds like a fucking disaster, you were ignored by your mate, I can tell Erin was crying because her eyes are red and Mom said Anthony ruined another one of Sophia’s dresses.”  He turned to Caitlin, “And what happened to you?  What’s your part in this so called perfect date?”  Not knowing what to say she buried her face in Damian’s chest.

“Vin, I’m warning you you’d better leave Caitlin alone.  She’s not used to you and your overbearing bossy manner,” growled Damian as his arms encircled her.  “She’s sweet and gentle and doesn’t deserve this from you…so leave her the fuck alone.”  He continued to glare at his cousin as his wolf started to prowl back and forth, angry because the female in his arms was upset and he didn’t like it.

“Enough, I’m not sure why you’re acting like a dick, but I don’t appreciate it.  You know we’d never do anything to hurt our intendeds,” said Anthony in a firm tone.  Opening the bond to Vin and Dom he continued, “Look at your cousins and you’ll see what I’m talking about.” They swung their heads to see Lorenzo holding Erin tightly to his side and Damian holding Caitlin while he whispered to her.  “They don’t realize they’re mates, but they and they’re wolves are extremely protective of the girls.  They’re ready to strike out and they’re gonna come hard because their wolves are gonna feel the two of you are threatening their mates.”

A smile crossed Vin’s face as he said, “I thought that’s what the problem was with Lorenzo, but I didn’t realize Damian and Caitlin were mates.  What happened this evening?”  Ant told him about the date and Vin nodded, “Yep, they’re definitely mates.  I wonder how long it’ll take him to realize?”

“From the looks of it, it won’t be long,” Dom said with a smile as Lorenzo began to run his hand up and down Erin’s arm in a reassuring gesture. 

Seeing things calming down, Frank said, “Boys get refreshments, we’ve got a couple things to do then we’ll talk with everyone.”  They nodded before heading into the kitchen, coming back with drinks, chips, cookies, cheese and crackers.  They began to talk in low murmurs as the adults headed back to Paulo’s office.

“Why did Anthony wait so long to diffuse the situation?” asked Todd as he picked up his papers.  “And what the hell happened tonight?”

“Think back to when you were a teenager.  Those feelings of having to prove you’re becoming a man, finding your place in Pack hierarchy mixed in with out of control hormones,” Carmelo began with a smile.  “So when an argument breaks out there’s a lot of posturing, and heated emotions rising to the surface especially when it involves   the Carlucci’s, my boys and Anthony.” 

“When Anthony and The Clan argue it’s like an explosion and you try to avoid the fallout,” Vinnie said as Paulo quietly laughed.  “Its worse when they’re arguing with somebody else, then it’s the thirteen of them against whoever they’re having a problem with.  Well, with Alberto’s declaration, it’s fifteen now.”

“No matter how upset we get with each other, we stand together against everyone else,” Paulo said as he looked at Todd and Papa Mike before he smiled.  “If you think our tempers are bad, Sophia and Maria are worse; they scare the fuck out of us.  They got a full dose of the Vitti temper from our moms and when they get mad it’s not an explosion it’s a nuclear blast.”

“Unfortunately, I have to agree,” Frank said with a grin.  “When our mates are in a snit, Joe and I head to the barn and work on our cars or contact Carlo or Carmelo and hide out with them somewhere.”

Joe snorted and said, “Wait until you meet our in-laws and you’ll understand why they act that way.  Ray is a hard formidable man with no sense of humor and taught Rose and Annie to fight like men.  Their mother looks sweet but she’d as soon tell you to fuck off as say hello and she taught them not to take any shit from anybody.  That combined with the Vitti temper is a bad combination.”

“The Vitti’s in Italy are just as bad,” Dante said with a serious expression giving Luc a side glance.  As hard as he tried, he couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face as he saw Luc scowling.  “They are hot-headed and the smallest insult will make them lash out without thought of the consequences...”   Luc’s phone interrupted Dante and he began to scowl as a familiar song played as the ring tone. 

A smile crossed Luc’s face before he replaced it with a scowl, “Gentlemen, excuse me, I have a business call I need to deal with.  Joe, I will use your study.”  Without waiting for a reply he turned on his heel and exited the room.

Dante narrowed his eyes and waited several moments before saying in a firm tone, “Put Joe’s study on the monitor.”  Paulo hesitated for a moment before the six screens on the left were filled with Luc’s image as he sat on the sofa. 

The men gathered around and Joe said in a low tone, “Click the audio on.”

Paulo swallowed noisily and said, “Ugh, you think we should do that Dad?  It’s an awful invasion of privacy.”

“Of course we should,” Dante said with an evil smile.  “The bastard has been hiding his mate from us and I want to find out why…and to confirm my suspicion as to who it is.”  Joe nodded to the door and Frank quickly closed it, knowing their mates would throw a fit if they knew what was going on.

“If any of the women come in, kill everything,” Joe said quietly and Paulo nodded.  Excited whispers could be heard as Paulo clicked the audio on and in the reflection of the monitors he could see the gleeful expressions on their faces.

“I miss you, Il mio amore (my love)… We are leaving Wednesday, but I am unsure of the time… I would love for you to meet us at the airport even if I cannot hold you or kiss you… I think of that day in the meadow too… (his voice was low and raspy) Lying there and holding you while we kissed for the first time, knowing I am the only man that will ever kiss you that way (he growled and ran his hand through his hair)… You have to stop talking like that, you have no idea what you do to me (he groaned and threw his head back)… The day after we get back tell your parents you are meeting a friend for lunch and we can be together… He has no idea, none of them do… I know you want to tell everyone but I explained that I want to wait until you are older and I am financially secure… Yes, I know I have millions in the bank, but that is family money, not money I earned … There is a difference… I want to prove to your father that I will be able to provide for you and the family we will have… Yes, I agree with you … No, he is your father and I will be held to higher standards because I am his only daughters mate… There will be some who believe I am with you because you are the Alpha’s daughter…”

“Son of a bitch, I knew it,” Dante hissed as everyone turned to him with their mouths open.  “I knew something was up with him and Catarina has been very evasive and sneaky for the last month.”  He took several deep calming breaths as the beer bottle in his hand shattered spraying beer and glass over those around him. 

They turned back to Luc, “I know they do not matter and I do not have to prove myself to you, but I have to prove myself to your father not to mention your brothers… Yes, graduating a year early from University with a degree in Finance counts… Being here has helped with my English; it is still very stiff and formal.  I am picking up local colloquialisms from Anthony and my cousins along with a more colorful vocabulary… (he started to laugh) No, I will not tell you the curse words I have learned…I love hearing your laugh and wish I was there with you…Only a couple more days and then you will be in my arms again…You never told me why you are awake so early… (he got up and paced, agitation apparent in every step) There had better not be any males around you, you are MINE…”

“Where the fuck is she going at 4:30 in the morning?” Dante asked with a scowl. 

“Who is going?... Stay with your family and Nonna… For fuck’s sake, you know I trust you, it is everyone else I do not trust … (laughs) Yes, that is one of the phrases I learned…I should go, they are waiting… I told them it was business… Have a good time at the Festival of Terracina… I love you with all my heart Dolcezza and I cannot wait until you are in my arms again.”  They watched as Luc put his cell in his pocket before throwing himself down on the sofa with a smile on his face. 

“Dante, what are you going to do?” asked Carlo as everyone turned to him.

An evil grin crossed Dante’s face, “Torture the little bastard of course.”  Matching grins came over the men’s faces as he explained his plan.   

“You guys are really cruel,” Paulo said as he shook his head.  “I can’t believe you’re going to do that to Luc.” 

Joe smiled and said, “Are you going to say anything?”

“Hell no.  I just want it on record that I was against this… for when Mom and Aunt Rose find out and the shit hits the fan,” Paulo said with a laugh before turning back to his keyboard.  The men watched as Luc got up and they quickly went back to filing as Paulo killed the video feed and Frank opened the door.

Luc couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he walked into the kitchen and got a beer out of the fridge.  After taking a long pull he noticed the women staring at him with knowing smiles as Gina said quietly, “How is Catarina?”

“Excuse me?” he murmured as he began to flush and he could feel sweat starting to bead on his forehead.

“I had an interesting chat with Calinda earlier,” Gina answered with a smile.

Luc took a calming breath, “What did my Madame Alpha say?  I hope everyone is well, Nonna didn’t say anything was wrong when I spoke to her.”

“Everyone is fine, but you know that, don’t you?” Gina replied and watched Luc begin to squirm.  “She received a call from a specialty shop in Rome, that her special order was ready.  She couldn’t remember ordering anything but sent someone to get it and was surprised when she opened the package.”

Luc chugged the rest of his beer and got another, drinking half of that before he said in a calm controlled voice, “Was it a surprise present Alpha Dante ordered for her birthday?  He will be upset if she saw it beforehand.”

“No, as a matter of fact it was something Catarina ordered,” murmured Gina as she began to smirk.  Seeing the perplexed look on his face, she leaned forward, “It was personalized stationary… with the name Catarina Vitti on it.”  Luc’s bottle slammed down onto the counter as he began to choke on the beer he just drank.  She smiled broadly, “Relax.  She hasn’t told Dante… yet.” 

He let out a deep sigh and looked down at his shoes, “I should be getting back to the room; they will wonder where I am.”  The sounds of the women’s laughter stopped him as he walked down the hallway and he took several deep breaths to compose himself before he walked into Paulo’s office.

“Hey Mom, what was all that about?” asked Anthony as the youngsters stopped talking to hear the answer.

“Nothing, just talking to Luc,” replied Gina.

“Come on Mom, it sounded like more than that,” Anthony said in a wheedling tone as the youngsters started to laugh.

Gina stared at her son and the other boys, “If I was you, I’d be more concerned with the talk you’re going to have at the lake.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the boys said as they quieted down and Lorenzo said quietly, “We are so fucked.”

“We’re beyond fucked,” added Gianni with a sigh.

“If there’s a place beyond fucked, that’s where we are,” Marcus said as he leaned back on the sofa as the boys nodded in agreement.

“We’re so far beyond fucked, we’re gonna need a homing pigeon because I don’t even think the best damn GPS on the market can find a way to save our sorry asses,” Damian said with a smirk as the youngsters laughed.    

“Watch your language,” admonished Annie with a glare at the boys.  “I know you’ve corrupted Sophia and Maria and Luna only knows how you talk to each other over the bond, but be respectful around the Miller girls.”

Holly started to laugh quietly and said in a whisper, “I will say your boys have a way with words.  I’ve never heard ‘fuck’ used in so many ways before.” 

Rose grimaced, “We don’t even pay attention anymore.  The only time we notice is when Sophia or Maria drop the F bomb.”  The women looked at the boys who were arguing which TV cop show was the best.  The Millers sat quietly as the argument got louder and louder as Sophia, Maria and Gabby joined in.

“All of you are wrong,” Kelly said as she began to blush.  The room quieted down as she continued, “It’s got to be ‘NCIS’.”

“I wouldn’t mind getting arrested by DiNozzo if it meant he frisked me…” Erin stopped as Lorenzo growled loudly startling her. 

He stared at her possessively and snapped, “No one is gonna get close enough to frisk you…EVER.”  Erin smiled shyly as he continued to growl before pulling her closer to his side and draping his arm over her shoulders. 

“It’s because it has Mark Harmon in it.  He’s the best looking man I’ve ever seen,” Caitlin said with a deep sigh as Damian began to growl.

“He’s a hundred fifty fuckin years old,” muttered Damian with a scowl as the other boys grinned at his obvious jealousy.

“He’s timeless,” Caitlin answered with another sigh.  “He’s got the elegance of Cary Grant, the ruggedness of John Wayne, the comedic genius of Bob Hope, a smoldering bad boy vibe like James Dean tempered with a sense of right and wrong like James Stewart.  In other words…he’s perfect.”

“Perfect my fucking ass,” muttered Damian as he continued to scowl before saying in an angry voice, “Let’s watch a movie.”  As he put the movie in the DVD player Sal dimmed the lights and the music from ‘Jaws’ began playing.

“Is it scary?” asked Maeve as she burrowed closer to her twin.

“Kinda, I’m here if you get scared,” Enzo answered as he moved to the floor near her feet, Gino moved to sit near Fiona and the two young girls visibly relaxed; taking their cue, the boys moved closer to their charges.  Vin and Dom took advantage of the darkened room and pulled Brianna and Morgan in between their outstretched legs, settling them against their chests as they watched the movie.

In Paulo’s office, no one had spoken and the tension was mounting minute by minute, finally after ten minutes Dante said, “Was there a problem with RI?”

Luc lowered his eyes, “No Sir, I thought it was business but it was personal.”  The men began to talk about the game and the Meet ‘n Mingle.

Ed shrugged, “Beatrice hasn’t found her mate yet and she turned eighteen last month.  I’m worried, but she says he’ll find her when he’s ready.”

“I’m sure she’s right and his wolf isn’t ready but I’ll talk to Gina, she’s pretty good about these things,” Carlo said in a concerned tone.  “Dante, I know you’re worried Cat hasn’t found her mate yet either and I have an idea.  Why don’t you have a Meet ‘n Mingle at The Castle, one Pack at a time?  If she doesn’t find her mate in an Italian Pack, expand it to Europe.” 

Luc began flexing his hands as Dante said with a shrug, “I am in no hurry for her to find her mate.  She will probably end up with someone who gets on my fucking nerves and is a pain in my ass.  You know the type I am talking about, an arrogant little bastard who has shit for brains and no sense of decorum.”

Todd nodded, “I know exactly what you’re saying.  I was worried about my girls finding mates in our old Pack.”  He turned to Frank and smiled, “Except for the fact Vin and Dom can’t stop slobbering on my daughters, I’m happy.”

Frank grimaced, “I’m not looking forward to that.”

“With Anthony being a blood born Alpha, he’ll feel stronger emotions than the other boys and his wolf will want to claim her before anyone else has a chance,” Carlo said in a quiet voice.  “I remember when I made my declaration for Gina.  Those eleven months were the longest eleven months in my life.  Anthony has three years to wait and I don’t know how he’s going to do it.”

“The same goes for Alberto,” Carmelo said with a sigh.  “I had to wait six months for Rita and it drove me insane.” 

“This is why I do not want my daughter to find her mate.  All the problems you are having, I would rather not deal with,” Dante said with a shudder.  “I am thinking of sending her to Vitorchiano until she turns twenty one.”  He had to turn away from Luc to hide his smile as he heard the younger man gasp.  “The estate is four hours away, extremely remote and the population in the nearby town is less than 4,000.  Naturally, I would provide guards with families but I would make sure there was an absence of any hormone fueled male Were around her and will tell her guards not to allow any visitors, even family friends.”

Luc visibly paled and Ric coughed to hide his laughter before saying, “I think that’s a great idea, you can’t be too careful with her.  Who knows what any perspective suitor would do to get close to her and of course your business.”

“I wouldn’t trust any male that said he was her mate,” added Rocco with a scowl.  “She is extremely beautiful but naïve and could be taken advantage of by someone unscrupulous.”  Luc began taking deep angry breaths, his hands fisted at his sides and the men put their heads down so he wouldn’t notice their smiles.

“Exactly my point,” said Dante with a frown that was at odds with the gleam in his eyes.  “Screw it, I am going to call Cal and tell her to send Cat tomorrow.”

Luc’s eyes began to shift to amber and he turned to Dante and said in a snarl, “You are not sending my mate away.  SHE IS MINE.”

The men stared as Dante said in a hard demanding tone, “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.  She is mine.  You are not taking her away from me,” Luc snapped as his eyes continued to flick to amber. 

Dante stared at the younger man and Luc didn’t back down, after several minutes Dante smiled and said, “It is about time you admitted it, you little bastard.  I was wondering when you would make your declaration.”

“You… you knew?” Luc asked as he looked around the room and saw the smiles on the men’s faces.

“I suspected when you started to act strangely towards each other and it was made worse with your reluctance to join the Meet ‘n Mingle,” Dante said with a shrug.  “But it was the phone call, with my daughter’s favorite song as the ringtone that confirmed it… that and listening to your conversation.”

“I should have remembered the security system and gone outside,” Luc said with a frown.  He looked down at the floor and asked quietly, “Are you upset with the mate Luna picked for your daughter?”

Dante closed his eyes as images of Luc’s father, Emilio, flashed through his mind and though years had passed and their retribution had been swift, it had done nothing to dull the pain.  The images wouldn’t stop and Dante closed his eyes even tighter as he savored each and every one of them; he, Ric, Rocco and Emilio, the four of them always together as they grew from little ones to men with families of their own.  Opening his eyes he looked at Luc and the resemblance between father and son had unsettled him since Emilio’s death but now it put him at ease.

“Your father was one of my best friends and I loved him like he was my brother.  He would be as happy as I am for this declaration,” Dante said in a choked voice before embracing his future son in law.  Leaning back, but not letting go of Luc he said, “We heard what you said about having to prove yourself… you are the son of Emilio and Serafina Vitti but you are your own man.  You have more than proven your own worth and I am honored for you to be a member of my family.”

The men congratulated him with Ric and Rocco being the last.  “Even though Emilio was our Uncle, we were raised as brothers since he was only a year older,” Ric said as he began to tear up.  “Losing him was like losing a piece of myself.”

“We know we’ve been hard on you, but we treated you the same as our own sons and expected a lot from you.  Though we never told you, you’ve made us proud,” Rocco said with a frown.  “Now this doesn’t mean we’ll be easier on you because deep down you’re still a little arrogant bastard… but we do love you.”

“And if you tell anybody, we’ll beat the hell out of you,” added Ric with a smile.

Luc smirked and said in an arrogant condescending tone, “It would take the two of you to beat me.  You know I am younger and stronger thus I am superior.”

“And this is why we argue,” said Ric as he began to frown. 

Dante stepped between the three men, “Enough.  Let us finish sorting these papers so we can get started on the files.”

An hour later they finished and Joe said, “After listening to Luc, I have an idea.  We should make a weeks worth of recordings of The School House, our homes and businesses.  We’d need to sync up the TV, radio and lights too.”

Carlo began to smile, “I get it.  When Aldo lets us know it’s close to the time, we send the youngsters, women and The Elders to the safe room and play the recordings as if they were still doing their normal routines.”

“I can set that up using the security systems,” Paulo said as he opened a desk drawer pulling out a notebook.  “I’ll work on that next month.  I’ve got several things going on, the tracking devices which Sal’s helping with and Damian’s working on the schedule to install the security updates linking the cell phones.  I put him in charge because he’s good talking to people and he’s gonna go with me.”  He began to laugh, “For most of the installs, we’re having dinner or dessert with them.”  

Joe smiled and shook his head, “That boy is a menace.” 

“Like father, like son.”  Joe scowled as Carlo continued, “Let’s call the women.”  Joe handed out paper to write questions or details to be talked about later.  Minutes later they were reading over 400 emails, starting with the oldest and Carlo and Gina were the first to get to the most recent ones.  “SON OF A BITCH,” he roared and shifted into his black wolf throwing his head back howling angrily, the sound reverberating through the house and the ‘danger’ scent was released into the air.  They heard the sound of running and Carlo ran down the hallway followed by the others to see the boys with the girls slung over their shoulders racing down the basement stairs heading to the safe room. 

“I’ve got the door,” Victor shouted as the boys never slowed down and as the door to the safe room opened they were running through it.  Setting the girls gently on the bunks, Alberto made sure Maria’s arm was propped up as Vin locked the house down and Dom powered up the monitors.  

“What’s going on?” Anthony asked as he made sure all the girls were there.  Before anyone could answer, Carlo in wolf form went to each girl, starting with the youngest Millers, scenting them to make sure they were okay and to calm them down.  The last one was Sophia and after scenting her he licked her on the forehead in an affectionate gesture a father would do to soothe his young.  She laughed and he chuffed in answer before going into the back room to change into clothes he kept there.

“What’s going on?” Anthony repeated to the adults.

“We’ve been reading the emails,” Gina answered and saw Dante was still carrying his copies and motioned for him to give them to her.  “Last week, an email was sent to ‘The MasterMind’ confirming a second payment had been sent with delivery within eighteen months.  The rest of the email….”  She stopped and looked at her son before looking at Sophia and Maria, “states they now want both Carlucci’s as well as the rest of the girls and are offering 20 million dollars for their delivery.”

The boys immediately formed a protective barrier in front of the girls, the men began to fist their hands and their eyes turned amber as they fought off their shift.  Rose and Annie rolled their necks and took deep breaths like their father had taught them to calm down and Holly hugged Nana Ellen.

“The next email from ‘The MasterMind’ agrees to the terms and promises delivery of the Millers before June, and the rest of the girls by December, 2004,” Gina finished quietly as her eyes flickered between her soft brown and amber.  She looked at Todd and Holly, “Brianna and Morgan turn eighteen in June.”

Carlo walked into the room, “Until we read through and understand the emails, files and whatever the fuck is on that hard-drive, everything’s on hold.  We’ll cancel the boys training tomorrow, and have another Pack meeting.”  His eyes fell on the girls and he said in a voice full of anger, “They’ll never get close to you.” 

Maeve smiled and said in a low voice filled with confidence, “Remember when we were in the car and I told you I wasn’t scared anymore?  I’m still not scared because I know you and my Pack will protect me.”    

“Always,” Carlo answered as he smiled back.  He looked to the boys and said with a gleam in his eye, “I see whatever happened earlier didn’t interfere with your response time in getting the girls to safety.”

“No, Sir,” the boys responded as they put their heads down, shuffled their feet and furtively glanced at each other. 

“What’d I miss?” Paulo asked as he took in the guilty expressions on the younger boys.  Lorenzo explained what happened and the girls laughed quietly and the adults stared as Paulo’s eyebrows shot up, his mouth fell open and his eyes got wide.  “Damn, I’m almost sorry I stayed home.”

“Great poker face Doyle Brunson,” muttered Damian as he coughed to hide his laughter.  “It’s a good thing you didn’t come, this way you aren’t in trouble like us.  Congrats on cracking the code, I knew you could do it little brother.”

Paulo blushed and shoved his hands in his pockets, “It was a complicated code, but I’m upset with myself it took me so long.” 

“You cracked it before the IT Department from the Alpha Council,” Anthony said with a shrug.  “They’ve had it way longer than you.”   

“They don’t have my little brothers mad skills,” said Lorenzo proudly as Carlo told everyone to go back upstairs.  Four hours later, the youngsters had fallen asleep in the family room and the adults were still sorting the files and financials.  The amount of folders was overwhelming and they soon had to move some out to the kitchen where they covered the countertop and table.

“Alpha Carlo,” Paulo said excitedly as the adults gathered around.  “We found the source of their income or at least one of them.  It’s labeled ‘Trucking’, that’s slang for transporting drugs.  I’ll print everything, but it shows who they bought the drugs from including price and amounts; maps showing the routes they used for transport from the Mexican border through their territory; who they sold the drugs to including price and when it was sold; payment to the Pack members who participated.  Hold on.”  They watched as the deposit record for the bank in the Cayman’s appeared on the six right hand screens, “If you notice, there was a corresponding deposit made into the bank several days later.”

“President Roberts said there were a number of men that disappeared every Monday and didn’t come back until late Tuesday,” Carlo said as Paulo confirmed the dates.  He turned to Todd, “What’s the terrain like?”

“It’s a mountainous region, sparsely populated with few major highways,” Todd responded as Papa Mike nodded.  “It’s patrolled by DEA, local and state police due to smuggling and illegal immigration.  I can’t see them transporting this amount of drugs in a vehicle without getting caught.  And why would they need that many men if they had a truck?”

“They wouldn’t use trucks, at least not to transport the drugs through their territory,” Paulo said in a quiet voice.  “The logical thing would be for a couple men to meet the supplier and make the deal then go to a safe house where the rest of the men were waiting.  Once there, all the men except one would shift into their wolves and he’d strap the drugs to their back.  While they ran he’d be on nearby roads checking for patrols, anything unusual or to provide a distraction if necessary.  Once they reached their destination, he’d unstrap the drugs and they’d shift back to get ready for their buyer.”  The adults were staring at him in astonishment and Paulo shrugged, “If you think about it, it’s pretty fuckin brilliant.  If the truck gets stopped, the dogs they use would never alert to the drugs because it would be masked by the scent of wolves and it’d scare the hell out of them.  Plus, they’re looking for vehicles, not wolves.  Who in their right mind would think a bunch of Werewolves would be transporting drugs on their back through the mountains?”

Ed quietly said in a tone he used in the interrogation room, “How the hell would you know all of that?”

Paulo had a wicked grin on his face, “I’m a Carlucci, and it’s natural for us to look at things from a skewered perspective and think of ways to circumvent them or prevent them.”  He turned back to his computer while he laughed softly.

“Luna help us all, they’re getting more and more like Frank and Joe everyday,” muttered Vinnie as he looked at his Godson.

Frank, Joe, Annie and Rose looked at each other with pride in their eyes as Carlo said, “And that is why our Pack is strong and will stay strong.  The Rossi’s are the brains and brawn, while the Carlucci’s are overprotective, paranoid, psychotic and let’s be honest… they’re just downright fucking scary.”

“We’ll take that as a compliment,” Frank said with a grin.  “Ed, see what you can send to the DEA with as little details about Davis Pack as possible.  I’m sure they’ll be happy at least one supplier has been shutdown.”

“The DEA’ll be happy but Charles’ supplies and buyers won’t,” Ed replied.  “Paulo, do a search of the Were registry and see if any of them are on there.”

“Already done, none of them are,” Paulo said pointing to the bottom left monitor.  “Since they’re not part of the threat and are human, I’ll have their addresses, phone numbers, last 1040’s, bank, driving and phone records, criminal background check and anything else I can dig up in a couple of days.”

“I’m not even going to ask how you access official Government databases,” Ed said as he shook his head before looking at Joe.  “I’ll try and give you a warning when the warrant for his arrest comes past my desk from the cyber crimes unit.”

Paulo threw back his head and laughed, “Don’t worry about that Mr. G, I’ll know about it before you will … but if they ever detect me in their system and they run a trace it’ll bring them to Langley, VA then move onto other sites in DC.”

“The CIA?” Ed asked before he burst out laughing. 

Paulo shrugged, “They should buy their software from RI instead of developing their own.  What I’ve designed and licensed to RI is way beyond what they use.”  He turned back to his keyboard as Joe smiled at Ed.

Carlo glanced at the clock and saw it was 4 AM, “Most of us have been up almost twenty-four hours and if we don’t get some sleep, we’ll have trouble focusing.  We’ll meet here at noon.”  He turned to Carmelo and said, “Leave your youngsters here, no sense waking them up.”  Carmelo nodded and he, Ed, Vinnie and the Italians left after Frank disabled the security system.  Rose and Annie quickly stacked the folders in order and Joe locked them in the safe in his study.    

“You’re welcome to stay,” Joe said with a yawn.  “With the youngsters sleeping down here, all the bedrooms are empty.” 

“We’ll stay, my wolf is on edge and we don’t want to be far from the girls,” Carlo said with a frown before taking in the placement of the furniture and he began to smile.  The sofas and recliners were pushed to the back of the room and the girls were asleep on them while the boys were covering the floor in front of them.  He looked at his son and was surprised to see his eyes open.

Anthony, Vin, Dom, Alberto, Lorenzo and Damian silently got up and walked into the kitchen.  “Go to sleep, we’ve got things here,” Anthony said quietly but in a firm tone.  “It’s going to be a long day and you need some rest.”    

Dante nodded, “We’ll go to the carriage house.”  He grabbed the key off the wall and Ric, Rocco and Luc followed him into the backyard.

Carlo nodded and said, “Wake me if you need me.”  Frank and Joe made sure the house was secure before the adults went upstairs. 

The boys waited until their parents were gone before Ant asked, “How bad is it?”

“Bad.  Really bad,” Paulo motioned with his head towards his office and once there he quietly told them everything they had found and that only half of the files on the hard drive had been opened, plus he still had to open the hard drives on the other computers.  Yawning widely he said, “Oh, and Luc has a mate, it’s Cat.  I thought Alpha Dante was going to blow a gasket, but he’s cool with it.  I’ve got to get some sleep, I’m beat.”  They followed him back down the hall and Vin shut the lights off except for the bathroom so the Miller girls wouldn’t get scared.

Three hours later the girls woke and their movements and whispers woke the boys.  Telling them quietly their parents were asleep upstairs, Vin outlined their plans for the morning and the Millers eyes were filled with excitement.  Sophia and Maria brought the girls into the downstairs bathroom, giving them clothes from the laundry room and toothbrushes to clean up.  Thirty minutes later, the boys finished cooking breakfast and called the girls into the kitchen.  Warming trays of sausage patties, bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns, biscuits and pancakes were set on the breakfast bar and Vin said, “Grab a plate and eat.” 

“Oh, this is good.  Did you guys cook it?” Kelly asked as she ate hash browns mixed with onions, green and red peppers and chopped bacon.

“No, it’s takeout,” muttered Gianni sarcastically as he rolled his eyes before he began to smirk.  “You know damn well we cooked since you watched us.”

“I meant I can’t believe you all cooked because it’s really good,” she said before she began to blush. 

“That hurts, really hurts,” he replied as he clutched at his heart.

“A simple ‘Thank you for slaving for hours and hours for making me breakfast’, would have been sufficient and appreciated,” Damian said with a smile as he took a piece of bacon off Caitlin’s plate.

“Hours and hours?  How do you figure?” Caitlin asked as she watched Erin snatch a biscuit off Lorenzo’s plate as he growled at her.

“We had to gather the eggs, slaughter the pig, grind the wheat into flour, churn the butter, milk the cow, harvest the potatoes, onions and peppers, tap a tree for syrup, chop the wood,” Damian said with an exaggerated sigh as the boys began to laugh.  “I’m exhausted, so you all will have to do the dishes.”

Gabby smirked and walked to the trashcan pulling a wrapper out and holding it for everyone to see, “So which one of you is Bob Evans?”

“He’s our third cousin twice removed, great guy but a bit of a pig when he eats,” Damian said as he shoved a whole pancake in his mouth. 

“I smell food,” Paulo said sleepily as he walked into the kitchen and stretched.  The youngsters were quiet as he walked to the breakfast bar with his eyes cracked open and got a huge plate of food.  He went to sit down and heard a squeak and his eyes flew open, “I’m sorry Shannon, that’s where I usually sit.”

“It’s okay, let me move over,” she said with a smile as the youngsters slid over to make room for him. 

After they finished eating, Dom said, “While you do the dishes, we’ll get cleaned up.  DO NOT go outside.”  The girls nodded and ten minutes later the boys joined them dressed in basketball shorts and t-shirts.  “Okay, Vin, Ant, Lorenzo, Damian and I’ll check out the backyard.”  Paulo turned the alarm off, and they watched the guards slide back into the walls and the girls hurried to finish the dishes.   

“How is your arm this morning?” Alberto asked as he sat next to Maria at the table.  “Are you sure you’re up to what Vin has planned?”

“I’m fine,” she responded as she snuggled into his side.  “Sophia told me to use a sling so it won’t get as swollen and sore.  Could you help me put it on?”  She handed him a sling Michael had used years ago when he dislocated his shoulder.  She smiled as she felt Alberto’s fingers tremble as they moved her hair out of the way before moving down her back to straighten the strap and fabric.  “That feels good when you touch me like that,” she whispered and heard his loud gulp.  

“You’re killing me Gattina,” Alberto whispered hoarsely.

“Alberto, anytime you’re done perving on my sister, we’re ready,” Lorenzo said with a scowl as Alberto jumped and almost fell off the bench much to the delight of the girls who started to laugh.

“The yard’s clear,” Vin said as he turned to his cousin.  “Maria, I want you to rest on the patio or the loungers.  Make sure you bring something to support your arm, something to drink, and did you take your medicine?”

“Yes Dad,” she replied in a huff.  “I also made the potty.”

Vin burst out laughing and leaned down, kissing her on the forehead, “Okay smartass, you know I’m just worried.”  Alberto growled and moved her gently into his side and scented her as she caressed his arm to reassure him. 

When they were outside Ant said, “Angelo and Victor, patrol the woods in wolf form.”  They ran to the pool house and when they came out Victor play bowed nipping at Angelo’s paw and ran towards the tree line as Angelo watched for a few seconds before taking off in pursuit.  “Sal, Alberto keep an eye on the front and side yard.”  They nodded and headed to the corners of the house.

Ant told the girls to leave their shoes on the patio and to follow him down to the yard.   Sophia and Gabby lead the warm-ups and the boys made adjustments to their charges movements.  “Okay, we’re going to work on offense then defense.”  The two girls demonstrated while the boys continued to make adjustments, always being positive and offering encouragement.  “Now comes the fun part.”  He instructed the twins to pair up and moved them so they had a good view of Sophia and Gabby.  “You’re going to start lightly sparring.  Using the moves we’ve shown you, the older twin will use offense while the younger uses defense.  Follow what Sophia and Gabs are doing.  They’ll show you how it’s done, and then you do it until you’re proficient with it.”  The boys stood behind them adjusting their arms, shoulders and body placement until the girls were comfortable then they stepped away to watch.

“You’re doing well, we’ll take a break and then switch up,” Anthony motioned to the patio and the boys brought out pitchers of sweet tea and water and the girls eagerly sat down in the shade to rest.

Fiona asked quietly, “Anthony, how are we doing?”

“You’re doing really well,” he said as he filled Sophia’s glass with more sweet tea.   “I don’t know how much you know of Were culture, but the young inherit their father’s skill.  Your father’s a Level 4, so you inherently have a natural aptitude; we just have to refine your skills.”

“If we inherit our father’s fighting ability, what do we inherit from our mothers?” asked Aislin before she began to blush.

Maria and Sophia smiled as Gabby said, “Luckily, their intellect.  The women are the brains behind the men’s brawn.”  The girls high-fived while the boys rolled their eyes, snorted or let out sighs.

“Will our fighting skills get as good as Sophia and Maria?” Fallon asked as she smiled shyly at them.

“I doubt you’d want to be like them because they’re highly abnormal,” Damian said with a straight face as Sophia and Maria glared at him.  “They’re short scary little bundles of trouble who use scare tactics and intimidation and if that doesn’t work then they get sneaky.  It’s an embarrassment to the rest of us Carlucci’s who would never think of doing anything like that.”

Sophia took several deep breaths before saying, “5 – 4 – 3 …,” Damian got up and began running through the yard with Sophia several steps behind him.

“Catch him and kick his ass Sophia,” Maria yelled as the others began cheering her on while the Millers looked on in confusion. 

“What’s going on?” asked Erin as she looked at Lorenzo who was laughing.

“Think about what he said.  Who’s sneakier than Damian or scarier than Vin or Dom when they get mad?” he replied as he turned to look at her.

“Then who’s the intimidating one?” she asked with a frown.

“Lorenzo,” the rest of the Carlucci’s said with a laugh.  They continued to watch the chase, with Sophia losing ground until she fell with a cry.  Ant moved to get her but Vin reached to stop him.  They saw Damian stop and move towards her, his face etched with concern and when he was within an arm length, she sprang up and flipped him on his back before she let out a war cry and did an elbow drop knocking the air out of his lungs.  She rolled to her feet and stood over him triumphantly and said, “Now that was sneaky.  Just like you and the others taught us.” 

Damian was laughing as he got to his feet and started chasing her and within a couple steps he caught her and swung her on his shoulder.  “You need to work on your follow though little cousin to make sure your opponent stays down,” he said in an ominous tone as he ran straight towards the pool and dove in. 

“Well, that’s one way to cool down,” said Brianna with a smile.

“You think so?” said Vin as Brianna’s eyes got wide and she took off running.  He growled before running after her and her sisters started to giggle until they noticed the grins on the Carlucci boys and they started to run laughing loudly.

“What the hell is going on?  All I hear is laughing,” Victor asked as they turned around at the edge of the woods near the road. 

“We’ll take a look when we get closer,” Angelo replied as he looked at the much smaller wolf as he ran in a loping motion.  “You’re running better and it’ll be easier when you grow into those paws.”

Victor laughed, “Yeah, they’re huge.  Can I ask something?”  Seeing Angelo nod he continued, “You didn’t mind getting stuck with me doing patrols?” 

“I don’t consider it getting stuck with you.  It’s actually a relief, I’m not sure if you realize it but your family can be a little intense at times,” he said with a chuckle.  “You’re more quiet, like me and it’s nice to be with somebody who doesn’t feel the need to talk all the time.”

“Yeah, my family is a bit overwhelming,” Victor agreed.  “I’m surprised they didn’t argue with Ant about letting me go on patrol.  I’m fifteen and a good fighter, but I don’t think they’ll ever see me as anything other than a baby Carlucci.”

Angelo stopped running, “If they didn’t believe in your abilities, you wouldn’t be here; you just need a little more experience and confidence.  The experience will come in time, the confidence you have to build yourself.”

“And how do I do that?” Victor asked as he stared up at the older boy. 

“Come on,” he started to run again, the smaller wolf beside him.  “You’re young and you’ve got a lot of growing to do, physically and emotionally.  As far as your family, they’ll always see you and Sal as baby Carlucci’s.”  Hearing Victor chuff, he continued, “That’s because you are.  No matter how tall you become, how strong you are or how old you get, you’ll always be their younger brother and cousin and they’ll always look out for you.”

“I guess.  Uncle Frank calls Dad ‘baby brother’ and Dad doesn’t mind, in fact he seems to like it,” he said as the two continued to run, Angelo shortening his much larger strides to accommodate Victors smaller size.

Hearing squeals of laughter, they looked through the trees to see the girls getting tossed into the pool followed by the boys jumping in behind them.  “What the fuck kind of training is that?  They’re having fun while we’re in the woods?” Victor asked angrily as he turned to Angelo. 

“They’re letting off steam and letting the girls cool down.  Remember when you first started to train?  It’s hard work and the Millers aren’t used to it,” Angelo said in a calm tone.  “If you notice, Alberto and Sal are standing watch at the corner of the house.  Come on, we have a job to do Squirt.”

“Squirt?  I’ll get you for that,” Victor said with a laugh as he chased after Angelo who lengthened his strides a little so Victor had to run faster to catch up.

After five minutes Ant said, “Everyone should be cooled down, let’s go.”  There were good natured grumbles but they got out and moved to the next part of the exercise and the girls were exhibiting increased confidence and becoming more fluid in their movements.  “Now, the older twin is going to throw an offensive move but the younger one won’t know what it is and they’ll have to counter it.  The boys’ll tell you why your counter worked or didn’t work.”   

The sound of slaps, hits, grunts and groans filled the yard and Ant said, “This is your first practice, you don’t have to hit hard enough to hurt your sister.”  Ant had them switch and when he saw the girls were tiring he called a break and the boys to return from their patrols; Angelo and Victor changed into shorts and dove into the pool to cool off and Vin and Dom went to the garage and came back with a wooden box and a ‘strike’ mannequin. 

“You all did really well, and will get better with practice.  Our next lesson involves restraints.  The first thing we’ll work with is handcuffs; putting them on and taking them off,” Dom said with a smile as Vin handed each Miller girl a pair.  “Chances are if you’re restrained, your hands’ll be behind your back, so you’ll have to get out of them without being able to see what you’re doing.  I want you to look at them, feel them, and learn where the keyhole is by touch.  You’ll learn to recognize the sound of the clicks and how it feels when the mechanism unlocks.”

“In the false bottom that’ll be in each of our bags there’ll be a key, but we’ll also teach you how to use everyday items to pick the lock; like barrettes, forks, pens and those of you that can shift, your claw,” Damian said with a grin. 

“We’ll demo on the mannequin and you’ll be using the cuffs on your protectors and then yourselves,” Ant said.  “You’ll use the key and be able to see what you’re doing until you’re comfortable, and then we’ll make it harder.  Pair up and sit on the ground across from your partner.”  There was excited chatter as the Millers examined the cuffs and the boys showed them how they locked and unlocked. 

Ant waited several minutes before he spoke, “Handcuffs are made of stainless steel, carbon steel or aluminum, but the ones we use for prisoners are made of silver.  Does anybody know why silver is harmful to us?”  The Millers shrugged as he continued, “It attacks our bodies in many ways.  It attacks platelets which interfere in our healing process by not letting blood clots form over our wounds until we’re lying in a pool of our own blood as we slowly bleed out.  We develop hypoxia, which is a decrease in the amount of oxygen being carried by red blood cells which saps our strength, we become light-headed and begin to gasp for air as we slowly suffocate.  It burns our skin, starting with a first degree burn similar to sunburn; it progresses to a second degree burn which evolves into a festering painful wound which oozes blood and pus that triggers an immune response which the platelets aren’t able to handle.  From there it develops into a third degree burn which is entirely through the skin, leaving a gaping wound revealing blood, pus, tissue, muscle and bone …”

“Ant, I don’t think you need to be so graphic,” Damian said as he began to laugh at the horrified expressions on the Millers faces.  “Silver is bad, really bad, so stay away from it, unless you want Ant to continue with the lecture.” The Millers hurriedly shook their heads as they looked at Ant like he had three heads.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m used to Poppa Frank and Mr. JC tell the young boys and they like the uhmm gory details,” Ant said as he blushed.

Sophia was grinning as she said, “Daddy tells the girls how silver interferes with our body’s functions without the goriness and to make sure we handle it with gloves and wash up when we come in contact with it.”

“Lock the cuffs on your partner and use the key,” Ant said with a sheepish look.  When the girls were comfortable with this Sophia and Gabby put blindfolds on them.  Ant said quietly, “Your sense of sight is gone so you need to use your other senses.  Listen to the sounds of the clicks, feel the cuffs with your hands, use your taste buds and enhanced sense of smell to monitor your surroundings.  Are there others around you, are they human or Were?  What does the air smell and taste like?  All of that will come into play if you are taken somewhere.  It doesn’t do any good to escape while your captor is in the room or you have no clue what your next step is.”   

“Your wolf, even those who haven’t shifted, will come to the surface to protect and defend you.  Let her, because her senses are more enhanced,” added Dom in a calm voice.  “You’re doing really well.  Take your blindfolds off and we’ll show you how to use other things to pick the lock.”  Ant got several bags out of the box and told the girls to take one and pass it on.  Each boy showed the girls how to use the items and when they got upset, they talked to them quietly.  Sophia and Gabby brought them drinks, Maria was asleep in a chair while the Moretti’s and two youngest Carlucci’s continued to stand at the edge of the patio watching the yard. 

“This time use the blindfold.”  Ant walked around offering encouragement and when each had successfully picked the locks he smiled.  “Now, your partner is going to put the cuffs on you in front, you’ll use the key and the other items and then we’ll do the same thing but with the blindfolds.  The last part of the exercise, the cuffs’ll be behind you, and we’ll add some variations.”  The girls quickly mastered picking the locks with the cuffs in front, with and without the blindfolds.  The boys put the cuffs behind them, handing them the keys and other items, this proved a little more difficult but they quickly mastered it again. 

“Here is where we’re adding variety,” Anthony said with a smile.  “You’ll be cuffed from behind and you’ll unlock your twins cuffs.”  The girls nodded and moved close to their twins and the boys put the cuffs on, within a minute all the girls were free.  “Good job, now we’ll use the other tools… but with blindfolds on.”

The boys scented the adults coming downstairs and when they were in the kitchen waved to them to come outside.  “There’d better be a good fuckin reason why my daughters are blindfolded and handcuffed,” Todd said in a snarl.

“Oh Daddy, we’re really good at escaping…watch me,” Kelly said excitedly as she used a fork prong to open Aislin’s cuffs and then hers before taking her blindfold off in under twenty seconds much to her fathers astonishment. 

“She’s a natural,” Anthony said with a smile.  “They’re all really good, but Kelly has an aptitude for picking locks.”

“Have you tried door locks yet?” asked Frank with a smile.

“We haven’t gotten that far.  We worked on offensive and defense strategies earlier.  I’d say the girls were ready for the second age group now,” Vin said as he looked at his intended and grinned.  “And we haven’t gotten to Striker yet.”

“Who or what is a Striker?” Brianna asked with a frown. 

Anthony walked over to the mannequin and said, “This is Striker.  We use him for more uhmm ‘personal’ training.”

“The Italians are sleeping, and breakfast is in the oven,” Dom said with a smile.   “While you’re eating, we’ll take a break.”  Seeing the grins on the boys faces, the girls laughed and took off running, jumping into the pool with the boys diving in immediately afterwards.

Their hollering woke Maria and Joe sat down next to her, “How are you feeling Sweetie?  Is the swelling down?”

“It’s okay, using the sling really helped,” she said as she snuggled into his chest.  “I took my pain pill and its making me sleepy.”  Joe put his arm around her as she snuggled even deeper as she struggled to stay awake. 

“Do you have any idea how much noise you make?” Dante asked as he walked out of the carriage house, followed by Ric, Rocco and Luc, all of them with scowls on their faces.  “We have been awake for hours listening to you.  I need a pot of coffee.  And I mean a pot, not a cup; just give me the whole carafe.”

“Sorry old man, we forgot how you old fogies need your sleep, and get cranky when you don’t get it,” Anthony said with a smirk.  “I guess old man isn’t the right name anymore… it’ll be Gramps soon.”  A slow smile spread across his face as Dante frowned and Luc paled.

“Stop tormenting your cousin,” Carlo said with a laugh.  “Sorry about that, you know Anthony was only teasing.”

“I know, but I am still getting used to the fact my daughter has a mate…,” he turned and stared at Luc with narrowed eyes.  “And it is him.”

“Papa, are we going to go through this again?  You said were fine, now you are not.  You are giving me the whiplash,” Luc said with a scowl. 

“Papa?” Carlo questioned with a smile as Dante rolled his eyes.

“Congratulations Luc,” squealed Rose and Annie as they came running outside and hugged him.  “Frank said you told everyone you and Cat were mates, but he wouldn’t tell us how it happened.” 

Frank and Joe began to squirm and a malicious smile crossed Luc’s face, “That is easy, they listened in on my private conversation with Catarina, and then they tricked me into revealing it when I had no intention in doing so.” 

Rose and Annie gasped as they turned to their mates who gave sheepish grins before bolting to the tree line.  “You’d better run, because when we catch you…” Annie stopped as she turned to her guests and continued, “If you would excuse us, we need to teach some grown men some manners.”

Maria said excitedly, “Kick his ass Mommy.”  Rose and Annie smiled before running towards the tree line as the youngsters watched with wide eyes.

“I told them Mom and Aunt Rose would have a fit,” Paulo said with a laugh as he explained what happened.   

Gina walked out on the patio, “Yes, it’s wonderful… I wish we could be there… send lots of pictures… give the youngsters our love.”  She hung up her phone and smiled at Dante and Luc.  “Calinda is planning an engagement party on Friday to celebrate.  She said she’s keeping it small… a thousand people, plus the Pack.”  Dante choked on his coffee and Carlo slapped him on the back as he began to laugh.

Luc paled and a panicked look came over his face as he began to hyperventilate, “I… I… don’t have… a ring…  If it’s… an official… announcement, I… I… must get her an… engagement ring.  What…what… am I going to do?” 

“You’re leaving Wednesday, there’s plenty of time to buy a ring,” Gina said in a gentle voice as she patted his hand and Carlo started to growl.  She shot him an annoyed look and continued to talk in a soothing voice, “Call your Pack’s jewelers and tell them what you want and they’ll have a selection ready.”

Dante sighed, “She likes sapphires.  Last year, we went to select a necklace for Calinda and Cat was looking at the engagement rings.  There was one in particular; a 5-carat round diamond with alternating sapphires and diamonds on the band.  It was actually quite beautiful.  If I remember, it was around 220,000 Euro.”  Seeing the look on Gina’s face he said, “About $300,000 American.”

Luc pulled out his phone before walking into the house.  Two feminine howls were heard and Carlo said, “Sounds like Rose and Annie caught them.”  They continued to talk about Luc and Cat while they ate and five minutes later two male howls were heard, “And that I believe is Frank and Joe catching them.” 

Damian fell to his knees on the pool deck and said in a tortured voice as he grabbed his hair, “Why?  Why must they torture me?  I think they want me to go to therapy, as if growing up in this family isn’t dysfunctional enough.”  

“Could you tone it down Drama Queen?  The auditions for the spring play are months away,” Vin said with a laugh.

Damian dove into the pool and surfaced behind Caitlin startling her; as he stood he scented her hair and began to frown.  Wrinkling his nose he whispered, “I don’t like that the water dilutes your scent Zucca.  I don’t like it… don’t like it at all.”  When she turned to respond, he was on the other side of the pool and she wondered if she had imagined it, but he was staring at her with a possessive glint in his eyes.  “Hey Vin, what are we doing this year?  It doesn’t matter, because I am so getting the lead this year,” he said as he began to smile.  

“How the fuck am I supposed to know?” Vin said as he lifted Brianna onto the deck and then sat next to her.  “You know Ant?”

“No clue, Mom hasn’t said anything yet.  I wonder if we’ll even have it,” Ant said as he watched the Carlucci parents walk out of the woods holding hands.  “We’d better get out, so we can find out what’s going on.”  The boys headed into the pool house, while Sophia led the girls into the house. 

She stopped in the laundry room and got t-shirts before going to Maria’s room, “Get undressed, I’ll put our clothes in the washer and they’ll be ready in no time.”  When she returned she handed out towels, shampoo and Ivory Soap from the linen closet.  “Brianna and Morgan, you’ll shower here, Vin and Dom would have a fit if you were in another males bedroom.  Shannon and Fallon, you’ll use Paulo and Michael’s; Kelly and Aislin, Aunt Annie’s and Uncle Joe’s; Fiona and Maeve, the guest room; Erin and Caitlin, Lorenzo and Damian’s.  Gabby and I’ll use Victors.”

When the boys joined the adults on the patio, Carlo looked at Paulo and said, “You’ve been with the youngsters all morning?”

“Yes Sir.  Did you want me working instead?” Paulo asked with concern. 

“No, I meant to tell you last night to take a break,” Carlo said in a reassuring tone as Paulo began to relax.  “I often forget how young you are because of your abilities, but I want you to remind me if we are putting too much pressure on you.”

Paulo blushed knowing everyone was looking at him, “Yes Sir, I’ll let you know.  Did you remember I’ll be starting college this week?”

“Yes, and I wanted to talk to you and your parents.  Last year, your mom and Aunt Rose drove because you were underage, this year you were supposed to drive by yourself.  I want to have somebody with you so you aren’t alone.  I’m not sure who knows of your special ability and I fear some may try to use that to their advantage by gaining control of you,” Carlo said as he sat up.  “Or worse.”

The Carlucci’s began to growl and Joe said in an angry voice, “You’re being polite Carlo, and that’s not like you.  What you’re trying to say is you think somebody would kidnap or kill my son.” 

Carlo nodded, “Yes, he’s one of our greatest assets, and if somebody is trying to weaken us, he’s one of the ways to do it.  Like we are protecting the girls, we must protect him.  I’m surprised we didn’t think of this before.”

“I know I’m quiet and all, but I can fight as well as anybody,” Paulo said with anger.  “And I don’t want anybody to take away my protection detail either; I’m perfectly capable of protecting Shannon.”  

“We’re not questioning your abilities, you are a strong fighter.  But when you attend college, you will have somebody with you.  Hood College is twenty-five miles away, too far for the bond to work and if something happens and you managed to contact us, it would take us over thirty minutes to get there,” Carlo said in a calm but firm voice.  “I’m not willing to take any chances with your safety.”

Annie asked before Joe could, “Who do you have in mind?  If my son is in danger, they’d better be able to protect him.”

“Austin and Boyd Sabatini,” Carlo said with shrug.  “They’re graduates of the Police Academy and Level 1’s but you know Roman’s a Level 3.  They’re working at The School House this will be an extension of those duties.”   

Joe looked at Annie, Frank and Rose who nodded, before saying, “They’re good strong fighters, responsible too.  I’m okay with that.” 

“Do I get a say in this?” Paulo asked with a frown.

“No,” Joe, Annie, Frank and Rose said in unison.

Paulo threw his hands in the air, “Whatever.  But they better not be overbearing and obnoxious.  I’m sixteen, not some young one that they can boss around.”

“I’ll make sure they listen to you and stay as inconspicuous as possible,” Carlo said in a reassuring voice while Paulo continued to frown.

“Excuse me, I have something I need to do,” Annie said after getting the request from Sophia.  Putting the clothes in a basket, she brought them upstairs, and knocked on Maria’s door before she entered.  After the girls got dressed, she looked at Erin and Caitlin, “I can’t believe how clueless my boys are.  I think we should help them out a little, don’t you?  Follow me.”  The girls smiled and nodded before following her down the hall.  “That bed is Lorenzo’s the other’s Damian’s.  Lie down on their beds; make sure your scent is on both sides of their pillows, and all over the sheets and comforters.  What else can we do to torture those stupid boys?”  She looked around the room, “Ooh, use their brushes and open the dresser drawers and run your hands through their clothes, do the closet too.  Don’t forget their towels in the bathroom, Lorenzo’s is dark blue, Damian’s is medium blue.”

“Aunt Annie, that’s mean,” Sophia said as she began to laugh. 

Annie smiled broadly, “Nothing they don’t deserve.  Those boys are as clueless as their father was, that’s why I had to help him along too, but that’s a story for another time.  We’d better get downstairs, Alpha Carlo is waiting.”  The girls hurried up and finished and followed her downstairs.

“I’ve been thinking Carlo,” Frank said as he took a sip of sweet tea.  “You said you wanted to have a Pack meeting tonight.  I think it’d be better to have it tomorrow, after you talk with Alpha Tristan and Savannah.  We’d have a better grasp of what their plans are, and it’ll give us more time to go over the files so we don’t miss anything.  We haven’t even got close to figuring this thing out.”

Carlo looked at Gina who nodded, “You’re right.  I’d like to bring in Reeder; he’d be helpful since he works with Homeland Security.  Anyone else?”

“Brad and have Vinnie bring his father,” added Joe.  He turned to the Millers, “Brad is the Assistant Chief of Police in Hagerstown and Mr. P retired from the CIA, he teaches the Pack’s Electronic Surveillance course.”

“Aldo, so you can get his impression as he reads the emails and other documents,” Annie said as Joe nodded.  “He can use my study; Isabelle says it helps if he has a quiet environment and a Vanilla scented candle to center him.”  Carlo nodded and sent a message to the men from last night as well as the men they just discussed to come over at 2 PM. 

“What do you want us to do Dad?” asked Vin as he moved closer to Brianna.

“Finish the girl’s lessons.  I’d like to relax before my brain explodes,” Frank said as he looked at Carlo who nodded.

Ant had the girls put their shoes on and they moved below the patio.  “This is Striker; we use him to teach the same offensive and defensive move, which is a strike to the uhmm…”  He blushed as he looked at the girls and his hands moved around wildly as he searched for the right words.  “Below the uhmm… waistal area.”

“Waistal?  What is that?  What are you talking about?” Caitlin asked with a frown.  Anthony blushed even more as the Carlucci’s and Moretti’s laughed.

“He’s talking about the bits ‘n pieces, the twig and berries, the bat and the balls, the frank ‘n beans, the Drill and bits, the No-No spot and the Family Jewels,” Damian said with a grin before throwing his head back and laughing loudly.

“Oh, you mean the gonadalls?” Erin asked as Lorenzo started to grin.

“Gonadalls?  They’re gonads, but yeah there… and please I’m begging, stop with the names,” Ant sighed before rubbing his hands over his face.  “Like I was saying, the eyes and that area are the most vulnerable places on a man.  You can use your foot, knee, or fist to hit him there and combined with striking at his eyes it’ll incapacitate him.  Victor’ll demonstrate on Striker and then you’ll try.”

“Why me?” Victor whined as the girls began to giggle.

“Because it’ll be fun,” Ant answered with a smile.  Victor rolled his eyes and walked slowly, dragging his feet up to Striker before weakly kneeing him and turning to Ant with a pleading look in his eyes. 

“For the love of Luna, move out of my way,” Sophia said as she shoved Victor before pacing back and forth.  “It doesn’t do any good to put your captor down until the right opportunity presents itself.  Be aware of what’s going on around you; does the same person check on you, what time does that happen, when he comes is the door locked or unlocked, is he armed and can you hear or scent anyone else.  Once you have all that information, you can make a more informed decision and remember you’ll only get one chance for surprise and you can’t hesitate.”  She stopped pacing and turned to stare at the Millers, “When you strike, you strike hard and make sure they stay down.”  They nodded and Sophia turned to face Striker.

“When you’re within striking distance, kick as hard as you can,” she said with a vengeful gleam in her eye as she kicked and Striker bounced backwards as the boys groaned.  “Normally, a man won’t fall over backwards, he’ll bend forwards, that’s where you bring your knee up and hit him in the nose or eyes and bring your hands together and hit him behind the neck, similar to the move I used on Beatrice.  I held back, but if you’re escaping, you hit with everything you have.” 

“With the knee, make sure your foot is firmly planted to get the most leverage and power.  After you knee them, do the same follow through.”  She demonstrated and then knelt in front of Striker, “Don’t think because you’re on your knees that you’re powerless.  Hit him with your fist with all the power in your arm and shoulder, and when they’re bending forward, bring your elbow up and crack him in the face or use your fist.  Now line up and we’ll practice on Striker.” 

“Will we get to practice on the boys?” Erin asked with a devious smile as she glanced at Lorenzo before hitting Striker viciously with her foot. 

“Oh hell no” “Fuck no” “Are you kidding?” “NO” were heard from the boys as they reflexively leaned forward and cringed.

The adults were laughing at the disappointed looks on the girls faces and Carlo’s voice was full of pride as he said, “She’s a good teacher, she’ll make an excellent Madame Alpha.” 

Frank smiled, “She helps train the young ones.  Even before the declaration they looked up to her, now they hang on her every word.  They’re starting to call her Miss Sophia, signifying their respect for their future Madame Alpha.”

Annie looked at the clock, “While you work on the files, Rose and I need to get groceries.  It’s our week for meals and the fridge is practically empty.”

Joe nodded, “Take Gianni, Marcus, Victor and Angelo.” 

“We’ve got to go home,” Holly said with a sigh.  “The girls have homework, and we’ve got a million things to do including laundry.”  She looked at Todd, “I know you and Dad want to stay, so I’ll ask Vin and Dom to go with us.”

“Ask Lorenzo and Damian too, it’ll give you extra protection at the house,” Annie looked at Holly and the two women shared a knowing smile. 

Todd nodded, “That’ll make me feel better.  Make sure the girls stay inside and the alarms on.  We’ll take you home, and then come back.”

“We’ll go with you to escort the Millers, my car’s still there then we’ll go home and get cleaned up,” Gina said as Carlo nodded.

Frank whistled drawing the youngster’s attention and they ran to the patio where he told them the plans.  Ten minutes later, the Millers were on the way to their house, with Matt, Phil, Todd, Papa Mike, Dante, Carlo, Gina and the four Carlucci boys as their escorts.  “I’ve got my list,” Annie said fifteen minutes later as she stepped onto the patio and Joe and Frank walked their mates to Annie’s SUV.

“Keep the bond open,” Frank whispered as he scented his mate.  “Do you need more than those four with you?”

“We’ll be fine,” Rose answered with a giggle as he bit her ear.  Frank sighed as she moved out of his arms and got into the passenger seat.

Joe bumped his brother’s shoulder as they watched Annie pull out of the driveway, “They’ll be fine.  It’s only fifteen minutes away; they have four of the boys with them and more members of the Pack working at the store.”

“I know, but my wolf doesn’t like the fact his mate is going without us,” Frank answered with a frown.  “I can feel your wolf on edge too.”

Joe shrugged, “He’s been like that since Maria’s surgery.  I can feel him whimpering when we sense her pain, he doesn’t like the fact she’s hurt.”   

“When’s her next appointment?” Frank asked with a frown.

“Dr. Parr said she should do follow-ups with Doc and we have one next week,” he glanced around the yard.  “I’m worried she’s not healing like she should be.  Doc said it was a freak injury and the bone hadn’t fully healed, but I have this feeling like there’s more, and my wolf senses it too.”

“Have you talked to Doc or Annie about it?  You know our wolves have better senses than we do,” Frank said as he stared at the concern in his brother’s eyes.   

“I haven’t talked to Doc, and Annie said I was being overprotective,” Joe said with a sigh.  “But I can’t ignore my wolf, he knows something isn’t right.” 

“Do you need me to be there?” Frank asked as they walked around the house.  

Joe laughed, “I’m a big boy, I can handle it on my own.”

“No matter how big you are, you’ll always be my baby brother and I’ll be here for you,” Frank said as he threw his arm around Joe’s shoulder. 

“I love you too, even if you’re arrogant, condescending, annoying, and a pain in my ass,” Joe said with a grin as they walked onto the patio.  “We’re going to get cleaned up before we start.  Do you have homework?  If not, you can start lunch.”  The youngsters nodded and went to check what was on the menu.

“I finished my homework, if you get me something to eat I’ll get started,” Paulo said before heading to his office.  Twenty minutes later Joe was bringing two sandwiches, with chips and a drink and sat them down on the desk. 

“Thanks Dad,” Paulo said absentmindedly before turning to the screen.  “Oh fuck, look at this.”  The men immediately turned and saw what alarmed Paulo.  It was a list of the girls from SMP under the age of twenty-one; their birthdates, activities they did, fathers rank, and approximate net worth of each family.  The most alarming to the men were the pictures that had been taken throughout the territory.  

“How the fuck did they get pictures?” Frank asked angrily as his eyes turned amber.  “That’s me and Sophia at the Mall, I never sensed anything.”

“Blow that one up,” Joe said with a scowl pointing to a picture of Maria.  “That’s taken in the store where I bought Annie’s digital camera.  Afterwards, we went to Carmelo’s…” He pointed at another pic, “And had lunch.”

“What about Carmelo’s?” Carlo asked as he walked in followed by the other men.  Frank explained what Paulo found and Carlo said in a voice full of anger, “It couldn’t have been a Were, you would’ve scented him.  Right now finding out about the threat to the girls is the number one priority… the drugs, finances, all that shit can wait.  I want you to find out who took those fucking pictures.”

Paulo nodded and a minute later he said, “Got the date from your credit card, it was the beginning of May.  Now I can go into Carmelo’s security system.”  Moments later they were watching video from inside the restaurant. 

“These pictures were taken in May?  All the info we have says the contract to take the girls didn’t originate until last week.  So why would they be under surveillance?” Carlo asked as he turned to the other men.   “We’ve got to look into the rest of the files, to see what other information applies to our Pack.”

“I can do a word search of the files,” Paulo said with a shrug.  “I’ll start with ‘SMP’, ‘Rossi’, ‘Millers’, and then do ‘Carlucci’. I’ll start while you watch the video.” 

There was silence in the room and then Joe shouted, “We’re walking in the restaurant now.  From the angle, look at people across from us.”  Paulo slowed the video and they watched as a couple came in and sat in the area Joe specified.  The woman placed her pocketbook on the table and they watched her angle it towards each girl, then at Gabby before hanging it from her chair. 

Paulo said, “I’m running their pics through the DMV.”  They watched the couple eat, then the woman walked towards the Carlucci’s moving her pocketbook back and forth before going into the restroom, and the man paid using a credit card.  “On it.”  Paulo checked the time stamp on the tape against the register and said, “Simon Ashbrook of Ashbrook Investigations in Frederick.”  Screen after screen came up in the bottom corner and Paulo printed out his DMV record, bank financials for the last ten years, mortgage records of his house and business, Army service record and employment records from the Maryland State Police (MDSP). 

“What’s going on?” Gina asked as she came in and Carlo filled her in.

“We need to talk to Brad, something’s not right,” Frank said looking up from the paper he was holding.  “He was with the State Police for ten years, his reviews were high in the beginning but at the end he was barely passing.  He was brought before the disciplinary board for brutality and conduct unbecoming an officer and placed on suspension and his employment ended shortly after.  It makes you wonder if he left on his own or was encouraged to quit.”   

“The woman is Raquel Ashbrook,” Paulo said with a grin.  “They’ve been married two years and she worked for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department until 2000 when she was fired for tampering with evidence in a drug investigation.  They formed Ashbrook Investigations two years ago but their income doesn’t justify their lifestyle.  Their 1040’s say they’re making $100k between the two of them, but their mortgage is almost $5k/month, plus they’re leasing two luxury cars for $2k and that’s not even counting their other living expenses.”

“Brad, what do you know about Simon Ashbrook?” Carlo asked opening the link to his Pack members in the room and Dante who told the Italians.

“I worked with him when we had cross jurisdictional cases.  He was a good cop but that changed when he started dating this cop from Montgomery County.  He started calling in, coming in late, missing calls while he was on patrol, roughed up a couple of suspects and his attitude went to shit,” Brad answered as he walked out of his office to grab a cup of coffee.  “After he was suspended he quit without notice and applied here.  The Chief wanted to hire him, over my objections, but he popped positive for The Trifecta; marijuana, cocaine and meth.”

Carlo sighed, “Was there ever talk he was involved in the drug trade?”

“I’d heard rumors that Internal Affairs was ready to start an investigation and he quit before they could.  The cases we worked on together involved drug trafficking and distribution so he knew the players.  What’s going on?” Brad asked with a sigh, as he walked back towards his office.  

“We’ll fill you in when you get here.  Bring anything you have on him in your unofficial files,” Carlo said with a frown.

“Yes Alpha, I’ll be there when I get off at 6.  Let me know if you need anything else,” Brad said as Carlo closed the bond.  He sat down thinking of the bright future that had been wasted as he reached for the phone to call his contact in the MDSP and Frederick County Sheriff’s Dept and Frederick Police Dept before he went through his own personal files he kept in a locked desk drawer. 

“Alpha Carlo, I checked and his name is on the list of people who bought drugs from Davis Pack,” Paulo said and then stopped and drew a shaky breath before saying quietly.  “There’s more… I finished looking at the file.  They had plans on different ways to kidnap the girls, including pros and cons of each.  The School House, Dance class, the Mall, bowling alley, they also had plans on several locations at the same time and the most disturbing…”  He took another deep breath, “Was to wait for one of the girls to have a birthday party and attack.  They felt that would have the highest rate of success because we’d be traumatized by our history.  That’s why they had their birthdates and things the girls did.”

“It is starting to come together with the link to Davis Pack,” Dante said with a frown.  “It does not surprise me that they are involved in human trafficking and kidnapping, those are money making ventures for the drug cartels.”  He ran his hands over his face, “That would explain why they have each family’s net worth listed.  But the question remains, why your Pack and not another?”

“We’re one of the oldest and wealthiest Packs in the country, SMI’s holdings are a matter of public record as well as the fact that most Pack members have their own businesses,” Gina stopped and turned to Carlo.  “With our history, what wouldn’t we give to get our girls back if they were kidnapped?”

The men were lost in their thoughts and minutes passed before Carlo whispered, “There’s nothing I wouldn’t give … I’d give them everything I owned…and if they asked it of me, I would give my life.”  The men quietly nodded in agreement and Gina had tears in her eyes as she hugged her mate.

“They know they are your weakness, taking in account the Pack’s history and the fact so few have been born,” Dante said with a frown.  “We need to finish looking at the files to determine what else they know.”

Gina nodded, “While you work on that, I’m going to organize everything according to date and time so it’ll be easier for us to see what happened and when.”

“Is that why we stopped to get supplies?” Carlo asked with a smile.

“Yes, and to replenish Paulo’s supplies,” Gina said with a smile as Paulo grinned.  “Anthony could you and the boys get the packages out of my SUV?”

“Yes Mommy,” he replied and minutes later they carried in boxes of manila folders, plastic file holders, green hanging folders, four cases of white paper, and a case each of pink, blue, green and yellow.  “Damn Mom, you buy out the store?”

“Don’t start with me Anthony; I got your credit card bill yesterday.  Do you really want to compare expenses?” Gina said as she raised her eyebrow.

Anthony looked at his father who turned to him with a questioning look, “Ugh no.  What do you need us to do?”

“Label the boxes 1999 to 2003; use a hanging file for each month.  Sort these into the date they were sent,” Gina said as she handed Anthony the stack of emails and financial records.  “I’ll make copies of the other papers and bring them to you.”  The boys nodded and took the supplies needed into the kitchen.  Ten minutes later, Sal, Victor and Sophia brought in sandwiches, drinks and chips and the adults murmured their thanks as they continued to read, sort and make copies.

Paulo exhaled loudly and turned to his Alpha’s.  “I’ve found something doing the search for ‘Rossi’ and you’re not going to like it.”  Everyone quickly looked to the monitors.  “It’s a file on Ant.  There’s pictures of him, newspaper articles, your families net worth, his trust fund, pictures of his old car.”

Carlo asked in a quiet voice, “What does HWNS mean on the file name?”

Paulo whispered, “Heir with no Spare; that was the title on the first page.”  He heard Gina gasp and felt her pain over the Alpha bond and seconds later Anthony and the youngsters were running down the hallway.

“Are you okay Mommy?” Anthony asked as he hugged her.

“I’m fine, a little overwhelmed by everything,” she said as Carlo motioned for Paulo to change what was on the monitors but it was too late.

“Why are there pictures of me up there?” he asked as his parents looked at each other before Gina began to cry quietly.  An anguished growl tore from Carlo as he moved to his mate and son engulfing them in his arms.  Frank and Joe motioned for everyone to leave the room to give them privacy.

“Is Gina okay?” Rose asked her voice full of concern.  Frank told her what was going on and he could tell Joe was talking to Annie and both told their mates to let the Pack members at Rossi’s Grocery know Gina was okay and Carlo would talk to them later.  The house phone and their cell phones started to ring with concerned Pack members who were unable to contact their Alpha’s or Anthony. 

“Paulo, send an email that the Rossi’s are okay and Carlo will talk to them later.  Dante, could you send the same message to your Pack members?” Frank asked as he ran his hands through his hair.  He turned to the front door and said, “The others are here.”  Joe nodded and went to the door and a minute later Ed, Carmelo, Vinnie, Mr. P, Aldo, Reeder and the Italians hurried onto the porch. 

“How’s Gina?” Vinnie asked as the others waited anxiously for the answer.

“She’s okay, her Carlo and Anthony are in Paulo’s office and need some privacy,” Joe quietly said and waited while the men relayed the information to their families.  “Let’s go to my study.” 

Paulo stayed in the kitchen with the youngsters while the men went into Joe’s study and Vinnie said, “Dad read my set of emails, and Ed and Carmelo gave Aldo and Reeder theirs.  So they’re up to date on them.”  Frank and Joe told them everything they had discovered that day and they listened in stunned silence.

“Ashbrook was in the restaurant Friday night when Vin and Dom brought Brianna and Morgan, and Saturday night for the quadruple First Date,” Carmelo said angrily.  “I spoke to the bastard on Saturday, asked him what he was doing because I hadn’t seen him in a while and he said he was working a job.  I was nice to him and that fucker was spying on my Gabriella.”

“Aldo, Carlo would like you to use Annie’s study to focus on the emails and files to see if you get any feelings about them.  She has it set up with a candle, do you need anything else?” Joe asked as he looked around his study.

“I’d like somebody to write down what I say,” Aldo said quietly before motioning to his cousin Stephano.  “I’d take him, but he talks too much and we wouldn’t be able to understand what he writes.” 

Stephano threw his hands up as he gestured wildly, “I must do the talk to practice the English, I wish not to be a stiff board.”

“If you shut up and listened you’d learn more than talking nonstop,” Aldo said rolling his eyes at his young cousin.  “And you really can’t do anything about being stiff with that stick up your ass.”

He turned to Dante, “What is this stick he keeps up my ass?”

“I will explain it to you later,” Dante answered as the men began to laugh.

“I’ll go with Aldo,” Vinnie said and Aldo nodded.  They got up and followed Joe to Annie’s study.  Aldo lit the candle before lying down and Joe handed Vinnie pen and paper before quietly closing the door and walking into the kitchen to check on the youngsters.  He stood watching the boys and Gabby sorting and filing, and Sophia, Victor and Sal doing homework at the table. 

“Something you need Poppa Joe?” Alberto asked quietly as he saw Joe look at Maria who was asleep in the family room. 

Joe shook his head and felt his wolf prowling back and forth; he didn’t like his mate being away from him, his youngsters at someone else’s home and the fact his daughter was hurting.  “Since everything’s been cancelled for tonight, I’d like to go on a run in wolf form.  With everything going on, he’s on edge and I think it’ll help settle him down.  Well settle us all down.”

The boys nodded and Alberto looked at his intended.  “If Maria’s up to it, she can ride on my back.  It’ll do her good to get out and be included with the family.  She’s been feeling left out of things and smothered at the same time. She’s upset because she feels like she’s a pain in the ass.  You know with the family having to stay at Mr. C’s house, Mrs. C having to do an extra work, having to ask Parr Ridge for a favor, and basically putting everybody’s schedule out of whack.” 

“I didn’t think about that.  That’s my fault… I want to protect her and guess I’m overdoing it,” Joe quietly said before swinging his head to look at Alberto.  “How do you know all that?”

“I do more than hold and scent her.  We talk about everything, nothing is off limits or out of bounds for us,” Alberto said with a sly smile. 

“You’re just like me when I was your age.  Pops told me I’d get payback for what I did when I was young, I guess this is it,” Joe muttered with a frown. 

“Oh come on Poppa Joe, I’m not that bad, am I?” Alberto asked with a smile.  Joe narrowed his eyes and walked out without answering him.  Once he was out of sight he let a smile cross his face as he heard Alberto begin to laugh. 

The men continued to talk in the study until Carlo said, “Everyone can come back now.  We need to finish this.” 

As they passed through the kitchen Michael said, “Mom and Aunt Rose are on the way back.  Don’t worry about bringing in the groceries, we’ll do it.”  Frank and Joe nodded and followed the others to Paulo’s office.

Carlo looked at the men as they walked in the room, “I’ll assume Frank and Joe updated you about Ashbrook spying on our Pack.  We need to come up with a plan to take this fucking bastard out of the equation.”

Mr. P glanced at his Alpha and said, “We don’t know how much information he’s been given about the Pack and who and what we are.  We should send an email from Davis Pack telling him to hide-out for several weeks and then follow him.”

“What is the point?” Dante asked as Carlo began to smile.

“We need information only he can give.  By having him away from his house, it’ll give us the advantage and we could interrogate him thoroughly.  I know some drug cocktails we could use and he’d never even realize he’d been drugged, it’ll all seem like a dream,” Mr. P said as he rubbed his hands together.

“As soon as he leaves we’ll go in and search his house and access his computer to see what else he’s been up to,” Frank said with a smile.

“Oooh, a field trip, I like that,” Paulo said with a grin.

“After we interrogate him and get all the information we need, what do we do then?” Ed asked as he looked at Carlo.

“We have Brad work with the MDSP and the Frederick County Sheriff’s Department to launch an investigation about drug trafficking.  He’ll say a confidential informant implicated Ashbrook.  They’ll start an investigation but our men will keep a close eye on everything,” Carlo said in a cold voice.  “According to Alpha Council law, he has not caused us any harm, so we must proceed with the human court of law.”

“And if he did harm us?” Reeder asked as he narrowed his eyes.

Frank and Joe looked at each other before turning to Carlo who then looked at Gina and Anthony who nodded their heads.  Carlo stood up to his full height, his eyes flashing amber as he said, “We protect the Pack and family above all else.” 

The men nodded and as one said, “Yes, Alpha.”

“If everyone will excuse me, I need to talk to my intended,” Anthony said as he nodded to the men before leaving the room.  He walked into the kitchen and smiled as he watched her argue with Sal and Victor over their math homework.  “Arachide, can I talk to you outside?”

She smiled at him and walked onto the patio.  “Are you okay?  I know you said you were, but are you really okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said before turning to her with a determined look.  “I want to talk about having a protection detail for you.  I don’t want you to go anywhere without at least four men guarding you at all times.  Maybe more than four.”

“Paulo told us about the girls, but he also said you’re a target too,” Sophia whispered as she looked at her hands.  “I know you want to protect me, what you need to realize is I also want to protect you.  You’re my intended mate, the future father of my little ones, the man I’ll spend the rest of my life with and if anybody tries to hurt you…,” her voice trailed off and she took a deep breath before raising her head until she was looking into his eyes.  “I’ll rip their fucking heads off.”

Anthony growled, his eyes flickering between brown and amber as his wolf paced back and forth knowing their intended would be a powerful mate and Madame Alpha.  “You would do that for me?”

An almost feral look crossed her face, “I’m a Carlucci and a Vitti, we protect what’s ours… and you Anthony Rossi… are mine.” 

“And you Sophia Carlucci are mine,” he responded before pulling her tightly against his side and scenting her deeply.

“I hate to break up the little romantic thingie you got going on, but Mom and Aunt Annie just pulled up.  We got groceries to haul,” Sal said with a laugh as Ant reluctantly let Sophia go.

Thirty minutes later, the groceries were put away and Annie and Rose sat at the table with a cold drink.  “We started the gravy with the meatballs and sausage for dinner,” Sophia said as she pointed to four 15-qt stockpots on the stove.  “We were going to start the lasagna but we didn’t have the ricotta or mozzarella.” 

Rose nodded, “While you make the lasagna, we’re going to find out what’s going on.  Make three trays instead of two since we have company for dinner.”

Three hours later Sophia said to her mom, “It’s ready.”  After Rose told everyone there were sighs of relief as they were ready for a break.  Trays of lasagna, meatballs, sweet and hot Italian sausage, garlic bread, Italian bread and a large Antipasto were on the breakfast bar.  After getting their food, the youngsters sat at the kitchen table while the adults went to sit on the patio. 

“How is it going Aldo?” Carlo asked quietly as he and Vinnie joined them.

“Good, we’re almost done.  Vinnie has notes of what I’ve said and my impressions.  I’d rather not talk about it until we’re finished if that’s okay Carlo,” he responded as he rubbed his hands over his face.

Carlo nodded and said, “Eat and take as long of a break as you need.”  Aldo nodded and sat down with his plate as he began to quietly talk with Ed.

Several minutes went by as the adults were talking quietly when they heard Carlo say, “Carmelo, any news from Marco?”

“Yeah, where is your new assistant?  I thought he’d be here,” Mr. P asked as he looked between Carmelo and Carlo.

“No news yet,” Carmelo answered with a sigh before he turned to Mr. P.  “Anna went into heat yesterday afternoon.  It was unexpected; it’s only been four months since the last one.  Rita and Lilly are providing meals and beside me, the only male Marco will allow near The Cottage is Thomas.”  He turned to Todd and Papa Mike, “In case you don’t remember Lilly and Thomas are Anna’s parents.”

“I can’t wait for a grandchild,” Gina, Annie and Rose said as Carlo, Frank, Joe and Todd began to choke.  Minutes passed as they coughed and sputtered before shouts of  “It better not happen for at least five years” “Not this again, I can’t take it” “It better not be anytime soon” “Are you trying to fucking kill me?” were heard.  As one they turned to the kitchen and glared at the youngsters who were laughing.

Ant and Alberto held their hands up in surrender and Sophia said, “Relax Daddy.  Maria and I already decided we’re going to take summer sessions so we can graduate early and then we’ll have little ones.” 

“Change the subject before I blow a gasket,” Frank said as he continued to glare at Anthony who had a wicked grin on his face.

Carlo nodded, “I’d like to have the Parr Ridge game here instead of going there.  We can invite Tristan and Rain to talk with Savannah on neutral ground.”  The adults nodded and Carlo said, “I’ll call them tonight and set everything up.”

Gina said, “I’ll set the luncheon menu with Mitchell’s catering.  There’s plenty of time for them to order supplies.”  She turned to Rose and Annie and smiled, “I have some ideas for the Meet ‘n Mingle.”  The adults talked about what needed to be done for Friday’s game including the extra security needed.

*****

At the Millers Holly said, “Dinners ready.”

Lorenzo got up from the coffee table where he was helping the girls with their Italian homework and said, “What are we having?”

“Stuffed pork chops, mashed potatoes and broccoli casserole,” Holly said with a smile.  “We made you three pork chops each.”

“And dessert?” Damian replied as he got up from where he was laying on the floor pretending to watch TV but was instead staring at Caitlin.

“We’re trying new pie recipes, so we have peach, apple crumb, blueberry and cherry with vanilla ice cream,” Nana Ellen said with a smile as the boys groaned.

 “I’m starving since we didn’t eat much lunch,” Damian replied as he ate a large spoonful of mashed potatoes covered with gravy. 

“You had three hamburgers and four hot dogs, that was more than Fiona and Maeve ate put together,” Caitlin said with a frown. 

“And I’m bigger than Fiona and Maeve put together,” he retorted as he winked at the youngest Millers who smiled at him.  “They’re what, eighty pounds each?  I’m over 200 pounds of finely chiseled muscle.  I’m a perfect male specimen”

Lorenzo looked at him and narrowed his eyes, “I swear to Luna if you rip your shirt off I’ll stab you with my fork.”

“And we’ll hold you down while he stabs you,” Vin said as Dom nodded.

Damian shook his head and looked at the Millers before sighing loudly, “They’re jealous.  You can hear it in their voices and see it in their eyes every time they look at me.  I can’t help it if I’m the best looking one and have the best physique.  It’s a curse I tell you…a curse.  A lesser man wouldn’t be able to deal with it.”

As the others began to laugh, Maeve smiled and waved her fork at him, “I like your attitude and even though you like being the center of attention you never do or say anything to hurt anyone; you love your family and Pack unconditionally; you’re friends with everyone because you don’t like the thought of people not liking you; you like making people laugh even if it means they’re laughing at you… but you also have a scary side.”  She stopped and tilted her head, “You’re fiercely protective and I think out of all the Carlucci’s, you’re the one to watch out for in a fight.”

Damian’s was holding his fork halfway to his mouth and he put it down as he stared at her, “How do you know all that?”

“I can see it swirling around you.  I’ve never seen such a mix of red, yellow, green and blue before, such beautiful colors,” she said before she started to eat her pork chop.  The boys continued to stare while the Millers ate.  “Momma, I forgot to tell you we have to buy a gift for Miss Anna and Mr. Marco.”

Holly nodded, “What kind of gift?”

“They’re going to have a little one.  She had sparkly diamonds around her,” she said as she giggled.  “Mr. Carmelo is going to be the happiest one out of all of them, but he won’t let anybody know that.”  She looked at Lorenzo who was frowning, “You have some slightly darker colors that tend to dim your brighter ones because you’re mad a lot, but you’re mad at yourself because you don’t understand.  You want somebody to love you for who you are as an individual, not as part of your family.  But you love your family and would do anything for them.”

“I don’t understand Maeve, can you explain?” Vin asked in a quiet voice.

She looked at her mother who had concern in her eyes as she said, “Maeve sees colors or Auras around people and translates it into emotions and feelings.  Todd researched it and we think it’s because Fiona and Maeve had pneumonia when they were born and Maeve almost died several times.  She was also born with the amniotic sac over her face; it’s called a Venetian Veil or Caul and is very rare.  In folklore, those born that way are very sensitive and often have second sight.”

The Carlucci’s looked at each other and Lorenzo said in a gentle voice, “So you can see the good and bad in people?”

She shuddered delicately, “I can see when people are bad; they’re dark, very dark and I don’t like it.  It gives me chills and makes me sad.”

The boys looked at each other again and Dom leaned forward and held her hand gently, “Maeve, I want you to think hard and answer as honestly as you can.  When we were at SP, did you see any dark auras around anybody?  Or have you seen them around anybody since you came here?”

She shook her head, “Nope… well, I don’t like Victoria; hers were muted colors full of jealousy and greed.  Daddy always told me to let him know if I ever saw any and he told me not to tell…”  She looked at her mom and her eyes teared up, “Mommy, it was okay to tell them, right?  Daddy’s not going to be mad?”

Holly hugged her, “It’s okay Sweetie, they’re family and won’t hurt you.”  She pulled back to look in her eyes, “Look at their colors, what do you see?”

She looked at the four boys who were smiling at her, “Light and bright colors mixed in with gold for protection.  Just like Uncle Matt and Uncle Phil.”

Damian smirked, “I bet I have the prettiest colors.”  Maeve began to giggle and it was so innocent and joyful the others joined in though they weren’t sure why. 

Vin looked at the other boys, “We’ve got to tell Alpha Carlo, Dad and Uncle Joe about Maeve; she’d be in terrible danger if somebody found out about this.”  They quickly agreed and Vin relayed what they found out.

“Let’s finish dinner, then we can get started on the desserts,” Nana Ellen said as she smiled at her youngest granddaughter.  The boys made up for lost time and minutes later there wasn’t any food left on the table. 

“We’ll do the dishes while Lorenzo helps the girls finish their homework,” Vin said as he began stacking plates. 

*****

“Todd, I’d like to talk to you and Papa Mike in Joe’s study.  Everyone please finish dinner.”  He motioned for Dante, Frank and Joe to follow.  As they walked through the kitchen he saw Sophia laughing and calmness washed over him. 

The men sat and Todd said quietly, “Holly told me and I was wondering when you were going to say something.  Let me explain our decision not to tell you.”  He drew a shaky breath, “Maeve was around six months old when she began to shy away from some of the Pack members.  We didn’t understand until she was older and could explain what she was seeing and feeling.  I researched it and as soon as we understood the gift she was blessed with we decided for her safety that we’d hide it from everybody.  Not because we were ashamed but we didn’t want them to ostracize her or use her, especially after Charles took over.”  

“When Charles gave the Command that we weren’t allowed to use the bond, we used signals if she saw somebody bad; she’d tilt her head and scratch her left shoulder.  We had to change it because there were so many bad people her shoulder was raw,” Papa Mike said with a sigh.  “When we got here, she saw only bright colors and we talked about it, and decided if she saw something bad then we’d tell you.”

“They went through hell the last five years and we’d do anything to protect them.  I’m sorry Alpha Carlo,” Todd said as he bared his neck.

Carlo nodded accepting his submission, “I understand the need to protect them since I’ve begun to feel that way about Sophia.”  Frank looked at him and smiled.  “But the only way we can protect your family is if we are open and honest with each other.  We’d never use her for anything devious or put her in any danger, but I would like if she continues what you told her to do… to let you know if she sees anything bad.  If that’s agreeable with you.” 

Todd nodded, “She said she’d like to talk to someone to find out more about her gift.  Is that something she’d be able to do?”

“If that’s what she wants, that’s what she’ll get.  You may want her to talk to Aldo so she knows there are others with gifts and she’s not alone,” Carlo answered. 

Todd grinned, “She likes Aldo because he has good colors.”

Joe leaned forward, “Is there anything else we need to know?”

“Fiona sees dead people,” Todd said with a blank expression.  Carlo, Frank, Joe and Dante sat in stunned silence before Todd and Papa Mike began to laugh.  “I’m only kidding.  None of the other girls have any special gifts.”  The four men joined in the laughter, all of the tension they had felt that day easing away.

As their laughter died down Carlo sighed, “Damn, I needed that.  My wolf wants to break out and take Ashbrook’s head for placing the youngsters in danger.  I’m not sure how I’m going to restrain him when we’re interrogating Ashbrook.”

“We need to talk about that,” Frank said with a frown.  The others nodded and went back to the patio and Frank turned to Mr. P, “Who do you want with you when you’re interrogating Ashbrook?”

“The Elders,” he replied with a determined look.  “Paulo’ll set up a video and we’ll keep the bond open so you can give us any questions we hadn’t thought of.  Under no circumstances should Carlo or any of the Beta’s be there.  This can never be traced back to the Pack, if anything goes bad The Elders can disappear.” 

“Agreed,” the men said as Carlo nodded.

Vinnie looked at his father who had a big smile on his face, “Dad, why do I get the impression you’re enjoying the thought of interrogating him?”

“Retirement sucks.  This is the most excitement I’ve had in years,” Mr. P said with a disgusted shrug.  “Look son, I love your mother more than anything in the world but if I have to sit through another one of her Garden Club meetings or Bridge Clubs my wolf and I are going to run out and play in traffic to put us out of our misery.”  The adults began to laugh and Mr. P joined in, all of them stopping abruptly as Mr. P said, “Brad’s here.”

*****

“Vin said to give you a quarter pie each, so by the time we finish you’ll have eaten a whole pie, is that too much?” Nana Ellen asked as she began to cut the first peach pie into twelve pieces for her, Holly and the girls.  

“We can eat a whole pie with no problem,” Damian said with a smile as the girls stared at him.  “What?  Dinner was like an hour ago.”

After they were done each pie, Nana Ellen and Holly filled out forms as to texture, taste, appearance and what they liked and didn’t like.  The girls didn’t have any suggestions since the only desserts they’d ever had were made by their mom and Nana Ellen, but the boys offered theirs; more cinnamon in the apple pie, thicken the juice in the peach and blueberry and to sweeten the cherry pie.

“Don’t get us wrong, these were the best pies we’ve ever had,” Lorenzo said as he sat back.  “I think it’s because the fruit here is different than what you’re used to.  It’s the soil; it’s a combination of clay, sand and silt.  Washington County is famous for its corn, cantaloupes and fruit.”

Nana Ellen nodded, “We hadn’t thought about that.  We bought the fruit from the farmers market in town.  We’ll have to make adjustments.”

“We’ll be your taste testers anytime,” Vin said as he rubbed his stomach.

“I don’t know if we can afford to feed you,” Holly said with a laugh.

*****

“Here’s all the information on Ashbrook from my confidential files and my contacts,” Brad said handing a folder to Carlo.  “Since he started his business, he’s had several complaints lodged with the Police and licensing department for unsavory business practices.  He’s currently under investigation by both.” 

Before Carlo replied, Paulo said, “Got something.  A list of Pack owned buildings including plans since they’re a matter of public record, but they don’t include the safe rooms since they were built in secret.  The safe houses aren’t on there.”

“We’ll have to consider them compromised,” Carlo said with a frown. 

“I wouldn’t write them off,” Frank said.  “They’re set up with identities that aren’t traceable back to us. We only go to check supplies, and they have alarms around the house and perimeter.  If anybody came on the properties we’d know.  Let’s see if Ashbrook has any info on them.”  Joe nodded in agreement.

“I’ll put it on my list of things to inquire about,” Mr. P said with a smile.

Three hours later Carlo saw the fatigue in Aldo’s eyes, “Are you okay?”

He nodded, “Just overwhelmed by all the emotions; from the emails and the anger and frustration from everybody here.”

Carlo ran his hands over his face, “My brain’s fried.  All the files have been opened and everything’s printed but it’s getting jumbled inside my head and I can’t make sense of anything.”

“Why don’t we call it a night and meet here tomorrow?” Frank asked as he rolled his neck.  “Aldo and Brad, I know you have work, but can everyone else make it?”  The men nodded and made plans to meet at 9 AM.

“That’ll give me time to write my notes and drop them off in the morning,” Aldo said looking at the papers in his hands.  After gathering the files, Joe placed them in the safe and Frank and Joe walked the men outside.

“I’ll send your boys home before they clear out the fridge,” Todd said with a smile.  Frank and Joe laughed and watched the men pull out of the driveway. 

“What a fucking mess,” Frank whispered to Joe.  “When do you think we should tell Dad and Pops what’s going on?”

Joe sighed, “We’ll hold out as long as possible.” 

Frank began to laugh quietly, “Coward.”

“Fucking A.  Pops is gonna blow a gasket bigger than when he found me sneaking out of Annie’s room,” Joe said with a smile before he turned to Frank and glared.  “I still can’t believe you didn’t get caught that afternoon.”

“Because I jumped out Rose’s window and ran like I was being chased by Hell Hounds, which describes Pops perfectly,” Frank said as Joe hit him on the shoulder.  “I think Pops loved it when he caught us doing something wrong.”

The brothers looked at each other and laughed as they said together, “Not that we’ve ever done anything wrong.”

“Obviously you’re sleep-deprived not to mention delusional if you think you’ve never done anything wrong,” Rose said as they stepped into the kitchen and looked at her in confusion.  “Didn’t you realize you were speaking out loud?”

Frank grinned, “No, but we stand by our statement.  Ready for a run?  The boys’ll meet us in the woods.”  They nodded; the men stripped and shifted outside, and the women in the pool house.  Maria climbed on Alberto’s back and they set off.  “The boys are coming.”  Carlo nodded and continued to lead while Frank gave a low howl for them to follow.  An hour later, Carlo led them back to the house, the women going into the pool house and the men shifted and dressed outside. 

“We really needed that,” Carlo said as he stretched.  “I feel so much better and my wolf is settling down.  Before we go, I’d like to update the youngsters.  They’ve had insights and suggestions that’ve proven valuable so far.” 

“Let’s get drinks and go to the basement,” Annie said deactivating the alarm and opening the patio door.  As the adults told them everything they had discovered, the youngsters listened intently and the boys began to growl quietly.

Vin and Dom looked at the girls and Dom said, “What are your plans to increase security around the girls?”

“Mr. P brought up something we hadn’t thought of, which is using The Elders.  Most would love to get out of their houses and feel useful again,” Carlo said with a smile.  “So, he’s going to work up a schedule.”

“I don’t understand what these Prophecies mean,” Sophia said as she looked at Anthony, then her father.

“We are not entirely sure either or how many of them there are. We assumed they were part of a legend that had been passed down with the rest of the story lost to time.  Looking at them with a fresh eye, we are positive they are about the two of you,” Dante said with a shrug before turning to Anthony.  “There is something I have been wondering about; since you are not related to Ric, Rocco or Luc, you should not be able to use the bond to talk to them.  I would like you to try.”

Anthony smiled, “I think ‘Gramps’ should be Dante’s new name.”

The men burst out laughing and Ric said, “We can hear him.”

“He should not be able to do that even when he shifts,” Dante said as Carlo paled.  “Carlo, can you talk to those not in your Pack or related to you?  I am unable to.”  Both tried using the bond and weren’t able to.

“I’d like to try it on Friday when Parr Ridge, Tristan and Rain come over.  I’d also like you to try and talk to Paulo tomorrow when he’s at college.  Ten miles is the most we can use the bond, but I’d like to see if you can go farther than that,” Carlo said as Anthony shrugged.  “During the battle, it’ll be extremely helpful knowing you can talk to the other wolves to coordinate the attacks.”

“There’s something I’d like to know,” Frank said as he leaned back and looked at Anthony.  “During training, how much strength and speed are you using?”

“About a quarter to half, sometimes a little more,” Anthony replied as the others gasped.  “When I’m weight training by myself, I use my full strength.  I’ve had to get creative because the weights I have aren’t enough.  For resistance, I’ve been putting the John Deere in neutral and pushing it; for strengthening, I’ve been getting under it and benching it. When I started I could only get it about an inch off the ground, now I can get it about a foot and do two sets of twelve reps.  I also do a modified squat lift; I put my hands under the axles and use my legs to lift.”

“You’ve been bench pressing the tractor?” Carlo asked as he began to laugh.

“The lawn tractor Dad, not the farm tractor; I’m not the fucking Hulk,” Anthony said with a laugh before shrugging.  “I can lift the bed of my truck but not the front yet.  I’ll do some lifts with Angelo on my shoulders to show you.”

“This I gotta see.  If you drop him, Angelo’s fat ass is gonna flatten you and leave a huge fucking hole in the concrete floor,” Damian said with a laugh. 

“Carlucci, I outweigh you by 130 pounds and my ass is still smaller than yours,” Angelo retorted as everyone laughed.  “Let’s do this.”  They stood and Angelo stiffened as Ant lifted him over his head and held him for a minute before he lowered him to his shoulders and began doing squat lifts.  After twenty reps he placed Angelo back on the ground and rolled his neck, barely breathing hard.

“I can show you more, I’d probably need two people for the weight,” Ant said as the others stared in astonishment.

“Me.  Me.  Pick me,” Damian said as he jumped up and down. 

“Both of you sit,” Carlo said with a laugh before turning to the other boys.  “How many of you have been holding back in training?” 

“We haven’t held back, but we haven’t been challenged either, except when we’re sparring with Ant,” Vin said as Dom nodded.  “We were looking forward to being reassessed and planned on moving up at least one age group or more.”

Frank and Joe nodded as Carlo said, “We’ll get the assessments done this week, even if we have to call a special session.  Anthony, we’ll test your strength this week and buy whatever you need.”

“What about us Daddy?” Sophia asked with a frown.  “Maria and I are in the highest group and can beat all of them.  Are we going to train with the boys?”

“NO,” Ant and Alberto shouted at the same time as the girls rolled their eyes.

“I don’t see why not,” Sophia said as she turned to her intended.  “We practice with our family all the time.  You’ve never seen us really fight.”

Frank smile was filled with pride as he said, “They’re both really good.  I’d pit them against any of the boys in the 15 – 16 group, and if they work together they can take any of the older boys and some of the men.” 

Ant and Alberto started to object and Joe raised his hand to quiet them, “What you forget is Rose and Annie’s father was a Level 5 so our youngsters have Level 5 blood running through both sides of their family.”

“I don’t want my mate to get hurt,” Ant said with a frown.  “She’s too gentle to be sparring with bigger boys.”

“Come on Poppa Joe, you know what those training sessions are like, how crude we get and the language we use,” Alberto said as he looked at his intended.  “Like Ant said, I don’t want her around that; she’s too delicate, sweet and caring.”

“Let me tell you a little secret about your oh so sweet gentle delicate mates…,” Damian said with a wicked grin.  “These two belch, snort, curse, fight, and spit far worse than any boy.  We won’t even get into how they fart, it’s…”  He stopped as Sophia launched herself at him and Maria swung her arm around hitting him on the side of the head with her cast as the youngsters cheered them on. 

Frank jumped up and pulled Sophia off Damian, “Come on my little Hellion, let’s get you home.”  She continued to swing her arms and legs as Damian laughed and hollered, “OWWW” at the same time.

“I’m taking the cost of Maria’s cast and office visit out of your allowance,” Joe said as he examined the large crack in the cast.

“It was worth it to see the looks on their faces,” he responded with a laugh.  “While you’re there, ask Doc why they’re abnormally short.”

“Let me at him Daddy, let me at him,” Sophia said with a snarl as she continued to struggle in Frank’s grasp. 

As Damian continued to laugh his uncle said with a smile, “One of these days, I’m going to let her beat your ass.”  Damian gave his cousin his best crooked half grin and she narrowed her eyes before starting to laugh.

“I think that’s a good way to end this day,” Carlo said with a grin as he got up.  “I’ll see the youngsters settled at The School House then I’ll come here.  Dante, Gina you ready?  Anthony, when you get back to The Manor House, I’d like to talk with you.”  Anthony nodded and followed his intended upstairs to the kitchen.

Frank and Joe walked the Rossi’s outside and Carlo said, “I’ll send those emails when I get home like we discussed.”  He grinned at Frank, “Send my son home; he’s been a pain in your side long enough.” 

“I’d say a little lower and more posterior,” Frank added as they laughed before the Rossi’s got in their SUV and pulled out of the driveway. 

“You staying or going home?” Joe asked as they walked into the house.

“Going home, unless you and your wolf want us to stay,” Frank replied as he turned to look at Joe.

Joe shook his head, “We’ll be fine; the youngsters need to get back in their normal routines.”  He looked at the kitchen clock and said, “Gabby and Angelo, it was a pleasure and you’re welcome anytime…. Alberto go the hell home.”

Maria squealed, “Daddy…”

Alberto was laughing as he said, “He’s right Gattina, it’s late and we have school tomorrow.”  He turned to Joe and said, “Can I go tomorrow?”

“We’ll call Doc in the morning, and you can go as long as you don’t miss your other commitments,” Joe said before he sighed. 

Anthony looked at Frank with a smirk, “I know; you don’t have to say anything...  it’s time for me to go too.”  He pulled Sophia into his side and scented her before he got his Go Bag and waited for Alberto to finish saying goodbye to Maria before he followed the Moretti’s, Sal, Joe and Frank outside.

“We’ll follow him home,” Alberto said quietly as Frank and Joe nodded. 

“Carlucci, haven’t you spent enough time with my sister?  I figured you’d be as tired of her as I am,” Angelo said in a teasing tone before he grunted as Gabby walked by and elbowed him in the stomach as Sal laughed.

“Call me later,” Sal whispered as he opened the back passenger door and Gabby slid in.  She nodded and seeing everyone staring at them, she squeezed his hand as he handed over her Go Bag before closing the door.  He walked over to his Dad and uncle and watched the two cars pull out of the driveway.

“Come on Romeo, let’s get ready,” Frank said with a grin as he put his arm over his sons shoulders.  Ten minutes later, they pulled into the driveway and he sighed loudly as he opened the door, “Damn, I’m glad to be home.  Get ready for bed, you have school, football practice then the Pack meeting tomorrow, dance class is cancelled.  Damn, I need to call Jerry and tell him we won’t be in tomorrow.”     

“We’ll make sure the house is secure,” Dom said as Frank nodded as he pulled out his phone and walked into his study.

“Make sure your bags are ready for tomorrow; your clothes are in the laundry room,” Rose said as she sat at the table and looked around the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later, Sophia was in bed ready to turn out the light when she heard a knock on her door.  Sighing loudly she said, “What do you want?”

“Coming in,” Vin answered and her brothers walked in.  They sprawled around her room, but their attention was focused entirely on her.  “We want to talk to you and Maria, Lorenzo is your group ready?”

“Yeah, we’re here with Maria.  How the fuck are we going to have a serious convo when she’s in Little Mermaid PJ’s?” Lorenzo asked with a scowl as he looked around his baby sister’s room at all the pictures of Alberto.

Enzo closed the door as Dom said, “We know Alberto and Ant talked to you already, but they’re not around 24/7.”

“We don’t want to hear that you’ll be fine and nothings going to happen.  We’re your fucking brothers, we’ll always worry about you, there’s no stopping that,” Lorenzo said angrily as the boys nodded.

“We talked about how your over protectiveness would kick into high gear,” Maria said with a shrug.  “We know our safety is your main concern and we’ll do whatever you say; like we’ve been taught and we’ve always done.”

“Good.  So I don’t have to remind you of horror movie cliché’s; like the girl running through the forest in high heels who twists her ankle, or knows there’s a killer on the loose and sneaks out of the house to meet her boyfriend, or answers the door to some guy in a hockey mask,” Damian said as everyone began to laugh.

“What the hell does that have to do with this?” asked Gianni.

“Because they didn’t listen.  Isn’t that what we’re talking about?” Damian retorted.  “In every horror movie the Sheriff, the over protective father or some whacko warns the teenagers not to go in the woods, the haunted house, perform a séance or that there’s a killer on the loose and they ignore him and everybody but the plucky heroine gets killed and she ends up killing the killer, but you know he’s not really dead because they have sequels.”

“You’re making me dizzy,” Gino said as he lay down on Sophia’s bed.

“Ignore them,” Vin said as he moved to lean against Sophia’s dresser.  “We’re going to be even more protective than usual and we don’t want to get into arguments with you about your safety.  If we tell you ‘No’, we mean it and can talk about it later, but we expect you to listen.  Everything we do is to keep you safe.”

“We know; we’ve been taught since we were born that we’re to listen to you and not argue,” Sophia said before stopping and looking at each of her brothers.  “And we’d never put you in danger by being stubborn.” 

“You do whatever we want; shopping, bowling, skating and know you’d rather do something else, but you always try to make us happy,” Maria added as she smiled at her brothers.  “You’re the best brothers and cousins.”

Damian threw himself on Maria’s bed causing her to bounce and she was laughing as he said, “Naturally, I’m the best out of all of us.”

“Fuck off Damian,” the boys said in unison as the girls laughed. 

Seeing his sister yawn, Lorenzo said, “Let’s get some sleep, we’ll talk later.”  He came over and kissed Maria on the forehead followed by the rest of her brothers.  After they left, she shut her light and fell asleep immediately.

“Okay baby sister, get some sleep,” Vin said as he kissed her forehead and Sophia smiled as the rest of her brothers kissed her goodnight and left.  She sat for a moment wondering what Dad was talking to Anthony about before she reached up and shut her light and within minutes she was asleep.

*****

“Let’s go in my office,” Carlo said as he led Anthony and Gina down the hall.  Dante went upstairs since he knew Carlo and Gina wanted privacy and he wanted to talk to his mate about the party before she invited half of Italy.

“We want to talk about your responsibility as Alpha if anything happens.  I had Paulo put the info you’ll need on this flash drive,” Carlo said as handed it to Anthony.  “It contains banking info, including access codes and account numbers for the Rossi family as well as SMP.  Most people assume the majority of our holdings are in Real Estate because that’s what we allow them to think.”

“For every dollar we’ve invested there, we’ve invested ten in corporations we’ve set up around the world using false identities, each with corresponding bank accounts,” Gina added as she held her mates hand.  “Paulo knows this and he’s been instructed to transfer the money to a special account if things go bad.”

“The total is around $900 million and with that money you need to provide for the Pack, that is always your first responsibility.  Their needs come before your own…” Carlo stopped as he looked at his son.

“I know Dad, that’s one of the first lessons you taught me,” Anthony said quietly as he looked at his parents.  “I remember everything you and Mom taught me and I’ll do my best to live up to the responsibility that comes with being a Rossi Alpha.  I promise I will never let you or Mom down.”

Carlo swallowed the lump in his throat as he said, “You have no idea how proud we are of the man you’ve become and my only regret is my parents never lived to see you.”  His gaze swung to a picture on the wall and he smiled, “The day you were born was the proudest day of your Great-grandfathers life.  I understand now why his health was failing, and I think he held on as long as he did because he wanted to hold you before he passed.  To know the Rossi line would continue.”

Anthony’s gaze followed his fathers and looked at the black and white picture taken shortly after his birth; his Great-grandmother was standing behind her mate leaning over his shoulder as he held Anthony, both had broad smiles on their faces and it looked like Anthony’s hand was reaching out to grab his Great-grandfathers finger.  “I wish I would have known them,” Anthony said quietly.

“He spent every minute with you that he could,” Gina said quietly as her eyes teared up.  “I’d find the two of you in the family room, and even as weak as he had gotten, I knew you were safe in his arms.  He’d tell you stories about your Grandparents and you’d stare at him like you understood every word, even though you were only a couple of months old.”

“The day he died, you were inconsolable and cried for hours until you wore yourself out and slept.  The only thing that comforted you was when we placed Gianni, Marcus, Lorenzo and Damian in your crib and the five of you curled up together,” Gina said as she looked at another picture on the wall. 

“They’ve always been there for me,” Anthony said with a smile.

“Like their fathers have been there for me,” Carlo responded with an answering smile.  “The Carlucci’s will be your greatest resource when you become Alpha and their ties to you will be even greater since Sophia will be your mate and Madame Alpha.  They’ve stood by our side for over two thousand years and by the grace of Luna we hope that will continue for another two thousand years.”  Carlo stopped talking and reached across the table to hold his sons hand, “According to the Prophecies, you and Sophia are destined for greatness.  With that comes great responsibility and I know the two of you can handle them; Luna would not have bestowed them on you if you couldn’t.”  

Gina reached for Anthony’s other hand, “Even knowing that, don’t let it define your life and who you are.  Enjoy life before those responsibilities are thrust upon you.  Afterwards, you’ll need to balance them with family and friends; they’ll keep you grounded and give you the break you need.”

Anthony shrugged before yawning, “I understand, but I’m still not convinced they’re about us.  I don’t see anything special about me, other than the fact I’m a little stronger and can talk to others through the bond.”

“We’ll talk about that as we get more information,” Gina said.  “It’s late, is there anything you want to talk about Anthony?”

“Sophia wants to know when you’re going to teach her about her position.  She didn’t want to ask because of everything going on,” he said with a grin.

Gina replied with a smile, “Starting this week, she’s going to be given a list of duties I’d like her to start helping me with.  The youngster’s birthdays, some schedules… nothing too hard but things she needs to learn.”

He nodded, “She’ll like that, she likes being around the little ones.”  He walked over and kissed his parents goodnight before walking upstairs.  Carlo looked at Gina who nodded and he got up and poured two glasses of whiskey before sitting next to her as they were both lost in their thoughts of their son’s future.

*****

“I can’t find the boys.  Sal’s not in his room and neither are Enzo and Gino,” Rose said as she came out of Sal’s room and went to check Vin and Dom’s room.

Frank shrugged, “They were extremely upset finding out about the threat to Sophia, and I bet they’re with her.” 

Rose stopped abruptly and ran to the end of the hall flinging open the door as Frank looked over her shoulder.  Sophia was in the middle of her bed, between Enzo and Gino; Vin and Dom were on the floor at the foot of the bed; Gianni and Marcus were on the sides of the bed on the floor and Sal was in the bean bag chair.

Vin and Dom sat up and Vin said quietly, “We couldn’t sleep because our wolves were on edge and wanted to be near Sophia so we came in here.” 

Frank nodded and said quietly, “How are Brianna and Morgan?”

“They’re fine.  Matt and Phil are staying there, the house is locked down and they have their phones to call if they need us,” Dom said as he held up the phone in his hand.  “Paulo setup a link so if their alarm goes off it’ll notify us.”

“Good, now try and get some sleep,” Frank said as he closed the door.  “Have you checked your youngsters?”

“We’re getting ready to go upstairs now,” Joe replied as he ran up the stairs followed by Annie.  “What’s going on?”

“Check Maria’s room, I bet they’re in there.  Our boys are in Sophia’s room, they said their wolves were on edge and wouldn’t settle down,” Frank said as he began to undress.  “Get some sleep baby brother; 4:30’ll be here soon.”

*****

“Damn, I can’t believe I’m out here again, it’s still dark,” Carlo said with a frown.  “I think we should do this at a more reasonable hour, say 10 AM.”

“Carlo, you say the same thing every morning,” Frank said with a laugh.  “Get your ass in gear, we’re running to the Millers first.”  Carlo groaned as he led the way across the field.  Matt, Phil, Todd and Papa Mike were waiting in the backyard as the Carlucci’s, Moretti’s and Rossi’s appeared out of the tree line. 

Todd turned to the house, “Make sure you keep the guards down and the bond open.  We’ll be back in an hour or so.”

“Okay, the girls are still sleeping,” Holly said as she went into his study and turned on the monitors watching as the men disappeared into the tree line on the other side of the yard. 

“I’m out… of shape,” Todd gasped, his hands on his knees, as they finished their run in his backyard.  “Are you… sure that was… only ten… miles?”

“Actually it was twelve,” Joe said with a laugh. 

“I need one… of those… Life Alerts,” Papa Mike gasped as he collapsed.  “I’ve fallen… and there’s… no way in hell… I’m getting… back up…  Leave me here… so I… can die… in peace.”

Frank grinned, “Don’t forget today’s your first day at Triple C.”

“Fuck me… sideways,” Papa Mike groaned as Vin and Dom helped him up and began to walk him towards the house.  They heard the guards sliding back and the patio door opening as Nana Ellen came out.

“I told you not to overdo it, you old coot.  Bring him inside boys and set him on the sofa,” she said as she tried not to laugh. 

Frank glanced at his watch, “We’ve got to get going.  We’ll see you at 9.”  Vin and Dom came out of the house and joined the others as they ran back to Joe’s.  “Boys get your bags and get ready for school.  I’ll go back and wait for Sophia to get ready and bring her over; she’s still asleep so it’ll be around 7.”

“Do you want us to stay here or go with you?” asked Ric.

“You can stay here, I have clothes for you to change into and it’ll give you a chance to relax before we start at 9,” Joe said as Frank nodded.

*****

“Hurry up, you got five minutes before you have to leave for the Millers,” Annie said as the youngsters quickly finished eating.  

“Dad and Gus are pulling up with Gabby now,” Angelo said to Sal who hurriedly brought his plate to the sink before going to the front door.

As they stepped into the kitchen Gabby and Carmelo could barely contain their excitement, “I just heard from Marco… I’m gonna be a grandfather.”  Gabby began jumping up and down as he continued, “He noticed the change in her scent when she woke up ten minutes ago.”  Alberto and Angelo shouted excitedly and hugged their Dad and Gabby as congratulations rang out from everyone. 

Vin, Dom, Lorenzo and Damian looked at each other remembering what Maeve had said last night.  Vin looked at his Dad and Uncle, “There’s one thing about Maeve I forgot to tell you yesterday.  She told her mom they had to buy a baby gift for Anna and mentioned something about diamonds around her.”

“Anna was in the safe room with the others Saturday, so Maeve wouldn’t have had contact with her and none of us talked about her being in heat in front of the girls,” Frank said as he looked at Joe.  “We’ll have to talk to Todd about it and see exactly what she sees in these Aura’s.”

“Maria, remember your appointment is at noon so we’ll pick you and Alberto up at 11:45.  Since you won’t be there for lunch, we’ll stop at the Diner and eat there before we bring you back to school,” Annie hollered as the youngsters put their dishes in the sink and got their backpacks before running out the door.  After the door closed, she sat down and sighed loudly, “Finally, some peace and quiet.”  Joe grinned and brought her a plate with scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns and two biscuits on it.  The men piled their plates and joined her at the table.

“Marco will be spending the day with Anna while she comes down off the heat.  So he won’t be at the meeting tonight,” Carmelo said as he smiled.  “Have you heard from anybody about the email Carlo sent?”

“Half the men called me and the other half called Joe.  Aldo expects the parents to be dropping in more than usual.  It’s only natural because their wolves are on edge because of the threat,” Frank said with a shrug.  “Mr. P sent Elders to the U of MD apartment complex and more will be at the girls dance class, training sessions, stationed on the roads and woods around The School House.” 

Ric nodded, “It’s perfect cover.  Who would suspect a bunch of old men to be part of a protection detail?”     

Joe and Frank laughed as Carmelo said, “Don’t let them hear you say that.  They’ll beat the hell out of you.

“Carlo and Dante should be here in twenty minutes so let’s get everything setup,” Frank said as he looked at the clock.  As they were walking down the hall to Paulo’s office he said to Rose, “Let me know when you get to the office.”

“I’m here and lining up the day,” she replied.  “We’re going to be busy, I have to get the proposal ready for the shopping center in Cumberland, Jerry’s checking on the Miller’s permits, Joel has an estimate for a remodel, Barry’s overseeing the Hospital and Larry the addition, plus we have ten crews doing remodel work.” 

“I know my love,” Frank said with a sigh.  “Things will get back to normal, at least for a while, and we have our weekend at the lake coming up.  Keep the bond open and let me know if you need me.”

*****

Sophia turned on the faucet in the girl’s restroom so the boys wouldn’t hear and whispered, “When are you going to start our plan?”

“Now, we didn’t want to make them suspicious earlier,” Erin whispered back with a smile as she pointed to her backpack.  “You sure it’s gonna work?”

“It always does in Mommy’s romance novels,” Sophia replied as the girls began to laugh.  Erin and Caitlin took deep breaths as the girls straightened their uniforms and Gabby helped fix their light makeup. 

“What is the matter with you two?  You’ve been like fucking zombies all morning,” Anthony said to Lorenzo and Damian as they waited in the hallway.

“Neither of us slept.  I swear I could smell Erin in bed with me and the more I moved the stronger the smell got,” Lorenzo said with a frown.  “It drove me fucking crazy.  Even after taking my shower, I can still smell her on my skin.”  

“It’s like I was surrounded by Caitlin.  I woke up at 3 and realized I’d shifted into my wolf and was rolling around on the sheets like a cat in fucking catnip,” Damian said with a shrug before glancing at his brother and a grin came over his face.  “I looked at Lorenzo and he was dry humping his bed like he was possessed.”

“I WAS NOT,” Lorenzo shouted as he slugged his brother in the arm as the boys were doubled over in laughter.

“What weren’t you doing?” Erin asked softly as she walked by, dragging her nails across his hand before going to stand in line.  He followed; standing close behind her he breathed in her strawberry scent as she picked up a tray and went down the line getting her food.  His focus was entirely on her, it was as if he was on autopilot as he put the plates handed to him on his tray without realizing what he was doing until they got to the desserts.  Erin squeezed his hand and whispered, “I brought dessert today.”  He stared into her grey eyes and swallowed nervously as she went to their table.  As he went to sit across from her she said quietly, “You should sit next to me so we can share.”  He walked around the table sitting close by her side as she smiled and he felt his heart start to beat harder.

“What did you bring me?” Damian asked as he walked to the table with Caitlin and pushed against her shoulder almost knocking the tray out of her hands. 

“Damian, I swear you don’t realize I’m a girl sometimes the way you push me around,” Caitlin said as she set her tray on the table and sat down.

“Of course I know you’re a girl.  You’re short, I’m tall; you’re soft and gushy, I’m hard and muscular; you’re kinda cute, I’m devastatingly handsome,” he said with a smirk as he sat next to her and shoved half his hamburger in his mouth.

“I have manners, you don’t,” she added as she took a small bite of hers.

He took a large drink of milk and burped loudly before he whispered, “You forgot one Zucca, you fill out your uniform differently than I do.”  When he saw her blush he smiled before grabbing some of the tater tots off her plate.  The youngsters talked quietly as they ate; the boys about the football game against Parr Ridge and the girls about their training class on Wednesday.  Without saying anything the girls gave their plates to the boys and they finished them before Damian said excitedly, “Okay, what do you have for dessert?  I can’t wait any longer.” 

Caitlin pulled a container out of her backpack and opened the lid and Damian inhaled deeply as she said, “I made you iced pumpkin cookies.  Mommy says they’ll be better with fresh pumpkin, but I think you’ll like them.”  

Erin pulled a similar container out and turned to Lorenzo, “I made you Strawberry Cream Cookies.  Maria said you liked Strawberry shortcake, and I thought you might like these.”  Lorenzo closed his eyes and breathed deeply as the strawberry scent seemed to surround him.

“We brought cookies to thank you for helping us yesterday,” Brianna said as her sisters reached into their backpacks.  “We have chocolate chip, lemon frosted sugar cookies, raspberry filled shortbread, and snickerdoodles.”  The boys smiled and murmured ‘Thanks’ as the girls passed the cookies around the table. 

Anthony turned to Sophia expectantly and she shrugged, “I got nothing.  If you’re a good boy I’ll make you cookies later this week.”

“I’m always good Arachide,” he said with a smirk as Sophia rolled her eyes.

“I got less than nothing,” Gabby said to Sal who began to laugh.  “By the time we got home last night I was exhausted, so you’re lucky I’m even here.”

After they finished the boys stared hungrily at the containers in front of Lorenzo and Damian.  Seeing the looks they were getting, Lorenzo and Damian began to growl.  The girls grinned and Erin leaned in and whispered in Lorenzo’s ear, “May I have another?”  He turned his head and inhaled sharply as he realized how close she was to him and his eyes dropped down to her lips.  A minute went by and he saw her lips move but he didn’t hear a word of what she was saying. 

“Huh?” was the only coherent thought he managed to get out as he continued to stare at her mouth.  He saw her lips moving again and still couldn’t concentrate enough to understand as his face became flushed, his heart started beating faster and he could feel his forehead start to bead up with sweat. 

“For fucks sake Lorenzo, she’s asked you three times for another cookie,” Michael said as he burst out laughing. 

“What???  Oh… oh yeah, sure,” he responded as he tore his gaze away from her mouth.  He picked out one of the larger ones and handed it to her and watched as she brought it slowly to her mouth before taking a bite.

“Mmmm,” she moaned in a low voice as Lorenzo felt his heart beat even faster.  He went to eat the cookie he was holding and heard the others laughing as he realized he had crushed it into a ball and strawberry jam was oozing between his fingers.

“Fuck.  I’ll be right back,” he said as he went to the restroom.

“Damian, turn this way a sec,” whispered Caitlin as he sighed before turning towards her.  “You have a little bit of icing right here.”  She reached up and gently swiped the tip of her index finger across the corner of his bottom lip and his eyes were wide as she darted her tongue out and licked it off her finger.  “Ooh, that’s good.”

“Huh?” he said as she leaned towards him, placing her left hand gently on his arm as she reached with her right to get another cookie. 

“The icing… we put vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon in, so it’s sweet yet spicy,” she said with a smile.  “Don’t you think everything’s better that way?”

He mumbled quickly, “I gotta check on Lorenzo.”  Without saying anything else he got up and ran to the restroom.

Vin looked at the girls and asked quietly, “What the hell was that about?”  The girls shrugged and put their heads down to hide their grins.

Damian saw Lorenzo had his head under the faucet and his hands were gripping the edges of the sink and said, “That looks like a good idea.  Caitlin’s going to make my head explode if I don’t cool down.”

*****

Doc examined the crack in Maria’s cast and said, “I’m afraid to ask.”

“I cracked it hitting Damian upside the head,” Maria said with a laugh.

He grinned, “Knowing Damian, he deserved it.  Let’s get an X-ray of your forearm; I want to make sure nothing was dislodged.”  Fifteen minutes later he came back into her room and said, “Everything looks good on the X-ray.  Try and keep it elevated to decrease the swelling and the bruising is probably a result of the swelling and the rigidity of the cast.  I talked to Dr. Parr and he said we don’t have to apply a plaster cast, a rigid brace should be okay.”  He walked to the cabinet and got a small arm brace down and showed Maria how to apply it.  “Keep it snug, but not overly tight.  If you notice swelling, then loosen the Velcro.” 

Maria nodded and practiced applying it and tightening and loosening the Velcro.  “It feels really good, not as heavy as the other.  Should I still use the sling?”

Doc nodded, “It’ll take pressure off your muscles and ligaments.  To prevent you from losing muscle tone, I want you to do isometric exercises.” 

Joe nodded, “I’ll show you some and we’ll set up a schedule so if you have swelling and bruising we can deal with it.  Anything else Doc?”

“Nothing.  Let me know if you have any more problems and your appointment with Dr. Parr to get the plates removed is October 15th,” he said as he made notes in her chart.  “He was going to do it earlier, but he has a medical conference to go to and he said an extra couple of weeks won’t make a difference.  So, the plates will be in eight weeks instead of six.”

“Thanks Doc,” Annie said as she watched Alberto help Maria put the sling back on as Joe glared at him.

*****

Almost an hour and a half later the ringing of Dante’s phone disturbed the silence as the adults gathered in Paulo’s study to read the emails and files to make sure they hadn’t missed anything while Carlo and Dante went over Aldo’s notes.  “It is Nick, my Archivist,” he said looking at the display.  “Rossi here…”  He motioned for pen and paper and Joe quickly handed them to him.  “Let me repeat it, ‘In quatuor angulis octo numero reperies. Oportet omnes ad voluntatem Luna quibusdam’… Where did you find it?...  And the Guardian line of Moray?...  Keep looking, there has to be more information on them…Yes, I will send all the information we have found so everyone knows… Thank you, and call me anytime you have more information.”  He hung up and sighed loudly.

“What is it Dante?” Carlo asked as he sat at the table with him.

“My Latin is rusty, but loosely translated it means, ‘In the four corners, you will find a quantity of eight.  All must be found to understand the will of Luna’.  Nick found it in the Vatican Archives, in the private Papal Library.”  Dante saw the confused looks on their faces.  “There have been 264 Popes, did you not think some of them could have been Were’s?  Second and third sons placed in the ultimate position of influence and power all with one goal in mind, to enhance their family and Pack’s status and wealth.  Popes governed the land, held the fate of thousands of people in their hands and Emperors, Kings and Queens bowed down to them.”

“Damn, I never thought of it that way,” Frank said as he sat down. 

“Getting back to what Nick found, we believe it is The Key to The Prophecies,” they gathered around as Dante continued.  “Let us look at it bit by bit.  ‘In the four corners’, that is a reference to the world; ‘You will find a quantity of eight’, we have found two so that means there are six more; ‘All must be found to understand the will of Luna’ that is self explanatory.”

Carlo threw his hands up in the air, “Well that clears things up.  How the hell are we going to find out where the other six are from?”

Dante sighed, “These Prophecies maybe a thousand years old, so which countries were in positions of power to have been granted Prophecies from Luna?”

“Greece has to be one of them.  They’ve been the center of civilization for thousands of years,” said Todd with a thoughtful look.  “My brother in law is Greek; I could call and see if he knows anything about this.”  Carlo nodded and Todd got his phone out as the others quietly sat thinking of which countries may have Prophecies.  “Nick, I don’t have time for the details but do you know anything about a Greek Prophecy about a Warrior or Luna?... Call back or better yet send an email as soon as you can…  I’ll tell Holly … Take care.”  He hung up and said, “He doesn’t know of any but he’s going to call his father’s family in Greece.”

“Besides Italy and France, I think England has to be one of them,” said Joe as he wrote them on the board above the table.

“Germany?” Frank asked as Carlo and Dante shrugged.

“Maybe Russia,” added Gina as she leaned against the counter.

“How about Spain or Portugal?” Annie asked with a sigh.

“It could be China, Japan, Egypt, or a dozen others depending on when they were written.  We are not even sure if the others listed are correct,” Dante frowned.  “On our way home we will stop in England to visit my family, I will talk to my cousin and find out what he knows.  If I call him, he will not say anything.” 

“While you finish the emails and files, Annie and I’ll try and narrow the list down,” Gina said as the men nodded.  They walked down the hall to Annie’s study so they could do some research on her computer.

An hour later, Todd checked his email and said, “I got an email from Nick.”  He opened it and printed it out as Carlo called Gina and Annie back.

‘Ανακήρυξη από το Μαντείο των Δελφών’

Το Μαντείο των Δελφών διακήρυξε στη Θεά Σελήνη,  “Σε χιλιάδες χρόνια μία μεγάλη σύγκρουση θα πέσει πάνω στα παιδιά σoυ που θα χαθούν πάνω σε λευκά εδάφη τα οποία δεν θα τα καλύψει η ροή του κακού.”  Η Θεά θέσπισε πως ένας γιος και μια κόρη θα γεννηθούν από δύο ισχυρές οικογένειες υπό την επίβλεψη των Μοιρών, όταν αυτές κρίνουν αναγκαίο. Προορίζονται να είναι ταίρια, αυτός θα είναι προικισμένος με τη σοφία, τη δύναμη, την πειθαρχία και την αφοσίωση εκείνων που ήρθαν πριν από αυτόν. Eκείνη θα είναι προικισμένη με συμπόνια, δύναμη, πίστη και απεριόριστη αγάπη για αυτόν.  Διότι  μόνο αυτός όταν ο λύκος εξαπολυθεί θα μπορέσει να σταματήσει τη ροή του κακού, και μόνο εκείνη θα είναι αυτή που θα μπορέσει να τον φέρει πίσω.

‘Proclamation from the Oracle of Delphi’

The Oracle of Delphi proclaimed to the Goddess Selene, ‘In thousands of years great strife will be thrust upon your children who will perish on grounds of white that does not cover the flow of evil.’  The Goddess decreed a son and daughter from two powerful families would be born upon the will of the Moirai when they deemed necessary.  Destined to be mates, he would be gifted with the wisdom, strength, discipline and loyalty of those who came before; she would be gifted with compassion, strength, loyalty and love for him that knew no bounds.  For only he once the wolf was unleashed would stop the flow of evil, and only she would be the one to bring him back. 

At the bottom of the page was a note:

For millennia we prayed to the Goddess Selene that the Prophecy would never come to fruition.  If the Moirai have ordered their births that means great evil has pervaded our kind and the destined ones must be protected for only they will be able to stop it.  We would be honored to assist in any way you deem necessary. 

We anxiously wait to hear from you,   

Alexander Lykos, Alpha of Lykaion Pack

The room was quiet until Dante cleared his throat, “I know Alex from the European Council and he would be a good man to have on our side.  There were three Packs in Greece and in the last four hundred years they have been joined through matings to become one.  They are very strong and their numbers are around 1,000.”  He turned to Carlo, “I can arrange to meet with him and discuss what has been happening, if that is okay with you.”

Carlo looked to Gina who nodded before he looked to Frank and Joe who also nodded, “Do whatever you think is necessary, if we can get them on our side that will definitely tip the odds in our favor.”

“Who are the Moirai and what does ‘grounds of white that does not cover the flow of evil’ mean?” Vinnie asked as he leaned against the counter.

“There were three of them, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos.  In Greek mythology they are the deities of the Fates, and controlled mortal life from birth to death.  They were very powerful and even the gods submitted to their will,” Dante answered as he studied the Prophecy again.  “I think ‘grounds of white’ means snow, which would be in the timeline Aldo predicted.  ‘That does not cover the flow of evil’ could mean blood or tracks in the snow.  I am not entirely sure.” 

Todd looked at the clock and said, “We’ve got to go, school will be over in fifteen minutes and we’ve got to pick up the girls.”  

“Yes, I want to pick up Emily,” George Reeder nodded in agreement.  “Mr. P has an Elder assigned to her, but she has a date with the Balducci boy Friday night and wants to go to the Mall and she’s not going without me.”

Gina smiled, “Which boy?”

“I have no clue if it’s Thomas, Jonathon or Theodore.  I doubt it’s Rick, he’s only fifteen,” he said with a shrug as he turned to Todd.  “Their sister Robin’s a sweetheart and the same age as Kelly and Aislin.”

“They’ve mentioned her and Emily,” Todd said with a smile.  “They’ve become friends with most of the girls and their phones are constantly ringing from them calling and texting each other.”

“We’ll go with you and make sure you get the girls home okay,” Carlo said as Dante gathered the papers he wanted to take.  “I’ll see everyone tonight at 6.”

*****

The training center was full as the entire Pack was present, even the students from U of MD were attending the meeting.  At the table Gina, Carlo, Anthony and Sophia sat with Frank and Joe flanking the table.  Paulo sat at another table with his laptop and a large screen was on the back wall.  In the observation room, all those younger than fifteen were watching a movie as they ate snacks.  Joe stepped forward and escorted Victoria to the smaller training room and without asking she handed over her phone and pocketbook before sitting in a chair facing the wall. 

At exactly 6, Carlo stood, “I call the Pack meeting to order.  You have read the emails and files I sent so I am asking you to hold all questions until we are done presenting the information we’ve discovered this afternoon, Mr. P will go over what the Elders have set in motion and we will finish with our plans.”

Carlo nodded to Paulo and the Greek Prophecy was displayed on the screen.  Carlo explained how it was discovered and that Dante was going to contact the Alpha of Lykaion Pack.  “To remind everyone, the Lykaion Pack is the original Werewolf Pack.  Many different versions exist as to their origin… a man cursed by Zeus for feeding him human flesh; a man punished by Hera for refusing her advances and the one we are taught involves Selene or Luna.  She had fallen in love with a mortal and spurned Zeus.  In his anger he changed the man into a wolf, ‘He would roam the nights in beast form for the rest of his unnatural life.’  Selene gave her love the ability to change into a man during the day but he reverted to a wolf at dusk, when Zeus found out he stripped her powers so she could no longer take human form.  Her love would bay at the moon to let her know how he was doing since they could never be together again.  Many years down the road, Luna fell in love with another and she created a female Were so her first love would no longer be lonely and they gave birth to the lycanthrope.  Through thousands of years, genetics, mutations, and the ever vigilant presence of Luna to look after the offspring of her first love we have evolved into what we are today.  We can shift whenever we want, we appear human all the time but our wolves are always present.  We honor Luna and worship her on the Full Moon to give thanks for all she has given us.”

Gina turned to Aldo and asked, “Aldo, do you sense anything about Alpha Lykos that Dante needs to know before he meets with him?”

Aldo held his mate’s hand and bowed his head as minutes went by, “I sense sincerity and a willingness to help.  No deception but he knows more than what he told us… I’m getting split second images of eight people gathered around a fire and staring as if in a trance.  It may be the original gathering when the Prophecies were given.”  He raised his head, “I can try later to focus on their dress to see if that will give us any clue as to where they came from.” 

Gina nodded, “While most of our Pack is of Italian heritage, we have members from others; English, German, Irish, and Chinese to name a few.  If you know of any legends, stories or anything similar please let us know.  We have three Prophecies and need to find the other five.”  The Pack members nodded.

Carlo motioned Mr. P and his father, Elder Arturo to come forward and outline their plans.  “The Elders will provide extra security for The School House, the apartment at U of MD and the detail for the girls and our Alpha-heir… after all who would suspect a bunch of old men to be part of a protection detail?” Elder Arturo asked as he glared at Ric, who grinned before he bowed his head.  “In one year’s time, the Senior Elders will return from Greenland to increase the patrols in the woods and roads around The School House and where they are deemed necessary.” 

He turned to the Alpha’s as the Elders stood, “You believe we should be protected and sent to the safe room…. but with all due respect Alpha Carlo and Madame Alpha Gina we disagree.  Those deemed necessary to help young Enzo re-establish the Pack will go into the safe room, the rest of us will stay and fight.  The same fighting blood that runs through your veins runs through ours and we will not be pushed aside when our Pack is in danger.”

Carlo and Gina walked to Elder Arturo’s side before looking at The Elders.  “Are all of you in agreement with this?” Carlo asked.  As one they nodded and Carlo sighed, “We would be honored to have you by our side, but the continuation of the Pack if we fail is of upmost importance.  I’d like you to discuss with Gina and young Enzo who is going into the safe room so they can prepare.” 

“When the hell did I become ‘Young Enzo’?” Enzo asked in a whiny voice and quiet laughter filled the room.

Carlo smiled at Enzo before turning to Elder Arturo, “Is there anything else?”  He shook his head and the Pinelli’s returned to their seats.  Carlo motioned for Frank and Joe, “Our Directors of Security will update you about Friday.”

“Directors of Security? I should have worn a badge,” Frank said with a smile.  “Does this mean I get a raise too?”

“Figured I might as well as use your proper titles and your share of the Pack’s profits are the largest, beside mine,” Carlo retorted as Joe smiled.

“Alpha Carlo received confirmation from Parr Ridge Pack that the football game will be here on Friday so Alpha Parr can meet with Alpha Legrand and Rain.  We’ll have increased security and schedules will be emailed,” Frank said as he looked around the room.  “We’ve discussed the precautions for the pregnant females and young ones and decided since we are trying to maintain as normal an environment as possible it’s not necessary for them to be kept away.”

“Mr. P will be in charge of those not attending the game, so notify him if he needs to make arrangements,” Joe added as the Pack nodded. 

Carlo looked into the stands and smiled, “Emory, Doc’ll be ready if the little one decides he wants to join us.”  She buried her head in Duke’s neck as the Pack began to laugh.  He turned to Carmelo and Rita, “And in six months we’ll have another reason to celebrate… Anna and Marco are expecting.”  The Pack cheered and he waited for it to die down before he continued, “They’re not here; understandably Marco is very protective of her and their little one and they’ll remain in seclusion at The Cottage for another day or two.”

He took a deep breath and said, “Let’s take a short break, there are refreshments in the back training room and then we’ll get started on our plans.”

*****

“What is going on with you two?” Anthony asked as they once again waited for the girls outside the restroom after lunch.

  

“Erin is driving me fucking nuts,” Lorenzo said as he leaned against the wall.  “She was showing me pics on her phone and wanted to know which outfits she should bring to the lake since they’ve never gone on vacation.  She’s going to have every guy at the lake staring at her, she looked fucking gorgeous.” 

“Caitlin was doing the same thing.  I choked on my meatloaf when she showed me the one of her in her swimsuit, I didn’t see it when we were at the mall,” Damian said with a frown.  “They shouldn’t be allowed outside in bathing suits, wearing shorts and a t-shirt should be good enough... with a hoodie over them.”  

“You two are fucking losing it.  It doesn’t bother you when Maria and Sophia are in their bathing suits and I’m sure Caitlin and Erin’s aren’t that different,” Alberto said before he smiled.  “I know I like seeing Maria in her bathing suit.”

“Oh man, Sophia in her bathing suit,” Anthony closed his eyes and leaned against the wall as Gianni and Marcus made gagging sounds.

“Dude, both of you are sick,” Damian said with a shudder.  “I still think it’s wrong that you scent my baby sister, I get weirded out every time I see you doing it.”

Alberto smiled as the girls came out of the restroom, “Wait eleven months when I’m allowed to kiss her.  You’re going to need a crowbar to get our lips apart.”

Damian fell to his knees grabbing his hair before falling onto his side and curling up in a fetal position, “Call Doc, I think my brain just exploded.”

“What’s the matter with him?” Caitlin asked as she stared at Damian.

“He’s fine, just overjoyed at the thought of me kissing my mate,” Alberto said with a smile as Maria blushed and hid her face in his chest.

*****

“We ready?” Sophia asked as she sat at the head table with Enzo and Gino on her right and Paulo and Michael on her left.  They nodded and she stood up, “I call this meeting to order.” The youngsters stopped talking and sat up straight to listen to their future Madame Alpha.  “What we discuss here goes no further than this room; I can’t give an Alpha command, but I am asking you to honor this for the love of SMP and our families I know we have.  Our continuation as a Pack depends on our ability to keep our plans secret.  ” 

The youngsters bowed their heads and said, “Yes, future Madame Alpha.” 

She nodded and said, “At the next meeting when The Elders who will be joining us in the safe room have been selected we will talk about where we will go and how we will get there.  What we do know is we cannot stay in North America and we cannot go to Italy; we’ll talk more about that as we gather more information.”  She turned to Enzo and motioned for him to stand, “I’m going to turn the meeting over to Enzo; he will be Head of Operations and along with me will make the final decisions.  Gino will be Director of procurement; Paulo will be Director of finances and cyber security; and Michael will be Director of security.”

“Why are they in charge?  Why not some of us?  My Dad is Assistant Chief of Police; I should be in charge of security,” sixteen year old Ashton Knight said as he stood up and his brother Cooper nodded in agreement.  

Enzo began to answer but Sophia responded in a commanding voice, “They are destined to be Level 5’s by rite due to paternal and maternal blood lines and there is no one else who has the necessary skills we need for the daunting task before us.  That is why Alpha Carlo and Madame Gina put them in charge.”

“I still say I should be in charge, my family has been in law enforcement for decades,” Ash said as his brother stood up next to him.

Enzo stood to his full height of almost 6’.  “Do you know how to obtain passports, driver’s licenses, birth certificates, credit cards as well as other forms of identification?  Do you know how to set up protection details?  Do you know how to set up security cameras and electronic surveillance?  Do you know how to provide proper training techniques to the youngsters?” 

Ashton shrugged before sighing and said, “No, but I…”

“We’ll teach you how to do all that and more, until then… sit your ass down,” Enzo said as he raised his eyebrow looking exactly like his father.  “I requested this first meeting without The Elders or women so we can get ourselves organized into groups according to our strengths.  In addition to the groups Sophia mentioned, there are several others we need to form.”

He looked around the room and said, “Gabriella Moretti, please stand.”  She stood and he said, “We need someone to be in charge of our history.  Madame Gina will provide access to the Pack Archives and we need to make a list of items that are necessary for our future generations to know the history of SMP.  When the time comes, those items will need to be gathered and placed in a safe area that will be determined later.  Will you accept the Keeper of the Archives position?”

Gabby nodded, “I would be honored.”

He smiled before looking around the room, “Gary Pinelli, please stand.”  He stood and Enzo said, “We need someone to be in charge of vehicles to get us from our territory to our destination.  They’ll need to be maintained in perfect working order, kept full at all times, and cannot be traced back to the Pack or anybody associated with it.  Will you accept the Director of Transportation position?”

Gary nodded, “I would be honored.”

Enzo nodded and looked around the room, “Kevin Richards, please stand.”  He stood and Enzo said, “We need someone in charge of continuing our education according to the standards our Alpha’s set for us.  You will need to obtain the current curriculum, textbooks and any other materials you deem necessary including materials for the young ones.  Will you accept the Director of Education position?”

Kevin nodded, “I would be honored.”

Enzo searched the room, “Jason and Lila Burns, Cole and Angela Robertson, Harry and Emily Reeder, please stand.”  They stood and Enzo said, “We need someone to be in charge of the young ones.  The women will help as much as possible, but they will be feeling the loss of their mate so we need to do as much as possible to assist them.  You need to organize the young ones into groups to practice going through the tunnel so they aren’t scared, to quickly get into the vehicles, to listen to instructions and most importantly for them to be as quiet as possible.  They will need booster seats and car seats already placed in the get away vehicles; plus items like formula, diapers, baby wipes, soft foods, snacks, and comforting things like stuffed animals.  All of this must be in place when we make our escape so we don’t waste time.  I’ve picked the six of you, but you need to figure out who the Director of Young Ones is going to be.  Do you accept this responsibility?”

All six nodded, “We would be honored.”

Enzo paused before saying, “Ashton Knight, please stand.”  He stood and Enzo stared at him before saying.  “We need someone to plan our escape route or routes.  You will need to know these roads inside and out; where the turns are, stop signs, stop lights, speed limits and speed traps, the last thing we need if we’re escaping is to get stopped for speeding.  As I mentioned, you will need a primary route, plus several alternate routes.  Do you accept the Director of Logistics position?

Ashton nodded, “I would be honored.”

Sophia stood, “As you can see these positions are closely related to each other and we’ll need to work together to ensure everything flows smoothly.  Our success depends on this and as we move forward in our plans, other positions may become necessary and we’ll fill those with the most qualified.”  She looked at the clock, “We’ll take a break to eat and for the Directors to assemble their teams.  I want you to pick people who’ll be the best at helping you, not just friends and family.  For example, Gary I expect you to have Beatrice on your team, she had the highest scores on the auto repair course the girls take.  After our break, Paulo will give us a financial accounting, and we’ll have an open discussion.”   

Forty minutes later, Sophia called for the meeting to come to order.  The youngsters hurriedly cleaned up and sat in the bleachers.  Paulo took a deep breath and stood, “With the money from the Alpha’s and Davis Pack we have over $400 million to fund our escape, find a new place to live, and provide for our Pack.  This may seem like a lot, but depending on where we go the cost of land and suitable housing will take a lot of it plus we will have to buy vehicles and a thousand other things to start over again.”  He paused and said, “Not to mention the money some governments will require to allow us to move there.”  He didn’t mention the Rossi family money because that would be used at Anthony’s discretion.   

“We need to find a country that has a large undeveloped area, that we can buy hundreds, if not thousands of acres so we can establish our compound.  It has to be remote enough that we won’t be easily detected yet accessible enough that we have access to the supplies we need,” Enzo said with a sigh.  “We’ll have to become more self-sufficient and learn to grow our food, harvest it, and can it so we can have a suitable diet.  Depending on where we are, we can either hunt for meat or purchase it.  Our way of life is going to totally change and we need to prepare for it.”

*****

The airport in Hagerstown was quiet at 7 PM as Dante and the Italians were preparing to fly to London.  They had moved up their departure after Dante called his cousin and was told he could meet with him from 11AM to 11:30 precisely, not a minute more.  Having grown up with his cousin from the age of thirteen when they started Eton together he knew how rigid he could be, the complete opposite of Carlo but Dante was equally close to both of them.

The three Alpha’s stared at each other and Carlo said quietly, “Thank you for coming to assist us Dante.  I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Dante smiled and hugged him whispering in his ear, “It is my greatest hope that we never have to find out.”  He stepped back and hugged Gina, smiling when he heard Carlo growl, “Take care my cousins, we will be back in three months but if you need us before then, we are only a phone call away.” 

Ric, Rocco and Luc hugged Frank, Rose, Joe and Annie and Ric said quietly, “If you need us, call.  Protect your youngsters my cousins, they are a pain in the ass especially Damian, but they are definitely Carlucci’s.”

“And Vitti’s,” Luc added with a smile as Frank and Joe rolled their eyes and their mates glared at them.   

“Ten minutes,” Dante said and the Italians finished saying goodbye to their families.  Their attention was diverted as they heard two vehicles quickly approaching and the men gathered around their Alpha’s and mates to protect them.

“What the fuck?” Carlo exclaimed as Amanda got out of the lead vehicle and walked toward them smiling broadly.

“Good evening everyone,” she said as several workers got out of the vehicles and opened the van doors revealing styrofoam coolers.  “Compliments of the employees of Long John Silver’s of the Southeast Region for you to enjoy on your flight home.  We have chicken planks, fried fish, clam strips, popcorn shrimp, fries, hush puppies, cole slaw, corn on the cob and for dessert we have pineapple cream cheese pie and chocolate cream pie.  We’ve also taken the liberty of including several 2-liters of A & W Root beer and other Pepsi products.”

Dante was ecstatic and almost jumping up and down in excitement, “Thank you so much Amanda, but how did you know we were leaving?”

“Damian Carlucci, several members of his family and Anthony Rossi came in and ordered this for you and told us to include this note.  When I realized you were leaving, I contacted my Regional Manager and he wanted to thank you for your patronage of our restaurants and for including us in the reception.  We filled the order as specified by Mr. Carlucci, but didn’t charge him,” she said as the workers smiled as she handed the note to him.

Dante read it before bursting out in laughter, Carlo grabbed it out of his hand and read it out loud, “We thought long and hard of a Thank you/Going away gift and couldn’t think of anything you’d like more than another meal of chicken planks and all the fixins.  Try not to fight over the last chicken plank or hush puppy when you’re at 30,000 feet, even though y’all are old and weak and have nowhere near our skills, I doubt the plane could handle it.  The Clan.”

“That had to be written by Damian, the little bastard,” Ric said with a laugh.

“Who else would thank and insult us at the same time,” Rocco said with a laugh as Joe smiled proudly.

“Thank you for this Amanda, we are going to enjoy this,” Dante said as he pulled out his wallet.  “How many workers did it take to prepare this?”

“Please Sir, that’s not necessary.  You’ve done enough and helped some of us more than you know,” she said as she shook her head.  At his confused look she continued, “With the tips you’ve given us, you’ve paid for college tuition and books, car repairs and payments, medicine, rent and given so many other things.  Some of my staff work two jobs to make ends meet and this was our thank you.”

Dante smiled, “Thank them for me and since you won’t take a tip, how about you take your staff out to dinner on me.”  He handed her a roll of $100 bills and went to each employee and thanked them while they in turn thanked him before they got in their vehicles and left.  His Pack members finished loading the plane and Ric pointed at his watch.  “I really have to go; I’ll see everyone in three months.” 

Carlo and Dante stared at each other and whispered, “Dobbiamo proteggere la confezione e la famiglia sopra ogni cosa.”  With one last embrace, Dante turned and walked to the plane without looking back.

*****

“Sleep any better?” Anthony asked as they waited for the girls to come out of the restroom before lunch.

“Fuck no; I fell asleep in English class this morning.  Drooled all over my fucking cardigan,” Lorenzo said as he pointed to a wet spot.

“I fell asleep during breakfast, almost drowned in my fucking oatmeal.  I swear a raisin went up my nose,” Damian said as he inhaled deeply through his nose and moved his head around.  “I can feel it rolling around in my head.”

“That’s cause your head is empty dumbass,” Gianni said with a laugh.

The girls walked out of the restroom talking quietly when Kelly shouted, “SPIDER.”  The girls screamed and buried themselves in their intendeds/protectors chest as the boys wrapped their arms around them instinctively. 

Angelo started to laugh and said, “That’s not a spider, it’s a piece of dirt.”  He turned to his sister and said, “When did you get scared of spiders?  Usually you’re the one picking them up and putting them outside.”

Gabby glared at her brother, “Shut up.”  She turned to Sal who had his arms around her and she whispered, “He’s right.  I wanted you to hold me.”  He swallowed noisily as she smiled at him and he tightened his hold on her. 

Aldo who had seen and heard everything cleared his throat, “Boys, let go of those girls.  That’s a violation of the rules no matter the provocation.”

“It’s time to move into the cafeteria,” Principal Richards said as he walked into the hallway.  The boys dropped their arms from around the girls except Lorenzo who growled and pulled Erin tighter to his chest and Damian who glared at him and pushed Caitlin behind him.

“Lorenzo, you’ve got to let go of me,” Erin whispered as she nuzzled his neck. 

“It’s okay Damian,” Caitlin said quietly as she encircled Damian’s waist.  He turned and looked at her over his shoulder and seeing she was okay he nodded.

Lorenzo loosened his grip on Erin’s waist and leaned down to scent her as he whispered, “You’re driving me crazy Erin and I don’t understand.” 

She smiled and said, “I brought you strawberry chocolate chip cookies for dessert today.”  She moved out of his arms and he watched her walk away before shaking his head and quickly catching up to her.

*****

“They’re doing much better today,” Frank said to Todd as Vinnie and Carmelo led the girls in defensive maneuvers.  “The extra practices are paying off.”

“I’ll tell you one thing, I wish the boys had never taught them how to use handcuffs,” Todd said with a frown as Frank and Joe turned to him.  “This morning I woke up handcuffed to the bed.”  The men began to laugh and Todd grinned, “Go ahead and laugh… I don’t mind doing that with my mate, but waking up alone is definitely not as rewarding.”  They began to laugh harder drawing the attention of the girls who smiled and waved.  “And I’m tired of the sneak attacks too.  I can’t go anywhere in the house without one of them jumping around the corner and launching themselves at me, especially Fallon.  She’s really getting into this.”

“We’re lucky, Sophia and Maria practice on their brothers and cousins,” Frank said with a smile. 

“I put one rule into effect when we ran out of ice to put on my…” Todd stopped with a grimace before he said quietly, “Gonadalls.  No more groin shots.”

“Yeah, we tell the girls not to practice that move on the males. I guess Anthony forgot to tell your daughters,” Joe said with a laugh.

“I’ll need to borrow some of the boys to get the girls home.  Matt and Phil are leaving early to go to the Robertson’s for dinner,” Todd said with a smile.  “Matt’s excited cause Carol is making apple fritters for dessert.”

“No problem, take as many as you need,” Joe said with a laugh.  They grew quiet as practice was winding down and the lock disengaging drew their attention to the door as the boys came in from football practice.  “How was school?”

“Fuck Dad.  Is there anything that happens you don’t know about?” Lorenzo asked as he sighed loudly.

Joe turned to Lorenzo, “I meant your Science test, but obviously something happened and you feel guilty about it.”

 

Lorenzo looked to Damian who shrugged, “We don’t feel guilty about anything; at least I don’t think we do and I know for sure I don’t.  And what constitutes guilt anyway?  Is it the fact you did something wrong and feel bad, or that somebody else thinks you did something wrong and they feel bad?  Or could it be the perception a wrongdoing may have occurred?  But is it really a wrongdoing or just maybe not the correct thing?  And who is to determine the correct thing?  What’s right for one person may be wrong for another…oh look, the girls are done.”

Frank and Joe walked to the front of the room to give the girls exercises they wanted them to do at home.  “Did you buy any of that?” Joe asked.

“Fuck no.  I’m just glad the girls finished so I didn’t have to listen to him anymore,” Frank responded as he tried not to laugh.

Barry began to laugh quietly, “Damian, you’re too much.”

“Thanks Barry.  Anytime you need me to watch Toni let me know, we have a blast together,” Damian said as he smiled widely before a wicked gleam came in his eyes.  “Everyone says she reminds them of me when I was younger.”  Barry paled as Damian burst out in laughter and walked away.

*****

“How’d you sleep last night?” Anthony asked with a smile.

“Best dreams ever.  I dreamt of Maria all night,” Alberto said with a smile. 

“That’s just sick,” Victor said with disgust.

“What?  I dreamt we were on a picnic… with your family.  You’ve got to get your mind out of the gutter young one,” Alberto said with a laugh.

“He got you there Squirt,” Angelo said as Victor frowned at him.

“I slept really good last night.  My wolf wasn’t restless at all, first time in weeks he’s been that way,” Lorenzo said.

“I slept like the dead, even Lorenzo’s snoring didn’t wake me up,” Damian said with a smile.  “My wolf wasn’t pacing like he has been, which is surprising usually he’s on edge before a game, and we play tomorrow.”

The girls walked out of the restroom and Lorenzo moved to Erin’s side and said quietly, “What did you bring me for dessert?”

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, “We brought vanilla cake for everyone and I brought you fresh strawberries to put on top.”  She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the cafeteria, “Come on, I’m hungry.”

When they were done eating, Erin turned to Lorenzo and said, “Could you help me practice my chokeholds?  Mr. Vinnie said I wasn’t using the right technique and told me to practice.”  Lorenzo shrugged and Erin stood behind him up against his back and put her arms on his shoulders rubbing him lightly before moving them in front of him.  “This is where I have a problem,” she whispered in his ear.  “Maybe you could hold me first.”  She removed her arms and sat back down as Lorenzo drew a shaky breath and stood.

“You ugh want to grab them like this,” he said as he placed his arm around her neck which brought his face against the back of her head.  He started inhaling her scent deeply and before he realized what he was doing he had moved her head to the side and was scenting her neck and his wolf sat up and tilted his head and began to pace back and forth.  The bell rang and he quickly stepped back falling on his ass as the youngsters in the cafeteria began to laugh.

*****

“Any last minute issues we need to deal with?” Frank asked as they began their morning run at 4:45, fifteen minutes earlier than their usual time.  For the first time in weeks they were alone as everyone was getting ready for the day. 

“Vinnie, Hammond, Danny Webber and I are meeting Tristan in Brunswick at 8:30 to escort him and Rain.  You, Carmelo, Joel, Jerry, Fred, George, Roman and Ed will meet Parr Ridge at 8AM at the Frederick county line on 70; you’ll come down 340 to 67, they’ll have 42 vehicles.  Carlo, Gina, the Beta’s and Delta’s will meet us at The School House at 6 to start the sweep of the grounds and perform security checks.  The Elders will patrol the woods and road in wolf form before during and after the game,” Joe said as they neared the middle of their run. 

Frank picked up the pace after he looked at his watch, “The Whitmer’s are excited, this is their first official act as Beta’s, not counting the reception.  Joel asked two times last night what he had to wear and how they should act.  I told them to wear suits.”  Joe began to laugh and Frank grinned, “I felt bad later and told them to wear the white polo’s with SMHS on it, navy Dockers and work boots.”

“Okay, big brother let’s finish this run strong, we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Joe said as they increased their pace finishing the ten mile run in 35 minutes.  At 5:40 they were walking out of the pool house towards Frank’s truck, anxious to get to The School House to make sure the security measures were followed.

An hour later, Aldo got his notebook out and for the tenth time that morning looked over his checklist before joining Carlo, Frank and Joe, “The grounds are secure, every inch inside the wall has been inspected.”

“We’ll start the inspection of the woods at the edge of the Pyracantha, spacing the men 15’ apart and work our way out 1,000’.  Carlo, you go in the control booth to let us know if we need to move the cameras,” Frank said as Carlo nodded and ran towards the building along with Jeff Mendez. 

“Frank’s team, it’s time for you to leave,” Carlo said twenty minutes later as he continued to scan the monitors.  “Joe, Rain called, they’re running a couple of minutes earlier, so get your team and go ahead and leave.”

At 7:50 the men were done and gathered in the parking lot and Carlo said, “Those of you who are bringing their families, go get them.  Gina and I will help The Clan to escort the Miller girls, so no other escorts are needed.”

*****

“Come on, we’re gonna be late,” Rose yelled to the youngsters as they ran out of Joe’s house.  The youngsters threw their gym bags in the bed of Paulo’s truck and got in their assigned vehicle.  Minutes later they were pulling into the Millers driveway and the front door opened as the Miller girls ran out.

Lorenzo jumped out of Annie’s SUV and threw his hoodie at Erin, “Make sure you wear this and keep it on no matter what.  I want you by my side, and by my side I mean no more than a foot away from me, do you understand?”

“And good morning to you too Grumpy,” Erin said with a smile.  When he moved towards her she put her hand up stopping him.  “Not one step further, I can put the hoodie on myself.  Nana Ellen just got done doing my hair and you are NOT going to wreck it like last time.”  She put the hoodie on and she looked up at him and asked in a sweet voice, “Satisfied?”

“No, your skirt is too short,” he replied as he looked her up and down.  When he heard her gasp, he smirked and walked over to his family and stared at her.

“You know the drill,” Damian said as he handed his hoodie to Caitlin.  After she put it on he walked around her and at the questioning look in her eyes, he whispered, “You’re pretty but I’m prettier.”  He went to stand next to his twin and when she glared at him he gave her a crooked grin before he burst out laughing.

At the sound of vehicles approaching the boys quickly moved in front of the girls and Vin was telling them to get inside when they recognized Gina’s and Matt’s SUV’s.  Vin and Dom quickly gave their intendeds one last kiss before their father pulled up and the girls blushed as their younger sisters started to giggle. 

Papa Mike and Todd got out of Matt’s SUV and Erin, Caitlin, Lorenzo, and Damian got in.  Carlo motioned for Maeve, Fiona, Enzo, and Gino to get in Gina’s SUV; Brianna, Morgan, Vin, and Dom got in Papa Mike’s SUV; Fallon, Shannon, Paulo and Michael with Todd; Maria, Kelly, Aislin, Alberto, Marcus and Gianni with Annie; Sophia, Gabby, Anthony, Salvatore, Angelo and Victor with Rose.  The talk in the vehicles was light hearted and full of laughter as they discussed the football game and their trip to the lake.

When they reached The School House, Maeve surprised Carlo by holding his hand as they walked towards the gym with Enzo a step behind them.  He smiled as she said, “I’ve been enjoying my cereal.  Every morning I open a box and we have a bowl.”  He looked down at her and squeezed her hand as she continued, “Daddy said if I wanted to talk to you about something, I wasn’t supposed to be scared.”

“You can talk to me about anything, and you never have to be scared of me,” Carlo responded as his eyes flickered amber as his wolf came to the surface to protect this little girl.

“I know you said you wouldn’t use my special gift.  But I don’t agree with that,” Maeve pulled on his hand and they stopped walking and stared at each other.  “I’m part of this Pack and if I can do anything to help figure out who the bad people are and help save my Pack and my friends, then it’s my duty to help.  I know you want to protect me, but I want to help, please Alpha Carlo.”

“Maeve, I don’t want you to get hurt.  I couldn’t live with myself if you got hurt,” Carlo said as his wolf growled at the thought of the little one being hurt.

“Alpha Carlo, I won’t get hurt, I promise.  All I’d have to do is tell you if I see any bad people, or people that aren’t what they seem,” she said in a pleading voice.  “I think Mr. Aldo and I working together will help a lot.”

Carlo sighed and rubbed his temple with his left hand, “Let me think about it and talk it over with your family and Madame Gina.  Right now, I want you to have a good time at the game today and at the lake this weekend.”

She smiled and said, “I can do that.”  They were almost at the gym when she said, “And thank you for listening to me and not treating me like a young one.”  

He turned to the young girl at his side and he felt his heart clench as his wolf hung his head.  He swallowed the lump in his throat and said, “If my daughter had lived, I’d like to think she would have been a friend of yours.”

Maeve squeezed his hand and looked at her Madame Alpha, “I think you’ll be surprised at everything that happens in the next year.” 

Carlo wanted to ask her what she meant but the ringing of his phone interrupted him, looking at the display he saw it was Dante.  “I have to go Maeve, but make sure you stay with Enzo, the rest of the Carlucci’s or your family.”  She nodded as Enzo stepped to her side and nodded at his Alpha.

“Rossi here…,” Carlo began and Gina followed him down the hallway into the cafeteria so they could have some privacy.

“Sorry it took so long to tell you I arrived home safely.  I had a nice visit with Jarrod and he insisted I let you know he will be flying into DC next week for previously scheduled business meetings.  He would like to meet with you to catch up since it has been forever since you have seen each other.  It was almost prophetic that I stopped to see him, since he is on his way to the US after he finishes up business in Scotland,” Dante said in a slow voice that was unlike his usual cadence. 

“I understand perfectly Dante.  Tell Jarrod I’ll be available anytime and he’s more than welcome to stay here if he needs peace and quiet between meetings,” Carlo responded quietly.  “We can arrange transport between here and DC.” 

“Calinda’s party preparations are underway and there are hundreds of people here setting up.  I cannot wait until I can sit back and relax in my office without being disturbed,” Dante said in the same tone.  “I will send the pictures Gina requested and show them to Paulo, you know how close he and Luc are.  I must go; Calinda needs my attention with seating arrangements for unexpected guests who would like details on the business climate in America.  Take care my cousin.”

“Well, that was a strange conversation,” Gina said as she sat back.

“Not really,” Carlo said with a shrug.  “Dante’s office has been bugged; Jarrod wants to meet about The Prophecy and he’s going to Scotland to follow up on the Millers; the pictures’ll have encrypted information in the file, that’s why Paulo needs to see them; and he has unexpected guests who are wondering why he spent so much time here.”  Gina stared at him as Carlo grinned, “When we spent time together, we came up with our own shorthand because even though we’re both related to Dante, he couldn’t open the bond enough for Jarrod and I to talk to each other.  We could get words here and there, but not enough for whole conversations.” 

“We’re pulling up in five,” Joe said to Carlo.

“We’re ready,” Carlo replied and motioned for Gina, Anthony and Sophia to walk with him to the front of The School House.  Several minutes later, the three vehicles pulled into the visitor parking lot and Rain got out of the drivers seat in the second vehicle and Tristan got out of the passenger seat.

Tristan looked at The School House and grounds before shaking hands with Carlo and Gina, nodding to Anthony and Sophia.  “I’ve always admired this building.  My father said it was a symbol of the power and influence your Pack has.  Do you realize the majority of the Packs that headed out west passed through your territory and your Pack welcomed them and helped them on their travels?  That’s a lot of favors owed to you and your Pack, Carlo.”

Carlo nodded, “Welcome back Tristan and you too Rain.  We’ll discuss all of that when Frank gets here with Parr Ridge Pack which should be in twenty minutes or so.  While we wait let’s get something to drink.” 

Rain smirked, “You don’t do anything without Frank’s approval?”

Carlo noticed Sophia frown and he winked at her before turning to Rain, “A good Alpha always listens to his Level 5’s and those who are experts in the field being discussed.  I thought you’d remember those lessons from our sabbaticals … along with the beat-down’s Frank and Joe laid on your ass.”

“I can remind you right now,” Joe said as he stood to his full height.

Rain rolled his eyes as Tristan began to laugh, “While it’s entertaining to hear you put my cousin in his place, I need lots of coffee.”  He turned to Gina, “If you could accompany me while they measure their di…”  He stopped and grinned at Sophia, “Please accept my apologies Miss Carlucci, we forget ourselves and revert back to posturing and the bad manners we had when we were young.”

She smiled at him and bowed her head, “I accept your apology Alpha Tristan and with twelve male teenagers in my family, I know what you mean.”

Rain laughed, “If they’re like their fathers, I feel sorry for you.”

“Frank and I were angels compared to our boys,” Joe said with a laugh and gave Sophia a smile.  “And our daughters aren’t much better.” 

“There’s something I’d like Anthony to try and I’ll explain later,” Carlo said as he held Gina’s hand as they walked thru the gym into the cafeteria. 

Tristan and Rain were quiet as they got a cup of coffee and were walking towards the tables when Tristan said, “As long as he doesn’t knock me on my ass.”

“You can’t handle a seventeen year old?” Anthony asked with a smirk. 

“SON OF A BITCH,” hollered Rain as both he and Tristan dropped their cups and stared at Anthony.

“How the hell is he able to do that?” Tristan turned to Carlo in amazement. 

“We’re pulling in now,” Frank said from the lead car.

“Everyone in the gym, Parr Ridge Pack is here,” Carlo relayed to his Pack.  “Parr Ridge is here Tristan, we need to go into the gym; I’ll explain everything later.”  Moments later, SMP was ready as Alpha Savannah Parr and her mate, Monsieur Alpha Garner Powell led Parr Ridge Pack into the gym.  The atmosphere was relaxed as both Packs were long time allies and Carlo, Gina and Tristan stepped forward to shake hands with Savannah then her mate.

“How’s it going?” Savannah asked as she nodded to Anthony and Sophia.

“We have a lot to discuss Savannah.  I hope you’re not going to mind missing the majority of the games,” Carlo replied before he stopped and looked at her.  “It’s bad Savannah, worse than we thought.” 

“You and your Beta’s deal with Pack business while I take care of the rest of the Pack,” Garner said with a frown.  “Keep the bond open so I can listen in.” 

She looked at her Pack and to where her youngsters stood with her father in law and said, “Don’t let them out of your sight.”  He nodded and she said to Carlo, “Let’s get the football game started then.”

“Boys, game starts in fifteen,” he shouted and the JV boys went to their respective locker rooms while the Packs moved towards the stadium.  “We’ll wait until the game starts then we’ll begin our discussion.” 

Frank asked, “Alpha Savannah, could we use your Level 1 Beta’s and Level 5 Delta’s to form a perimeter around the football field while the rest of the Beta’s are in the cafeteria?”  She nodded and JR moved the men in position and the sounds of little girls screaming drew their attention as they heard shouts of “Vinnie” “Anthony” “Dommie” “Damian” “Wenzo” as the Whitmer, Costello, and Poffenberger families got out of their vehicles.

“Damian, you see what mommy done?” Toni whispered in his ear after he picked her up.  Her brothers turned around and he saw his name and number on the back of their t-shirts.  “Daddy says you always wears the bestest players shirt, and we thinks you’re the bestest.  She made shirts for the others after they saw ours.”

“Yes, I am the bestest,” he replied in an arrogant tone before he turned towards the members of The Clan and gave them a superior smile.

“Fuck.  If he was unbearable before, he’s going to be even worse now,” Ant said as he began to laugh followed by the other boys.  Abby grinned at Anthony before she whispered, “Our shirts are in our bags.  Mommy said to make sure it was alrights with you and Miss Sophia before we putted them on.”

“I think that’d be wonderful,” Sophia said with a smile.  Abby and her brothers smiled and got their shirts out of their bags and quickly put them on.

“Do ya sees mah wibbons an da matchin waces in mah shoes Wenzo?” Brooke asked as he picked her and Eddie up.  “We gots your shirts on too.”

“You look beautiful and ready to watch the game,” he said as Eddie rolled his eyes and made a face at Brooke.

“I’s weady to cheers for ya Vinnie, got mah pohms and mah speshul shirts,” Hope squealed as she waved her pom poms in Hyatt’s face as Vin held them.

“Stop dat Hopes, Mommy says you wasn sposed to do dat anymores,” Hyatt said with a frown as she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Stop fighting or I’ll separate you both,” Reggie Costello said with a frown as he stood beside Alberto who looked at him and grinned.

“Dommie, you see my shirt?  We wore it special for you,” Jackie asked as she turned around. 

Dom grinned, “That’s the best looking shirt I’ve ever seen.”  She began to giggle and he picked her up and she hugged him as Morgan smiled.

“Come on, let’s get you settled on the bleachers,” Ant said as he picked Abby up and  reached out to hold Sophia’s hand as they walked to the SMP bleachers.

Five minutes later the teams ran towards the field and the crowd started cheering.  After warm-ups, the Captains, Paulo, Enzo and Alonso went out for the coin toss and PR won and elected to receive.  The adults watched Paulo lead his special teams on the field, and when the receiver for PR caught the ball, Paulo knocked him back to the 5 yard line.  Tristan turned to Joe and said, “He’s definitely your son.”

Joe puffed up with pride, “He’s only sixteen and amazes me everyday.”

Carlo nodded and said, “Let’s get started, we have a lot to go over.”  He led the way into the cafeteria and nodded to Vinnie and Carmelo who had gotten the room ready.  The Alpha’s sat at the head table with Carlo between Tristan and Savannah with their Level 5’s standing behind them. The Beta’s sat at the other tables according to rank, with PR on one side and SMP on the other.  Behind the Alpha’s table and off to the right side was a giant screen. 

After everyone was seated Carlo said, “Late Saturday evening, we cracked the hard drive on Charles’ computer and the information we found caused us to re-evaluate our security.  Carmelo and Vinnie will hand out copies of the emails we discovered, and we’ll wait until you’ve had time to read them before we continue our discussion.  We’ve given each of you pens to write any questions you have and please, wait until we’re done with the presentation to ask them.” 

“Aldo, monitor their reactions to see if anyone is hiding something,” Carlo said as he opened the bond to include his men.  He watched Savannah quickly read through the emails, then go back and read them slower as she made notes. 

He watched the men as they finished and saw anger and fear cross their faces and Aldo relax.  Ten minutes later the last man put his copies down, Carlo pointed to a table Mitchell’s Catering had set up with refreshments and said, “Let’s take a break, get something to drink then we’ll fill you in on the rest of the information.”  They heard the sounds of the JV teams running into the locker rooms and he said, “We’re ahead 20 – 7.”  The SMP men grinned while the PR men nodded, preoccupied with what they had read and were still trying to comprehend.

When everyone was seated Carlo stood and started the slideshow Paulo had prepared following the timeline Gina had set up.  The room was quiet as they listened and made notes.  When the picture of Simon Ashbrook was displayed, Savannah and several members of PR gasped and Tristan and Rain growled.  Carlo hesitated before continuing and thirty minutes later he was finished. 

Carlo stopped and said, “I suggest we take a break for lunch and the Meet ‘n Mingle then resume our discussion afterwards.”  Tristan and Savannah nodded and Carlo asked quietly, “Before we leave, how do you know Ashbrook?”

Tristan frowned, “He tried to access Hillside House about six months ago, said he was lost and looking for a friend of his.  I had Rain follow him and he stayed in Front Royal for several days asking some of the locals about us, but none of them would talk to him.  We may isolate ourselves, but we’ve been there 150 years and support their businesses.  We assumed it was somebody interested in our land, we’ve had a lot of developers wanting to buy it.”

“He tried doing the same thing to access Ridgeview,” Savannah said in a voice laced with steel.  “He drove up to the gate and said he was looking for his friend’s house for a birthday party.  When the guard pressed him, he said he must have made a mistake and left.  Unfortunately, we didn’t follow him.”

“We didn’t find anything about your Packs on Charles’ computer, but I’ll let you know if we find anything on Simon’s.  The other hard drives only contained more information about their drug business and bank accounts,” Carlo said as they nodded and followed the others to the football field. 

The three Alpha’s stood behind the end zone and glanced at the scoreboard.  There was a little more than a minute left and the score was tied.  PR had the ball on their 30 and it was 1^st and 10.  Paulo set his defense up, rushing the quarterback and as he scrambled out of the pocket he threw off-balance to his wide receiver who was on the 10 yard line.  Everyone held their breaths as they waited for the ball to complete its arc and a gasp was heard as Alonso, Aldo’s son, came out of nowhere and intercepted the ball before he was pushed out of bounds.  Cheers went up from SMP and the offense scrambled out on the field.  

Enzo looked at Sal and Victor and said, “We’re running a down and out 30.  Victor will block, Sal you’re the receiver and make sure you get out of bounds.  Next play will be the same thing, except Victor and Sal you’ll be blocking and Rick will be the receiver.”  The boys nodded and gave each other fist pumps.

Victor and Sal lined up on the right side and seconds before Enzo began the count, Victor noticed the extra cornerback and motioned with his head to Sal who nodded.  They zoned in, taking deep slow breaths and at the end of the count they took off running; Victor strong arming their way downfield as he ran a step ahead and to the left of Sal.  Two steps away from his mark, Sal turned and the ball fell into his hands and he heard the grunt from Enzo as he was tackled.  Seeing open field in front of him, he continued to run and glanced left to see a cornerback running at them on an angle.  “Got him,” Victor shouted as he sped up and met the cornerback with his left shoulder knocking both of them down as Sal continued down field until he was knocked out of bounds on the SMP 20. 

“Great run little brother,” Enzo said grabbing Sal’s face mask and head butting him.  He glanced to the sidelines and said, “Cole, you’re going to be the bootleg decoy.  Sal or Victor, get in the end zone and I’ll find you.  The rest of you keep them off my ass, I don’t feel like playing another quarter.”  They lined up as the clock ran down from 20 seconds and at the end of the count, the boys took off.  Sal was covered by three defenders while Victor had one and he barreled through him going to the right corner of the end zone as Enzo scrambled out of the pocket throwing the ball as he was tackled.  The ball was short of its goal and Victor dove for it, catching it right before it hit the ground and he was immediately tackled by four players from PR.  The stadium was silent as they waited for the ref to get the players off Victor and when he saw the ball tucked in Victor’s stomach and covered by both hands he threw his arms in the air signaling a touchdown.  The fans from SMP started to cheer as the players ran off the field as the clock wound down to zero.

“Good game,” Savannah said to Carlo as they shook hands and watched as the boys ran towards the gym.

Sal stopped and looked in the stands and waved to Gabby as she held up her sign with his name and number on it.  Victor and Alonso came up next to him and Alonso whispered, “I know she’s yours, but you think you could fix me up with one of her friends?  Maybe we could go on a double date.”

“I don’t want our first date to be a mess like Sophia’s,” Sal whispered back as he watched Gabby walk towards him.  “I need to ask her out first; we’re going to the lake this weekend and I’m trying to get my courage up to ask her then.”

“You were fantastic.  I can’t believe how fast and strong you are,” she said as she squeezed his upper arm before trailing her fingers down to hold his hand. 

Sal swallowed loudly and stammered out, “Yeah… I’m ugh… I mean… and then… we won…”  He stopped talking and closed his eyes as Gabby giggled.

“Hey Squirt, great catch at the end,” Angelo said as he bumped Victor with his shoulder.  He nodded to Sal and said, “He trying to talk again?”  Gabby and Sal glared at him as he laughed.

“Yeah, and it’s pretty funny listening to him,” Victor said as he grinned before he took off running with Sal on his heels.

“Lunch will be ready in ten minutes,” Gina announced as the Packs walked into the gym; the bleachers had been pushed against the wall with long banquet tables in front of them, there were rows of banquet tables with an aisle between them and off to the side was a table for the Alpha’s.  Even though they were allies, the Packs still separated themselves, with SMP on one side and PR on the other with the girls in a corner with the boys in front of them. 

“We need to use the restroom,” Sophia said to Anthony and he nodded and moved away from the wall.  She scowled and said, “You don’t have to follow us, the door is like twenty feet away.”  He frowned and she said, “I’m serious Anthony.  It’s right there.  We don’t need an escort and I expect all of you to stay here.”  Several tense moments went by before Anthony nodded and as the girls walked away their protector’s agitation rose as they stared at them.

“I don’t like this,” Lorenzo growled as he watched Erin walk away from him.  “Look at those bastards from PR staring at her, fucking Harold and Emerson and their little gang of fucking idiots.” 

“Did you hear Caitlin and the other girls giggle as they walked by those fucking morons?” Damian said as he began to growl as the PR boys smiled at the girls.  After the girls went into the restroom they turned to The Clan and smirked.  They continued to stare at each other until the girl’s restroom door opened and Sophia and the others came out giggling quietly, seconds later the older Costello and Whitmer youngsters came out of the boy’s restroom. 

As they walked by the PR boys Harold said with a smile, “I know you’re Carlucci’s by looking at you, and I already know Gabby…so these must be the Miller girls.”  His smile turned into a smirk as he heard growls coming from the males of The Clan as they began running towards them.

Before the girls could say anything, The Crew stepped in front of them and stood in a V-formation crossing their arms as ten year old Reggie said in a voice that was an exact imitation of Vin, “You’d better back off buddy.”

The PR boys grinned as Harold said, “And what are you going to do?”

Sophia put up her hand to stop The Clan and said, “Let him handle it.”

Reggie rolled his neck, like he’d seen Ant do, and said in a flat tone, “We may be little but we’re trained by Frank and Joe Carlucci.  Don’t underestimate us.”

Seeing the boys from SMP ready to step in, Harold held up his hands and said, “Sorry little man, our apologies to you and the ladies.” 

Reggie nodded and without taking his eyes off the older boys, he said, “Miss Sophia, take the girls to your intended.”  As they moved away, he smirked and raised his eye brow like he had seen Lorenzo do.  “I’ll be watching you,” he said quietly and The Crew quickly left. 

Ant hid his smile as the young boys walked up to him and he said in a serious tone, “Thanks Reggie, Mick, Troy, Roger and Alec for watching out for them.”  He gave each of them fist pumps and they grinned, basking in their hero’s praise.  “Do you want to eat lunch with us?” 

The boys nodded and Mick smiled revealing his missing front teeth.  Alberto began to laugh and said, “How’re you supposed to eat with no teeth?”

“I gots teef,” he said with a lisp as he grinned widely.

“Where are they?  In your pocket?” Damian asked as he bumped him with his hip and Mick started laughing as he was almost knocked over.

Joel and Jerry brought the rest of The Crew over and said, “They want to know if it’s okay if they eat lunch with you.  I told them you may be busy.”

Ant smiled, “We were just getting ready to come and ask if they could join us.  It’ll give you a chance for some adult conversation.”

Gina stood at the front of the gym and said, “Lunch is served, if our guests from PR would please start and go down both sides of the table.”  Savannah directed her Pack and when they were done, SMP went up in the grouping order they had been given by Joe.  The last in line were Savannah, Carlo, Tristan and their Level 5’s and they went to the table set up for them so they could talk privately.

Savannah looked at Carlo and said quietly, “You haven’t once mentioned Gabe’s reaction to this.”

Carlo sighed, “He’s talking of stepping down before the next election.”  Tristan and Savannah looked stunned as he continued, “He can’t believe all this has gone on under his direction and he feels like he’s failed as our President.  I told him to wait until all of this is over before he decides anything.”

“I agree.  We need strong leadership right now, and he’s the one to bring us through this,” Tristan said as Savannah nodded.

“He directed an account be opened with $100 mil in it for each of your Packs in case you need to disappear,” Carlo said as he reached in his pocket and handed each of them a slip of paper.  “There’s the account numbers and passwords.”   

Tristan frowned, “Is this money from the Alpha Council?”

“No, the account Davis Pack had.  They have no idea it exists, they still haven’t cracked the code to any of the computers yet,” Carlo said with a frown.  “Like we discussed before, Gabe isn’t sure who to trust so we gave him a complete listing of what was on the hard-drives.  When they do crack it if something is missing he’ll know and it’ll narrow down the suspect list a little.”  He turned to Joe who pulled flash-drives out of his pocket.  “We made each of you copies so you can go over them yourselves and see if we’ve missed anything.”  Tristan and Savannah nodded and put the hard drives in their pockets. 

“Why don’t we discuss the training for PR while we’re here,” Frank said as he looked around the table.  “The other Beta’s don’t need to be involved in the discussion and we have other things to talk about later.”

While the others talked Carlo turned his attention to his son and smiled as he saw the boys feeding the little ones.  “What are you thinking?” he asked Gina as he caught her eye from across the room.

“That it would be better for SP to send four people to PR so they’re available to train them around their work and school schedules.  Having PR go to SP would be too much of a disturbance and it would take too long to train the Pack.  Frank and Joe can go or send some of our Level 4’s to supplement the training,” Gina said as she glanced at her watch.  Carlo nodded and relayed the information and everyone agreed with Gina’s plan.  Tristan made arrangements to leave four of his Level 4’s at PR when they played football the following weekend.

Looking around he realized his entire Pack was here including the youngsters from U of MD who had come home for the football game, The Elders who were patrolling the woods, the men in the security room and Mr. P in the safe room with Victoria.  He smiled at the closeness and love that were displayed.  He watched as Vin held Hope’s cup; Lorenzo fed Brooke and Eddie small bites of food; Toni sat on Damian’s lap as he whispered in her ear and she laughed; Jackie point to something on Dom’s plate and he gave it to her; Abby sitting between Anthony and Sophia; Marco and Anna accepting congratulations on the news of their new addition; Jerome laughing as Cynthia rubbed her expanding belly; Duke bringing Emory another plate of food; the adults were laughing and talking.  He felt the responsibility of everyone’s safety and closed his eyes as he thought of the lives that may be lost.

“We will get through this together,” Gina said as she stared at him from where she sat with Rose, Annie, the Millers and the Moretti’s.  “Our Pack looks to you for strength and guidance and you’ve never let them down.  They know that you are doing everything you can to protect them.”   

“Have I told you lately how much I love you?  And how glad I am that you are my mate?” Carlo asked as she began to smile.

“I know every time you look at me,” she said as she teared up and Rose and Annie reached out to hold her hands.  She talked quietly to them and they smiled at Carlo as he grinned.  She cleared her throat and stood up, “Attention please.”  The talking stopped and everyone turned to her, “If the youngsters could please finish up, the Meet ‘n Mingle will start in ten minutes.  They will be served dessert in the cafeteria, for everyone else dessert will be ready in fifteen minutes.”  Joel, Jerry, Larry, Barry and Harold came over and got the young ones while the boys from both Packs scowled and the girls quickly fixed their hair and got ready.

Gina led the way into the cafeteria where four tables were in the center of the room, Beta’s from both Packs stood around the edge of the room while the three Alpha’s stood off to the side.  “We have a sundae bar, popcorn, cake and punch.  We’d like for you to relax and get to know each other.  And girls if you’re wearing hoodies or jackets please take them off.”  She motioned to Aldo and music from the local radio station began to play over the speakers.  

She moved next to Carlo, Tristan and Savannah who looked at her and smiled. “This is so much better than a line where they walk past each other,” Savannah said as they watched the youngsters talk quietly as they got their snacks.  “I’ve got to ask, why don’t you have tables for them to sit down?”

“I wanted them to walk around and talk to each other instead of sitting with their friends and brothers,” Gina said with shrug.  Several minutes went by and she said in a disappointed tone, “So far it doesn’t seem to be helping.”

Carlo watched as the boys from PR introduced themselves to Erin and Caitlin as Lorenzo and Damian got more and more agitated; they began to growl and their eyes started to flicker between emerald and amber.  “Frank, Joe keep an eye on Lorenzo and Damian, something’s going on.”

Their actions drew the attention of the Beta’s around the room and the tension was palpable as Emerson and Harold, the seventeen year old twin sons of the Level 5 Beta came over.  After introducing themselves they began to flirt, and when Emerson reached up to tweak the bow on Erin’s head and Harold tucked a strand of hair behind Caitlin’s ear, Lorenzo and Damian began to growl loudly and their eyes shifted to amber or as Damian described it later, ‘We went Batshit Crazy’.

“MINE,” both boys shouted and Lorenzo picked Emerson up by the throat and body slammed him on the sundae bar table, breaking the table in half.  The contents flew through the air as bowls of ice cream, spoons, candy, whipped topping, brownies, and other toppings, and assorted syrups rained down over everyone.  He let out a howl as he jumped on top of him as he screamed, “HOW DARE YOU TOUCH HER.  SHE’S MINE YOU FUCKING BASTARD.”

Following his brothers lead, Damian lifted Harold over his head before slamming him on the popcorn table.  As the table broke, bowls of popcorn, melted butter, salt, and Old Bay went flying through the air adding to the chaos and mess.  He stood over him shouting, “THAT’S MY MATE YOU TOUCHED YOU SON OF A BITCH.”  He threw back his head and howled loudly before jumping on top of Harold.

“OH FUCK,” shouted the men as they ran to separate the four boys who were rolling on the floor trading punches and moments later the tables with the cakes and punch were knocked over.  Gina and Savannah began to laugh as Savannah wiped hot fudge off Gina’s arm and Gina picked popcorn off Savannah’s head.  The men managed to separate the boys and Lorenzo and Damian shrugged out of their grasp and moved to their intendeds.

“MINE,” Damian shouted as he picked up Caitlin and ran to the corner of the room where he set her down gently and scented her neck.

“MINE,” Lorenzo shouted as he picked Erin up and ran to the opposite corner.  Before he set her down, he looked into her eyes and whispered, “Mine.”  She nodded and whispered, “Mine.”  He inhaled sharply and set her down as he stared at her lips, “You’ve been driving me crazy for days, I can’t stop thinking of you, when I was in bed it seemed like you were surrounding me, I could smell you on my skin, I lay awake at night thinking of you, and when I did sleep all I dreamt of was you, I couldn’t get you out of my mind, no wonder Ant and Alberto act like idiots, I think I was the biggest fucking idiot not realizing you were my mate, you smell so good like strawberry shortcake and I love strawberry shortcake and those desserts you brought me this past week they made it even worse, every one had strawberries in it and all I could think about was you…”

“Shut up and kiss me Lorenzo,” she whispered so quietly he barely heard her.  He looked into her eyes before glancing back to her lips and he slowly brought his head down and kissed her gently.  When he heard her whimper he growled loudly and she wound her arms around his neck sighing deeply as he deepened the kiss.  Responding to the pressure, she parted her lips and he slid his tongue inside and when he felt her tentative response he growled even louder. 

Damian continued to scent Caitlin and ran his lips along her jaw and when he heard her sigh he kissed her gently before whispering, “You taste like Old Bay, Old Bay and pumpkin pie and it’s killing me, you’re killing me, all I’ve thought about this past week has been you, now I know why Ant and Alberto acted like fucking morons, and Vin and Dom acted like possessive idiots, I laughed because they were rambling and now I’m doing it and can’t stop, I can’t concentrate, I can’t sleep, I almost drowned, during football practice I got my ass knocked out, its all because of you, and I would do it again because you’re mine, mine and nobody else’s, you smell so good, and taste even better, I love Old Bay and that’s what you taste like.”

She giggled, “It’s all over me.”  He growled and kissed her again, this time the kiss was different as there was no gentleness; it was completely possessive in nature.  He growled loudly as he felt her shiver and put one hand on her waist and the other behind her head as he brought her closer to him.  He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and when he felt her sigh he slipped his tongue into her mouth and stroked it along her tongue until he felt her respond and he began to growl louder.

The sounds of laughter slowly brought the two couples out of the pull of the mating bond and they stopped kissing.  Erin and Caitlin looked into the room and saw everyone staring at them and began to blush and Lorenzo and Damian turned around and growled when they saw the males looking at their intendeds. 

Todd and Matt approached Erin and Todd asked is she was alright.  Erin nodded and Lorenzo said in an angry voice, “I will never hurt my mate.” 

Todd nodded and said quietly, “I understand that Lorenzo, but she’s still my daughter and I want to make sure she’s okay.”

Papa Mike and Phil walked slowly to Caitlin and Damian began to growl and said, “She’s covered in food and she’s a mess, but she’s fine.”

Phil smiled, “Welcome to the family.”

Carlo looked around the room and began to laugh, “Let’s move to the gym and then everyone can get cleaned up.”  The youngsters followed their Alpha’s into the gym and as the other Pack members saw them covered in food, they began to laugh.  Carlo moved to the front of the gym and said, “We had two declarations; Lorenzo Carlucci for Erin Miller and Damian Carlucci for Caitlin Miller.”  Cheers went up and Annie and Holly hugged before they ran to their youngsters and hugged them. 

“We’re so excited,” Maria said as she ran over and hugged them as the rest of the girls squealed and jumped up and down.

“Congrats,” Ant said with a smile as he gave Lorenzo and Damian fist pumps.  “How did you figure it out?”  Damian told them what happened and the boys began to laugh and Ant said, “Yeah, you definitely went batshit crazy.”

Other Pack members congratulated them and they heard loud squeals as Toni grabbed Damian’s leg and Brooke grabbed Lorenzo’s leg.  “Congraduwations Damian,” Toni said as he bent down and picked her up and she laughed as she got frosting and caramel sauce on her face.

When Lorenzo picked up Brooke, she was so excited she was bouncing in his arms, “You’s gots a gurlfwriends Wenzo.  Just likes da big boys does, likes Antny, Berto, Vinnies and Dommies.  Is yous and Daymian gonna have da babies now like Mista Mawco and Miss Anna?”  Lorenzo and Damian paled and Erin and Caitlin blushed as Holly and Annie started jumping up and down in excitement.

 

Carlo looked at Frank and Joe and grinned, “I should’ve figured something like this was going to happen.  You Carlucci’s can never do something easy.”

Joe smiled, “That’s almost the same spot Frank made his declaration for Rose, and he knocked food everywhere too.  Maybe that’s our new family tradition.”

“Better than how you made your declaration for Annie,” Frank retorted and the three of them began laughing so hard everyone stopped talking and stared at them which made them laugh even harder.

As they began to quiet down, Todd said, “I’ve got to hear this story.  The three of you keep hinting at it, but I really got to hear it.”

“It involves Annie running and screaming in terror, Joe completely naked chasing her, Mr. Vitti chasing him, Mr. C chasing him, our Pack, Tuckahoe Pack and a football game,” Carlo said as he began to laugh again.

Joe scowled, “I wasn’t completely naked.”

“I forgot that part,” Carlo nodded before he laughed again.  “Tell me again why you had your cleats on but were otherwise completely naked.” 

“Fuck if I know.  She had me so damn confused the weeks before my declaration I had no idea what I was doing,” Joe said with a grin and he looked at his mate with a possessive gleam.  “Over Twenty-three years later, she still has the ability to make me forget my name and she’s strong enough to knock me on my ass.”

Carlo smiled at his mate as he watched her talk to the little ones, “We underestimate them sometimes.  Their strength is what is going to hold this Pack together.”  He caught Savannah’s eye as she was talking to her mate and pointed at his watch and she nodded.  “VARSITY GAME STARTS IN FIFTEEN.” 

“I’ll get you another hoodie.  Make sure you keep it on, and stay with the others,” Lorenzo said as he pulled Erin tight to his side.  “I don’t want to leave you now that I have you, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I’ll be fine Lorenzo; I promise I’ll stay with the others.  You need to worry about the game.  I’ll be cheering for you,” she whispered as she tilted her head so he could scent her deeper.

He looked at his younger brothers and cousins, “You’d better keep her safe.”  They nodded and he ran to the locker room.

“I want you to wear my other jersey, my hoodie, my baseball hat, my sweatpants and my jacket,” Damian said as he tilted Caitlin’s head to the side.

Caitlin began to laugh, “Damian it’s 78 outside, it’s bad enough wearing the hoodie if I wore all that other stuff, I’d pass out from the heat.  You have to go; all the others are getting ready.”

He looked at his family and said, “You’d better make sure she stays safe.”  She rolled her eyes as he quickly kissed her on the forehead and ran to the locker room.

As the Packs were walking to the football field, alarms went off on the cell phones of Frank, Joe, Carlo and Paulo.  “IT’S THE TRACE ON THE ACCOUNT.  WATCH SHANNON,” Paulo shouted to Michael as he sprinted back to the building.

*****

“LUNCH,” the lead guard hollered as two other guards rolled in a large cart.  As his tray was passed through the slotted opening between the lead and silver bars, the guard glanced at the napkin and Charles subtly nodded.  Catching the eye of his Second in Command, he glanced down letting him know he had received a note.  He moved to the corner of his cell and ate slowly as he watched the other prisoner’s trade food items.  After finishing he dropped the tray on the ground and bent over blocking the view of the camera suspended in the corner and quickly palmed the note.  Placing everything back on the tray he set it on the floor near the bars and sat down on his cot with his back to the camera and read the note:

Master, the money is gone, there’s only $100k left.

Charles threw his head back and let out a blood-curdling howl before shifting into his beige speckled wolf.

*****

“GOT IT,” Paulo shouted as he pointed to the screen on his laptop.  “The request for the account balance came from Alpha Council Headquarters…”  He stopped and stared at his Alpha, “From the Security Division.”

*****************************************************************

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lykaion

http://www.wolvesandhumans.org/pdf-documents/Wolves%20in%20Greece%20article.pdf

http://www.reiki-for-holistic-health.com/auracolormeanings.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moirai