“Carlo, Roberts here,” said
President Roberts. “It’s finished, but
we have a problem…With the arrest of Davis, Charles, the top Beta’s and more
then half the men, there is no one here to lead the Pack. The remaining Pack members want the Millers
to come back and Todd to become Alpha.
Are any of the Miller’s there?”
At Todd’s look of surprise, Carlo raised his eyebrows to him and
motioned with his head for everyone to follow him into the Carlucci’s cabin.
“Yes sir, Holly, my father
and I are here,” said Todd.
“Holly’s family is safe. The code word helped immensely, we got Conall
alone earlier in the evening and told him our plans. He told those he trusted and when we
surrounded the Grounds hollering the code word, they fell to the ground. When the males saw our numbers they
surrendered without incident except for Charles who broke his leg trying to
escape. The young ones were sitting in
the dungeons waiting on us and the little ones had notes in their pockets with
the names of their parents. Give Holly
our thanks, though I suspect some of the other Packs wish they had put up a
fight,” said President Roberts as he laughed.
“President Roberts, this is
Holly. I want to thank you for rescuing
my family; can you please give them our number so I can speak to them? I know they are fine, but I’d like to talk to
them,” asked Holly with a tremor in her voice as Todd hugged her.
“Already done, but they won’t
call until Noon at the earliest. We’ve
got a lot to do making sure we have all the guilty apprehended and we need
everyone’s input,” said President Roberts.
“To continue, after we
finished with Davis Pack, we raided the Carlsbad
“My SD is in charge of
transport back to Council headquarters; we’ve chartered three 747’s since we
have over six hundred prisoners. I’ll
stay here and oversee the three Packs and I’ve called the top Council advisors
to come help with this clusterfuck.
Speaking of which, I’ve got to get off the phone and deal with a
thousand things, not to mention the fact I’m exhausted. Frank, Joe and Todd you have two weeks to
decide, I want the new Alpha’s initiated at the next Full Moon Ceremony. One last thing, Carlo make yourself available
Monday afternoon for a teleconference and have your level Four and level Five
Beta’s there as well,” President Roberts finished the conversation and hung up.
There was silence for several
moments after the phone call, and then Carlo looked at Frank, Joe and Todd
saying, “It seems like the three of you have a lot to discuss with your mates
and families in the next couple of weeks.”
“What was he talking about us
being at the top of the candidates list?” asked Frank with a puzzled look on
his face.
“For the last year, the
Council has been putting together a program called ‘Continuity of Pack
Existence’ or COPE for short. It’s
loosely based on the Continuity of Operations which ensures the Government is
able to function even when faced with war, terrorism or unforeseen disaster,”
said Carlo as he looked around the room.
“Each Pack has their own hierarchy, but what happens if the Alpha and
his or her top people are killed or deemed unfit to rule a Pack? What if there isn’t anybody left within the
Pack capable of being an Alpha? What
happens to the Pack?”
Everyone continued to stare
at Carlo, and then Papa Mike got up and let Nana Ellen in. “I didn’t think you’d mind if I asked Ellen
to join us, she asked Matt and Phil to watch over the girls while they sleep,”
said Papa Mike.
Carlo nodded his head and
said, “Good morning, I assume Papa Mike told you everything?” At her nod, he continued, “The first thing we
did was put together a list of candidates powerful enough to lead a Pack. We looked at overall strength, training skills,
family dynamics, ability to work with others and overall leadership skills. To be blunt, Frank and Joe in any other Pack
would be Alpha’s. Rose and Annie would
make excellent Madame Alpha’s; they are kind but firm, compassionate, able to
lead the females and youngsters.” Frank
and Joe were standing behind their mates and without looking at each other they
both reached out and placed their hands on their mates’ shoulders.
Seeing this Carlo said, “The
only concern was that you two are too close, closer then identical twins almost
clones. Look at how the two of you are
standing; everything is identical, right down to the scowl on your faces.” Carlo watched as Frank and Joe studied each
other, as Frank went to push his hair back with his right hand, Joe was making
an identical move with his left hand without realizing it.
“The concern was in your need
to be close to each other you would unite the two Packs, basically making them
one large Pack with two Co-Alphas. Now
that the position of the two Alpha’s in New
Mexico
“What I am going to ask you
to do may sound odd, but starting at 5 PM on Friday and finishing at the start
of the football game on Saturday, I don’t want your families to have any
contact with each other. No cookouts, no
talking through the bond, no movies, no phone calls, no excursions out for the
boys, no trips to the Mall.
Nothing... The two New Mexico
“We have a lot to think about in the next two weeks little brother,”
said Frank. “We need to talk things over
with our mates and youngsters. I know
Sophia and Maria won’t want to leave Anthony and Alberto. What happens with Brianna, Morgan, Vincent
and Dominic? What happens with our
employees and our business?”
Joe slowly nodded his head as
he said, “We also have to think about school.
Do those Packs have schools and sports?
What about college? My head is
spinning thinking of everything involved.”
Todd looked at Holly and
seeing her nod, he said, “Uhmm guys, I don’t want to add to your burden,
but…Caitlin and Erin hinted that two more of your sons are their mates. We have no idea who, they said they weren’t
ready yet but they would be soon.” Rose
and Annie had big smiles on their faces as they grabbed Holly’s and Nana
Ellen’s hands.
Looking out the front door
Rose saw the youngsters starting to stir and said, “The ravenous beasts are
awakening, I hope Mitchell’s crew made a lot of food.”
Gina walked to the door and
looked out saying, “The new kitchen is working out well, and I wish we had put
it in years ago. Mitchell was raving
about it earlier and he said it was much easier for his staff not having to
leave in the middle of the night to cook the food and bring it back.”
“You have all these cabins, a
couple of Pavilions and the kitchen, how do you keep this area from being
detected?” asked Papa Mike.
“We’re at the base of the
mountain, surrounded by hundreds of acres of woods. The only trail here is from The Manor House
and the surrounding land is owned by Pack members. The buildings are painted the colors of the
forest; even the shingles are varying shades of green and beige, like
camouflage,” said Carlo. “In the last
twenty years we planted over five thousand evergreens so from the air the
patches of green wouldn’t stick out.”
“I know what you really are
asking,” said Joe with a smile. “Yes,
there is a safe room here and another in Allegany County Mount
Weather
As the Millers looked at them
with astonishment on their faces, Frank said, “Before you ask, yes we are
paranoid, but with the proximity to Washington ,
DC
“How the hell did you get
plans from Mount Weather Mount
Weather
Everyone stopped talking as
the youngsters came into the cabin, inquiring when breakfast would be
ready. Carlo said, “Clean up around the
bonfire first then get washed up; girls use the Millers cabin, boys use the Moretti’s
and my cabin. We’ll meet you out front
in ten.” The Carlucci’s grabbed their
backpacks as the youngsters hurried out the door to obey.
“We’ll go with the girls,”
said Nana Ellen as her and Papa Mike got up and followed the girls out of the
cabin.
“As far as getting plans,
that was no problem since we’ve had a Senator in the Pack for the last forty
years. The Martin family is involved in
politics, first Curtis was a Senator and when he retired his son Clayton took
over. He was the one who offered to do a
ribbon cutting when you officially open your business,” said Carlo smirking as
he looked at Frank who had a scowl on his face.
“Big fucking deal, he’s
hoping to get more press to help his re-election. I know he’s Pack, but I hate having his damn
re-election signs everywhere I look,” snapped Frank in a sarcastic tone.
“It’s been almost twenty-five
years, you can’t let it go?” asked Carlo glancing at Joe and Carmelo as they
started laughing as Gina, Rose, Rita and Annie sat silently shaking their
heads. Todd and Holly were waiting to
see what was going on and afraid to interrupt.
“Fuck no. It could be fifty years and I still won’t
forget,” said Frank as he glared at Carlo, Carmelo and his brother.
“Frank, as your brother and
possible clone, I support everything you say or do, but this is ridiculous,”
said Joe as he continued to laugh.
Seeing the looks on the
Millers faces Carmelo said, “About a month after Frank made his declaration for
Rose we went to the pond to ice skate.
The older guys were near the bonfire talking while the younger ones
including Gina, Rose, Annie, and Rita were skating. Clay’s foot got caught in Rose’s scarf
knocking her down and he fell on top of her.
As he was helping her up she started to fall again and Clay grabbed her,
accidently touching her breast…”
Frank banged his fist on the
table as he interrupted, “That’s what I’m talking about; he felt her breast
before I was allowed to, plus I can’t get the image of him on top of my mate
out of my mind. Do I need to go on?”
“I keep telling you it wasn’t
like that. It was twenty below with the
wind chill and I had on a bra, long johns, a t-shirt, your sweatshirt and your
varsity jacket. How much do you think he
actually felt?” said Rose laughing quietly.
“Doesn’t matter, he felt you
up with malicious intent,” said Frank with a grimace as everyone burst out
laughing. “Malicious intent, that’s what
it was.”
“Frank, you’ve lost your
fucking mind. Clay was 16 at the time
and scared to death of you and you think he did it on purpose?” asked Carmelo
as everyone continued laughing except Todd.
“I agree with Frank and have
a theory about this…I think he did it thinking it was Annie, and maybe he felt
up the wrong twin with malicious intent,” said Todd with a serious expression
on his face as Holly reached over and whacked him on his arm.
Joe swung his head around
growling and shouted, “THAT SON OF A BITCH!”
Todd leaned out of Holly’s
reach as he continued, “OR it could have been Gina or Rita he was after, you
did say they were skating together. Who
knows who he meant to feel up, especially since he did it with malicious
intent, maybe he wanted to knock them ALL down and feel EVERYONE up with
malicious intent.” He looked at the men
who had scowls on their faces, their hands clenching and unclenching as their
growls were getting lower and more menacing.
Holly leaned forward almost
falling out of her chair and whacked him on the arm again saying, “Do you see
how upset you got everybody? Are you
happy?”
Todd moved to the door of the
cabin with a huge smile on his face, rubbing his hands together gleefully and
said, “I’m ecstatic, my job here is done.
Let’s go eat. …” Then he took off running, laughing
hysterically when he saw the expressions on the men’s faces as they realized
what he had done and how he had played them.
The men raced out the door
hollering, “I’M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS” “YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU DID THAT ON
PURPOSE” “WAIT UNTIL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU” “YOU’D BETTER FUCKING RUN YOU
BASTARD”.
Their youngsters stood in the
clearing with their mouths hanging open as they heard their Dad’s hollering as
they chased Todd. They heard a commotion
at the cabin and looked to see their mothers falling through the door landing on
top of each other laughing uncontrollably.
Damian looked around and
said, “What the fuck did we miss? We
weren’t gone that long.”
They watched as Todd barely
missed getting tackled by Carmelo as he hollered, “Hey Vincent and Dominic, how
about a little help for your future father in law?”
The girls moved towards the
cabin as the boys charged across the clearing.
They had no idea what was going on, but didn’t want to waste the
opportunity to gang up on their fathers.
It was a free for all as they wrestled while Todd watched laughing hysterically. Frank and Joe disappeared under a pile of
their sons; Anthony jumped on Carlo’s back placing him in a choke hold, and
Alberto was sitting on Carmelo’s back holding him in a headlock while Angelo
had him in a figure four leg lock.
The Miller girls were jumping
up and down and Fallon said, “This is better then the WWE, back when it was good when Stone Cold Steve Austin was in it.”
“It’s like the Royal Rumble,
but real. Momma, can we join them?”
asked Shannon .
Without waiting for a reply
the girls ran across the clearing to their mother’s delight. The Miller girls launched themselves at their
father, knocking him over and pinning him, while Sophia, Maria and Gabby joined
Anthony in the fight against Carlo.
Their mother’s cheers and the shouting from the pile attracted the Packs
attention and within moments the majority of the Pack had joined the melee.
It was old versus young,
fathers against their youngsters and they were having a blast. The fathers weren’t fighting to injure the
youngsters, just playing as they fake body-slammed them, picked them up over
their heads and spun them around or pretended to be knocked down by the young
ones. There were growls mixed in with
laughter from the males, excited screams from the young ones, hollering from
the girls and shouts of encouragement from the women and little ones
watching. After ten minutes most of the
men were on the ground, bowled over by the sheer volume of youngsters.
Twenty minutes later,
Mitchell approached the group and hollered, “BREAKFAST IS READY, DOES ANYBODY
WANT TO EAT?” The youngsters immediately
got up, the older ones grabbing the young ones and little ones hands and ran
across the clearing towards the Pavilion where the buffet was set up. Their fathers were left lying on the ground,
each of them still laughing as their wives walked over to offer them a hand to
get up.
“Mitchell has good timing, I
think the youngsters were starting to whip our asses,” said Joe as he continued
laughing. “There’s just too many of
them.”
“Well, I don’t know about the
rest of you, but that was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I don’t know who or what started it, but
thanks to whoever did,” said Clay Martin.
Frank, Joe, Carlo, Carmelo and Todd looked at each other and burst out
laughing as they grabbed their mates and hugged them.
“Okay everyone, I think we
should get over to the food line before the youngsters eat everything in
sight,” said Carlo as they walked to the Pavilion.
Almost two hours later,
breakfast was done, the kitchen was cleaned, cabins were closed up, trash
bagged up and thrown in the back of several trucks and families started to
leave.
As they arrived at The Manor
House, Matt and Phil made plans to meet with the Millers at 11 to go over the
girls schedules for the week and have lunch before heading over to The School
House. Carlo and Gina were heading over
to The Cottage to meet Marco and Anna.
The Millers got in their cars, Vin and Dom with them to show them the
shortcut to their house from the Rossi’s.
Anthony moved Sophia to the
front of the garage door as everyone was talking. He pulled her into his side scenting her neck
and whispered, “Have I told you how much I like seeing you in my sweatshirt? Knowing the fact that you carry my scent is
driving me crazy, by the time you turn eighteen I’m gonna be a lunatic.”
Sophia blushed and said in a
shy voice, “It makes me feel closer to you.
Uhmm, can I have one of your t-shirts to sleep in? I liked sleeping in the sweatshirt but I’ll
get all hot and sweaty in bed.”
Anthony closed his eyes and
threw his head back, hitting it repeatedly on the garage door as he continued
to replay what Sophia had said in his head.
He felt sweat beading on his forehead and his heart was racing, he knew
he needed to get his emotions under control but the close proximity of Sophia
wasn’t helping matters.
Maria and Alberto walked up
and Maria said, “Are we interrupting anything?
We wanted to talk about going on a double date, maybe Friday night we
could go to dinner then movies or bowling.”
Alberto took one look at
Anthony’s face and broke into a grin as he saw they were clearly interrupting
something, sweat was beading on Anthony’s forehead and his breathing was a
little ragged. He asked, “Ant, you okay? You’re looking a little flushed there buddy.”
“Sophia is gonna fuckin kill me before she turns
eighteen,” replied Anthony with a
grimace as he replayed the short conversation to Alberto. Seeing Alberto grin at his discomfort he
said, “Need I remind you that you have
the same three years to wait as I do?
Plus you’re going to college next year and won’t be able to see your
mate everyday and she’ll be at school, dance class, training classes and
football games in her cheerleading uniform without you.”
The grin abruptly fell away
from Alberto’s face and was replaced with a scowl as he replied, “Thanks Ant, you ruined my whole fucking
day. You can bet on the fact I’ll be
coming home every weekend or meeting the team wherever they are playing. I’ll be around so fucking much Maria won’t
have time to miss me.”
“You feeling miserable?” asked Anthony as Alberto nodded his head, “Good, they say misery loves company and I
feel much better now. Now we have to get
Vin and Dom feeling miserable too, they’ve been too fucking happy since they
met their mates and it isn’t right.”
The boys looked at each other
deep in thought and then as one said, “Cheerleading.”
“Follow my lead,” said Alberto as Anthony nodded.
He looked at his mate and said, “It would be nice if the Millers could
join some kind of team to help them feel welcome in the Pack. I guess they could join the girls’ soccer
team, but I don’t even know if they play.”
“Yeah, that would be a great
idea if there was something they could join,” said Anthony as he shrugged his
shoulders.
“Why can’t they join the
cheerleading squad?” asked Maria.
“There’s still plenty of time for them to learn the cheers and
routines. I’m sure the rest of the girls
wouldn’t mind teaching them and it would really make them feel welcome.”
“Oh Maria, that’s a wonderful
idea,” Sophia said happily, “let’s go talk to Gabby, since she’s the Varsity
Co-Captain. We should have thought of
this last night.”
As the girls went to talk to
Gabby, the boys high-fived each other and Alberto said, “If Vin and Dom ask us, we can honestly say Maria and Sophia came up
with the idea and they will back us up all the way. I feel kinda sneaky, this is something Damian
would do, but I don’t feel bad about making Vin and Dom miserable.”
They watched as Sophia and
Maria talked to Gabby who was nodding her head and then all three girls started
jumping up and down. The Carlucci boys
and Angelo made their way over to the garage door shaking their heads and
grinning.
“Vin and Dom are going to
blow a gasket when they find out their mates are going to be cheerleaders,”
said Angelo looking his twin in the eyes he saw the mischief there and broke
out in a matching grin.
“I definitely want to be
there when they find out,” said Damian as he was grinning. “I wish I had thought of suggesting it, I
can’t believe Maria and Sophia came up with the idea, it’s almost as if they
had a little help…” he glanced at Anthony and Alberto and seeing the grins on
their faces he burst out laughing.
“We didn’t do anything, we
were just talking about ways to make the Millers feel welcome and Maria is the
one who suggested cheerleading,” said Alberto as he shrugged his shoulders,
“Ask her or Sophia and they’ll tell you the same thing.”
Paulo grinned and said,
“Plausible deniability, I like that.”
“I’d forgotten Gabby was the
Varsity Co-Captain,” said Sal quietly, though all the boys heard him. He continued to stare at her, as if sensing
his eyes on her she looked up and smiled causing him to inhale sharply as his
heart slammed in his chest. “Damn, she’s
beautiful,” he whispered, not meaning to say it out loud.
“Stop staring at my
sister. I told you before I didn’t like
it and you’d better fucking stop,” said Angelo angrily and the boys stopped
laughing as they saw the look on Sal’s face as he frowned at Angelo. The girls stopped talking and stared at the
boys wide-eyed trying to figure out what was going on.
Sal stared at Angelo before
walking up to him and said belligerently, “And what the fuck are you going to
do if I don’t?” The boys got quiet as
they realized Sal was serious and wasn’t going to back down. The tension ratcheted up as they stood facing
off against each other, their size difference making the situation even more
serious, Angelo was 6’5” and 330 pounds, while Sal was 5’9” and 170
pounds.
Sal felt his brothers and
cousins lining up at his side, he waved them off but they refused to move and
then he saw Alberto move to stand beside Angelo. Seeing their sons line up and the attention
of the girls on the boys, the parents stopped talking and paid attention to
what was going on in front of the garage.
“You do realize I could snap
you like a fucking twig, don’t you?” snarled Angelo.
“I know you could try,” Sal
snapped back and continued to glare at Angelo.
Carlo said to the men, “What the fuck is going on? There’s been tension between those two all
night; I think it was because of Gabby.”
“You don’t have your big
brothers here to fight your battles little boy,” said Angelo with his eyes
narrowed and his huge hands clenched in fists.
“Who fucking said I needed
them? I may be smaller then you, but I’m
pretty sure I could take you,” Sal said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Gabby was furious and said, “Angelo, I swear to Luna if you hurt him
I’ll cause you unimaginable pain. I’ll
come into your room when you’re least expecting it, cut off your bits and
pieces, shove them down your throat and THEN I’ll kill you.” Angelo’s eyes widened in astonishment
then narrowed as she continued her tirade, “Don’t
fuck with me, I’m serious Angelo. LEAVE
HIM BE.”
Anthony pushed his way
between the two, holding them both at arms length; his eyes took on an amber
hue as he said in a deep commanding timbre, “ENOUGH, back the fuck off
NOW. Angelo, he didn’t do anything
wrong, and Sal stop being so fucking hotheaded.
Meet me behind the garage in five, we need to re-establish our bond, and
we are going on a run as wolves to do it.”
He stared into each boy’s eyes until they lowered them in submission
then went to his mate so she could calm him down.
As he pulled Sophia to his
side to scent her neck he sent a message to Vin and Dom, “We’ve had a slight altercation here.
Meet us at my cabin in thirty minutes; do not speak to your family until
you get here.”
“Yes Anthony,”
both boys replied acting instinctively to the firm commanding voice Anthony
used.
Gabby ran over as the boys
separated and pushed Angelo in the chest, he didn’t budge, but the intent was
obvious. She continued to glare at her
older brother then spun on her heel and walked over to Sal, cupping his face in
her hands she looked up into his deep emerald eyes said, “You’re not hurt are
you?”
Sal swallowed nervously as he
stared into Gabby’s liquid chocolate eyes and stammered, “Uhmm… yeah…ugh … I’m
uhmm … I ugh… yeah, I’m okay.” He felt
sweat breaking out on his forehead, his palms were suddenly clammy, his heart
was pounding in his chest and for some odd reason he felt like throwing
up. ‘I wonder if I’m too young to have a
heart attack?’ he thought to himself. His
wolf was sitting with his head looking off to the side as if embarrassed then
rolled onto his back in total submission leaving Sal more confused then
ever.
Letting go of his face, she
squeezed his hand and went to rejoin Maria.
Watching her as she walked away, Sal once more felt a weird satisfaction
that she was still wearing his sweatshirt and he smiled seeing ‘Carlucci’
emblazoned across the top of her backside.
When she turned suddenly seeing him staring at her, she smiled again
causing him to blush scarlet and he got so dizzy he thought for a second he may
pass out and he wondered if this is what it felt like to have a stroke.
As the men continued to stare
at the boys Frank said, “Anthony handled
that well. The argument was obviously about
Gabby, Angelo was being protective but I wonder what Sal did to set him off and
what all the posturing was about.”
“Real smooth there Romeo,” murmured Victor as he began to laugh. “Could
you uhmm…be anymore…uhmm… awkward? Dude,
it was embarrassing listening to you trying to talk.”
“Shut the fuck up Vic, I want to see how smooth you
are when a pretty girl is talking to you.
You’ll probably have a total meltdown, grunt then pass out,” said Sal as he punched his cousin in the shoulder.
Damian unable to resist said,
“I wonder who is going to take Gabs to
Homecoming? I’m sure a lot of guys will
be asking her, hell I may ask her myself.”
Seeing the scowl that Sal gave him, he broke out in laughter and said, “Then again maybe not.”
Seeing Anthony and Alberto
walk their intendeds to the SUV’s as their parents got ready to leave, the boys
hurriedly walked around the side of the house to the back of the garage. Nobody spoke as they stood there with their
arms crossed over their chests.
Minutes later Anthony and
Alberto joined them and Anthony said, “Okay, this is what’s going to
happen. We’re going to run to my cabin;
once there we’ll shift and continue running, then we’ll sit and talk. Damian since you can’t run yet, you will walk
to the cabin. Until we are ready to work this fucking
thing out, I don’t want to hear one word, no arguments and no questions, keep
your fucking mouths shut.” Without
looking at anybody he turned around and ran towards the trail, within moments
he heard the boys running behind him.
Damian followed at a much
slower pace as he started the fifteen minute walk to the cabins. It was weird being alone, he thought as he
tried to think of the last time it happened and couldn’t remember a time when
he wasn’t around at least one member of his family. After several minutes of continued silence he
admitted to himself that he didn’t like it, didn’t like it at all.
Anthony set a blistering pace
as they ran, completing the run in less then five minutes. Once there everyone stripped out of their
clothes and shifted. Knowing Sal and Vic
were still getting used to their wolves, he said, “We’ll walk around the cleaning once, then pick up the pace each
turn. Once the two of you feel confident
to run let me know.” Sal and Vic
nodded their heads, remembering his edict not to talk.
After the fifth run around
the circle, both boys felt confident and chuffed to let Anthony know they were
ready, without responding he led them on the wide trail into the woods. They ran for twenty minutes, up and down South Mountain
Sal and Vic were the last two
in line and tried to shift in midair like the others but weren’t as
successful. Their wolves hit the water
with a huge splash drenching the older boys and they started paddling towards
shore before they successfully shifted.
Sal said, “I guess we need to work on that a little.” Seeing the two cousins laughing at each other
and themselves, the other boys smiled which broke the tension.
The boys continued to be
silent, letting the cool water soothe their overheated bodies and tempers. Five minutes later Anthony said, “Time to
head to the cabin.” The boys exited the
water and walked the quarter mile to the cabin letting the sun and slight wind
air dry them. When they arrived at the
cabin they slipped on their shorts and Anthony motioned for them to move to the
edge of the clearing where they had sat the night before.
Anthony stood with his arms
crossed over his chest as he stared at the boys in front of him. “Before we get started, let me bring Vin and
Dom up to speed as to what happened,” he said projecting what occurred
earlier. He closely watched them and
wasn’t surprised when he heard their low growls as they glared at Angelo. Both boys then looked at their brothers and
cousins and nodded their heads letting them know they did the right thing in
backing Sal.
Drawing a deep breath Anthony
said, “Sal, do you want to let us know what is going on with you and Gabby?”
Sal swallowed loudly and
said, “Ant, I honestly don’t know.
Everyone keeps saying I’m too young to feel the mating pull and my wolf
is as confused as I am apparently. When
Gabby was talking to me, he was acting embarrassed and then laid on his back in
a submissive pose. What the fuck does
that mean? What does your wolf do around
Sophia?”
Anthony rolled his shoulders
and said, “Sal, first thing, do you know what it means to be mates? Not just in the ‘we will be together for the
rest of our life’ kinda way, but everything else it means?”
“Well, yeah…kinda. I mean I see the way our parents act, and
I’ve seen the way you and Alberto act like idiots around the girls. It doesn’t seem that hard,” Sal said as the
boys started laughing at his description of Anthony and Alberto.
Anthony smiled at him and
said, “Well, your sister does seem to bring out the best and worst in me,
sometimes at the same time. Meeting your
mate makes you feel like you are finally complete, like that piece of you that
was missing is finally found. It’s the
best and worst feeling in the world. I
can’t remember where I saw this, but it describes it perfectly, ‘it’s not the
person you spend your life with, it’s the person you can’t live your life
without’.”
“Hallmark?” Damian asked with
a lopsided grin on his face as Anthony shrugged.
“You’re right though, it does
make us act like idiots. Big giant
possessive idiots who can’t seem to control our anger and who ramble like crack
heads on meth,” said Alberto with a scowl.
“Look at me; I’m a big strong guy who rides a Harley for fucks
sake. When I walk into a biker bar, the
guys in there don’t fuck with me because I scare the shit out of them. And you know what scares me? My 5’5”, 115
pound kitten, she scares the fuck out of me.”
As the guys were laughing,
Alberto shrugged his shoulders and said, “Go ahead and laugh, I’m not ashamed
to admit that my Gattina means the world to me.
That I live to make her happy and when she smiles at me I feel like my
chest is going to burst open. If I’m not
with her, the only thing I think about is her.
If she wants something, I’ll do everything in my power to get it for
her. When I hold her and scent her all I
think about is ripping her…”
“WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, DUDE. THAT’S MY SISTER YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT,”
shouted Lorenzo as the rest of the Carlucci’s snapped their heads towards
Alberto and narrowed their eyes. “It’s
bad enough we have to see you scent her, we don’t want to know what you’re
thinking. That’s just beyond disturbing.”
Alberto looked at Lorenzo and
grinned saying, “Sorry, I ugh kinda got carried away there a little. It’s just your sister is so fucking beautiful
and her scent drives me insane. If we’re
being honest here guys, I have to tell you I have a calendar on the computer
marking down the days until her 18th birthday.”
“STOP, JUST STOP,” shouted
Damian. “None of us want to hear
that. We don’t even want to know about
the two of you having relations until she is in the clinic ready to pop out your
little ones. Then and only then we may
be ready to hear that you even kissed her.”
“You think my little ones are
going to magically appear inside of her?” asked Alberto as he threw back his
head laughing.
“Only if you use your magic
wand on her, bro,” said Angelo as he started laughing.
“I have to confess I have a
calendar countdown too,” said Anthony as he laughed. “I thought I was the only one who was twisted
and disturbed, I’m glad I have company.”
Alberto leaned over and high-fived Anthony, both of them smiling
broadly, while the Carlucci’s scowled.
“That is wrong, just wrong on
so many levels,” said Gianni as he shook his head as Anthony, Alberto and
Angelo continued to laugh.
“Can we get back to me now?”
said Sal. “I thought we came up here to
talk about me, not the two of you doing unmentionable stuff to our
sisters. That’s just gross.”
Ant stopped laughing and
said, “Sorry Sal. It sounds to me like
your wolf understands she is your mate but isn’t ready to accept it yet. He wants to make sure you’re not only
physically mature enough to be able to care for and protect your mate, you need
to be emotionally mature enough to handle the responsibility.”
Alberto leaned back against a
tree and nodded his head saying, “Like Ant was saying, it’s not just a matter
of protecting your mate which will come in time as you grow bigger and
stronger; it’s a matter of being able to provide for her emotionally and being
able to provide for her welfare, such as providing a home, everything she needs
and eventually everything your little ones will need.”
Angelo glared at Sal and
said, “Whatever…I don’t like HIM sniffing around my sister.” He glanced at Alberto and said, “I mean our
sister. It’s not right, she’s only
seventeen.”
Vincent raised his eyebrow
saying quietly, “And what is the matter with my brother? Your sister doesn’t seem to mind; in fact she
seems to be encouraging him. As far as
Gabby being seventeen, so what? Our
sisters are only fifteen, and Maria is the intended mate of YOUR brother, and
neither of you have a problem with that obviously.”
Seeing the look on Vin’s
face, Sal said hesitantly, “Seriously though, what am I supposed to do? Is Gabby my first crush and is this what you
guys felt like when you first started noticing girls and thinking about…you
know like sex and stuff?”
“First off, don’t mention my
sister and sex in the same sentence,” snarled Angelo. “Second, you just turned fifteen for fucks
sake. What do you think you can do? You can’t even drive…”
Vincent put up his hand
stopping Angelo, staring intently into his eyes he said quietly, “Angelo, we’ve
been friends since we were little ones and out of respect for that friendship
I’m going to be nice about this…But if you talk to my brother like that again,
I swear to Luna I will come over there and beat the fuck out of you.”
He stopped speaking for
several moments as he continued to stare at Angelo and said louder, “We still
need to discuss what happened earlier, Sal may have been stubborn about
standing up to you, but what exactly did he do wrong? So, he looked at your sister and said she was
beautiful. Did he harm her in any
way? Did he say something that insulted
her? No.
You were the one who stepped over the line, letting a harmless remark
get out of hand and get to you. You took
advantage of a fifteen year old and our absence to try and bully him. That is not going to happen ever again, ARE
WE CLEAR ON THAT?”
Angelo didn’t respond, his
hands were clenched and his body language radiated anger as he looked away from
the oldest Carlucci boy. Vin gave him a
minute to answer and when no answer was forthcoming he said again, “DID I MAKE
MYSELF FUCKING CLEAR ON THAT OR DO WE SETTLE THIS HERE AND NOW?”
Anthony didn’t interrupt, he
knew how protective Vin was of his family and he was extremely upset Angelo had
picked a fight with Sal, the youngest male member of the Clan. This was something that had to be worked out
between the two of them.
Angelo drew a deep breath and
said, “Yeah, you made yourself clear. It
won’t happen again, but I still don’t like the idea of him chasing after our
sister.”
Anthony looked at the
Moretti’s and quietly said, “And what if Gabby is the one who is doing the
flirting and chasing?”
“What are you saying about my
sister? You think she is encouraging
him?” asked Alberto with a look of disbelief on his face. “She’s only seventeen and has never even been
on a date. How the hell would she know
how to flirt or encourage him?”
“Yes, I think she IS
encouraging him. Calm down and look at
this objectively and not as her brothers,” instructed Anthony. “Last night when we were sitting at the
bonfire, she came and sat next to Sal.
She smiled at him several times and she was definitely flirting with him
at the bonfire. Did either of you notice
that?”
“Well, yeah,” admitted
Angelo. “But I don’t think she was doing
it on purpose, she was just being nice, wasn’t she?”
“In my limited experience
with women,” said Damian as everyone laughed since there wasn’t a girl Damian
met he didn’t flirt with. “They instinctively
know how to flirt. They do that hair
flipping thing, give that cute quick side-eye then glance away, they giggle at
things we say that aren’t funny, give that light touch on your forearm, do that
thing where they catch their lower lip between their teeth, and tilt their head
to show the line of their neck.”
The boys stared at him for
several moments before they started laughing.
“You honestly think girls act like that?
Our sisters never acted like that, you are losing your mind,” said Dominic
shaking his head.
“Alberto, answer this
question…when Maria brought those brownies to you at practice, what did she
do?” asked Damian with an innocent look on his face.
Alberto leaned back and
thought for a moment before saying, “She acted real shy, giggled a lot, then
blushed and when she glanced back over her shoulder at me she tilted her head
and smiled.” He got quiet for a moment
and said, “Fuck, she was flirting with me and I didn’t even realize it.”
“Anthony, think back to the
birthday party, play it back in your mind and think of what Sophia was doing
all night,” said Damian as he leaned back on his elbows.
“Alright,” said Anthony
closing his eyes replaying the night in his mind. “She is with the other girls…wait a
minute…she’s staring at me and giggling.
When Mom and Dad got there she thanked us for the gift and tilted her
head smiling at me. Now she is at the
edge of the pool talking with Maria and glancing at me, twirling her hair and
giggling. She’s walking by me and giving
me a side glance with her mouth slightly open and her head is tilted, like she
wants to say something and that’s when I knocked her into the pool…” He bolted upright and said, “She was flirting
with me the whole fucking night. How the
hell did I miss that?” He turned to
Damian growling loudly and demanded, “How many other guys have you seen her
flirt with? I want to know who it was
and what they did.”
“Jealous much?” asked Damian
calmly. “Sophia never flirted with any
other guys. If you hadn’t of knocked her
into the pool, she would still be trying to get you to notice her. Like I said, they don’t have to have
experience to flirt.”
“In my defense, I never
expected Sophia to be flirting with me.
Damn bro, she was your family and off limits, totally against the code. Even though I thought she was beautiful, I
would never have done anything or pursued her,” explained Anthony. Alberto nodded his head in agreement.
The boys got quiet and then
Angelo said, “Okay, you made your point and suppose, just suppose, Gabby is
flirting with Sal. I think she is doing
it just to like you know…maybe get some kinda practice in. She can’t be serious, can she?”
Anthony shrugged his
shoulders and looking at Sal he said, “Sal, what exactly have you felt towards
Gabby?”
Sal leaned back before
saying, “Well, when she smiles at me, my heart feels like it’s going to pound
out of my chest. I liked seeing her in
my sweatshirt, knowing she carried my scent…” he was interrupted by Victor who
hollered, “I KNEW that’s why you gave her your sweatshirt.”
“And it felt good to see my
name on her backside, I guess I feel kinda protective of her…” he was
interrupted by Damian who said, “You think?
You about tore my head off when I was tickling her foot.”
“And I guess I have been
paying a bit more attention to her then I admitted. I mean noticing things with her you know
being a girl and all…” he was interrupted by Paulo who said sarcastically,
“Really? Liquid chocolate eyes with
streaks of green? I don’t think any of
us were fooled by your protests after that remark.”
“But when she was holding my
face I got sweaty, clammy and felt like throwing up…” he stopped as the boys
started laughing and he blushed slightly as he continued, “Then when she turned
around and smiled at me I got really dizzy and felt like passing out.”
“That sounds more like the
flu,” said Damian as the boys continued to laugh, “or a bad case of food
poisoning.”
“It might be gas from the raw
deer your wolf ate,” said Michael with a straight face before breaking out in
laughter, his twin Paulo leaning over and giving a high-five.
“Fuck you guys, I’m trying to
be serious here and you’re talking about gas and food poisoning,” fumed
Sal. “I’m the youngest here, but
apparently more mature then you bunch of buffoons.” His tirade had the opposite effect as
everyone was laughing so hard that even Sal joined in.
After several minutes, the
laughter died down and Angelo said, “Okay, so what do we do about Gabby and
Sal?”
“What do WE do? We do nothing. If Luna has decreed they are mates, then
there is nothing or no one that will come between them,” stated Anthony
firmly. Seeing the disgruntled looks on
the faces of Alberto and Angelo, he said, “Alberto, how would you feel if you
knew Maria was your mate and her family kept you separated?”
“I WOULD FUCKING KILL ANYBODY
THAT TRIED TO KEEP HER FROM ME, SHE IS MINE,” he snarled angrily. The thought of his mate not being with them
set his wolf on edge, his claws came out and his eyes shifted to pure amber. Loud growls sounded throughout the clearing
and the boys stayed perfectly still, afraid the slightest movement would set
him off.
“Alberto, you need to calm
down NOW,” commanded Anthony.
After several tense moments,
Alberto’s claws retracted and his eyes reverted back to his normal chocolate eye
color. He threw his head back and drew
in several deep cleansing breaths saying, “I’m sorry, but the thought of being
kept away from Maria isn’t something my wolf or I will tolerate.” He took a long look at Sal before saying, “We
won’t stop you or come between the two of you, but I want to make one thing
clear, you will respect my sister. If I
find out you did something to hurt her or cause her any pain, I swear to Luna I
will rip you limb from limb.”
“Uhmm, okay,” Sal said hesitantly. “But what exactly AM I supposed to do? I have no idea…do I ask her out? Ignore her and hope it goes away until I’m
older? Keep going on as we are, whatever
that is, and see what happens? I need
some help here guys. You all are older
and more experienced, so tell me what to do.”
The guys sat there and looked
at each other, several of them opening their mouths to say something and then
quickly stopped. They appeared lost in
thought, except for Damian who sat and watched everything.
When the silence stretched
for five minutes he finally spoke, “How the hell do any of you manage to talk
to girls, let alone get dates? Do any of
you have a clue?” As everyone turned to
look at him, he shook his head in disgust and said, “Sal, don’t do anything,
act normal and let Gabby take the lead.
She has all the power, girls always have all the power, whether we want
to admit it or not. If she flirts, flirt
back. If she jokes, joke back. If she acts possessive then act the same
way. You need to respond to what she
puts out there. You need to let her know
you are listening to her, not just hearing what she says. You need to reassure her you value her as a
person, not just as a girl or sex object, but you also need to tell her how
nice she looks and compliment her outfits without objectifying her. You need to always be a gentleman and open
doors and treat her with respect without being too overbearing or dominant,
which will be the hardest part with us being Were’s. Basically, until you both are older you need
to let your feelings develop and grow for each other, since your wolf doesn’t
know for sure if she is your mate or not or isn’t ready to accept it.”
The other boys stared at him
in amazement, after all this was Damian who never took anything seriously. “What???” he said with a smirk on his
face. “Sitting with Maria and Sophia for
hours on end and being bored out of my mind, I started reading those damn
magazines our Mothers buy. You’d be
surprised what you can learn from Cosmopolitan and Vogue, especially when they
have the ‘What women want from relationships’, ‘What men really look for’ or
‘What will drive your man crazy’ articles.
They are very enlightening.”
Stunned silence met his
announcement and then Michael said quietly, “Uhmm, where exactly does Mom keep
these magazines? Purely for scientific
research of course.” The boys started
grinning at the innocent look on Michael’s face.
“Fuck that. I’ll hack into their mainframe and pull out
the most read articles that center on men, what women want from men, just give
me some keywords to look for. Soon as
I’m done, I’ll email it to everybody,” said Paulo quietly looking at his
hands.
“Can you seriously do that?”
asked Angelo as he stared at Paulo.
“Have you seen the setup he
has in his office?” asked Michael. “It
makes what Penelope Garcia has looked like she is internet-challenged. He’s got wall to wall screens, and well to be
honest I have no idea what the hell everything else is, but it’s fucking
awesome.”
“So, that’s what you’re going
to college for, Computer Science? I
remember last year you were taking some computer courses at Hood College
“Yeah, I’m going to be doing
the same thing this year. Three classes
at Hood, two on Monday and Wednesday mornings, the other one on Tuesday and
Thursday afternoons, Friday mornings I have computer lab, the rest of the time
I’ll be back at school,” said Paulo quietly.
“Why even go to high school,
why aren’t you enrolled full-time in college?” asked Angelo.
“Mom and Dad want me to have
normal high school experiences. Plus, if
you haven’t noticed, I’m kinda quiet around people and I don’t want to be known
as more of a computer nerd then I already am,” Paulo said looking at the
ground.
“Paulo, look at me,” said Vin
forcefully. “No one thinks of you that
way. We’re amazed at what you can do
behind a keyboard or with any kind of electronic equipment. You have a special gift and should never be
ashamed of it.”
Paulo looked at his oldest
cousin and smiled saying, “Thanks Vin, I’m not ashamed of it, but I wish I was
a little more outgoing like the rest of you.
Every time somebody wants to do something or go somewhere, they always
have to pry me out of my office and away from my keyboard.”
“Are you guys aware that
Paulo handles cyber-security for the Pack?” said Dom proudly. “He also designed all of the Pack business
websites and makes sure the Pack website is safe and secure. I have no idea what he does, except he makes
sure only Pack members can access the site and monitors any attempts by
outsiders to gain access. I know its way
more complicated then that, but that’s all I understand.”
“No shit,” said Angelo with
an amazed expression on his face. “What
are you going to do when you graduate?”
“Well, Dad and Uncle Frank
want to start a security company under the Triple C banner. Currently Triple C is a subcontractor to
install security systems for an outside company,” said Paulo. “What they want is to provide a comprehensive
security package for home and business including cyber-security. I would be in charge of the IT side of it,
making sure their computer systems are protected against, well…people like
me.”
“Your fathers talked to me
during the hunt about my plans for the future.
They suggested I study Fire Protection Engineering at U of MD,” stated
Alberto. At the look on his brother’s
face he continued, “I wanted to talk to you later about this, but after we
graduate we could start our own company, Moretti’s Fire Protection Services and
Mr. C and Mr. JC already agreed we would design, install and maintain the
sprinkler systems for Triple C.”
“No shit,” said Angelo. “That would fit perfectly with my degree in
Mechanical Engineering. That would be so
fuckin cool for us to have a business together.”
“You two will be working
closely with Vin and I then,” said Dominic with a grin. “I’m going to study Commercial Architecture
and Vin is studying Residential Architecture.
Dad and Uncle Joe want to split the business into two divisions within
the next ten years, Residential and Business/Commercial.”
“Don’t forget me,” said
Lorenzo. “I’m going to study Historic
Preservation. Our Dads feel the next big
movement is for historical preservation and since I like history it will fit me
perfect.”
“Are all of you going to work
for your Dad’s company?” asked Angelo.
“Kitchen and Bath Design,”
said Enzo. “Going to Montgomery College
“Accounting, specializing in
bookkeeping and payroll,” said Gianni.
“Aunt Annie said that would be good for me, since I’m very methodical
and detail oriented.”
“Law,” said Marcus with a
grin, “Mom said it would be good since I like to argue and I could get my
brothers out of trouble when needed, but I’m getting my degree in Business and
Contract Law.”
“Criminology and Criminal
Justice, specializing in security,” said Gino as he smiled. “Uncle Joe said it would be a great career
for me since I’m sneaky and always looking for trouble, and usually find it.”
“Same here, except I’m not sneaky
or underhanded like Gino,” said Michael as his cousin punched him in the
arm. “I’m more of the paranoid guy
watching everybody, like our Dad’s.”
“I want to get more into the
physical aspects of construction, more along the lines of plumbing and HVAC,”
said Vic. “Mom and Dad are still
insisting I go to MD to get a Bachelor’s degree though they are leaving the
choice up to me.”
“I want to do the electrical
side of the business,” said Sal. “Our
Dad’s are starting a new department instead of relying on subcontractors and by
the time I get enough experience I should be in a position to help run it. I have to get my Bachelor’s degree too, but I
think I’ll do something in Electrical Engineering.”
“Well, you all know what I’m
going to be doing, running Rossi’s Grocery Stores. Dad and I have big plans, we want to sell
more organic products and update the look of the stores. I’m going to MD to study Business Management
with an emphasis on Accounting and Marketing,” said Anthony as he rubbed the
back of his neck.
The boys looked at Damian
since he was the only one who didn’t volunteer what he wanted to do. He smiled saying, “I wanna be a rock star,”
flashing the Corna, the universal sign of metalheads and rockers.
“Dude, you can’t even fucking
sing,” said Lorenzo as he started to laugh.
“You don’t play an instrument
either and you have no rhythm,” said Gianni as he fell over laughing. “You dance worse then Elaine from Seinfeld.”
“You are so musically
challenged you can’t even load the CD player,” said Gino as he leaned back
laughing.
“Okay…well thanks for killing
my childhood dreams,” Damian said with a smile on his face. “I guess I’ll do what comes natural then and
go into Communications specializing in Public Relations; Aunt Rose said it
would be a good career because I’m outgoing and people naturally like me for my
personality and charm.” As the boys
rolled their eyes he continued, “Gentlemen, I will be the face of Triple
C…since I am so much better looking then all of you.”
“Luna help us all, we’ll go
bankrupt if your ugly ass face represents Triple C,” said Dominic as he burst
out laughing. “You’re the ugliest one
out of all of us.”
“It kills me when you say
things like that to each other,” said Anthony as he grinned. “The twelve of you are almost identical…same
hair, same eyes, same dimples, same build…damn you all even act alike. Every one of you is a miniature of your
fathers, and they are carbon copies of each other.”
“Sophia and Maria are the
same way, they look exactly like the rest of you, just a more feminized softer
version,” said Angelo, looking at Anthony and Alberto he started laughing
hysterically.
“What??” Anthony and Alberto
both asked at the same time.
All of the boys continued to
stare at him in bewilderment as Angelo laughed so hard he was gasping for air
saying, “Sophia and Maria. Longer hair,
dresses, dimples, green eyes, exactly the same…like kissing Damian in drag…”
As Angelo’s words penetrated
into their brains, Anthony and Alberto looked at each other in horror while the
Carlucci’s were rolling on the ground laughing.
“Fuck,” hollered Anthony as
he shook his head in denial, his hands closing over his eyes. “You’re all sick, fucking sick. When I hold Sophia, I am NOT thinking about
Damian in drag. Oh Damn…now that I’ve
said it out loud, I can’t get the visual of Damian with a wig on out of my
mind. I need some bleach for my brain.”
“Son of a bitch, thanks for
that visual,” yelled Alberto. “Damn, why
did you do that? Now when I’m thinking
of my intended I’m going to be picturing Damian. Fuck my life, as if waiting three years to
claim her isn’t enough torture.”
“Anything I can do to help
get your minds off mating our sisters is appreciated by all of us,” said Damian
with a smirk. “Now that is a visual none
of US wants to see.”
“Think of Damian in drag as
the ultimate form of cock blocking,” said Marcus as he laughed.
“I don’t think there’s enough
bleach in the world to get those images out of my mind,” said Alberto with a
grimace. “Putting my beautiful intended
together with Damian like that is cruel.
My intended is gorgeous and doesn’t resemble him at all.”
“Face it, they’re Damian just
shorter with less muscles and better accessories,” said Lorenzo as he started
laughing again.
As the boys continued to
laugh, Damian got quiet and his brows drew together as if in deep thought. “Wait…wait just a damn minute…I’ve got eleven
brothers and cousins why am I the one in drag?
Why me?” whined Damian.
“It took you five minutes to
realize that? You didn’t realize we were
laughing at you, not with you, as well as torturing Anthony and Alberto,” said
Vin as he grinned. “Triple win for us
boys.”
Anthony and Alberto looked at
each other and slowly smiled thinking of Vin’s reaction when he found out
Brianna was going to be a cheerleader.
Suddenly they didn’t feel so bad about it after all…not at all.
The boys continued to talk in
a comfortable relaxed attitude, their close bond once more established. Thirty minutes later, low grumbles started to
be heard and finally Angelo said, “I’m starving; let’s go grab something to
eat.”
Vin sent a message to his
Mom, “Hey Mom, we’re hungry…do you think
you can make us something or should we go to the Diner?”
“Come to the house, we made brunch for everybody. We figured you would be hungry after your run
and tell the boys they are welcome,” said Rose.
“Thanks Mom, have I told you lately how good of a
Mommy you are?” Vin asked cheerfully.
“Flatterer, but I’m not going to tell you what we
made. You’ll have to wait to see, but I
think you’ll be happy,” replied Rose.
“Mom and Aunt Annie made
brunch for us. I think she made cinnamon
rolls and Aunt Annie made her famous Eggs Benedict but Mom wouldn’t say for
sure,” said Vin happily and with that announcement they picked up their walking
pace.
“How is your leg doing
Damian? Think you’ll be ready for the
game on Saturday? Or will you have to
sit out?” asked Anthony as he watched Damian’s gait and didn’t notice any limp.
“It feels fine; Doc wants me
to skip practice Monday and Tuesday. On
Wednesday I can start to run, but no contact until I get x-rayed Saturday
morning,” he responded with a shrug.
“The shoulder is already healed, what’s sore is my ass from landing on
Toni’s shoe.” He got quiet for several
moments before continuing, “I still feel really bad for letting Maria and Toni
get hurt, I should have done more to protect them.”
“You had at most a couple
seconds to react before you reached the bottom of the well and you did
everything you could,” said Anthony firmly.
“No matter how much training our fathers give us, there is always the
unexpected and falling 25’ into a dry well ranks up there in the unexpected
category.”
“I know, but…” replied Damian
before he was interrupted by Alberto.
“No buts, that was my
intended and if I felt you should have done more believe me I would have told
you so. Maria said she pushed away from
the wall only because you were busy shifting and grabbing her and Toni. That’s how she broke her arm, not from the
fall,” said Alberto firmly. “The only
injury Toni got was her foot was a little sore from your fat ass landing on it,
but other then that she is fine.”
“Hey, I do NOT have a fat
ass. My ass is perfect…just like the
rest of me. The rest of you are jealous
of this finely sculpted physique and my devastating good looks,” replied Damian
as he moved into a classic bodybuilder pose displaying his eight-pack and his
toned and ripped arms and legs. He held
the pose for several moments before he broke out in laughter as he was pelted
by everyone’s shirts.
“Said the man with an
identical twin and identical brothers and cousins,” said Anthony as he punched
Damian in the arm.
“I hope your Dad has a good
health insurance plan to get Damian some therapy to help with his low self
esteem problem,” said Alberto as he laughed.
Damian smirked at Anthony and
Alberto thinking of the perfect payback, now he just had to figure out the
right time to do it…
Fifteen minutes later they
pulled up to Frank and Rose’s house. The
main section of the farmhouse was built in 1859 and when Frank and Rose bought
it, it was in danger of collapsing. They
gutted the interior, leaving only the external walls and added onto the house
as their family grew. The main floor
consisted of formal living room, dining room, Frank’s study, Rose’s study,
family room and a large gourmet kitchen.
When the garage was built it was connected to the house with a mud room
and the youngsters entered the house through there and knew to take their shoes
off before Rose hollered at them. The
garage contained sporting equipment, two extra refrigerators and three large
deep freezes.
The house also had a metal
barn divided into two sections. The back
section was filled with two 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS muscle cars that Frank
and Joe were restoring when they wanted to get away from their mates and
youngsters. That part of the garage was
strictly off limits to everyone unless they were invited in. The front part of the barn was basically a
storage shed and held lawn equipment & tools.
As the boys entered the
house, laughter could be heard from the kitchen and they hurriedly made their
way towards those sounds as well as the smells of food. Ant went to Sophia and pulled her into his
side scenting her neck while Alberto sat down next to Maria whispering to her
as he scented her neck, “I missed you Gattina.
I would have much rather come here and been with you then your family.”
She blushed as she scented
his neck, saying shyly, “I think I like you all sweaty, it’s very manly and you
smell great Leone.”
“Leone? Why are you calling me lion?” asked Alberto
as he tilted his head so Maria could scent him deeper.
“Well, you call me kitten and
Gatto wouldn’t fit you because of your size, so I picked lion,” she whispered
leaning back to look in his eyes, worry evident in hers. “Don’t you like it?”
“I love it. So we are the lion and kitten? That’s way better then Ant and Sophia, they
are lug nut and peanut,” Alberto said as he started to laugh then he looked
into her eyes and said quietly, “Gattina, you make me so happy you have no
idea.”
Maria
leaned in and whispered so quietly he barely heard her, “I bet in three
years I’ll be able to make you even happier.”
With that statement she got up and walked away, glancing back over her
shoulder she smiled shyly at him before tossing her hair over her shoulder.
Alberto sat there with his
mouth hanging open unable to form a coherent thought as he watched his intended
move around the kitchen talking to her Mom, Sophia and Aunt. She continued to glance at him, staring right
into his eyes before shyly looking away.
‘Son of a bitch, Damian was right.
She is flirting with me and doing a damn good job of it,’ he thought
unable to tear his eyes away from her.
Anthony came over and sat
beside him saying quietly, “They are both going to drive us insane, but in a
good way. Did Maria say anything more
about us double dating?”
“Huh?” said Alberto just now
realizing Anthony was sitting next to him and was talking to him. He continued to stare at his intended as she
moved around the kitchen, getting plates out of the cupboard and the silverware
caddy off the counter placing them on the breakfast bar. “Oh, yeah Friday night I have to work until 8
but if you could bring her to the Pizza Parlor we could get something to eat
there then go bowling. That sound okay?”
“Sounds good, I’ll make the
arrangements with the guys. I’ll borrow
Mom’s SUV so we can all ride there together and then you can take her group
home,” said Anthony without taking his eyes off Sophia. Without even realizing it, he was smiling as
he watched her get pitchers of sweet tea out of the fridge.
“Brunch is served,” said Rose
with a smile. The boys loaded their
plates with bacon, pancakes, Eggs Benedict, sausage and hash browns before
sitting at the oversized kitchen table.
Anthony and Alberto stepped to the back of the line motioning for their
intendeds to join them. After getting
their plates, they went outside on the patio sitting at one of the outdoor
tables, grateful for the semi-privacy it provided. They were in full view of the Carlucci’s, but
with the security windows what was said between the two couples remained
private.
Joe looked at the two couples
who were laughing and talking and said to Frank, “Our girls look happy. I’m
pleased with Luna’s choice of mate for my daughter, even if he is almost three
times her size. Every time I see the two
of them together I have to laugh because they look ridiculous, but I can see he
treats her with respect and adores her.”
“Anthony was a good choice for Sophia. I can’t say I was thrilled when it happened
but I can see how much he loves her and I know he will keep her safe. I also know that little hellion will keep him
safe too, did you see how the girls went after Carlo this morning?” Frank asked with a smile on his face.
“Talking about Carlo, when are we going to get the
families together to discuss his proposal?
We need to tell the youngsters they can’t be together starting Friday at
5 PM. We should let Anthony and Alberto
be involved since Sophia and Maria are their intendeds,” said Joe.
“As much as I hate to say it, since Vincent and
Dominic are 18, if they choose to stay here with the Millers or go with them, I
would support that decision,” said
Frank. “They are both old enough to make their own judgment on what is best
for them and their intended’s. Though if
I do take the Alpha position, then Vincent would be the Alpha-heir or if Todd
takes the position he would be Todd’s heir since he would be Brianna’s mate,
which would make Dominic my heir. Damn,
this is getting confusing.”
“Lorenzo would be mine, and Luna helps us all but
Damian would be second in line,” said
Joe choking on his sweet tea.
“I wonder if the Alpha Council is aware of that, I’m sure
if they realized that they never would have made the offer,” Frank replied and burst out laughing causing everyone
to stop eating and stare at him with their mouths hanging open. Joe and Frank looked at each other then at
Damian before laughing so hard tears were running down their faces.
“What happened now? I swear it wasn’t me,” said Damian as he
continued to eat. “I would never do
anything wrong, well…at least nothing they could pin on me. On the other hand, if it was something good
…then yes, it was me.” As he finished
talking he gave his Dad and Uncle a smile he had perfected over the years that
usually got him out of trouble.
Seeing that smile, everybody
started laughing since they were all too familiar with it and it usually meant
Damian was up to no good. Joe shook his
head and said, “I don’t even want to know what you’ve been doing, do I?”
Damian continued to smile and
said, “Dad, when have I ever caused trouble?”
Vin looked at his cousin and
raised his eyebrow saying, “When haven’t you caused trouble would be a better
question.”
“I beg to differ, Oh High and
Mighty Head of The Clan; there is a big difference between causing mischief and
causing trouble. It’s a fine line and I
walk it well,” smirked Damian. “It is a
skill I have perfected over the years and I have it down to an art.”
“The only art you have
perfected is the art of bullshit,” said Annie narrowing her eyes at her son as
she shook her fork at him. “Don’t think
for a minute I don’t know what you and your cohorts in crime are up to when you
leave this house. I am your Mother; I
know all and see all and what I don’t see personally, others tell me.”
Silence reigned over the
table as the boys stared at each other with astonishment and terror on their
faces before they quickly said, “I’m done eating” “Let’s go in the pool” “Last
one outside has to get the towels” “Beat you to the pool house”. They quickly got up, grabbed their plates and
put them in the sink before they pushed their way out the patio doors to escape
the wrath of Annie.
Joe looked at Annie and asked,
“What was that about?”
Annie smiled at her husband
and said, “Nothing actually, though by their response I wonder what they’ve
been up to. I just wanted them to leave
so we could have the last of the cinnamon rolls. Mission
Motioning for their mates to
stay seated, Frank and Joe got up bringing the rest of the dishes to the
sink. After they were done putting them
in the dishwasher, they walked outside to check on the youngsters and the
pulled pork and brisket on the smoker.
Rose and Annie got up to finish the preparations for tonight’s
dinner.
Twenty minutes later Frank
and Joe came back inside pulling their mates tightly to their chests. “We’ve got to go meet the Miller’s at the
school. We’ll be back as soon as we
can,” said Frank quietly as he scented Rose’s neck.
“Do you need us to get
anything while we’re out?” asked Joe as he scented Annie.
“The Rossi’s are bringing
rolls, ice and sodas, the Moretti’s chips, dips and a veggie tray and the
Miller’s desserts, Matt and Phil are bringing beer and wine. I think we’re good,” said Annie. “We should be finished here in a bit and then
we’re going to practice our golf swings.”
“We were thinking of playing
a round Wednesday morning at Black Rock.
Since the youngsters will be in school and we’ve hired help for the
office, it really frees up our weekdays,” said Rose with a smile as she glanced
at her twin.
“We were thinking about
asking these men we’re interested in if they would like to join us,” said Annie
with an innocent look but a sparkle in her eyes.
“I’d better be the only man
you’re interested in,” Joe growled picking up his mate he pinned her to the wall
and began kissing her deeply.
“You are mine, you have
always been mine and you will always be mine,” growled Frank picking up his
mate and placing her on the counter. He
looked into her light brown eyes before he kissed her gently running his hands
through her hair.
The youngsters burst into the
kitchen talking excitedly but upon seeing their parents kissing they stopped
dead in their tracks.
“My eyes, my eyes,” hollered
Damian covering his face he fell to his knees before collapsing on his side, rolling
around as if in agony and whimpering.
“Damn Dad, do you have to
maul Mom in front of company?” asked Sal clearly embarrassed. “It’s bad enough when you do it in front of
us.”
“Don’t the two of you have
somewhere to be?” asked Vin shaking his head in disgust.
Looking at the clock, Frank
said, “Oh shit, we’re going to be late.”
The two brothers hurriedly said goodbye as they rushed out the door,
Carlo was a stickler for punctuality and hated anybody being late.
Rose looked at Damian still
rolling around on the floor whimpering and said, “Okay Drama Queen, you can get
off the floor now. Give us twenty
minutes to finish up in here, then we want to practice our golf swings.”
Cheers erupted from the
Carlucci’s as Anthony, Angelo and Alberto looked on with confusion. “You’ve obviously never played Carlucci
golf,” said Gianni. “I’m surprised you
haven’t Ant, but you usually work on Sundays.”
“Come on everybody, let’s
suit up,” said Dominic cheerfully as he led the procession to the garage.
“Suit up? What the hell…” whispered Alberto.
“Okay, what the hell is
Carlucci golf?” asked Angelo to no one in particular.
“It’s a cross between rugby,
football, baseball, lacrosse, soccer and every other sport you can
imagine. There aren’t really any rules except
make sure the other team doesn’t score,” said Michael. “Anything and everything goes.”
“Do you have your gym bags in
your cars? Get them so we can see what
equipment you’ll need,” said Enzo.
The three boys hurried out to
their cars and upon re-entering the garage burst out laughing. Maria and Sophia had on padded football pants
two sizes too big and wore shoulder pads covered by a long sleeved
t-shirt. Leather gloves had been
duct-taped to the sleeves of their shirts and Lorenzo was holding Maria’s hand
while Vin duct-taped a pillow around Maria’s cast. Mouth guards followed by hockey helmets with
clear face guards completed their outfits.
“Gattina, put your left arm
over your head for a second,” said Alberto with a smile.
Maria looked at him before
she complied and he said, “Yep, just like I thought. When you do that, you look like a Q-tip, a
very cute and adorable Q-tip.”
“Shove it Alberto,” said
Maria with a scowl on her face as everyone started laughing.
“Okay girls, you’re
ready. We need you to leave so we can
change,” said Vin still smiling. The
boys watched as Maria picked up a bucket containing orange golf balls and
Sophia picked up a bucket containing neon yellow golf balls and two empty buckets,
one painted orange the other yellow.
This was getting more and more interesting.
Dominic said, “Okay strip,
everything off.” Not sure if they were
being pranked, Angelo, Alberto and Anthony hesitated until the Carlucci’s,
except for Damian, were naked, then they followed.
Paulo said, “First, wear your
cups and compression shorts. Cups for
obvious reasons and the compression shorts will keep your legs from getting
tore up when you slide across the grass.”
“Second, wear your practice
pants and make sure they are tied tight.
Sophia and Maria tend to get cranky when they are losing and sometimes
pants us. I doubt they would do that to
you, our Dads would kill them,” said Lorenzo.
“Third, we are required by
the law of Frank and Joe to wear helmets.
You can either wear a hockey or football helmet,” said Dominic.
“Fourth, wear leather
gloves. The golf balls will sting the
hell out of your hands if you don’t,” said Marcus. “Duct tape them to the sleeves.”
“Fifth, duct tape your cleats
to your pants, the pileups tend to get a little crazy, and the girls will try
and take your shoes off to tickle your feet,” said Michael.
“Lastly, watch out for the
girls. Not that we think you would hurt
them, but we’re telling you because they will hurt you,” said Vincent with a
smile. Anthony, Alberto and Angelo
looked at him with ‘yeah sure’ expressions on their faces.
“Since I can’t play, I’ll be
the referee,” said Damian as he frowned.
“Remember though, ‘No blood, no foul’.
Come on, they should have the course set up by now.”
Walking into the big open
field on the side of the house, they noticed Rose and Annie standing midfield
on the sidelines; each had a bucket of golf balls by their side. At opposite ends of the long field stood the
empty buckets, and there were lines painted in the middle of the field facing
Rose and Annie.
“We need to pick teams
first,” said Vin. “With Damian out,
Alberto, Angelo and Anthony should go with Lorenzo’s team.”
“No, I don’t want three
newbies on my team, we’ll take Dominic and give you Alberto,” said
Lorenzo.
“Okay, fair enough,” said
Vin. “Here are the rules; our Moms hit a
golf ball every minute and our objective, to get them into our teams
buckets. Our golf balls count as one point,
if you get the other team’s ball in the bucket that counts as two points. You do anything and everything to stop the
other team from scoring. Whoever has the
most points at the end wins. My team is
yellow and Lorenzo’s is orange.”
“Arachide, are you sure you
want to play? I don’t want you to get
hurt and it sounds like it can get rough,” said Anthony with a worried look on
his face.
“Bite me Anthony,” said
Sophia with a determined gleam in her eye.
“I can take care of myself, you keep forgetting I’m not just your mate,
I’m a Carlucci. I may be little but I
can still whip your ass if needed.” Her
family broke out in laughter as Anthony growled, pulling her into his side to
scent her neck but unable to because of all the equipment they had on.
Alberto looked at Maria and
seeing the same expression in her eyes said, “Gattina, I know your brothers put
padding around your cast, but please take it easy, okay? Promise me if you feel any pain you will stop
and let us know?”
“I promise, I already
promised them,” Maria said with a smile.
“What are the lines in the
middle of the field for?” asked Angelo.
“That’s easy; we mark the
field for a normal human female swing, since they can’t use their natural
strength. Like when we play sports and
hold back our strength and speed,” said Vin.
“Why don’t the three of you sit out the first couple of balls to see
what goes on. Everybody else
ready?” The Carlucci’s nodded their
heads and moved towards the middle of the field.
Annie and Rose nodded at each
other, and took their first swing launching two golf balls into the air. Alberto, Angelo and Anthony stood quietly as
the Carlucci’s ran to get them. They
were knocking each other out of the way before the balls even got close to
being caught. Anthony drew in his breath
sharply and his hands clenched when he saw Sophia knocked down by Michael and
then he smiled when he saw her get up quickly jumping on his back dragging him
to the ground.
The three boys had no idea
who caught the balls, the only thing they could see was a massive pileup and
they laughed as Maria crawled out of the bottom and took off running. Vin took off towards the other end zone
followed by Dom who knocked him to the ground, both wrestling for the
ball. Alberto saw Enzo coming towards
Maria at an angle and he felt his heart rate speed up at the thought of her
getting tackled. Enzo dove through the
air but she rolled under him avoiding the tackle but he managed to grab her
foot. She kicked at Enzo knocking his
hand away and took off running managing to get her ball in the bucket. She stood in the end zone and did a little
celebratory dance shouting, “Take that Enzo.”
“5-4-3-2-1,” shouted Rose as
two more golf balls were launched. Vin
and Dom were still wrestling for control of the first ball as the rest of the
Carlucci’s ran towards the landing arc of the new ones. They were shoving each other out of the way,
knocking each other down, jumping on top of each other, screaming and paying no
attention to the balls as they landed and rolled several feet before coming to
a stop.
“It looks like a riot has
broken out,” said Alberto shaking his head.
“I’m not sure what the hell
we’re watching. I think it’s just an
excuse for them to beat the hell out of each other,” said Angelo as he watched
Vin and Dom’s wrestling match.
They watched as Sophia snuck
behind everyone and grabbed both balls running towards the end zone. A block by Marcus prevented her being tackled
by Paulo, and as she passed Vin he threw his golf ball at her. Twenty feet from the bucket she was tackled
by Lorenzo scattering the three golf balls and the two of them scrambled to get
them.
“5-4-3-2-1,” shouted Annie as
two more balls were launched. The three
boys laughed as Victor was beaned in the helmet with one of the balls and it
bounced off his head and Gino caught it.
The other ball was lost somewhere in the pile. Gino threw the ball to Enzo who ran
unobstructed to the end zone and deposited the ball and then went to help
Sophia in her fight against Lorenzo.
Anthony started laughing and
said, “Yeah, but it looks like fun, doesn’t it?”
Sophia and Lorenzo were still
battling for possession of the three balls near the end zone, Vin and Dom were
still wrestling even though Vin didn’t have a golf ball anymore and the rest of
the Carlucci’s were busy shoving each other and hollering.
“5-4-3-2-1,” shouted Rose as
two more golf balls were launched. Rose
had angled herself so her golf ball landed close to Enzo so he scooped it up
and put it in the bucket quickly before anyone even knew what happened. Annie had angled hers towards Victor who
caught it before being promptly tackled by Marcus.
Maria had located the lost
ball in the pile and took off running, tripping when Sal grabbed her
ankle. He grabbed the ball and started
running but Maria jumped on his back and allowed herself to fall wrapping her
legs around his knees so he was unable to run and they both fell, their shouts
of laughter echoing across the field.
Enzo had pinned Lorenzo on
the ground while Sophia was prying his fingers apart to get the golf balls. With a victorious shout she ran to the bucket
and deposited all three golf balls waving her hands in the air she shouted,
“Screw you Lorenzo.” Enzo ran to her
picking her up and swung her around both of them laughing.
“5-4-3-2-1,” shouted Annie as
two more balls were launched. Both women
sent their golf balls towards Vin and Dom who were still wrestling. When the balls hit both boys Rose and Annie
gave each other high fives and Rose shouted to her oldest set of twins, “Never
lose focus, you need to be aware of what is going on around you.”
Vin shouted, “Hey guys, are
you going to join in sometime? Or are
you just going to stand around and watch?”
As he finished shouting, Victor tackled him to the ground and grabbed
the ball near him running towards the end zone, he was tackled quickly by
Gianni and the two started wrestling.
“Oh shit, I forget we were
supposed to join in after a couple of balls.
I was too busy watching this train wreck of a game,” said Angelo with a
laugh.
“5-4-3-2-1,” shouted Rose as
two more balls were hit towards the group.
The Carlucci’s were still wrestling, shoving and laughing as they
positioned themselves as Anthony, Angelo and Alberto joined them.
Paulo caught one of the balls
and was tackled by Marcus followed by the rest of the youngsters. As Anthony was getting ready to catch the
other Sophia ran her fingers up his arm saying quietly, “I really like how
those pants make your backside look.”
He threw his head back trying
to get his emotions under control as he heard her giggle before she quickly
grabbed the ball and ran down field. He
felt rooted to the spot watching her run away before his wolf howled in delight
realizing his intended wanted him to chase her.
He ran after her catching her easily but he didn’t want to tackle her so
he picked her up cradling her in his arms.
Anthony looked into Sophia’s
emerald eyes saying huskily, “You should know better then to tease your
intended and run away Arachide.”
“5-4-3-2-1,” shouted Annie as
two more balls were launched. Angelo
jumped and caught one of the balls and was promptly tackled by Gianni and Gino,
while Alberto caught the other one.
Out of the corner of his eye,
Alberto saw Maria running towards him intent on tackling him. As soon as he felt her jump on his back, he
fell to his knees and onto his stomach making sure she wasn’t hurt in the
process. When Maria started tickling
him, he made no attempt to escape instead he stretched his arms out over his
head while his intended tickled his back and sides. His wolf let out a low content growl, their
intended was touching them and they could stay like this all day.
“Why? What are you going to do Aletta?” Sophia
asked Anthony with a shy smile on her face but her emerald eyes were full of
mischief.
“Arachide, you are going to
find out one day if you keep teasing me like that,” answered Anthony, his eyes
turning amber in color. His wolf was
content; they had caught their intended and had her cradled in their arms. Before Sophia could respond they heard a
whistle blow.
“Foul, foul on Anthony and
Maria,” hollered Damian: “Unauthorized
cuddling of a Carlucci on Anthony and unauthorized tickling of a mate by
Maria.” Everyone stopped what they were
doing and stared at Damian. Anthony
slowly lowered Sophia to the ground but kept his arm around her shoulders. Alberto was still lying on the ground with a
big goofy grin on his face while Maria looked at her brother with a guilty
expression on her face.
Annie and Rose looked at each
other and teed up two more balls. They
watched as their shots hit Damian squarely in the back and high-fived each
other while everyone started laughing after seeing the shocked look on Damian’s
face.
“Oww. What the heck Mom?” shouted Damian as he
turned to glare at them.
“Damian, you should know
better then to interrupt the girls when they are having a moment with their
intendeds,” hollered Annie.
“Having a moment my behind,”
Damian hollered back. “Anthony was
clearly holding the poor girl against her will and Maria was clearly torturing
Alberto. It is my job as one of the only
responsible Carlucci’s to look after the girl’s safety and upbringing.”
“Since when have you been
responsible for anything other then dragging your brothers and cousins into
trouble?” asked Rose trying not to smile at her nephew.
“Aunt Rose, I’m surprised at
you listening to vicious gossip about one of your favorite nephews,” said
Damian as he grinned. “If anything I get
them OUT of trouble since absolutely no one would believe that somebody as Angelic
as me would do anything wrong. So
instead of being guilty by association, they are innocent by association with
me. You should be thanking me.”
Everyone burst out laughing
since Damian was anything but Angelic.
Rose couldn’t help but laugh at her nephew and said, “See this is why
you would be perfect in PR. No matter
what you say or do people can’t help but be charmed by you, even if you are
full of shit.”
“Thank you Aunt Rose,” said
Damian smiling wickedly. “I do try my
best.”
He blew the whistle for play
to resume and Rose and Annie teed up two more balls. Shouts of laughter mixed in with grunts,
groans and the sound of the youngsters being tackled while they continued their
game of ‘Carlucci Golf’.
*****
Frank and Joe pulled up to
The School House with ten minutes to spare.
They parked in the visitor’s parking lot where Carlo, Principal
Richards, Aldo and the rest of the school security staff were waiting. Greetings were exchanged and talk centered on
the poker game for several minutes before moving onto school security.
“With the additional five
security officers we hired, do you think fifteen is going to be enough with the
arrival of the Miller girls?” questioned Aldo and then hesitated before
continuing, “Do you think we should hire more?
I would rather have too many then too few.”
Carlo, Frank and Joe looked
at each other for a moment before Carlo said, “I think you’re right Aldo. Hire five more to bring your total staff up
to twenty. Don’t put them on payroll as
security officers though, hire them as maintenance or grounds keepers and we’ll
put them in the appropriate uniforms for those jobs. We don’t want outsiders to see the large
security staff and start to ask questions.”
“Yes Alpha. Frank and Joe you still have the files, let
me know who to call for interviews and I will set them up,” replied Aldo busy
writing in his notebook.
“Do you have anything we need
to discuss before the Millers get here?” asked Carlo.
“I’ve already re-done the
bunk assignments since the Millers will need to be with their intendeds,” said
Aldo looking at his notebook. He looked
up and smiled as he continued, “When we talked to the youngsters at the
training session, Anthony suggested we purchase four Wii gaming systems and a
variety of games and update the DVD section.
All of that was been done yesterday morning.”
“Damian suggested we put in a
wet bar and a stripper pole,” said Principal Richards as the men started to
laugh. “He was really disappointed when
I told him no. He argued the stripper
pole would be good exercise for the girls and said he could provide me with
some news articles that touted the benefits of pole dancing. His last argument was, and I quote, ‘Come on
Principal Richards, its good exercise and you know it. How many fat strippers have you seen?’ I had to walk away from him, he almost had me
convinced.” The men continued to laugh;
Frank and Joe were leaning against the side of Frank’s truck holding onto it
for support.
“That boy, I can’t believe
the shit he comes up with,” said Joe shaking his head.
Moments later, Aldo looked
towards the wrought iron gates and said, “They’re here.”
The men turned and saw four
cars passing through the wrought iron gates and proceed down the three lane
asphalt driveway to the visitor’s parking lot.
Everyone recognized Matt and Phil in the lead car followed by three
carloads of Millers. As the Millers
exited their vehicles they were silent, glancing around nervously except for
Erin who had a big smile on her face.
In front of them was a circular
driveway with a two tiered marble fountain in the middle, a statue of a howling
wolf resting on the top tier. The
inscription on the front of the fountain read ‘South Mountain
High School
The Millers stared at the
structure with a mixture of excitement, awe and shock. The brick school was built in the Second
Empire Architectural Style and was designed to be imposing and impressive and
over a hundred years later it still succeeded.
A center column jutted ten feet out from the rest of the structure with
a portico over the front door before it raised four stories tall. The remaining structure was three stories
high with an iron railing that ran along the edge of the slate mansard
roof. Two columns of windows were
located on both sides of the center column and matching dormer windows were
located in the mansard roof.
Carlo came forward and said
proudly, “Impressive isn’t it? The
original School House was destroyed during the Civil War and my
Great-Great-Great Grandfather traveled to New York ,
Philadelphia and Washington
“Excuse me, Alpha Carlo Sir,”
said Erin quietly. “During that time period there was a blurring
in the lines between Second Empire and Italianate, but I believe this is a
perfect example of Second Empire, isn’t it Sir?”
“Yes it is Erin . We are unsure of the architect, but we
believe it to be H.H. Richardson, Alfred Mullet or John McArthur Jr. or at
least heavily influenced by them,” stated Carlo with a shrug of his shoulders. “We have the original plans in the archive
room if you’d care to look at them. Are
you interested in architecture?”
Still blushing, Erin looked at her converse clad feet and said quietly,
“I like old houses Sir. Queen Anne
Victorians are among my favorites, and my dream has always been to live in one.
Daddy and Papa Mike bought me several
books on Victorian Architecture and Papa Conall got me a DVD on several of the
more famous examples. I’ve watched it so
much, I almost have it memorized. The
attention to detail fascinates me and I wish I could study it further.”
“Where do you plan on
studying? In college?” Joe asked
quietly. He felt a fatherly protective
bond forming with her and wanted her to continue talking so he could get to
know her better. It was nowhere near as strong
as the one he had with Maria or Sophia but he could feel it developing, and it
intrigued him since it was different then the bond he felt with the other
female youngsters.
“I…I… di..didn’t mean
anything by it Sir. I…I…kn…know we
aren’t allowed to go to college Sir. Only
the boys go to college. I didn’t mean to
cause trouble,” said Erin in a whisper as she
grasped Caitlin’s hand, both of them taking a step back. The scent of fear radiating off the girls was
evident and before anyone could react Brianna moved quickly in front of her
younger sisters.
Brianna tilted her head in a
submissive pose saying, “Please Sir, we don’t know all the rules and she didn’t
mean to upset you by implying she was worthy of going to college. Please don’t discipline her, if anybody should
be disciplined it should be me for not stopping her.”
Joe looked horrified that the
girls would think he was upset with them.
He turned to Carlo for help to handle the situation and Carlo motioned
for the men to take a step back to relieve some of the fear and anxiety from
the girls. Todd and Holly moved to
reassure their daughters but Carlo lifted his hand to stop them.
“Girls, please look at me,”
Alpha Carlo said quietly in a firm but gentle voice. Several moments passed before all ten girls
were looking at him, but he noticed each girl had clasped their twins hand
tightly. When he had their attention he
said, “Will you please follow me over to the fountain, I think we need to have
a talk.”
The girls looked at their
parents and grandparents and after receiving reassuring nods they followed
their Alpha. Carlo motioned for the
girls to stand in a semi-circle while he took a seat on the edge of the
fountain. He didn’t want his 6’6” height
to intimidate them, so even though it went against his very nature as Alpha he
put the girls in a position of power looking down on him. He and his wolf had to put their dominant
nature aside to reassure the girls and as Alpha his most important job was to
take care of his Pack.
He opened the bond so
everyone assembled at The School House could hear them and also included
Gina. He cleared his throat and said in
a calm voice, “I’m not even sure how to say this, so bear with me. I don’t know what you went through in your
previous Pack, but you have to understand this is an entirely different
Pack. We do things differently here; we
treat all Pack members with respect and dignity. It doesn’t matter if they are old, young,
male, female, gay, straight or a different race.”
The Millers continued to
stare at him not saying anything so Carlo continued, “Last night I hope you
noticed how we treat our females, we honor and cherish them but most
importantly we protect them. Each and
every one of the males would lay down their life to keep you safe, so you have
the whole Pack protecting you, not just your Dad and Papa Mike.”
The Miller girls had looks of
confusion on their faces so once again Carlo continued, “Your protection detail
was formed for that reason, to make sure you stay safe and enjoy being normal
teenagers. It wasn’t formed to keep you
from experiencing life, quite the opposite in fact; we want you to have every
opportunity to do those things you mentioned before you were introduced. Matt and Phil told me about the requests you
made and the things you want to do. Did
you make your lists like they asked you to do?”
Carlo wanted them to respond to him and felt the best way to do that was
to ask them a question.
“Yes Sir, we each made a list
and Nana Ellen suggested we make another list of things we wanted to do as a
family,” said Morgan with a tentative smile.
“Nana Ellen said with some of
us being in school, the younger girls would have time during the day to do
individual requests. Like Maeve wanting
to go to a grocery store,” said Brianna with a smile to her youngest sister.
Carlo looked at Maeve who was
blushing and said, “Maeve, why don’t you come to my store on Tuesday morning
and Madame Gina will give you a complete tour.
I would love to do it, but with school starting this week, I always stay
the first week to help with the new students and make sure things go smoothly.”
Maeve’s eye got big and round
and she said hesitantly, “Are you sure Sir?
I don’t want to bother Madame Gina if she is busy.”
Carlo smiled at her and said,
“She would like to meet at 9 AM on Tuesday and said to bring an appetite as
you’ll be sampling treats from the deli.”
Maeve jumped up and down clasping Fiona’s hand in excitement.
“Now, back to what we were
talking about earlier. As Alpha I have a
much stronger bond with my Pack members.
I view each and every youngster as if they were my son or daughter and
as such every opportunity is given to them.
I explained to you we expect you to maintain high grades while you are
at South Mountain High, what I may not have expressed clearly enough is I
expect each and every one of you to go to college,” Carlo stated and the looks
of happiness on their faces made him smile.
“Every youngster in our Pack
attends University
of Maryland
The Miller girls once again
looked at each other and Brianna said softly, “After hearing what happened to
the Pack, we understand the need to protect us, even if it means protecting us
from ourselves.”
Carlo looked at the Miller
girls one by one and said quietly, “I think we understand each other
perfectly. We will give you as much
freedom as we can as long as you abide by the rules. You will be treated like any other female
youngster in the Pack; the only difference is you won’t have to put up with
overbearing overprotective brothers.” As
the Miller girls started to laugh Carlo joined in.
“Instead you will be putting
up with overbearing overprotective mates,” Carlo started laughing harder. “You
will learn how over the top the boys get when they find their intendeds. Anthony and Sophia have had so many
disagreements; I can’t even keep up with them.”
The girls continued laughing
and Caitlin said, “They are really cute together though, even when they argue.”
Now that the girls were
laughing and relaxed Carlo asked, “Now is there anything else you want to know
about Pack life here? You can ask me
anything and if you think of something later, all you have to do is ask. I am always available to members of my Pack.”
“Uhmm, Alpha Carlo…what are
some of the girls, like Sophia, Maria and Gabby going to study in college?”
asked Kelly with a small smile.
“Sophia and Maria are
planning on studying Landscape Design and Management and Gabby is planning on
studying Education, she wants to teach Art History specializing in the
Renaissance and Italian culture,” said Carlo, pride evident on his face.
“Alpha Carlo Sir, does that
mean we can study whatever we want? And
do whatever job we want? In our old Pack
the girls had no choice, we were told what we had to do,” said Shannon shyly.
“We have females who are
lawyers, accountants, office managers, teachers, police officers and
housewives. Whatever you wish to do we
will help you achieve that goal,” Carlo said as he smiled. “Most of the females decide on careers in
their families business or their intendeds, but what you ultimately decide to
do is your individual choice.”
“You mentioned U of MD,
that’s not in our territory, is it?” questioned Fallon.
“No, it isn’t. The Alpha Council appointed one college in
each state as neutral territory, enabling the Packs in that state to send their
youngsters there. Each Pack owns an
apartment building and their youngsters stay there while attending college so
we can still provide for your safety,” stated Carlo. “The Alpha Council provides security for each
campus, but we also have our own security on the premises and on MD’s security
staff, also our apartment building has security features to ensure your
safety. When you are ready to leave for
college, we will go over those details.”
“Anything else you want to
ask? If not we’ll rejoin the others and
start the tour,” said Alpha Carlo as he smiled at the girls.
“Uhmm, Alpha Carlo Sir? Are we really safe here? Charles and his men can’t get to us here?”
whispered Morgan, the fear evident in her eyes.
Carlo looked her in the eye,
motioned her to come to him and he held her hands as he said in a quiet yet firm voice, “Morgan, I
give you my word as Alpha of one of the largest and strongest Packs in the
United States, you and your sisters are safe.
You saw the security measures in your home, you met your security detail
last night, we are going to show you the security in the school and you see
those men over there? Every one of them
has taken a pledge to protect you while you are here on campus, and as soon as
you joined the Pack, everyone took a pledge to protect you and keep you
safe. We want you to be happy here
Morgan, but you must remember if you go off on your own without protection then
we can’t keep you safe. The rules are
put in place to keep you safe.”
Carlo looked at her and
smiled before he continued, “Also you have an intended mate now. Do you think Dominic would let anything
happen to you? Or the rest of the
Carlucci’s knowing how much you mean to him?”
Carlo saw the fear leave
Morgan’s eyes and a smile appear on her face.
He made a mental note to talk to Todd and Holly to see why Morgan seemed
more scared then her sisters. Charles
had specifically mentioned Brianna in the note and he wondered what had
happened to make Morgan so scared.
“Okay girls, let’s rejoin the
others, but remember if you ever have any questions, fears or concerns please
contact me,” Carlo smiled reassuringly at the girls and motioned for them to
follow him.
Once they arrived back with
the others, each male member looked at Carlo and nodded their head
acknowledging his pledge to the Miller girls.
Like the security detail that was formed for the Miller girls, the
security officers at The School House took their jobs very seriously and felt
honored to be in charge of the youngsters’ safety while they were at
school.
“Before we go inside, I’ll
finish the exterior tour. In 1871, an
eight foot high brick wall was built.
The year after the wall was completed they planted shrubbery called
Pyracantha on both sides of the wall,” Carlo stated pointing to the wall. “Erin , can
you tell me anything distinctive about the wall or the shrubbery?”
“Yes Sir, it’s done in the
English Bond style which is one of the strongest styles of brick walls. I can’t tell the thickness of the wall, but
considering it was built in 1871 and built for security instead of decoration,
I would think it would be two courses thick,” Erin
said with a shy smile on her face. “I
can’t see the shrubbery either, but I’m also leaning towards something put in
for security rather then decorative.”
“You are right on both counts,”
said Alpha Carlo with a smile. “The
shrubbery has a thorny stem and when grown as a hedge it is almost impossible
to get through. The bricks used were
8.5” x 4” x 2.5”, slightly larger then the standard of today, which would make
the brick wall almost 17.5” wide.”
“Five years ago we added the
gravel path which is not to be walked on, it actually contains motion
sensors. We turn those off when we have
events, but when the youngsters are in school, they stay on. If you look at the wall closely you will see
cameras which are not only motion detection but also infrared,” Frank
added.
“I’m sure you noticed the
guard house by the gates. The gates are
kept locked and access is only granted through the office after the guard has
identified the person seeking entry,” said Joe.
“If somebody tries to ram through the gate, a barricade will come up
preventing a vehicle’s entry, allowing those at The School House enough time to
get to the safe room.”
“Looking at it with an
objective eye, the grounds appear like any normal private school, we have a
football stadium, tennis courts, baseball and softball diamonds and a soccer
field. We try to maintain as normal an
appearance as possible so as not to draw attention to ourselves and for over
two hundred years it has worked,” said Carlo with a shrug. “In today’s society, we also have to worry
about kidnappings for ransom. The
youngsters of Senator Martin as well as prominent business owners attend school
here, mine included.”
“Well, I haven’t even seen
the inside of the school yet and I’m pretty damn impressed,” said Todd as his
father nodded his head in agreement. “I
can’t wait to see what surprises the inside has in store.”
“All doors are solid steel,”
Aldo said as he motioned for the group to enter the entryway. “The windows are bulletproof and they also
have steel doors that come down to cover them, just like our homes and
businesses.”
“The office is to the right,”
said Principal Richards. “All visitors
are immediately directed here by security.
The door on the left is the security office and until you get your
ranking Todd and Papa Mike we can’t show you how it works, you have to be a
First level Beta to have access.”
“We understand, no apologies
needed,” said Papa Mike as Todd nodded.
“On this floor, the right
side of the building contains the cafeteria; the left side contains two
classrooms for Science and one for the lab.
If you notice, there is no central staircase, there is one on the east
side which the students use to go upstairs and one on the west side used to go
downstairs. It helps with the flow if
they aren’t fighting against each other to move from floor to floor,” said
Principal Richards moving down the hall to the east stairwell.
“On the second floor there
are ten classrooms, used for English, Math and Computer Science,” said
Principal Richards as they walked down the hallway. The doors to the classrooms were open and he
encouraged the Millers to glance into them.
“Let’s go on up to the third
floor,” he said once again heading to the east stairwell. “On this floor we have eight classrooms, used
for Social Studies, Art and Language Arts, we teach Spanish, French and of
course Italian. The other classrooms are
used as needed for special courses.
Let’s head on down to the gym.”
He continued to walk down the hallway to the west stairwell.
“Access to the gym is through
the hallway next to the cafeteria.
During basketball games the doors leading to the school are kept locked,
but the cafeteria is open to provide concessions and there are public
restrooms,” Richards continued as he led them down the hallway. “On the left are the changing rooms and on
the right the kitchen. And here is the
gym.” The Millers looked around in awe,
the building was huge and had bleachers on one side that were currently pushed
together to the wall.
“We used the original
building plans for The School House when we had this designed almost eighteen
years ago. Modifications had to be made
of course to allow for the buildings use and we used the same dimensions for
the custom made bricks. They used a
special process to age the bricks and mortar to match The School House,” said
Carlo.
“From the outside, it looks
like a wing not a completely different building,” said Joe with pride. “The old gym was built in the 1950’s and
needed so many updates it was actually cheaper for us to rebuild then fix. We figured if we were going to rebuild we
would do it to match the rest of the campus.
Triple C did the work.”
“So girls, what do you think
of the school?” Carlo asked with a smile on his face.
“Sir, it’s beyond every
expectation we had,” said Erin with a matching
smile. “When Daddy told us we would be
going to school, we imagined one of those generic schools that had no
character. This is unbelievable.”
“Erin ,
I would be happy to show you the architectural features in the main
building. Most of the building remains
unchanged, including the moldings which we copied for the new addition. The classrooms now have recessed lighting,
but the original ceiling medallions are still there from the gas lit
chandeliers which were converted to electricity in the 1940’s,” said Aldo with
a smile.
“Okay, everyone please follow
Aldo as he leads us to the basement,” said Alpha Carlo with a smile. The group followed Aldo as he led them to the
west stairwell.
When they were in the
basement, Joe looked at Papa Mike and said, “Do you see where the doorway
is? Remember it has to be big to allow
access for the youngsters to get in within two minutes.”
Papa Mike looked around the
basement which ran the whole length of the main building. It was obviously used for storage as old
desks, lumber; bricks and sporting equipment were down there. “I have no clue,” he said sounding
disappointed.
“Aldo, open the door. Papa Mike, keep an eye on the boiler,”
instructed Alpha Carlo.
Aldo walked over to the wall
pushing a panel to reveal a keypad in the recessed area. He punched in the code and seconds later the
boiler started to swing out to the side and the brick wall opened at the mortar
joints.
The Millers stood there
watching in amazement as the wall swung open revealing another solid steel
door. Carlo stepped forward pushing
another brick in revealing another keypad that opened the steel door. “Okay, follow me,” he said.
“Excuse my language, but this
is fucking unbelievable,” said Todd as they walked into the safe room. Nana Ellen swatted him on the arm and his
daughters started to giggle. He winked
at them as he leaned down and kissed his mother on the cheek.
“While the girls are here,
we’ll go ahead and take their pictures to put on their bunks,” said Aldo as he
got the digital camera. He directed the
group into the smaller of the two sleeping quarters, all the way towards the
back. “If the outer two doors are breached,
there is another steel door at the entrance of this room. We placed the girls in the back so they would
have to get past the males to get to them.”
Aldo directed the security team to show the girls their bunk assignments
and take their picture.
“If you notice, there is a
room in the back for the girls to change and use the restroom and one up front
for the boys, those also have stainless steel doors,” Aldo motioned to the two
rooms as he was explaining.
“There are lockers beside
each bunk as well as in the changing room so we will need the girls to bring
enough clothes for a two week stay along with any ugh uhmm personal items they
may need during that time,” Aldo blushed as he finished.
The girls rejoined the group
and Aldo led them into the main rec area.
“We have games, books, computers, video games, cards, CD’s and a DVD
collection to keep them occupied. If you
follow me, I’ll show you the cafeteria.”
“The cafeteria has enough
food to last for three weeks and will be served buffet style. The tables are mobile and can fold up to be
pushed against the wall to provide extra room if needed,” Principal Roberts
added as Aldo was looking at the digital camera to make sure the pictures were
clear.
“The room off to the side is
the security area. We have hidden
cameras located throughout the school and grounds so the security team can
monitor what is going on. There is also
a small first aid room in case anyone gets hurt,” said Alpha Carlo.
“Any questions or concerns,
do you see anything we need to do or upgrade?
None of us will be upset if there are, you are looking at things with a
fresh pair of eyes,” stated Alpha Carlo.
Todd looked at his family and
they shook their heads. He looked around
the safe room and said, “Honestly, we’ve never seen anything like this before,
it’s like something out of a movie. The
only thing you haven’t mentioned is how everything works like electrical,
plumbing and air, but I’m assuming like our safe rooms they are dedicated
systems.”
“Those are standard in every
Pack home and business. Again, once you
get your ranking you can see how the systems work,” Frank said as he smiled at
Todd.
“Okay, we’ll go outside
then,” Carlo led them up the stairs and down the hallway to the front door and
into the courtyard.
“Tomorrow morning, we will be
running drills to make sure each youngster is in the safe room in less than two
minutes. In the afternoon you will be
tested so we know where to place you for your studies. Don’t worry, all incoming students are tested,”
said Principal Richards as he smiled at the girls. “Do you have your uniforms?”
“We are going to Robertson’s
now to get them,” said Holly. “Rose and
Annie said it is white button down oxford shirts, khaki pants and blue cardigan
sweaters with the school logo on them. I
forgot to ask what kind of shoes though.”
“Mommy, Gabby told us she
wears Sperry Topsiders, ballet flats, Converse or Keds in the fall and spring
and during the winter she wears Timberland Chukka’s. We had her write it down for us,” said
Kelly. “We have to get those, all the
girls wear them and Sophia and Maria already got them too.”
“She also told us where to
get the ribbons to wear on Saturday to the game, and the matching headbands for
our school uniforms,” added Caitlin.
“Headbands and ribbons, what
do you need those for? Your hair is so
dark nothing will show up anyway,” Todd said with a straight face as Holly and
Nana Ellen whacked his arms while his daughters groaned and rolled their eyes at
him.
“Todd, stop teasing your daughters
and acting like a horse’s ass,” said Papa Mike with a grin. “You know damn well if your daughters want
headbands and ribbons you’d be the first one out the door to get them.”
“Yeah, and I know you’d be
right behind me,” retorted Todd with an answering smile as his dad nodded his
head in agreement.
The men started laughing as
Joe said, “That would be South Mountain Florist and Gifts. Matt and Phil are the owners and yes, they
make the headbands and ribbons the girls wear.”
“We’ll go to Robertson’s
first and then stop by the florist shop,” said Matt. “After we’re done there, it’ll be time to go
to Frank’s for the meeting.”
“Well, we’re done here,” said
Carlo with a smile. “I’ll see everyone
tomorrow morning at 7; that’ll give us time to go over any last minute problems
before the youngsters arrive at 8:30.”
He looked at the security detail and said, “Thank you everyone for
coming to reassure the Millers of the safety of their daughters.”
“My family would also like to
say thank you. You have no idea how
relieved we are in knowing our girls will be safe,” Todd said sincerely as he
and Papa Mike shook hands with the security staff.
“Todd and Holly, it was a
pleasure to show you the school and we will make sure your daughters are safe,”
said Aldo as the rest of the security staff and Principal Richards waved
good-bye and got in their cars.
“Okay, Todd, Papa Mike and
Holly follow us and we’ll take you to Robertson’s. It isn’t far, only about 10 or 15 minutes
away,” said Matt and they got in their vehicles following as Matt led them down
the long driveway.
“Well Carlo, I think that
went well. We will be here tomorrow
morning at 7 to help before we go into work.
We told Jerry and Joel we would be late,” said Joe.
“Make sure the coffee is
black and plentiful, I have a feeling we’ll need it after this meeting
tonight,” said Frank with a laugh.
“Oh, that’s right; you have
to have the dating rules meeting. This
is what the third one you’ve had in the last month?” laughed Aldo.
Frank looked at him and
laughed saying, “Yeah, they’re falling like dominoes. Speaking of the Clan, we are going to head
out, our youngsters are playing one of our favorite games and we want to join
them. See everyone tomorrow.” Frank and Joe got into Frank’s truck and
waved to Aldo and Carlo as they drove away.
“Aldo, I noticed your
hesitation when you talked about the guards.
Is there anything we need to discuss now that we are alone?” asked Carlo
leaning against his truck.
Aldo stared off into the
trees for several moments before saying, “Carlo, it’s one of those feelings I
get; it started right before lunch. I
can feel a threat coming, I don’t know from where, but I can sense it. It’s almost like it has a pulse, its faint
now but I can tell its going to get stronger.”
“I think it’s time to let
Frank and Joe know about your feelings or premonitions, or whatever you want to
call them. If you feel something is
going to happen then we need to take the threat seriously,” Carlo said looking
him in the eye and Aldo nodded his head reluctantly. “What do you think we need to do here at the
school?”
“We need to hire more then
five new security people; I think we should up the staff to thirty. I want to get those security people trained
and trained quickly,” Aldo said. “I’d
like to put more cameras in the trees surrounding the school, maybe triple the
number we already have and extend them out further. Put more motion sensors in the outer
perimeter of the brick fence. Do more
patrols in the woods and extend them out further while the youngsters are on
the premises. The more advance warning
we have of an attack, the more time for the youngsters and Pack to get to
safety.”
“We’ll meet tomorrow morning
with Frank and Joe at 6 instead of 7.
We’ll go over everything and make a list of the surveillance supplies
needed and I’ll order them for delivery on Tuesday. We’ll go ahead and hire fifteen more security
people. Put them on the payroll as
maintenance, we talked about rebuilding the dugouts on the baseball and softball
fields and replacing the fencing, this will be perfect cover for them,” said
Carlo. “Increase the food supply to
cover three months for two hundred fifty people. Tell the distributor we had a leak in the
storeroom if he questions the order. It’s
an old building so they’ll believe it.”
Both men got quiet and stared
at the trees. After several minutes
Carlo said quietly, “I left the most important questions for last. How bad is it going to be? When and where do you feel it’s going to
happen?”
“We have time to prepare
Carlo. The three of you have taught us
well, but the numbers will be against us unless you convince our allies to aid
us. It’s not going to happen right away,
but it is going to happen, there’s no doubt in my mind. I’d say twelve to eighteen months,” Aldo
answered quietly and then he looked Carlo in the eye. “And it’s going to start right here at The
School House…what they originally came for is here…but their plans will change
and they will try and get all of them Carlo.
They are coming for our females again.”
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