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The training room was filled
with anxious Pack members at 7:50 AM, none of them wanting to be late. The youngsters under the age of fifteen were
in the observation room with the sound turned off so they were unable to hear and
when The Tribunal commenced the curtains would be drawn. In the middle of the training room, sitting
at three tables were the Martin, Hammond and Mendez families, facing them was a
table with four chairs and off to the side The Elders sat in chairs. Dante and the Italians were sitting on the
bleachers off to the side, so they could observe but wouldn’t disrupt the
proceedings.
At 7:58, Carlo, Gina, Anthony,
Sophia, Frank and Joe walked out of one of the smaller training rooms without
glancing at the assembled Pack members. Frank
walked to the observation room speaking quietly before drawing the curtains and
pulling the door closed. Carlo, Gina, Anthony and Sophia took their seats at
the head table with Carlo and Anthony taking the center seats, their mates at
their sides; Frank stood on the right and Joe on the left.
At exactly 8 AM, Carlo stood
and said, “I call for this Tribunal to come to order. The charges brought against Victoria Martin,
Daisy Hammond and Jade Mendez are as follows:
betraying the future Madame Alpha, betraying the Alpha-Heir and
betraying the Pack. According to South
Mountain Pack law, the evidence will be brought forth and presented then you
will be given a chance to defend yourself.
After listening to the testimony The Elders will decide on your innocence
or guilt; if found guilty, I will decide punishment which may range from loss
of privileges to banishment from the Pack.
We will start now with the evidence against you.”
Daisy and Jade started to cry
while Victoria looked defiant as Paulo came
forward and after hitting a few buttons on his laptop, the phone calls from Victoria to the TV station were shown on a projection
screen followed by the emails sent from Daisy and Jade which confirmed
Anthony’s relationship with Victoria Victoria
The next piece of evidence
was provided by Anthony as he projected to those assembled Victoria
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but I didn’t
want you to have anything to worry about.
I was wrong and should have told you,” Anthony said to Sophia as he squeezed her hand.
“I forgive you, but how would you feel if somebody
tried to take me away from you?”
Sophia asked gently as Anthony’s eyes turned amber and he let out a growl. “From
now on, we have to be open and honest with each other, no more secrets.” Anthony nodded and returned to his seat.
“You have heard the evidence
against them, now we will hear the defense of their actions. Jade, you will go first,” Carlo said in a
firm tone.
Jade, her parents Jeff and
Jody and her brothers slowly stood up and tears were streaming down Jade’s face
as she opened and closed her mouth several times. Jeff leaned down and whispered, “Tell them
the truth and tell them everything, just like we talked about last night and
this morning Sweetheart.” She nodded and
took a deep breath as she felt her parents reach out and hold her hands.
“Alpha Carlo, Madame Alpha
Gina, Alpha-Heir Anthony and future Madame Alpha Sophia, the first thing I
would like to say is I’m sorry for the part I played in betraying you. I have no excuse and should have known better,
I know what I did was wrong and hope you can forgive me,” she said in a low
quivering voice. “I really have no
defense because I was thinking of myself and not my Pack or my family so I take
full responsibility for my actions and I will accept any punishment that you
deem appropriate Alpha Carlo.”
“Jade, your father said you
were pressured into doing this. Can you
project the conversations you had to me, so I can send them to the other Pack
members?” Carlo asked in a gentle yet firm voice.
Jade lowered her head,
closing her eyes as she projected the conversations she had with Daisy and Victoria
Victoria telling Jade and
Daisy if they didn’t help her that she would start rumors about them; that they
were having relations with human boys, that they were disobeying their parents
and Alpha by going out without protectors, and that she had found Jade and
Daisy in a compromising position together.
After taking a deep breath she then projected the last conversation with
the three girls; Her and Daisy begging Victoria not to interfere in Anthony and
Sophia’s relationship, crying as Victoria wrote emails on their accounts and
telling them to hit ‘send’ so she could say they had sent them and not her, and
her threatening them again that she would disclose the rumors if they told on
her. After she was finished Jade let out
a strangled sob as her father engulfed her in a hug, her brothers glaring
angrily at Victoria who rolled her eyes and let out a big sigh.
Frank drew in a deep breath
and shifted his gaze to Clay Martin who had his head bowed and was staring at
the table. Sophia reached out for her father’s
hand, needing the support of not only her mate, but also her father. As soon as he felt her small hand touch his,
he opened his clenched fist and held her hand, squeezing it reassuringly like
he had done thousands of time since she was born.
Carlo stared at Jade and her
father Jeff and said in a gentle tone, “Is there anything else you would like
to say?”
Jody handed her daughter a
Kleenex and she blew her nose before nodding her head. “I…I…just want to say how sorry I am, I knew
it was wrong and I should have stood up to her.
The only excuse I have is I didn’t want my mate to think bad things
about me, but I should have known he would believe me and not gossip.”
“Do you know who your mate is Jade?” asked Gina, closing the bond off to everyone but Jade
and her mother.
“Yes, Madame Gina, its Reggie Benedetto,” Jade said quietly before she started to cry
again. “He hasn’t said more than hello to me in a year and after today I’m not
sure he ever will.”
“Thank you for your honesty
Jade, you may sit down,” said Carlo as his gaze shifted to the second
table. Daisy was crying silently into
her father’s chest as he hugged her, her mother was quietly crying and her
older brothers Jay, Thomas, Nicholas and Scott were standing behind her chair glaring
angrily at Victoria
“Daisy, do you have any
additional information you would like to present?” Carlo asked gently.
Daisy stood up holding
tightly to her parent’s hands, “I would like to say how sorry I am for allowing
this to happen Alpha Carlo. She had us
convinced our lives would be ruined if we didn’t do what she wanted. I admit I betrayed my future Madame Alpha, my
future Alpha, you, Madame Gina, my Pack and my family but most of all I
betrayed myself and my wolf.” She took
several deep breaths before continuing, “I will accept whatever punishment you
decide for me Alpha Carlo.”
Her father George whispered
in her ear and she nodded, “The only additional information I have to present
is what happened after Anthony was interviewed by the reporter.” She then projected Victoria
“Thank you Daisy, you may sit
down,” Carlo said in a gentle voice as he watched George settle his daughter on
his lap as he rocked her back and forth while she cried. Her brothers were on their knees as they
tried to soothe their sister and their mother Laura was gently clearing the
tears from her face.
All eyes moved to the third
table where the Martin family sat. CJ,
Jeff and Greg were staring off into space, Clay was still staring at the table,
Allison looked like she was about to cry and Victoria Victoria
Sophia could feel her temper
starting to boil, and felt both her mate and her father squeeze her hands. She remembered her father’s words not to let
her temper get the better of her and took a deep breath to maintain
control. “She’s wrong Arachide, with you I have everything,” Anthony said in
a soothing voice.
Carlo angrily said, “That’s
the base of your defense? That you’re a
Senators daughter and have political influence?” At her nod, he stood up and thundered, “LET ME
MAKE ONE THING PERFECTLY CLEAR…YOUR FATHER IS A SENATOR BECAUSE I SAY HE IS A SENATOR, I HAVE MORE POLITICAL AND FINANCIAL
INFLUENCE THAN YOUR FATHER EVER WILL. I CAN MAKE ONE PHONE CALL AND YOUR
FATHERS POLITICAL CAREER WOULD BE OVER AND AFTER IT’S OVER NO ONE WOULD EVEN
TAKE HIS PHONE CALLS. EVERYTHING YOU
HAVE IS BECAUSE I ALLOW YOU TO HAVE
IT, I GAVE IT TO YOU AND I CAN TAKE IT AWAY JUST AS EASILY.” The assembled pack members bared their necks
to him in submission.
Gina placed her hand on top
of Carlo’s and he instantly felt her calming influence through her touch and
the mate bond. He acknowledged the
submission from his Pack and sat down staring at Victoria
“No,” she said in a tone
devoid of all emotion as a pout crossed her face. As she went to sit, she suddenly stood
straight and said, “Yes, there is…I want extra guards posted for my
protection. If those people are
supposedly coming for us, what makes you think the Millers and the Carlucci’s
are the top targets? Anybody with a
brain would realize I’d be the top target because of who I am.” With that announcement she flopped in her
seat, crossed her arms over her chest and started to pout. Her mother was crying quietly and reached out
to hold her hand, but Victoria
Carlo stared at her before
shaking his head, “I’m not even going to respond to that except to say no
member of this Pack is better than another.
We are a Pack, a family who watches over and protects each other, if
anybody feels differently please stand and tell me why you feel that way.” He leaned back and studied his Pack members
who sat silently staring at the floor in front of the head table.
“Before The Elders pass
judgement, is there anything the three of you would like to say?” Carlo asked
as he looked at Jade, Daisy and Victoria Victoria
Carlo stood and turned to the
twenty-seven Elders and said, “Please go to the smaller training room for your
deliberations.” After they filed out of
the room, he turned to the assembled Pack and said, “Those of you who need to
check on their youngsters please do so now.”
As the door to the observation room opened, everyone started smiling as
they heard the young ones singing ‘The
Wheels on the bus go round and round’.
Carlo leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, wishing he were at
the lake and fishing with his two best friends.
Less than five minutes passed
when Elder Arturo Pinelli said, “We’ve
reached a decision Alpha.”
“The Elders have reached
their decision,” Carlo announced and moments later everyone was in their
seats. There was complete silence as The
Elders filed into the room and Elder Arturo walked to Carlo handing him three folded
slips of paper before bowing and returning to his seat. Carlo unfolded the slips labeled Daisy and
Jade and looked at them before showing them to Gina, Anthony and Sophia. He stood and said in a commanding tone, “Jade
and Daisy, please stand.”
The girls and their families
slowly stood and Carlo said, “You have both been found guilty of all three
charges.” Daisy started crying loudly
and slumped against her father while Jade’s knees buckled and she was held up
by her father’s arm around her waist. “After
watching everything that transpired, I now have a better understanding of your
subsequent actions. After listening to
your apologies I feel you both show true remorse and realize your actions were
detrimental to your future Alpha’s, your Pack but most of all to
yourselves.” He paused for a moment and
glanced at Victoria who continued to pull a thread on her sweater. “Your sentence is as follows: a one game
suspension from cheerleading and you will write an essay about what being a
member of South Mountain Pack means to you.”
Daisy and Jade were still crying silently but nodded as Carlo paused and
looked at them. “In the future you will
be faced with difficult decisions and I want you to remember that doing the
right thing isn’t always the easy thing to do.
We are judged not only by the words we say but by our actions and I hope
from this day forward your words and actions reflect the loyalty I know you
have for this Pack.”
Daisy bowed her head and said
in a quiet voice, “Thank you Alpha Carlo for believing in me when you didn’t
have too.”
Jade wiped the tears from her
eyes and said, “Thank you Alpha Carlo for believing in me too.”
Carlo looked at both girls
and said quietly, “I believe in both of you and I know how upset this has made
you and your families. Since you don’t
have a game to go to this weekend, take the time to reflect and learn to
believe in yourself again.” Their
families hugged them and sat back down, relief evident on their faces. Carlo watched them for several moments before
picking up the slip of paper with Victoria
“Victoria Victoria
“THAT’S NOT FAIR, YOU CAN’T
DO THAT,” Victoria
“DO NOT TELL ME WHAT I CAN OR
CANNOT DO,” Carlo’s voice thundered throughout the training room and the
assembled Pack members recoiled and submitted their necks instantly. “IF YOU RAISE YOUR VOICE OR TALK TO ME IN
THAT TONE AGAIN, I WILL BANISH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY I WAS LENIENT IN MY
PUNISHMENT, IF YOU DO ANYTHING LIKE THIS AGAIN, YOU AND YOUR FAMILY WILL BE
BANISHED BEFORE YOU EVEN REALIZE WHAT IS GOING ON.” Gina again slid her hand onto his and Carlo
took a deep breath looking at his Pack who still had their necks in a
submissive pose. Seeing this he waved a
hand at them and they started to relax.
Clay, Allison and the boys
bowed their heads and Victoria
“Since you won’t be at the
game, I suggest you take the time to reflect on how you are going to make
amends to the Pack, and to the future Alpha’s,” said Carlo in a firm commanding
tone. She glanced over and looked at her
mate in disdain; that’s what Luna paired her with? She was disgusted by his subservient attitude
and his fawning over his stupid sister. She
deserved an Alpha, not some lowly Beta and she was going to make sure it
happened. As she thought about what her
Alpha said she decided if she couldn’t have Anthony then she would have to find
another Alpha. To do that she had to be
able to leave the territory and plans started to formulate in her head as she
thought of how she could accomplish this.
“Since the entire Pack is
here, we’re going to have a meeting.” Carlo
motioned for the Hammond, Mendez and Martin family to sit on the bleachers and
when he saw Victoria following her family, he
said, “Victoria
Joe said quietly, “Victoria
“Anybody who doesn’t want
their youngsters included in the meeting, please send them to the observation
room,” Carlo said as he looked over the crowd.
Nobody moved, all the youngsters who were able to understand what was
going on had been told and their parents wanted them included in the meetings
so they would have a clear understanding of what was going on.
Carlo nodded and brought
everyone up to date on the improvements done to The School House; what happened
at the reception with Amy Briggs and the information Paulo discovered; the
renewed Alliance
Carlo cleared his throat and
motioned Paulo forward, who blushed as he walked to the table the Hammonds
Damian saw his brothers
discomfort and said, “Hey bro, remember
that old trick about imagining your audience in their underwear, that’ll relax
you. No wait, that won’t work since
you’ve seen all the men nekkid already and imagining the girls naked is just
wrong and imagining the moms naked is beyond disturbing. Wait a minute… I think I just threw up in my
mouth.”
Paulo put his head down hiding
his smile, “Thanks Damian, I can always
count on you to say the most absurd shit and make me laugh.” He looked at his brother, saying quietly, “I know I don’t say it enough, but I’m proud
you’re my brother.”
A crooked smile came over
Damian’s face, “Thanks and I’m proud
you’re my brother too. You amaze me
constantly with the mad computer skills you have and I’m proud of the
dedication you show to keep all of us safe.”
Paulo smiled at him before
taking a deep breath to start explaining the new feature connecting the cell
phones to the security systems and that an email would be sent out with an
installation schedule since he had to upload and program each individual
security system. He hit a couple of keys
on the laptop and a picture appeared on the big projection screen and he said,
“Originally, we wanted to put tracking devices in the youngsters backpacks and
in the girls headbands and shoes, but the more we thought about it, we’re going
to give them to all Pack members. It would
be activated in an emergency after you’ve been scanned for electronic
devices. The device will be specific to each
Pack member and will work worldwide since it’s programmed to link to the
nearest satellite and will send an alert to me, Alpha Carlo, Uncle Frank and
Dad. I have it programmed so even if it’s
destroyed, once the link is broken between the electronics and the battery,
there’s enough of a charge left to send a split-second burst and we’ll get the
alarm.”
There was silence from the
Pack members before Vinnie said, “That’s some serious James Bond shit you’ve
rigged up there.”
Paulo smiled at his Godfather
and said, “Q would love to get his hands on this. If you notice it looks like a mesh screen, the
battery and electronics are woven together and it recharges itself through
motion. It’s activated through pressure;
press it for three seconds to turn it on and once quickly to turn it off, you
can feel it snap off.”
“You can do all that, and
your father still can’t figure how the cruise control works in his truck,” said
Vinnie with a smile as Joe glared at his friend.
Carlo slapped Joe on the back
and said, “We’re also working on a false bottom to the backpacks, incorporating
some of the supplies Joel and Jerry put in during the last training
exercise. Since it’s sneaky and
underhanded, I don’t have to tell you who came up with that idea.” The Pack turned to look at Damian who was
smiling broadly and he got up and bowed causing them to start laughing.
“Before we adjourn the
meeting, is there anything you feel we need to discuss?” asked Carlo as he
looked at his Pack.
Enzo stood up and said, “I’d
like to have a meeting here on Tuesday at 7 PM, with all the youngsters aged
fifteen and up who’ll be left in the safe room during the battle. We need to start formulating our plans.”
Carlo nodded, “The building
will be made available for you, is there anything you need us to provide?”
“Refreshments would be nice,
you know snacks, drinks, steaks, a couple of roasts, nothing too big,” said
Michael with a smile.
“How about pizza?” asked Carlo
as he laughed while the youngsters nodded.
“Anybody else?”
Elder Marvin Whitmer stood
and said, “I think we should have a meeting before each Full Moon Ceremony to
keep us updated. I know you can update
us by using the bond, but by being together it brings us even closer.”
Carlo nodded as he said, “We’ll
start having meetings at the next ceremony.”
He looked at the Pack again and not getting any more questions or
suggestions, he said, “Okay, we’ll meet at The Manor House in thirty minutes.”
The Pack members were talking
loudly as they walked down the bleachers and the Hammond and Mendez families
huddled protectively around Daisy and Jade.
Seeing the looks that were directed towards the two girls, Sophia walked
towards them with her mate and brothers following closely behind. “Can we talk?” she asked quietly and when the
two girls nodded, she walked to the middle of the training room knowing the
eyes of everyone in the Pack were on them.
“I hope we can move past
this,” Sophia began as she reached out to hold their hands. “I’ve always thought of you as friends and
this hasn’t changed my opinion. When
Anthony told everyone at practice, the two of you were the first to congratulate
me and I’d like us to be close once more.”
Daisy and Jade started to cry and their brothers moved forward to
protect them but stopped when they saw Sophia hug them. She whispered in their ears, “You don’t need
to say anything, I heard everything you said earlier and between friends
nothing more needs to be said, okay?
Now, let’s go in the locker room and get you cleaned up a little.” A mischievous twinkle came into her eyes as
she said, “I hate to say this, but you both look a mess. Your eyes are red and puffy, your nose is red
and your hair’s a mess.”
Carlo, Gina, Frank and Rose
looked at Sophia with approval and Carlo said quietly, “She’s going to make a
great Madame Alpha. Luna was wise in her
choice for my son, he couldn’t have asked for a better mate.”
Ten minutes later everyone
had left but the Betas and the Italians since Frank and Joe were discussing
what they wanted done at the safe room. Vinnie
and Carmelo were getting ready to check the building and shut the lights when
Joe turned to Clay saying, “Victoria
Clay sighed and said, “We
can’t leave her here?”
The men hid their smiles as
Carlo said, “Unfortunately, you can’t. She’s young Clay; hopefully after what
happened today, she’ll get rid of this warped sense of entitlement she has and
that arrogant attitude. If she doesn’t I
have a feeling someone will knock it out of her.” He looked at Frank who shrugged his shoulders
knowing it would probably be his daughter.
Clay sighed and looked at
Frank, “I know you’ve had an issue with me since I fell on top of Rose…” He stopped speaking as Frank growled loudly
and he took a deep breath before he continued, “But I need your advice. We’ve taken things away from her, restricted
her from going out, tried reasoning and talking with her, but nothing helps. What did you do with Sophia? She’s such a nice young lady, polite,
well-mannered and friendly. What did you
do that I didn’t?”
“I’m not sure Clay,” Frank
said as he shrugged. “Your sons have
turned out to be fine young men, but somewhere along the way Victoria
“Thanks Frank, I’ll talk to
Doc and see what he recommends,” Clay replied with a nod. “I guess I better get her.”
The men watched as he walked
slowly across the room and Dante said, “There goes a troubled man.”
Thirty minutes later the Pack
was at The Manor House to begin the ten minute walk to the safe house. Alberto picked up Maria and before she could
protest, he whispered, “Let me carry you, I like having you in my arms.” She nodded and settled against his broad
chest. The youngsters broke into their
training session groups and started carrying the young ones and little ones.
“I swear to Luna, if you bug
me one more time I’m gonna knock you out,” Emory Bellucci ranted as she waved
her arms around. “There’s nothing wrong
with me, except for the fact I look and feel like a gigantic beached whale.”
“Doc said to take it easy since
the little one is due in a month Em. Let
me carry you, I don’t want to take the chance you’ll fall and hurt yourself or
the little one,” her mate Duke said in a soft soothing tone. “Alberto’s carrying Maria.”
“There’s a big difference,
she just had surgery and I’m pregnant,” Emory narrowed her eyes and put her
hands on her hips. “Get. Out. Of. My.
Way.” Duke threw his hands in the air
and moved to the side as she slowly followed the others.
“I told you when you made
your declaration she was a handful,” his father in law, Roman Sabatini said as
he slapped him on the back. “Did she tell you she got mad because I wouldn’t
let her help re-tar the roof of the skating rink? She threw a fit, stomped her feet and screamed
like a toddler. She said I wouldn’t let
her on the roof because I thought it would collapse under her weight.”
Her oldest brother Austin
continued, “Dad said it wasn’t true, but I don’t think he helped when he told
her she was becoming ‘unwieldy’.”
Duke watched as she slowly walked
with Anna and Cynthia and said, “I don’t know what to do anymore. She’s hungry, but won’t eat because she says
she’s fat or she wants food Doc says she shouldn’t have or she wants it at 3 AM. She’s sleepy but won’t lie down unless it’s
on freshly laundered sheets. She gets up
in the middle of the night to use the bathroom at least ten times and won’t
come back to bed until I change the sheets.
During the day it’s the same thing, I’m changing the damn bed twenty
times a day. She’s bored but doesn’t do
anything except watch ‘The Princess
Bride’ and then cries. She’s thirsty
but only wants coffee which she can’t have and hated before. I’m losing my fucking mind.”
Roman laughed, “She’s yours
now and you can’t give her back.”
“I HEARD THAT,” Emory
hollered and both her mate and father looked at her with terror in their
eyes.
“Oh fuck,” muttered Duke as
her brothers and Dad started to laugh.
He ran after her and said in a soft tone, “I only meant that you’re such
a nice loving mate and I love looking after you and our little one Em.”
“Yeah right,” she replied rolling
her eyes as she stopped walking. “Now
carry me.” Duke smiled as she told him
she could have walked but she didn’t want to get her shoes dirty, not that she
could see them, but she still wanted them clean.
When they arrived at the entrance
to the safe room Joe looked at Papa Mike and said, “Can you see the
entrance?”
“Here? All I see is rocks, evergreens and trees,”
said Papa Mike as he spun around looking for anything that looked out of place.
Carlo called the Millers over
to a grouping of boulders and said, “Watch carefully, if you do this wrong,
you’ll get zapped with 100 amps of electricity.” Thinking he was kidding Todd and Papa Mike
started to laugh and Carlo said, “I’m serious.
We wired the ground to shock anyone who’s trying to access the panel
without using the correct sequence.
There’s a ledge on the back of the boulder and underneath is a button
that needs to be pressed in a certain order for it to unlatch; five quick, one
long and two quick. Anything else and
you’ll get shocked.” Carlo then pulled
on the top of the boulder separating it revealing a keypad and he punched in
the code. Replacing the top he moved quickly
to a smaller boulder and pushing on the front it separated at the bottom,
“Hitting that code will unlock the next keypad.
It has an internal locking mechanism, there’s no other way to access it
and if you try and force it open it’ll self-destruct. You must open it within twenty seconds if not
it relocks and you have to do the whole sequence over. If you do it more then two times, both
systems will cease to operate until Frank, Joe, Paulo or I reset the
system.”
As Carlo typed the ten digit
code Frank said, “I’ll give you the codes later. Like the code to the website if you’re under
duress simply add ‘01’ to the end and it’ll send an alert to Carlo, Joe, Paulo
and I. After you put in the correct
code, you need to replace the top of the rock within ten seconds; if not the
door to the safe room won’t open. Turn
around and watch the rocks.”
The Millers stared at the
numerous outcroppings and within seconds one of the larger ones moved similar
to an old fashioned garage door, where the top tilted back and the bottom swung
upwards. Their mouths fell open and Papa Mike said, “That’s fucking
unbelievable. I never would’ve guessed the
door was behind a whole outcropping of rocks.
That’s got to weigh a ton, how did you get it to lift?”
“Four large hydraulic lifts,
and it weighs several tons,” said Joe motioning the Millers forward. “Once inside, the hydraulics can be disabled
preventing the door from opening. As you
can see the door is solid steel and the rocks extend over the edges so it looks
like a natural formation.”
Todd glanced inside the small
room and said with a confused tone, “Where’s the door to get inside? All I see is dirt and more rocks.”
“There’s one more
keypad. Again, the floor is wired to
shock anybody who doesn’t do things correctly,” Carlo said walking to the right
side of the small area. Squatting in
front of a group of rocks imbedded in the wall, he pushed one on the bottom
right, one on the far left and then one on the back wall. Todd watched as Carlo walked over to a rock,
the size of a quarter and pressed it into the wall and a small panel opened on
the floor. Carlo punched in the code and
the left wall started to separate, moving back and sliding into the
mountain. “They would naturally look for
the door in front of them, so we put it on the side.”
“Who the hell thinks of these
things? Wiring the ground to shock
people? All the secret panels and sequence
things, it’s unreal,” said Todd as Frank, Joe and Paulo walked into the
security room while the other Betas quickly searched the entire safe room. Moments later, shouts of “Clear” rang out and
within minutes the Pack was inside the safe room. Carlo typed in the code to bring the outer
door down and they were completely sealed inside.
The young ones moved to the
corner where small tables were set up and took off their backpacks getting out
coloring books, dolls, toys and books and sat quietly while the women put the
little ones, newborns to toddlers, in an area with a short wall around it. The area had cribs along the wall, playpens
in the center and toys scattered around.
Carlo looked at his Pack and the Italians and said, “Let’s get started. Victoria
Gina broke the women into
groups; Rose - bunk rooms, Annie - kitchen supplies, Holly and Rita - food
supplies, Annabelle Pinelli - linens and Teresa Giovanni - batteries and
emergency supplies. Each group was
assigned several women and they started inventorying and inspecting their
areas. Ric and Rocco went into the
security room and the Betas inspected the electric, air and water systems while
the Italians checked everything. Doc and
his mate, Elaine, went into the medical area and started their inventory. The youngsters kept the younger ones
entertained.
“Come on Millers, I’ll give
you the tour,” said Vin with a smile. He
showed them the four bunk rooms, the men’s shower room, the women’s shower
room, the medical rooms, the two cell rooms, the kitchen, the dining room and
the security room.
“How in the hell did you all
build this?” asked Todd as he looked around.
“We didn’t build all of
it. When the Pack first arrived, they
found a series of caves and used that as a safe room with a wooden door as the
entrance. Over the next two hundred
thirty years, we’ve made some improvements,” Vin answered with a shrug. “We’ve reinforced the walls with concrete and
steel beams. The ceiling has I-beams
every 24” and is concrete with rebar. It’s
taken us years to get it like this and as new technology becomes available we
update.”
Dom walked up carrying Hope
and Jackie and said, “Vin, this little munchkin was asking for you.”
“Vinnieee,” Hope squealed and
put her arms out for Vin to hold her. He
lifted her out of Dom’s arm, pretending to drop her as she laughed in
delight.
“What’s the matter munchkin?”
asked Vin as he settled her on his hip.
“Nuttin, I was tired of doin
tha collers,” she said with a big smile. “Mommy is doin tha countin wit Miss Hawlley
and Daddy is wit Mister Carmellow. I’s
bored.”
“Why aren’t you playing with
Brooke?” Vin asked as Hope placed her head on his shoulder and got comfortable.
Hope sighed loudly and said,
“She’s pwaying dohllies with Wenzo. She
fixeded his haier weal pwetty too, puts bows and wibbons in it.” Vin, Dom and the Millers started to grin as
she continued, “Antny and Daymian too.
Daymian letted Toni put ALL da bows an wibbons in his haier. He wooks bootiful.”
“I bet he does, how bout we
go see them?” asked Vin as they walked into the main room and began to
laugh. Almost every boy had bows and
ribbons in their hair, even the ones that were in front of the TV playing video
games or were in the corner with Marcus as he showed them defensive moves. As long as it kept the girls happy, they
would put up with it. The older girls
were grouped around Emory, Cynthia and the six other pregnant women and were
talking about little ones.
Hope giggled and said, “I
gots one for yous too Vinnie.” He
laughed and put her on top of the table and bent down as she put the lilac with
white polka dot ribbon in his hair and she clapped when she was done. “Yous pwetty.”
“Thank you. Jackie, where’s Dom’s bow? I think he needs one too,” said Vin with a
smirk as Dom pretended to scowl at Jackie.
She giggled and pulled a red bow with little white hearts on it out of
the pocket of her overalls and clipped it in.
Dom and Vin set the little
girls down and they ran back to Brooke, Abby and Toni. “I know what I wanted to ask,” said Todd as
he looked at Dom. “Why do you all only
go to school four days a week?”
“Well, we don’t take winter
or spring breaks; have teacher professional days or other things like public
schools. We also start a week earlier
than they do,” said Dom as he shrugged.
“We’ve always had a four day week; I believe it’s written in our
charter. We have off Fridays, except for
the week of the Full Moon when we take off the day after; or Federal holidays,
like Labor Day, so we’ll be off that Monday.”
“We do a lot of Pack stuff on
the days off, special training, helping out whoever needs something, that kinda
stuff,” said Vin as he watched Hope. She
was trying to get something out of her backpack and as it came loose she fell
backwards, he started to run towards her but Gianni scooped her up before she
hit the floor and cradled her against his chest as she started to laugh.
“I got her,”
said Gianni sensing his brother’s anxiety.
“I know you’ve been busy so I’ve
been keeping an eye on her and I see you got your pretty purple bow.”
“Yeah, just what I’ve always wanted, to be wearing a
girly hair bow in front of my mate,”
said Vin as he rolled his eyes. “Where’s yours?”
“Mr. Drama Queen took it, said he needed it to look
the most beautiful,” said Gianni with
a laugh.
Vin looked around the room
and spotted Damian coming from the men’s locker room with Toni’s brothers, Troy
“He looks like a Hallmark
store exploded on his head,” said Dom with a laugh.
“And that is the mate Luna chose for me,” said Caitlin with a sigh before she began to laugh. “I
don’t know whether to laugh AT him or with him or to feel sorry for myself that
we’re mates. I don’t think he’ll ever
take anything serious.”
“He’ll be a wonderful mate and father,” Maeve said in a serious tone. “You’re
serious but have a snarky sense of humor and he …well… he is just Damian. I think you’ll balance out perfectly.” They watched Damian pick Toni up and blow
raspberries on her cheek.
Frank and Joe walked over to
Todd and Papa Mike and Frank said, “There’s one thing Vin left out, the
emergency exit.” Todd and Papa Mike looked
confused as they followed them and watched as Joe opened an end cabinet moving
the dishes out of the way before pushing in on the left interior panel
revealing a keypad. He typed in an
access code and they watched as the middle freezer unit moved away from the
wall on rollers revealing a 3’ round metal door. “This was original to the caves; we think it
was a stream that dried up, it goes straight through the mountain ending in a
dry well in the basement of a house the Pack owns in Burkittsville in Frederick County
“If this is the escape route,
what’s that door in the main room?” asked Todd as he turned around and pointed
to a similar door that was on the back wall, partially hidden behind a
bookshelf.
“A diversion. If we need to escape, that door’ll be opened
letting our enemies think we escaped through there,” said Frank. “I hope they’re not claustrophobic, it’s only
2.5’ x 2’ and almost four miles long before it narrows down to nothing.”
“I told you they were sneaky
and they haven’t even told you the rest of the plan,” said Matt looking at his
brother. “If something happens, one of
the youngsters is going to take shirts from the girls and run to the end of the
tunnel, leave the shirts then run back.
This way the girls scents will make them go down the tunnel.”
“Thing is, the tunnel isn’t big
enough for adult wolves to run in or turn around, so they’ll have to crawl in
their wolf form or human form to the end and they’ll have to back out,” said
Phil as he joined them.
The Carlucci brothers looked
at each other and smiled as Joe said, “We can’t take credit for that idea. Damian thought of it when he was six. Now that I think about it, it should have
been a huge clue what he would turn out like.”
“I should’ve known,” said
Todd with a grin.
A little over an hour later
everything was done: Gina had the
inventory and list of supplies to be ordered; Carlo had the assessment papers
from the Italians; Frank and Joe had notes of what electronic equipment Paulo
needed; Doc had the list of medical supplies to be ordered; Carmelo and Vinnie
had notes about the supplies needed for the mechanical equipment. “Okay everyone, we’re done here. Young ones clean up your areas and make sure
you have everything because we’re not coming back if you forgot something,”
Carlo said in a loud voice.
Ten minutes later, the Pack
was ready to leave and Paulo checked the monitors before saying, “We’re
clear.” Carlo typed in the passwords and
the Pack exited as Carlo repeated the earlier process to lock the safe room
down.
As they were walking to The
Manor House, Matt said, “Todd, what time are we going to the Mall to take the
girls shopping?”
“Whoever is going, I am going
with you, I am hungry. Who is driving
me?” Dante said eagerly. Carlo rolled
his eyes and an hour later the Millers, Carlucci’s, Rossi’s, Gabby, Angelo and
Alberto were at the Mall. Dante quickly
led the way to Long John Silver’s where Amanda smiled broadly as he said, “One
register again Amanda.” She nodded and
glanced at the new cashier who quickly ran to the back to tell them Mr. Rossi
was here with a ton of people. The fry
cooks glanced out front unsure of ‘what a ton of people’ was, and as soon as they
saw how many people there were, they ran to the freezer and grabbed boxes of
everything.
“You do know we have other
restaurants around here,” said Carlo with a laugh as Dante was finishing the
last of his hush puppies.
“None with food as good as
this,” Dante replied before he went to the register to pay and to talk to
Amanda. “I want to thank you for being
at the reception yesterday; for me it was the highlight of the evening. I know how much work it was for you and your
staff, speaking of which how many workers are here today?”
Amanda smiled, “Thank you for
including us Mr. Rossi, my District Manager said it was a wonderful opportunity
for us. We have six here today Sir.”
“I know they are busy, so
please hand out the tips for me,” he said as he peeled off thirty $100 bills
before paying the $1,300 bill with his card.
“We will be leaving Wednesday, but I hope to see you again several times
before then.”
“Thank you again Sir,” said
Amanda with a big smile as the staff stepped out of the back and waved at
Dante.
Dante smiled as they walked
out of the restaurant and said, “I am full and now I need to do some shopping. I need some American Levi’s for myself and D
& D, also some of the new Nike’s, Catarina wants …” Dante stopped talking
and pulled his wallet out retrieving several pieces of paper and his eyes
widened when he looked at the lists. He
sighed and said in an exasperated tone, “IO giuro
di Luna, i ragazzi del Italy
Vin told the Millers what was
said and that D & D were Dante’s sons, Draco and Drago as Ric, Rocco and
Luc pulled similar lists out of their wallets.
“It will take me hours to get
all this,” said Dante as he looked at Ric, Rocco and Luc who said their lists
were almost as long.
“Let me see,” said Gina and
Dante passed the papers to her and Rose and Annie held their hands out for Ric,
Rocco and Luc. “The girls can help me
pick out some outfits for Cat; she even included her size on the paper though
of course it’s in Italian measurements. Who
does she most resemble in height and shape?”
Dante pulled a picture and a
credit card out of his wallet and handed them to Gina, “Well, you know she is seventeen,
and is most similar to Gabriella. She
likes bright clothes and for everything to match. Buy her whatever you think she would
like. There is no limit on that card,
but try to keep it around $20,000.”
Gina laughed as she said,
“Dante, I could buy a whole store for that.”
She looked at the list again and said, “I don’t see anything on here for
Calinda.”
“She is getting enough,” said
Dante with a smirk. “The new plane is
her birthday present.”
“Damn it Dante,” Carlo said
with a scowl. “Now Gina’s going to want
something besides the new SUV she ordered.”
Gina slowly turned her head towards Carlo and glared at him and he quickly
said, “And she would deserve everything she asked for, she’s a wonderful mate
and mother.”
Anthony was laughing as he
said, “Nice recovery Dad, but I think she’s still mad.” Carlo gave Gina a lopsided grin and she
turned away from him, but not before he saw her smile.
Ric and Rocco handed their
card to Rose and said their daughters resembled Sophia and Maria and also liked
bright colors and to spend around $5,000.
Luc gave his to Annie and told her to get Nonna casual outfits yet
definitely American in design and he had no limit. Ric looked at him and said in a sarcastic
tone, “Of course you have no limit; Nonna will pay your bills when we get
home.” Luc didn’t say anything just
smiled which infuriated Ric.
Knowing the girls didn’t want
their intendeds to see their outfits before their dates, Rose said, “Dante, why
don’t you take Anthony, Alberto, Vin and Dom with you to get the boys
things. Everyone else will come with
us.”
“As long as my intended stays
safe,” said Anthony with a scowl.
“Sophia, I want you to keep the bond open in case you need me.”
“I’m going to be with my family
plus your parents, I think you can relax,” Sophia said as she rolled her
eyes. “Now go, we have a lot of shopping
to do.”
Four hours later, they were
finally done. The Millers had gotten
their other three pairs of shoes, ten outfits, swimsuits, a winter coat and
their first pocketbooks with matching wallets.
Sophia and Maria had gotten outfits for their dates plus several others
and Gabby had gotten several outfits that Sal helped pick out. Gina, Rose and Annie bought everything on the
lists and there were so many bags the men had to make several trips to the vehicles
because they couldn’t carry them all. They
met in the parking lot and when Dante saw the bags he said, “If the other men
have as much to bring back, we are going to need a bigger plane.”
“I had the clerks pack the
clothes in boxes, this way they won’t wrinkle,” said Gina as she handed back
his credit card. “Here are the receipts,
I spent a little more than the budget but there were so many cute outfits I
couldn’t make up my mind.” Dante
shrugged since he had spent more then that on each of his sons.
“I remembered why I hate
shopping so much,” muttered Carlo as the boys agreed. The caravan drove to the Millers and the boys
carried the bags inside and Vin and Dom reminded Brianna and Morgan they would
be there at 6 PM to pick them up. Carlo,
Gina and Dante went to The Manor House and the Moretti’s followed the
Carlucci’s back to Frank’s house. The
boys changed into their board shorts and dove into the pool while the girls
went to Sophia’s bedroom.
For her fourteenth birthday
Rose had re-done Sophia’s bedroom, turning it from a little girls room into a
room for a young lady. An antique
mahogany bedroom set complete with a four poster queen sized bed complimented
the lilac painted walls with white trim and the purple and flower printed
patchwork quilt with matching curtains, shams, dust ruffle and bed linens. Mahogany frames with pictures of her family
and Anthony were scattered along the wall and a mahogany bookcase was on the
wall between her walk in closet and the door to her bathroom.
Gabby sat in the vanity chair,
Maria lay on the bed propping her arm with a pillow and Sophia flopped in the
bean bag she refused to let her mother throw away. The girls laughed as they recounted the
exasperated looks on the boys faces as they tried on outfit after outfit. “I know we bought some stuff, but most of the
stuff we tried on was for Alpha Dante, Ric and Rocco so it wasn’t our fault,”
Sophia said with a laugh. She looked at
Maria, “At least you didn’t have to be a walking mannequin, you got to sit in a
chair at the doorway of the changing room.
I’m exhausted.”
“Did you see Lorenzo’s face
when Erin was trying on her outfit for her
date?” Gabby asked with a laugh. Sophia
put her finger to her lips and walked to the door, looking down the hall before
closing it.
“I know, he was boiling mad,”
Maria said with a grin as Sophia sat back down.
“He growled when she came out of the dressing room if her clothes were
too low cut, too tight or too short.
Damian was just as bad. When
Caitlin came out in that purple dress that was a size too small I thought he
was going to lose it.”
Gabby snorted as she said,
“He did lose it, he screamed at her to get back in the changing room and to
stop wearing clothes from the children’s section.”
Sophia looked at Maria as she
laughed, “You’re a bad sister, telling them to go out in clothes you knew
didn’t fit to get a reaction out of your brothers.”
“I know, but they deserve it,”
Maria replied with an evil smile. “And
Gabby was just as bad, telling Caitlin and Erin in a loud voice how much
Patrick and Bob would like them in the dresses they finally picked.”
“What about what Sophia did?”
asked Gabby with a big smile.
“My brothers deserve it,”
Sophia responded with an evil laugh. The
girls started laughing so hard tears were rolling down their faces.
The boys were quiet as they
threw a football around the pool, Lorenzo had been angry and Damian on edge
since they’d been at the mall. “Did you
see how tight…” Lorenzo started to say angrily but stopped when he saw Anthony
point to his head. He nodded before
continuing, “the dress was that Erin had on? It looked
obscene. And the dress she’s going to
wear on her date with that fucking bastard?
She looked beautiful in it, he doesn’t fucking deserve to be with her.” He threw the ball so hard at Victor that
after catching it, he had to shake his hands.
“Caitlin too, who the fuck picked out the clothes for
her to try on? I swear to Luna, they had
to come from the children’s section, they were too tight. I felt like running over and covering her up
so nobody could see her,” Damian
ranted as he caught the pass Victor threw.
Vin, Dom, Anthony and Alberto
looked at the boys and said, “---- didn’t
get anything too tight, did she?” Each boy had inserted the name of their
intended in the question and when they realized what they did they burst out
laughing.
Michael shook his head and
smiled, “They looked beautiful, but we’re
not going to tell you what they bought, you have to wait and see.”
“So, what did you decide to do for your first dates?” Angelo asked as he leaned against the side of the
pool.
“We’re going to Carmelo’s since the girls want authentic
pizza then we’re going bowling since they’ve never been,” said Dom with a smile.
“How are they going to bowl in dresses?” asked Gino with a frown. “Especially
dresses as short as the ones they bought?”
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? YOU SAID THEIR DRESSES WEREN’T SHORT,” Vin hollered glaring at his brother while Dom growled.
“Back off, don’t get mad at me. And you asked if the dresses were tight, you
didn’t ask anything about the length,”
Gino said as he got out of the pool as Vin and Dom chased him. The other boys looked at each other with
knowing smiles.
Two hours later, Vin and Dom pulled
into the Millers driveway. Vin was
dressed in Levi’s, a blue and white striped rugby shirt with the sleeves pushed
to his elbows and Timberlands; Dom was dressed in faded Levi’s, a white Polo
shirt and Doc Martens. “If their dresses
are too short, we’ll do something besides go bowling,” said Vin with a
scowl. “I won’t have my mate bending
over in front of other guys.”
“You’ve said that like a
hundred times, like I want my mate doing it,” Dom said with a frown as they
walked towards the front door. “If it
was up to me, we wouldn’t even be going out in public; I don’t want anybody
looking at my mate.”
Dom stepped forward and was
about to knock when Papa Mike opened it and made a point to look at his watch
as he said, “Right on time. Come on in
the kitchen, the girls are almost ready.”
“I baked some brownies, would
you like some?” asked Nana Ellen with a twinkle in her eye. “We tried a new recipe with cream cheese and
cherries.” She laughed as Vin and Dom
raced to sit at the table as she handed them plates.
“These are really good,” said
Vin as Dom nodded in agreement. “You’re
going to sell them in the bakery, right?”
“That’s the plan,” said Todd
as he walked into the kitchen. “We
signed the papers to buy the building.
Now we need to go over the design concept with your Dad and uncle then
start the build-out.”
“We’ll be here early Sunday
to cut the firewood, the others are coming too.
We figured it’d be a good workout instead of lifting weights,” said Dom
with a shrug before smiling at his father in law. “We’re finishing our run here, so figure for
us to get here at 6…and we’ll be hungry.”
Papa Mike started to laugh as
he said, “You boys are always hungry.
I’ve never seen boys eat as much as you all do.”
“It’ll slow down when we
finish growing,” said Vin as he finished his third brownie.
“Or at least that’s what Dad’s
hoping, he says he’s going broke every time we get groceries,” said Dom with a
laugh which died quickly when they scented their mates approaching. Where they were sitting they couldn’t see them
but as soon as they stepped into the kitchen, both boys stood up, their mouths dropping
open. Brianna was in fuchsia capris, a
white silk shirt with a fuchsia and black swirl design and Keds with white lace
socks. Morgan was wearing peach capris,
a white t-shirt with peach fabric flowers around the neck and Keds with white
socks. Both girls had their hair in
braids with matching ribbons woven through.
“I’m going to fucking kill you when we get home Gino,” said Vin to his family. “The
girls aren’t in dresses, they’re in capris.
You had us worried for nothing.”
“I know,” Gino
said with a laugh. “Maria, Sophia and Gabby told them not to get dresses since they were
going bowling.”
“So all of you were in on it?” asked Dom angrily.
“Yeah, but it wasn’t our idea, but I wish it would’ve
been. It’s classic,” said Damian as he laughed.
“We’ll talk about this later,” Vin responded with a snarl. He took a deep breath to calm down before he
and Dom walked over to the girls and he pulled Brianna tightly to his side as
he leaned down and kissed her gently.
Dom held out his hand and when Morgan placed her hand in his he smiled
before leaning down so she could scent him.
He knew allowing her to scent him would put her at ease and he barely
suppressed his growl when she bared her neck to him after she was done.
“We ready to get this show on
the road?” asked Matt with a smile.
The girls said they’d be back
and ran upstairs and Vin looked at Todd who said quietly, “They forgot their pocketbooks;
they’ve never had one before. We had a
big discussion earlier about what they should have in there; so I gave them
$20, they have their school ID’s, cell phones and some makeup.”
Dom nodded and said, “We’ll
make sure they don’t leave them.” He looked
at Matt and Phil saying quietly, “I’d like to thank you for agreeing to
chaperone. I know it’ll put them at ease
rather than having my family with us, especially Morgan.”
“It’s no problem,” said Phil
with a gleam in his eye as he looked at his brother. “We figured you’d rather have us than him.” Vin and Dom didn’t answer but smiled making
Papa Mike and Nana Ellen laugh.
“Okay, we’re ready,” Morgan
said softly as she walked into the kitchen.
Todd, Holly, Papa Mike and
Nana Ellen hugged the girls goodbye and Holly said, “They’re your mates and they’ll be overprotective but they’ll want to
make you happy no matter what, so relax and have a good time. Remember to listen to the boys, Uncle Matt
and Uncle Phil if they sense danger.”
Todd looked at Vin and Dom
giving them both a glare as he said, “You’d better take good care of my
daughters.”
“We will Sir,” they said at
the same time before Vin said, “We’ll have them home by 11.” Todd nodded and walked them to Matt’s SUV
watching as Vin and Brianna got in the third row and Dom and Morgan in the
middle. They waved before pulling away
and Todd stared at the end of the driveway for several minutes.
“They’ll be fine,” said Papa
Mike as he put his hand on his sons shoulder.
“They have their mates and their uncles with them.”
Todd sighed loudly before
saying, “I know Dad, but they’ll always be my babies. Erin and Caitlin are going on their first
dates tomorrow and before you know it, somebody’ll be making declarations for
them too.”
Papa Mike shrugged and said,
“That is the way of our life. So far
Luna has given you two strong son in laws and aligned you with a powerful
family that will protect the rest of our family. We have truly been blessed by her.” Todd nodded and his father continued, “Now,
let’s go inside and work on the plans for the store a little more. Your mother is getting anxious and so is your
mate.”
At the Carlucci’s, dinner was
being served; baked ziti, with platters of meatballs, sweet and hot Italian
sausage, homemade garlic bread and salad.
The youngsters were laughing while they discussed what movie they were
going to watch and the adults talked quietly about everything that happened
that week.
The drive to Carmelo’s was
quiet for the first few minutes and Phil sensed the girls anxiety and asked, “What
do you want on your first authentic pizza?
Mushrooms, green peppers, black olives, onions, sausage, pepperoni,
meatballs?”
“Do we have to pick one?”
asked Morgan quietly.
“You can have whatever you
want. We’ll order six pizzas with
different toppings so you can figure out what you like,” Dom answered as he
reached over to hold her hand. Seeing
the confusion on her face he said, “Vin and I eat a whole pizza each and my
favorite is a Supreme, that’s one with everything.”
“Sounds good,” said Vin as he
nuzzled Brianna’s neck. “What do you
want?”
“Meatballs and green
peppers,” she replied with a giggle.
“I think I’d like to try
pepperoni and black olives, if that’s okay,” said Morgan as she looked at Dom
with a questioning look.
“Whatever you want, you’ll
get,” he replied again and felt his wolf lie down and roll over baring his belly
to its mate. Twenty minutes later
Carmelo was placing a large Antipasto in front of them and Dom and Vin made
sure their mates were served first.
Explaining what the various meats and cheeses were, they watched their
reaction and noted what they liked and didn’t like.
“Your pizzas will be out in
twenty,” said Carmelo as he smiled at Matt and Phil. “I see you got stuck with chaperone duty.”
Matt smiled at his mate and
said, “We were planning on having date night anyway because we’ll be busy the
whole weekend, with the football game and then cutting wood for the family on
Sunday.”
Carmelo nodded, “Tell Todd my
boys and I’ll be there to help. I’ll
bring thirty pounds of sausage patties.”
Matt nodded and Brianna and Morgan eyes got huge as Vin and Dom laughed.
“We eat a lot,” said Vin with
a shrug as Carmelo laughed before walking away.
On schedule their six pizzas
came and Morgan gasped as Dom put one slice of each on her plate. “You don’t have to finish them, just try them
to see what you like,” he whispered. She
looked at her sister and saw Vin had done the same thing for her and she
watched Dom, following his motions before taking a bite of each.
“The Supreme is my favorite
but I don’t like the mushrooms,” she said and Dom took the rest off her plate
and gave her two more slices of the Supreme after taking the mushrooms off by
hand. She saw Vin doing the same to
Brianna leaving her with the pepperoni.
Wondering how accommodating he would be, she said, “I like the bread
sticks too.” Without a word, he gave her
the breadsticks from his plate. “I
thought the Supreme was your favorite? I
don’t want to take it from you.”
“It is, but if you like it
then that’s what you’ll get,” he replied as he finished another slice of four
cheese while he watched carefully making sure she had enough to drink and eat. “Next time, we’ll order it without
mushrooms.”
“Momma was right; they will do anything to make us
happy. He gave me his favorite pizza and
his breadsticks,” Morgan said happily
to her sister.
“I told you the same thing,” replied Brianna.
“But remember what else Momma
said, not to take advantage of it and to make sure they’re happy too. That’s what mates are supposed to do.”
Morgan glanced at Dom and he
whispered, “I didn’t have a chance to tell you how beautiful you look.”
“You do too….I mean you look
handsome,” she said with a shy smile.
Brianna pushed against Vin’s
shoulder and said in a teasing voice, “You didn’t tell me I look nice.”
“I thought I showed you how
much I liked your outfit in the SUV,” said Vin with a grin as she blushed while
Matt choked on his drink.
As soon as he was able to
talk, Matt said, “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that or see the two of you
in the rear-view mirror.” Brianna’s face
got even redder while Vin laughed and Dom stared at his mate wondering how long
it was going to be before he could kiss her, both he and his wolf couldn’t
wait.
Morgan could feel his gaze on
her and took a deep breath before laying her head on his shoulder as she snuggled
into his chest. She felt his sharp
intake of breath as he brought his arm around her shoulders and kissed her gently
on the forehead. Tingles raced along her
skin and she heard his growl before he whispered, “Mine.”
She nuzzled his neck and whispered,
“Mine.” Feeling the low growl
reverberate through his chest she closed her eyes as a feeling of safety and
love rushed through her before an image of that night flashed through her
mind. Feeling her tense and correctly
guessing what she was thinking, Dom whispered, “I will never hurt you, you mean
everything to me Zenzero. Remember what
I told you the day we met, that making you happy and keeping you safe are the
number one priorities in my life and that will never change.” Hearing the sincerity in his tone and knowing
her wolf trusted him Morgan started to relax and continued to scent him.
“You okay sweetie?” asked Phil with a concerned look on his face.
“Just bad memories Uncle Phil, but Dom chases them
away,” she replied and turned
slightly so she could reach for her uncle’s hand. Feeling him squeeze it, she calmed down even
more knowing she was surrounded by people who loved her. Sensing peace flow through her Dom looked at
Phil and mouthed ‘Thank you’, Phil nodded and didn’t let go of her hand,
knowing she needed it to ground her.
Dinner continued while they talked about the football game, but Morgan
didn’t move from her position, holding onto her uncle’s hand while being held
by her mate.
Carmelo and his staff cleared
the empty dishes before he came back and said, “Do you want dessert or anything
else?”
Phil shook his head and said,
“I think we’re done. Could you add this
to our tab?” Seeing Vin and Dom ready to
protest he said, “Let us pay for dinner, we’ll never have little ones so the
girls are the closest thing we’ll ever have.”
“Thank you,” said Vin with a smile. Matt and Phil nodded and minutes later they
were in the SUV on the way to Bellucci’s.
At the Carlucci’s, the
youngsters decided to swim before watching a movie and Alberto sat on a chaise
with Maria since she couldn’t get her cast wet.
Sophia and Gabby came outside after getting changed and Gabby laughed as
she saw Sal flexing as he compared muscle size with Damian. “Nice chest Salvatore,” she shouted as she took
her cover-up off and put it on a chaise near Alberto and Maria.
Remembering the instructions
to compliment her, he shouted back, “You too.”
As the words were coming out of his mouth he realized what he was saying
but couldn’t stop. He froze and heard
dead silence as everyone stared at him with their mouths open and he said, “Oh
damn…I ugh…you know I…well, I meant…Could somebody just fucking kill me now? Just put me out of my misery please.”
To his surprise Angelo
started laughing first followed by Alberto then the Carlucci’s. He looked at Gabby and she was bright red,
but had a smile on her face as she asked, “You like my new bathing suit?”
Sal gulped loudly as he
looked at her in the gold and black one piece swimsuit and stammered, “Ugh…oh…
yeah…it…it looks…and uhmm …and you look…well… yeah…and I mean…” He took a deep breath covering his face with
his hands as he muttered, “Fuck my life.”
Looking at the other boys who were laughing hysterically he said, “Help me.
Somebody please help me for fucks sake, I’ve turned into a blathering
idiot again.”
“Tell her she looks amazing,” said Marcus as he wiped the tears off his face.
“And the gold brings out the highlights in her hair,” added Damian as he leaned against the side of the
pool as he caught his breath.
“Take a deep breath and calm yourself down first,” Anthony said as he sat down with Sophia on a chaise
next to Alberto and Maria.
Sal took a deep breath and
said in a rush, “The gold brings out the highlights in your hair and you look
amazing.” Gabby beamed but before she
could answer, Gino snuck up behind Sal and knocked him into the pool. Sophia, Maria and Gabby looked at each other and
tried not to laugh as Sal came spluttering to the surface.
When they arrived at the
bowling alley, Vin and Dom bought Brianna and Morgan Dexter bowling shoes as
Vin explained they bowled a lot and it was easier to have their own shoes. Seeing the admiring looks the girls were
getting from other boys, Dom asked Tom Bellucci for a lane away from everyone
and he agreed; he knew how jealous Vin and Dom would get if somebody approached
their intendeds and he didn’t want the boys to get into an argument or a fight
on their date. After looking at the
lanes he told them the two far right lanes were open, the family there was
finished and putting on their shoes. Vin
and Dom nodded and held the girls hands as they walked to the lanes, glaring at
the boys who were staring at their intendeds.
While they waited for the family to leave, Vin and Phil went to the
lockers to get their shoes and bowling balls while Dom and Matt stayed with the
girls.
“We’ll spend as much time as
you need teaching you how to bowl. The
hardest part is getting your steps down and sliding. After you put your shoes on, rub them on the
carpet to scuff up the leather on the bottom a little, it’ll help you slide,” Dom
said continuing to glare at the boys who were now openly staring at Brianna and
Morgan. He recognized them from playing sports against them and being part of
the social scene around the Hagerstown
“Hey Carlucci, who’re the
babes? We haven’t seen them around here
before,” Dom heard someone shout. He
looked to the crowd of boys and saw it was Harry Weaver, the quarterback for South Hagerstown
High School
Dom stood up to his full
height of 6’3” crossing his arms over his chest as he replied, “They’re our
girlfriends Weaver, show some respect.”
“If something happens, I want the two of you behind me
or Uncle Phil. Don’t do or say anything
to the boys, let your mates handle it,”
Matt said in a firm tone. He glanced
around noting there were now forty boys gathered and said, “Forget that, move towards me now, but do it slow so you don’t distract
Dom. He needs to keep his concentration
on that crowd.” He nodded with
approval as Brianna and Morgan slowly made their way towards him. “Phil, we need you out here now.”
“Vin, get your ass out here now,” Dom said angrily.
“Girlfriends, huh? Well, when you’re done with them this
evening, pass them this way,” another guy hollered and the boys started to
laugh and give each other high-fives and fist pumps.
Dom turned making sure his
mate and her sister were okay and sensing his brother and Phil running from the
locker room, he took a step forward saying forcefully, “Shut the fuck up. I said they were our girlfriends; show some
fucking respect before I beat it into you.”
Seeing Vin and Phil running towards
them, some of the boys looked nervous, they had no wish to go against Vin or
Dom let alone the two older men. Tom saw
what was happening and called his sons, Robert, Duke and Jerome. They came running and Robert said, “Is there
a problem? If not, go back to your
lanes, if you’re not bowling then you can leave.” The three brothers stood side by side next to
Vin and Dom while Matt and Phil stood in front of the girls.
The crowd of boys looked at
each other and Vin said, “My brother told you we were on a date with our
girlfriends. So, I suggest you leave. If you have something to say, say it in two
weeks when we play each other and we’ll settle it on the field.”
“You’re talking big Carlucci
with all those older guys with you,” said Harry Weaver as he narrowed his
eyes.
Vin raised his eyebrow and
said, “And you have your whole fucking football team with you Weaver. Like I said, we’ll deal with it on the field,
when I have my brothers, cousins and the rest of my team with me.”
“I’m sure Lorenzo would like
another go at you. Don’t you remember the
party last spring in Williamsport
Harry visibly paled and his
voice was uneven as he said, “She’s dating Moretti?” Vin and Dom nodded and Harry who didn’t want
to appear to be backing down said in a nasty tone, “We’ll see you in two
weeks.” The Carlucci’s didn’t say
anything just stood there with their arms crossed over their chests.
After the crowd of boys left,
Duke looked at Vin and Dom and said in a teasing tone, “It’s always something
with you Carlucci’s, isn’t it?”
Vin and Dom laughed as they
turned to check on their mates who were peeking around Matt and Phil. Seeing the boys gone and Duke and Jerome
there, Morgan asked, “How are Emory and Cynthia?”
Duke groaned and said, “Emory
insisted on coming here to help Dad do the books, but all she’s done is sit at
the snack bar eating chili cheese fries, cheese popcorn and nachos. I’ll be up all night because she’ll have
heartburn.”
“And Cynthia is sitting with
her, eating her weight in hamburgers and fries since she doesn’t have morning
sickness anymore,” said Jerome with a smile.
Morgan looked at Dom and
asked quietly, “Can we see them before we leave?” He nodded quickly and pulled her into his
side scenting her deeply as he felt his wolf start to calm down. After thanking the Bellucci’s again, the
three couples went to their lanes where they changed their shoes and the next
half hour was spent showing Brianna and Morgan how to bowl duckpins. Being Were’s, they had natural athletic
ability and soon were bowling as if they had done it their entire lives. Brianna suggested they start a game and
Morgan suggested mates against mates; Brianna, Dom and Matt against her, Vin
and Phil and the men readily agreed since they were competitive by nature.
Anthony tilted his head back,
followed moments later by the boys as he said, “My parents and Dante are here,
I wonder what’s going on.” Minutes later
the French doors opened and the adults walked out onto the patio settling
around the tables. Frank and Joe brought
drinks for everyone and they started talking quietly while the youngsters
shrugged and continued to horse around in the pool until they heard their Alpha
say, “Anthony, could you come up here please.”
Seeing the looks on the other youngsters faces Carlo smiled and said,
“The rest of you can join us too.” They
hurriedly dried off and joined the adults.
He looked at Sophia, Maria
and Gabby and said quietly, “I know you’re probably anxious about what I told
the adults today. I didn’t want the
Miller girls to find out about their friends in public and I wanted each parent
to explain it to the younger ones.” He
grabbed his mates hands before he continued, “The three girls who had been
missing from their Pack were killed by Charles.
I’m not going to tell you what happened to them, I’ll only say after
hearing what happened we are more determined than ever to make sure you stay
safe. It’ll be up to your parents if
they give you details, but believe me you’re better off not knowing.”
Sophia and Maria looked to
their parents and Frank and Joe were shaking their heads emphatically, and Frank
said, “There’s no fucking way I’m telling you what they went through. I wish I didn’t know, but as Alpha Carlo said
we are more determined than ever to protect you.” The girls nodded and burrowed deeper into
their intendeds side while Gabby reached out for Sal’s hand who squeezed it
reassuringly.
Carlo looked at them and
said, “This next part is confidential and I don’t want you to talk about it until
I fill the other Betas in then the rest of the Pack. I’ll tell the Level 4’s tonight and everyone
else this weekend.” They nodded and
Carlo continued, “Doc brought up an interesting point, one you need to be aware
of when you’re making your escape plans…He believes with the upcoming threat the
birth rate will skyrocket in the next year.”
Seeing the looks of confusion on their faces he said, “You know mates
cannot survive without each other; but if the male dies and the female is
pregnant or has little ones, their wolf will force itself to live to make sure
the little one is safe since they’re the last remaining part of their
mate. He believes when their mates go
into heat the younger men will make sure their mates conceive, not only to
carry on their genetic line but to protect their mates so they don’t die. It’ll be instinctual with them, their wolf will
take over.”
Frank sat back and sighed, “I
hadn’t thought of that, but it makes perfect sense. A male Were is the most protective of their
mate when they’re pregnant and after the little ones are born.”
“Doc’s right,” Annie said
quietly as Rose and Gina nodded. “But it
won’t only be the males; the females will want to conceive too. Knowing their mates will possibly die,
they’ll do anything to keep a piece of them alive.”
There was silence as everyone
thought of what had been said and Gina said quietly, “It wouldn’t surprise me
if some of the other women went into heat also; those who had stopped years
before, after their daughters had been born.”
Everyone snapped their heads towards their Madame Alpha and she
shrugged, “Think about it, their wolves know their entire family is in danger;
to protect the bloodlines they may go into heat again to ensure the bloodline
survives.”
Carlo stared at his mate for
several moments and squeezed her hand, “If Luna blessed us with a little one I
would be overjoyed; but I don’t want you to get upset if it doesn’t
happen. You and Anthony are all the
family I need and when Angelica died…”
He stopped and stared at his son as he blinked away his tears thinking
of his little girl and how much she had looked like Anthony.
“I know Carlo, you don’t have
to say anything,” Gina said quietly as she laid her head on his chest. She felt his arms encircle her and burrowed
deeper into his comforting warmth and sighed in contentment when she felt her
sons arms encircle both of them.
Everyone was quiet as they didn’t want to intrude and lowered their
gazes to give them privacy.
Minutes later Carlo cleared
his throat but didn’t let go of his mate and he held his sons hand as he said,
“Doc’s ordering extra supplies for the anticipated births, for the clinic and
the safe room. He’s also ordering an
ultrasound machine and more medical equipment, so we need to make sure the
electrical system in the safe room can support them. Frank and Joe, if you think we need it, buy
another generator. Rose and Annie, make
sure there are extra supplies in the safe room; cribs, diapers, and whatever
else you feel is needed. He also wants
everyone to take classes to make sure if the women go in labor during the
battle they have the proper care. I mean
everyone…boys too.” He smiled at the
excited looks on the girls faces and started to laugh at the disgusted looks on
the boys faces.
Enzo nodded and said, “We’ll
make sure to account for this when we make our plans Alpha Carlo. Gino, Paulo, Michael and I decided we would
distribute duties and have regular meetings to change or update our plans as
needed.”
Carlo nodded as he looked the
four boys in the eye and said, “I’m not worried, that’s why I put the four of
you in charge. You’re Carlucci’s through
and through, you’ll always do what you think is best for the Pack.”
“Being a Rossi Alpha has
always been made easier because we have always had your family standing with
us. They have stood in front of us
taking the brunt of the attack, at our side through the hard times and most
importantly behind us to protect our backs from our enemies,” said Dante as he
looked at Ric, Rocco, Frank and Joe who sat up straight, basking in the praise
from their two Alphas. He glanced at
Carlo and Anthony before he said, “Even if you all are incredibly stupid.”
The four men, Dante, Carlo
and Anthony threw their heads back and roared with laughter while the
youngsters looked at each other like they had lost their minds. “What the hell kind of compliment is that?” asked
Damian with a scowl as the men laughed even harder.
Dom watched his intended in
amazement; gone was the shy, timid girl and in her place was a vivacious outspoken
young lady who cheered, jeered and heckled everyone. He’d never seen her like this and wondered if
this was what she was like around her family and if she was feeling comfortable
enough around him and Vin to finally be herself. Remembering what Madame Gina had said about
her personality before she witnessed the rape of her friends, he felt like he
was finally seeing the real Morgan Miller and he was completely captivated. At the end of the second game he looked at
the clock and said, “We’d better go, we promised we’d have you home by 11, and
it’s almost 10.”
“But we can’t stop, we’re tied,
we each won a game,” said Morgan putting her hands on her hips as she frowned
at her mate. “There wasn’t a winner,
we’ve got to have a winner and I know we were going to win next game and beat
you.”
He pulled her into his side
and whispered, “We’ll finish next time, my competitive mate. I don’t want to get your Dad mad at me for
having you out too late and you said you wanted to talk to Emory and Cynthia
before we left.”
Morgan let out a large huff,
“Okay, but I don’t like it.” She
narrowed her eyes and took a step up, bringing them almost eye to eye, “Admit
it Dominic Carlucci, I was getting too good and skeered you.”
Dom threw back his head and
laughed as he said, “Zenzero, last game I rolled a 168 and you had a 92. Yes, you were getting better but remember I
was bowling with my left hand, if I was bowling with my dominant hand like you,
I would probably have bowled a near perfect game. That would be a little suspicious so we
always bowl with the other hand, just like when we play sports we always use
the other hand or hold back on our athletic abilities. Appearances must be kept.”
Morgan thought over what he
said and he saw the twinkle in her eye, “I still think you were skeered.” She turned and ran to her uncles and stuck
her tongue out at him before she started to laugh. Matt looked down and saw she still had on her
bowling shoes and reminded her to change shoes and get her pocketbook. She looked up and saw Dom holding her Keds
and pocketbook and she burst out laughing and waited while he brought them to
her. After Vin and Phil put their shoes
and bowling balls in the lockers, the group went to the snack bar where Emory
and Cynthia were sitting in the back corner away from everybody.
“How was the date?” asked
Emory excitedly. “You two look beautiful.” Cynthia motioned for them to join them at the
table.
“Thanks, we went to Carmelo’s
then came here. It was so exciting and
exactly what we wanted,” said Brianna with a big smile as Morgan nodded. “How are you feeling? Is the little one moving a lot?”
Cynthia started to laugh and
said, “She thought she was in labor ten minutes ago, but it was gas from all
the food she ate. You should’ve seen
Duke, he was so nervous I thought he was going to pass out.”
“She’s finally over her
morning sickness, so she’s starting to eat everything in sight,” added Emory
with a smile. “At two months, she’s a
third of the way through the pregnancy and the little one is starting to move.”
“I can’t wait until I have a
little one,” said Morgan quietly as she glanced at Dom who was standing with
his back to them as his eyes raked the bowling alley. He heard her and couldn’t help his body
tensing as he thought of her round with his little one, but he didn’t want to
scare her by showing any other reaction. He could feel his wolf stand at attention at
the thought of their mate having their little one and he started pacing back
and forth.
“Are you going to the game?”
asked Brianna. “Sophia, Maria and Gabby
have been giving us extra practices so we know the routines, but we’re
nervous. I’m afraid I’ll get up there
and forget everything.”
Emory frowned, “No, Alpha
Carlo won’t let any pregnant females, young ones or little ones off the
territory. It’s always been that way and
this year all those deemed vulnerable will be in the safe room, he doesn’t want
to take any chances.”
“But we’ll be at the home
game in two weeks against South,” said Cynthia with a smile. “We’ll see you then.”
“I’ll be there, if I can fit
in the car,” said Emory with a grimace as she rubbed her stomach. “I’ll be two weeks away from my due date then. Right now he feels huge but Doc said in the
last month he’ll get even bigger.” She
looked at her stomach and laughed, “I can’t see how that could possibly happen,
I’m enormous.” She glanced at her
stomach again and started to cry, “I look like a beached whale, I’m a fat cow and
my stomach is so big I’m going to burst open any second.”
Brianna and Morgan looked at
each other unsure of what was going on, one minute she was laughing the next
she was in tears. Cynthia leaned over
and grabbed her hand and said, “You’re fine, it’s just the hormones talking.”
Duke came running around the
corner, “Sweetie, what’s the matter?”
Emory looked at him and said
in a quavering voice, “It’s your fault I’m fat.”
“I keep telling you that
you’re not fat, you’re pregnant Sweetie.
That’s our little one in there and as soon as he’s born you’ll feel
better,” Duke said in a calm reassuring voice.
“Do you want some ice cream?”
Emory sniffed as she nodded and he came back moments later with a big
bowl of vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and cool whip. He looked at the other three and asked, “Do
you want some too?” They shook their heads
and watched as Emory attacked the bowl of ice cream and asked for some onion
rings to dip in it.
“We’ve got to go, we don’t
want to be late,” said Vin quietly as the girls hugged and said goodbye. On their way out, the Bellucci men wished
them luck; it was the first football game they had missed in years. Carlo wanted extra men left behind to guard
those staying in the safe room for added protection, so it would be one of the
smallest crowds ever going to Shenandoah Pack.
Minutes later they were in the SUV, Morgan and Dom in the third seat and
Vin and Brianna in the second. Morgan
was quiet as she tried not to glance at Vin and Brianna who were nuzzling each
others neck and whispering quietly before they started to kiss.
“Dom, can I ask you something?”
she asked in a voice so quiet he barely heard her as she glanced at her shoes.
He put his hand under her
chin to turn her head towards him and answered just as quietly, “You can ask me
anything.”
“Well, this kiss thing…you
know uhmm, the first kiss…how would it…would I or you…” she stopped talking as
she looked deep into his emerald eyes and saw them dilate taking on an amber
tint. She heard his low growl as a
shiver raced up her spine and she held her breath as his eyes lowered to fixate
on her lips. Morgan made a movement towards
him but Dom wasn’t sure if it was from the motion of the SUV or she was leaning
in. His eyes moved to stare into hers,
ready to pull back if he saw hesitation or fear, even if it would kill
him. Seeing nothing but excitement and
trust in the sparkling grey eyes, his eyes flashed amber and he groaned as he
brought his head down slowly as their lips finally met.
The kiss was whisper soft,
their lips barely touching but to Morgan it felt like Dom was branding her and
marking her as his own and her wolf couldn’t be happier; she was prancing back and
forth in delight, her tail high in the air.
The human part of Morgan was almost overwhelmed; his scent surrounded
her, the heat radiating off him made her skin feel like it was on fire, the
hand gently caressing her cheek was sending tingles racing over her skin and
she felt light-headed from the combination of the sensations… but she didn’t
want him to stop.
Dom’s wolf stopped pacing and
sat down howling his satisfaction at being this close to his mate and he
couldn’t control the feral growl that came from within him. Feeling no resistance from his mate he slowly
deepened the kiss, moving his lips with increased pressure back and forth until
he felt Morgan relax her lips and slightly part them; this was what he wanted
and what he had been waiting for. Not
wanting to overwhelm her, he continued to go slowly as he gently tilted her
head to a better angle as he ran the tip of his tongue over her lower lip
before sliding his tongue into her mouth.
Feeling her shudder he growled again as he rubbed his tongue against
hers and felt her first timid response as she mimicked what he was doing. He felt her hands settle on his shoulders and
he kept one hand firmly on the back of her head and the other fisted on his
leg.
Less than a minute later Morgan
started to pull back and Dom instantly let her go and leaned against the side
of the SUV as he took slow deep breaths.
She glanced at him with a shy grin before she hid her face in her
hands. Dom laughed quietly and sat up pulling
her into his side as he whispered, “That was even better than I thought it
would be, it was absolutely amazing, beyond amazing.”
“Are…are you going to be
kissing me like that all the time?” asked Morgan as she blushed bright red.
“I think your Dad might have
some objections if we did that all the time, though I would like to…I’d really
really like to,” Dom answered with a growl.
“We’ll kiss like that when we have some privacy and you can kiss me
whenever you want to, I don’t always have to be the one to start. But I’d also like to start kissing you like
this whenever we want.” He leaned down
and kissed her gently on the mouth and was satisfied when Morgan sighed.
“I think I’d like that,”
Morgan said as she buried her head in his neck.
“I…I think I’d like to do it again, if you want.” Dom didn’t answer, growling instead as he
brought his head back down to hers and started kissing her again.
Matt glanced in the rearview
mirror to check the traffic since he had to change lanes and saw both couples
kissing. He reached out to hold his mates
hand, “Morgan’s learning to trust again,
my mate. I think after tonight we’ll
have a completely different Morgan to watch over, protect and love.”
Phil sighed as he squeezed
Matt’s hand, “Dominic and Vincent are
good for them, they can help them heal after the hell they went through. Just like we helped each other and our new
family has filled the emptiness inside of us both.”
“Always together, until the end,” Matt said as he looked at Phil who nodded as he
smiled back at his mate. They were five
minutes from the Millers house when Matt spoke loudly, causing the couples to
jump apart, “Anytime you want to go out again, let us know. We had a great dinner, almost got in a fight,
bowled two good games and were entertained by all the goings on back there on
the way home.”
Phil turned in his seat and
looked at the youngsters before he started smiling, “Girls, you need to fix
your hair and lipstick. Boys, you need
to wipe the lipstick off your face and neck.
Other than that, I think we’re good.” Morgan and Brianna dove for their pocketbooks
to get their compacts to see what Phil was saying, while Vin and Dom laughed as
they followed Phil’s instructions. They
pulled in front of the garage with minutes to spare before the curfew and Phil
took a look at the girls nodding before they went into the house.
They were met in the hallway
by Todd who examined his daughters with a critical eye and said loudly, “Why
are your lips swollen? Your lipstick’s
smeared too.” Brianna and Morgan blushed
as their hands flew to cover their mouths and their eyes were wide as they
looked at the guilty expression on their mates.
Dom shoved his hands in his pockets and Vin hunched his shoulders as he
rubbed the back of his neck as both boys suddenly developed a fixation on their
shoes.
“Todd Miller, leave them
alone,” shouted Holly as she came down the hall with a smile on her face. “Don’t you remember what it was like when we
were dating? At the end of the evening
you had on more lipstick than I did.”
He glared at Vin and Dom who
were looking everywhere but at him, “That was completely different, you were my
mate and THEY are my daughters.”
Holly rolled her eyes as she
smacked Todd on the arm, “Todd, even for you that doesn’t make any sense. Brianna and Morgan are THEIR mates.”
“Daughters trump mates,” Todd
said as he raised his eyebrow as Matt and Phil couldn’t hold it in anymore and
burst out laughing. Todd glared at them
before he started to laugh, “I’m losing my mind, and I think Luna giving me ten
daughters has been payback for what I did when I was young.”
Holly said with a smile,
“Come in the kitchen, we have cake and cookies.” At the mention of food, Vin and Dom quickly
ushered their intendeds into the kitchen and got excited seeing the three cakes
and plates of cookies on the table.
Vin noticed how quiet
everything was and asked, “Where is everybody?”
“Asleep,” Todd replied as he poured
each youngster a glass of milk. “With fourteen
people in the house we have to wake up hours before everybody else to get
ready. That reminds me, I need to talk
to your Dad about getting a bigger hot water heater or adding another one, the
one we have isn’t big enough.”
Vin and Dom nodded as Holly
put a big slice of each cake on plates and handed it to them. She looked at the girls who shook their heads
and instead grabbed a sugar cookie. After
taking a bite of chocolate cake Vin said, “I’ll let him know, he can take a look
at it Sunday. The Moretti’s will be here
to help too and Mr. M is bringing thirty pounds of sausage patties to help with
breakfast. Mom is sending over two
breakfast casseroles, so you’ll have to heat them.”
“What’s a breakfast
casserole?” asked Holly as she took a bite of the vanilla cake. As Holly was talking to the boys, Todd looked
at his brothers and asked them for details on how the date went and Matt and
Phil made sure to let Todd know how protective and caring the boys were.
“It’s two layers of buttered
bread, hash browns, cheese, sausage, onions, mushrooms green peppers and she
pours scrambled eggs over it and bakes it.
She serves it with sausage gravy,” answered Vin as he started to eat the
red velvet cake.
Dom whispered, “I’ll make
sure she leaves out the mushrooms.”
Morgan nodded; pleased he would think about that.
Todd looked at the clock and
said, “Okay girls, time for bed. I’d
like to talk with your intendeds alone.”
Vin and Dom swallowed noisily and walked their mates to the kitchen door
giving them a kiss on their foreheads.
As much as they wanted to kiss them, with their Dad glaring at them they
figured that was better.
“We’ll be here at 8,”
whispered Dom as the girls went down the hallway, with Holly closely following
them as she asked them questions about how the date went. Vin and Dom glanced at each other and slowly
walked back to the table.
“Sit down,” Todd said in a
menacing tone which didn’t help the boys unease. Todd continued to glare at them for several
minutes before saying, “The reason I wanted to talk to you is we haven’t told
the girls about their friends yet. We
talked it over and didn’t want to ruin this weekend for them, with their first
dates and the football game. But I’d like you to be there when we tell them
Sunday evening.”
“Yes Sir, we have training
from 5 to 7, but we’ll come right after,” said Vin as he exhaled slowly as he
glanced at his twin, knowing there was more coming.
“I understand you almost got
in a fight protecting my daughters; made sure they ate well but most of all had
fun. That’s all a father could ask for,
but I do have one request…don’t slobber all over my daughters in front of
me.” Vin and Dom blushed bright red and
nodded as Todd continued, “I can see a lot of myself in the two of you; I know
what I was like at that age and how I felt after I made my declaration for Hols
and to be honest…it scares the hell out of me, they’re my babies.”
“I want you to know we’ll
always treat your daughters with respect and protect them Sir,” Vin said in a
firm tone.
Dom nodded and said, “Madame
Gina told me what happened with Morgan, and I want you to know I’ve let her
dictate the pace of everything we’ve done, including our first kiss. I would never do anything she’s not ready
for.”
Todd nodded and smiled for
the first time, “That’s all a father wants to hear. Now finish your cake and get the hell
home. We’ve got a long day ahead of us
and I understand since Shenandoah Pack is isolated, you’ll be able to play
against them full strength.” Vin and Dom
laughed and the five men sat and talked about football until all three cakes
and the cookies were gone.
Vin looked at the clock and
saw it was almost midnight, “We’ve really got to go Sir. We’ll be here at 8.” Todd nodded and walked the four men to the
door and watched the vehicles pull out of the driveway before locking and
alarming the house.
Vin and Dom entered the house
quietly, reset the alarm and noticed the light under the door to their Dad’s
study. After knocking, they waited for
permission before entering and weren’t surprised to see the men having a beer. “How was the date?” asked Frank with a smile.
“Good,” Dom answered. “Ate pizza, bowled, Weaver showed his ass and
we almost got into a fight, took the girls home. Oh, and Nana Ellen made chocolate, red velvet
and vanilla cake and cookies too…chocolate chip, sugar and oatmeal raisin.”
“And she made brownies with
cream cheese and cherries, one of the best things I’ve ever eaten,” said Vin as
he rubbed his stomach.
The men started to laugh and
Ric said in a teasing tone, “You go out with your beautiful intendeds and the
only thing you talk about is what you ate?”
Vin and Dom looked at each
other and smiled as Vin said, “That’s all we’re telling you bunch of
degenerates. See you in the morning.”
They were almost out of the
room when Frank said in a loud voice, “You might want to put some Spray ‘n Wash
As soon as they got in the
laundry room, they took off their shirts, noticing the stains on their collars. “No wonder Mr. Miller was so mad at us,” said
Vin as he began to laugh. “I’m surprised
Phil didn’t let us know.”
“It’s on the side towards the
back, he probably didn’t see it,” Dom said with a shrug before he started to
laugh too. “At least it’s a light color
and not bright red.”
“Well Gentlemen, I’m going to
bed, 4:30 comes bright and early,” said Frank with a grimace as he got up and
stretched. “Ric and Rocco, the blankets
and pillows are in the hall closet, Luc the crib is set up for you in the family
room.”
“Vaffanculo Francesco,” said
Luc in a haughty tone as the men started laughing loudly. (Fuck you Frank)
At 4:50, Frank, Joe and the
Italians were at the pool house when the Moretti’s and Rossi’s joined
them. The boys, except Damian, would jog
around the side yard and do light weight work since they had the game. “We’ve got to do this at a better time, I
hate waking up so fucking early,” said Carlo glaring at Frank and Joe.
“You whine worse then Luc,”
said Frank with a smile as he punched his mates cousin on the shoulder. “Let’s start, we’re going to increase our
pace, I want to do the ten mile run in forty-five minutes.” The men groaned but didn’t say anything as
they followed Frank and Joe into the woods while the boys started their jog.
After their workout, everyone
showered and dressed; the girls in their cheerleading uniforms and the boys in
their school uniforms plus ties. After
breakfast, the boys loaded the SUV’s with their equipment and at 8, they were
pulling into the Millers driveway. Lorenzo
and Gianni pulled their trucks to the side of the driveway since they would be
riding with the others. Carlo said, “Todd, you need these decals on the back
windows of the SUV’s, it shows you’re from SMP.
Did you fill both tanks like Frank said?” Carlo handed him SMHS decals with the picture
of the husky howling in front of the full moon.
Todd nodded and put them on the back of the four new SUV’s they
purchased earlier in the week. “Where
are the girls?”
“Inside with Holly and Mom fixing
hair bows, adjusting uniforms and other shit I have no clue about,” Todd
answered as he rolled his eyes. “We’ve
been up since 5 and it’s been a madhouse in there, Dad and I made sure we
stayed out of the way.” He looked at
Sophia and Maria and thought of his daughters as he ran his hands through his
hair and said to Frank quietly, “Are you sure it’s safe Frank? If you say its safe then I’ll feel better.”
Frank nodded and said
quietly, “Shenandoah Pack…well I wouldn’t call them allies, they’re isolated
and only follow Alpha Council laws because they have to.” Seeing the look on Todd’s face he shrugged,
“They’re not enemies either, I’d say they were indifferent and we have protocols
we follow when we leave our territory. Anthony and Carlo don’t ride in the same
vehicle in case something happens and since I have both future Alpha’s with me,
Ric and Rocco will be with us for increased protection. Your daughters will be well protected, we’ve
taken extra precautions and paired the girls with strong fighters, this week we
have the benefit of having the Italians here.” Frank stopped talking as he saw Damian and
Annie pull in the driveway.
“Is there anything you guys
don’t think of?” asked Todd.
“We plan for everything and
hope nothing happens,” said Frank with a thoughtful expression as he watched
Damian pull off to the side of the driveway.
“DOC GAVE ME CLEARANCE NOW
LET’S KICK SOME ASS,” he shouted as he ran over to Maria picked her up and spun
her around before kissing her loudly on the forehead as she giggled.
Everyone started to laugh at
his excitement except for Alberto who was scowling. He pulled her gently into his side as he
scented her and whispered, “I don’t like the scent of another male on you, even
if it is your brother. I want you to
make sure you wear my jacket or my sweatshirt so you carry my scent today.” Maria remembered the conversation the night
Anthony made his declaration and knew Alberto needed reassurance. She crooked her finger at him and when he
bent down, she scented him and whispered in his ear, “Mine.” As he straightened up, he looked down at her,
his eyes half-lidded as he growled out, “Three years.” Knowing what he was talking about her face
flushed bright red and she giggled.
Hearing a commotion, everyone
turned to see the Miller girls run out of the house chattering loudly as Nana
Ellen and Holly followed making sure the door was locked and alarmed. It was the first time the Carlucci boys had
seen them in their uniforms and their mouths dropped open, they were used to
seeing it on their sisters but on the Millers it looked completely different;
the blue pleated skirt with white trim ended 3” above the knee and the blue
short sleeve top with white decals came to the top of the skirt. They had matching ribbons in their hair,
white ankle socks and white Nike cheerleading shoes with a blue swoosh. The four youngest had on SMHS white t-shirts
with blue decals and matching blue capris.
Vin and Dom moved immediately to their mates pulling them into their
sides and scenting their necks, both boys glanced at Todd before placing a
quick gentle kiss on their foreheads and Todd narrowed his eyes as Matt and
Phil laughed.
“Fuck,”
Lorenzo said as his amber tinted eyes raked Erin
from head to toe with a predatory gleam.
Seeing the look he gave her made goose bumps raise on her arms and she
smiled tentatively at him and when he growled her eyes widened as she took an
involuntary step back.
“Fuck me sideways,” echoed Damian as he zeroed in on Caitlin. “Every
guy at Shenandoah Pack is going to be staring at the six of them and I don’t
blame them. She’s fucking gorgeous…I
mean they’re gorgeous.” Caitlin,
Erin, Kelly and Aislin jumped up and down in excitement when Sophia, Maria and
Gabby ran up to them and he said with a snarl, “Her skirt is too fucking short again and her top is too tight. What is with her and wearing children’s
clothes?”
“Her outfit isn’t any tighter or shorter than your
sisters,” said Alberto as he stared
at Maria. Even though Doc wouldn’t give
her clearance to cheer, she still wanted to wear her uniform when she sat in
the stands. He glanced at Ant and saw
him staring at Sophia with an intense look on his face, “What’s the matter Ant?”
“Damian’s right, everyone will be staring at our
intendeds. I hope I can control my wolf
when we see others staring at what’s ours,” he replied as his eyes flashed amber.
“He’s already on edge knowing his
mate is leaving the safety of our territory and it won’t take much to provoke
him.”
Marcus walked over and nudged
Ant with his shoulder, “When you’re not
with her, we’ll be by her side. Like we
always have been and always will be.”
Anthony nodded never taking his eyes off his mate.
Frank and Joe looked at the
sheet of paper in Joe’s hand before handing it to Carlo who nodded before
saying, “Fiona, Maeve, Gino, Enzo and Dante will be with me; Fallon, Shannon,
Paulo, Michael and Luc with Todd; Maria, Kelly, Alberto and Marcus with Joe;
Gabby, Aislin, Angelo, Gianni and Gus with Carmelo; Caitlin, Erin, Lorenzo, Damian
and Salvatore with Matt; Brianna, Morgan, Vincent, Dominic and Victor with Papa
Mike; Sophia, Anthony, Ric and Rocco with Frank.”
“We won’t be riding
together,” Sal whispered to Gabby as he frowned.
Gabby giggled and pulled out
her cell phone and whispered, “We’ll text each other. Next week when we go to Parr Ridge, Gus won’t
be here, so hopefully you’ll be able to ride with us then. And I remembered to bring your hoodie.”
“Load up,” announced Carlo as
he and Gina moved to their SUV and minutes later they were on their way to the
training center. The girls did most of
the talking and in Matt and Phil’s SUV, Sal sat in the third seat between Erin
and Caitlin as all three texted Gabby. As
they pulled in the parking lot Joe, Frank and Carlo counted the cars and Carlo
said, “Vinnie and Ed, where protocols
followed? Did you have any problems with
the seating arrangement sent out by Frank and Joe?”
“All protocols were followed, we had no problems with
the seating assignments, and everyone has their vehicle placements. Everything is ready Alpha,” said Vinnie. “I’ve also been to the safe room as
requested, all the pregnant females, young ones and little ones are secure. George is there with Daisy and Jade, so he is
in charge since he is the highest ranking Beta.”
“Let’s go,” Carlo
said and waited for his spot in the fifty plus vehicle caravan.
Fiona and Maeve turned and
watched as each vehicle took their place.
They were in the third seat with Gina so she could get to know them
better. Seeing the questioning look on
their face, she said quietly, “Frank and Joe give each vehicle a position; they
alternate between vehicles that carry females and those that don’t. If anything happens, the vehicle filled with
males will do everything possible to make sure the vehicle behind them with
females escapes. If you notice in front
of us and behind us we have extra vehicles; that is because Carlo is Alpha, and
Mr. Frank’s car is the same way because he has Anthony and Sophia.”
“How long of a drive is it, Ma’am?”
asked Fiona as she continued to look out the back window. “I’m sorry for not looking at you when we’re
talking, but I don’t want to miss anything, since we’ve been here we haven’t
gone many places.”
Gina smiled at the girls
enthusiasm and her eyes met Carlo’s in the rearview mirror, both thinking of
their daughter. “It’ll take one and a
half to two hours depending on traffic.
As soon as we enter Virginia
Everyone was quiet for
several minutes as Maeve and Fiona continued to stare out the windows, before
Dante said, “We cannot wait to see the boys play football again. We have the NFL package on satellite but it
is not the same.” He turned and asked
the girls, “Have you ever seen a game in person?”
They shook their heads and
Maeve said quietly, “No Sir, on Sundays when we were allowed to see Daddy we’d watch
the Cowboys and he explained the game to us, he always said if we understood
football then we would understand men. I
always hated the end of the game because they’d take us away again and
sometimes we wouldn’t see Mommy and Daddy for days, maybe even a week. Daddy always said he wished we could do more
when we were together but they wouldn’t let us.”
“They had guards at the door
of the room so nobody would leave and we had to be real careful of what we said
because they could hear everything,” added Fiona with a shudder as she played
with a fold in her t-shirt. “We weren’t
allowed to use our bond to talk either, Alpha Davis and Charles forbade it but
Daddy could do it, but he didn’t do it often because he got real bad headaches
and it made him sick.”
“He would do it on our
birthdays or if we were really scared, he would tell us he loved us,” Maeve
said in a voice so quiet they barely heard her.
“We tried not to be scared because we knew Mommy and Daddy would be worried
but sometimes we couldn’t help it.” Gina
reached out and held their hands squeezing them reassuringly as she looked at
the appalled expressions on the others faces.
“Especially at night, in the
dorm room,” Fiona said quietly as her eyes became glassy. “The guards would stand there and watch while
we fell asleep. I didn’t like that at all
and sometimes if I woke up in the middle of the night they’d be standing next
to our bed staring at us.” Carlo opened
his mouth to say something but closed it when he saw Gina shake her head. His hands gripping the steering wheel were
white and he glanced at Dante and saw his hands were fisted in his lap. “Daddy told us to hold each other tight when
we were scared and if we felt we were in danger he’d come to us even if he got
in trouble again…but we didn’t want to see Daddy get hurt again, so we didn’t
let him know how scared we really were.”
“After Morgan was hurt, Daddy
said he’d find a way for us to leave, even if we had to run away. Daddy said he and Papa Mike would always
protect us and make sure nothing happened, but we were still scared,” Maeve said
in a quavering voice. Gina let go of
their hands and put her arm around their shoulders bringing them close to her
as she surrounded them with love and protection as their Alpha Female, a woman and
a mother, the girls instinctively responded as they burrowed into her side. “Now we don’t have to be scared because Alpha
Carlo, Madame Gina, Alpha Dante, Uncle Matt, Uncle Phil plus Mr. Frank and Mr.
Joe are watching out for us.”
“And the Pack Maeve, don’t
forget the whole Pack,” added Fiona as she reached over Gina’s lap to hold her
sisters hand.
Enzo added quietly, “We
promise to protect you no matter what.
More importantly we’ll teach you how to protect yourself so you never
have to be afraid again, but we’ll always be there for you.” A smile broke over his face as he continued,
“According to Hope, it only counts if we pinky swears.” He held his pinky out and Gino did the same,
both girls started to laugh as they pinky swore. Enzo gave a big sigh as he said, “At least I
didn’t have to wear a tiara.” At the
girls confused look he said, “Alpha Carlo, if I project what happened, can you
send it to the girls?” Carlo nodded,
hoping it would cheer them up and within minutes the girls were laughing loudly
as was everyone in the SUV.
As soon as the first vehicle
crossed the bridge from Brunswick , MD into Virginia
Seeing the intense look on
the girls faces, Gino said, “Mr. G’s full name is Ed Giovanni, but he likes
everyone to call him ‘Mr. G’ because he says he doesn’t want to be named after
a horse.” The girls looked at him in
confusion and he smiled as he said, “You know the old TV show with the talking
horse? That was Mr. Ed.” The girls started to giggle and Dante was
roaring with laughter.
Moments later everyone was
back in their vehicles and the caravan started again, but with two new lead
vehicles and two new vehicles bringing up the rear. “Alpha Carlo Sir, May I ask you a question?”
asked Maeve quietly.
“Yes, Maeve you can ask
anything,” he smiled at her in the rear view mirror.
“Madame Gina said they
welcomed you onto the territory and Daddy said something about having to get
permission or it would be trespassing or something,” she said with a
frown. “How did we get here without
getting in trouble?”
“Your Daddy and I discussed
the best route to get here and I called those Alphas and informed them you were
joining my Pack but were already under my protection. I told them to offer assistance if asked, but
you were to be left alone otherwise,” Carlo answered. “I didn’t tell them there were ten underage females;
I only said it was a large family.” The
girls nodded satisfied with the answer and Carlo started pointing out
interesting things as they passed through several small towns.
Lorenzo and Damian were slouched
in the middle seat of Matt’s SUV as they listened to Sal, Erin and Caitlin talk
and laugh as they continued to text Gabby.
Lorenzo was getting madder and madder by the minute and he couldn’t
figure out why. Finally, he couldn’t
take it anymore, “What the fuck are you
doing Sal?”
“Nothing, we’re texting Gabby,” he replied as he glanced at his cousin. “Why?”
“First, you’re annoying the hell out of me. Second, you’re sitting entirely too close to
them, I bet the Gabster wouldn’t like to see you rubbing all over them. Third, you’re annoying the fuck out of me,” Lorenzo said with a growl which caused Erin and
Caitlin to glance at him.
Sal flushed as he said, “I’m not rubbing all over them, all we’re
doing is texting Gabby. And where would
you like me to sit? On your lap? You’re losing your fucking mind Lorenzo.”
“Will the two of you shut the fuck up? I’m trying to get in the zone and all I hear
is blah blah annoying me, blah blah texting, blah blah fucking annoying me,
blah blah giggling, blah blah blah blah blah. Let me tell ya something, BOTH of you are
annoying the fuck out of me, you’re killing me here, you’re totally blowing my
concentration with the incessant whining,” Damian said grumpily as he opened his eyes and looked at Lorenzo and Sal. “I’m
about ready to ask Matt and Phil to tie me to the luggage rack to get the fuck
away from you two. It’ll be windy, but
at least it’s not raining and I’ll be able to work on my tan.”
“Fuck off Damian,” retorted Lorenzo as he turned to stare out the window seeing Erin in the reflection.
His wolf became restless again, pacing back and forth and Lorenzo
assumed it was because of the upcoming game but his eyes never left the
beautiful girl he was watching.
In Rose’s SUV, Frank tried to
concentrate on driving but kept glancing in the rear view mirror to keep an eye
on Anthony and Sophia in the third seat; Anthony’s arm was around her shoulder
and her head was pressed against his chest.
They were both aware anything they said could be heard so they were
talking through the bond which infuriated Frank; he wanted to hear what was
making Sophia giggle and Anthony have a smirk on his face.
“Leave them alone.
Don’t you remember what we were like after you finally made your
declaration?” Rose asked as she smiled
at her mate.
“That’s exactly why I won’t leave them alone,” replied Frank with a snort.
Paulo’s hands flew over the
laptop keyboard as he talked with Holly about the items the bakery would carry,
operating hours, use of local products, but she didn’t have an answer for the
most important thing…a name for the bakery.
Within thirty minutes he had a mockup for their website and the Millers
were astounded as he explained he pulled pictures off the internet but after
the build out was done, his mom would take pictures and he would replace them.
Joe was trying to keep
Alberto distracted and focused on something other than Maria by talking to him
about his plans for college and starting Moretti’s Fire Protection
Services. Every time Alberto leaned down
to whisper in Maria’s ear, Joe would ask another question forcing Alberto’s
attention towards him.
Annie was glaring at him and
said, “I know what you are doing Giuseppe
and you have to remember how you were after you made your declaration.”
“That’s exactly why I won’t leave them alone,” Joe replied with a snort.
In Papa Mike’s SUV Vin, Dom
and Victor were teaching the Millers Italian and listening to them with their
soft Texas
“We’re ten minutes out,” Carlo announced to everyone. “Keep
your eyes and ears open and remember not to speak of the upcoming threat. I know I don’t have to say this, but protect
the girls at all cost.” Maeve and
Fiona looked out the windows as they drove down a paved road through a dense
forest of trees. “We’re here,” Carlo
said and the girls focused their attention out the windshield.
They drove through a single
lane gate and the girls turned to see a chain link fence with barbed wire atop
it disappearing into the woods, after they drove another 500’ they passed
another gate with a similar chain link fence. The road widened to two-lanes with driveways
branching off leading to log cabin style homes tucked into the forest. After driving for several minutes, there was
a sharp bend in the road and Carlo pulled into a clearing next to a two story
house with cedar siding and dark green shutters. He turned to the girls and said, “This is the
Alpha’s house, the rest of the Pack live in the log cabin homes we passed. The large building to the right is the training
center, the official welcome will be held there and later we’ll have lunch
there between games. Stay close and
don’t go wandering off, when you have to use the restroom make sure you take at
least one adult with you.” The girls nodded
as they looked around with anxious yet excited expressions.
“We’ll stay with you and when
we’re playing, stay with the older boys,” whispered Gino. After SMP entered the training center, there
was silence from both Packs as the three Alphas walked forward to greet each
other with their Level 5 Betas at their side.
The SP Alpha was 6’1”, 220 lbs, closely cropped hair with piercing blue
eyes. The Level 5 Beta at his side was his
cousin and they closely resembled each other; he was 6’2, 240 lbs, his head was
shaved and he had blue eyes. Both men wore
hard expressions as their eyes raked over Carlo, Dante and their Level 5’s.
“Carlo, Dante,” Alpha Tristan
Legrand said with contempt in his tone as he flexed his hands. At the slight and implied threat, the four
Carlucci’s moved closer to their Alphas and stood straighter as they narrowed
their eyes staring down the Level 5 who tilted his head back and stared up at
them. “I see your legendary watchdogs
haven’t learned to heel or follow commands.
Are they at least house trained?”
“And I see you’re as arrogant
as ever Tristan,” Carlo responded as his eyes raked the other Alpha from head
to toe. “Even with all your training, I
doubt you’d be able to take them. Frank
and Joe are legendary for a reason; they can be either your greatest friend or
your worst nightmare.”
Tristan snorted and looked at
The Clan who had surrounded the girls.
His eyes focused on Sophia and Maria before looking at the Miller girls
with an unreadable expression on his face before turning his head to look at
the other girls surrounded by their brothers and intendeds. He turned to Carlo, Frank and Joe with a
broad smile covering his face as he said, “How the hell have you all been?”
Carlo didn’t relax as he
stared back at the Alpha. “We’re
fine…what the hell are you up to Tristan?
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you smile before.”
“I was hoping one of the
Carlucci girls would be the mates of one of my boys…” before he could finish,
Anthony and Alberto took a step forward and started to growl. “But I understand both have declarations made
for them. So instead of a mating
bringing both Packs together, we’ll do it the old fashioned way.”
“And what would that be?”
Carlo asked as he narrowed his eyes.
“Uniting against a common
enemy,” Tristan stated as an evil grin crossed his face. He turned to address both Packs, “The JV game
will start in 15, get ready.” The boys
from SP hurried to their locker room, while the boys from SMP looked to Carlo
who waited a few seconds before nodding.
Grabbing their gear they headed into the girls locker room while the
older boys spread out keeping the protective circle around their sisters and
intendeds. He looked at Carlo and said
in a low voice that only those near him could hear, “We’ll talk when the game
starts.” In a louder tone he said, “Let’s
head out to the field, we have refreshments set up.”
The stadium looked like a
typical high school football stadium; metal bleachers on both sides with a 4’high
chain link fence surrounding the field; off to the side were two small
buildings, one for refreshments, the other restrooms and on the home team
bleachers was a small press box. The
three Alphas and their Level 5’s were leaning on the chain link fence behind
the goalpost closest to the training center.
Frank narrowed his eyes as he watched Sophia and the JV cheerleaders stand
in front of the bleachers; their older brothers and intendeds seated on the
first row of bleachers watching over them protectively. Seeing movement from the training center,
they watched as both teams ran to the football field and five minutes later Frank
and Joe had proud smiles on their face as they watch Paulo, Enzo and Alonso
walk out for the coin flip. “Your boys
are growing into the spitting image of the two of you,” Tristan said with a
side glance to Frank and Joe. “I pity
them.”
Frank and Joe took a deep
breath and Carlo said in a promising tone, “You keep that up and I’m tempted to
let the half-time entertainment be you and your Level 5 against Frank and
Joe.” His eyes raked Tristan again from
head to toe, “Because you know if you and I go at it, there will be no
contest.”
“That’s one thing I’ve always
liked about you Carlo, you’re unflagging optimism,” Tristan said with another
side glance. “You’re going to need it.”
“What the fuck is up with him? I’ve never seen him like this,” said Frank as he scanned the bleachers of SP
members. His eye caught movement along
the ridge line and said, “They’re
patrolling the grounds in wolf form. Is
that for their protection, ours or something else?”
Carlo said to his Pack, “Be on alert. Aldo, I know you didn’t sense danger earlier,
has anything changed?”
“No Carlo, but I’m starting to get a sense of elation
mixed with relief. It’s an odd feeling,” Aldo responded as his gaze swept the stadium.
They watched the kickoff as
SMP elected to receive and Tristan glanced at Rainier ,
his Level 5 who nodded. “Everything can
be explained in one word…Charles,” Tristan said in a low even tone before
turning to look at his guests.
There was no visible reaction
from Carlo, Dante or their Level 5’s as they continued to scan their
surroundings and five minutes passed before Carlo said in a hard tone, “Stop
beating around the fucking bush. What
the fuck is going on?”
Tristan tilted his head and seeing
the hard glare leveled at him by Carlo he shrugged, “You know we’ve never been
allies with anyone. We prefer to handle
things on our own and follow our own path, though we follow the edicts of the
Alpha Council. Even with our
self-imposed isolation there’s one thing we’ve always known…If we ever needed
help we could count on you and your Pack.”
Carlo nodded and hearing the
cheers from SMP, he turned towards the field to see Vinnie’s oldest son Gary
catch a pass on the five yard line. “You’re
aware of the history between our Packs then?
Grandfather never told me, I discovered it when I read through my
Great-great-great Grandfathers journal.
It was never recorded in the Pack’s official records.”
Tristan nodded, “It’s been
passed Alpha to son for almost a hundred fifty years.” Seeing the confusion on the others faces he
continued, “In 1857, we were fresh off the boat from France determined to make
our way west when we got caught in a blizzard, more specifically a series of
blizzards and freezing Arctic winds called ‘The Cold Storm’. Our mates and young ones were starving and even
with us being wolves we were slowly freezing to death. One of your Betas found us while he was on
patrol and brought us to your Pack house.
Your Pack sheltered us, gave us food and never accepted repayment.”
Everyone was quiet as Sal ran
the ball from the 1-yd line scoring the first touchdown. “I received a call from Charles three weeks
ago asking for info about you and your Pack, I figured he wanted to do business
with you and was gathering intel to make a better deal. I never liked him so I told him to fuck off
and stay the hell away from my Pack,” Tristan said with a shrug. “When we received the email from Roberts
alarm bells went off when we realized why he wanted the information …he was
planning on attacking you and even though he’s getting ‘room and board courtesy
of the Council’ we don’t think it’s over.
Charles is a slimy bastard and I’m sure some of the people he associated
with are still out there following his orders. Make no mistake if he planned it then the
fight is still coming.”
Tristan stopped as they
watched the kicking team run out on the field.
“Nobody knows my daughter Madelyn had a declaration made by the Walker
Mountain Pack Alpha-heir so whether we want it or not, we’re now allies. This is important because the Swift Silver
Mine, purportedly lost for two hundred forty years is located on their
territory. They’ve known of the
existence and kept it quiet but are willing to allow us to mine the silver and
since almost all our men have military backgrounds we’ll have no problem
manufacturing the weapons we need.”
Tristan turned to Carlo and
then looked at Frank and Joe, “We may not have a formal agreement between us, but
we owe you our lives and the very existence of our Pack. We will stand by your side when the battle
comes to your door Carlo…Today is the day we start to repay our debt.”
“You need to know the full
details Tristan before you commit yourself and your Pack,” Carlo said as he
drew a deep breath. “Make no mistake
Tristan, it will be a battle for our very lives but most importantly for the
lives of our females…they are coming for them again.”
Tristan and Rain looked
shocked at Carlo’s announcement and Tristan drew a shaky breath as he said, “I
suggest you tell us what’s going on but first let me call the rest of my
Betas. With our military experience we
may have some insights you haven’t thought of.”
Carlo nodded and looked to the stands calling for his Betas. Within minutes the Betas of both Packs were
gathered around the three Alpha’s as Carlo told them what information they knew
and the whistle signaling half-time shocked everyone since they had been listening
intently to him. Glancing at the scoreboard
Carlo saw they were ahead by a touchdown and the men were quiet as they watched
both teams run off the field.
The SMP Cheerleaders took the
field first for their half-time routine and the men from SMP watched intently
with pride and love evident on their faces.
“Gentlemen that is what we are fighting for... the daughters of South
Mountain Pack, they are our future. We
lost our daughters once before and we made a vow it would never happen again. They will be protected even if it costs every
one of us our lives,” Carlo stared into Tristan’s eyes with a determined
look. “This isn’t your fight Tristan, we
would understand if you chose not to help.”
Tristan folded his arms over
his chest, followed by Rain and every one of his Betas as he said, “A hundred
fifty years ago, your Pack saved the lives of our ancestors and helped us
establish our Pack here in the mountains.
Sixty years ago, we fought by your side during the Were War because one
of the females killed was the intended of a Pack member.” He glanced at his assembled Betas before
turning back to Carlo, “Today, I offer an alliance between our Packs, not
because we have a debt of honor to be repaid but because it is the right thing
to do. As fathers there is nothing we
won’t do to protect our young.”
Carlo nodded and extended his
hand which Tristan shook, “I will accept the alliance and am grateful you are
willing to stand by our side along with Parr Ridge Pack and Rossi Pack in the
upcoming battle.”
For the first time Dante
spoke, “We must have a conference before we leave on Wednesday; we need to
formulate plans so everyone knows what to do.
I for one would like more information about the weapons you are
referring to.”
Tristan narrowed his eyes and
looked at Dante, “Still speaking with that big stick up your ass Dante? Every time I hear you I feel like I’m listening
to ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ on Masterpiece
Theatre.”
Dante slowly smiled as he
rolled his neck, “And every time I hear you I feel like I am listening to
Jethro from ‘The Beverly
There was silence as the men
continued to stare at each other until Carlo started to laugh, followed by
Frank, Joe, Ric and Rocco. “Good one
Dante. Frank, Joe, Rain do something
useful for once and break the men into groups according to their strengths,”
said Tristan as he tried not to smile. He watched the cheerleaders from SP finish
their half-time routine and minutes later the boys emerged from the training
center ready to start the second half.
The cheers, grunts, groans
and sounds of hard hitting were background music to the men as they discussed weapons
and training schedules though there were secrets SMP would not disclose; the
fact the girls had combat training, the family bond the Millers had established
and the location of their safe rooms.
There was only so much Carlo was willing to disclose and even though
they were now allies, the need for his Pack to safely escape if they failed was
the most important thing to him.
Tristan sensed Carlo was
hiding something and asked quietly, “You have an escape plan in place for the
women and youngsters?” Carlo didn’t
react for several moments and then shrugged.
A look of understanding came across Tristan’s face and he said, “We
learned in our former careers there’s a reason why things are classified ‘Eyes
Only’; 1- the less people know, the odds increase on its success, 2 - too many
people learn about things and secrets get out.
We’ll have our own plan ready because the most important thing is to
protect the younger generation, especially the Alpha-heirs and if things go
bad…well, I don’t need to explain that to you.”
Carlo nodded in understanding
and his eyes landed on Sophia as he felt a rush of paternal protection suddenly
crash over him. It was the first time
since Anthony had made his declaration that it happened and it shocked him; he
had always felt the Alpha bond with her and been protective over her as the
daughter of his best friend. This
feeling was totally different; almost as if the hole in his heart where his
beloved Angelica resided was finally being healed and he could let another female
in without betraying her memory.
Sophia sensed the change and
stopped cheering; turning to look at him she said softly, “Is it okay if I call you Dad? I
didn’t ask before because I didn’t think you were ready.”
“I…I would like that,” Carlo responded in a quavering voice. “I
haven’t told you before but I’m extremely proud that you’re going to be a
member of my family. I couldn’t ask for
a better mate for my son or a daughter to love.”
“Thank you, Dad,” she said as her eyes welled up with tears. Carlo smiled as he saw his son instantly
react to her tears; running to her and pulling her firmly against his side as
he waved the Carlucci boys back who were two steps behind him. He saw Sophia talking to Anthony and they
both turned to look at him, his son smiling in acknowledgement of what had
transpired.
A full two minutes passed
before Frank moved to his side and said in a joking tone, “Does this mean you’re
going to be paying half her expenses now?”
Carlo threw his head back and
laughed loudly drawing all eyes toward him as he threw his arm around Frank’s
shoulder. “I’ve seen the way she shops
Frank and I’d like the Rossi fortune to last a couple more years. As it is, I’ll probably have to add another
wing onto The Manor House for all her clothes and doo-dads and she’s got three
years to collect even more before she moves in.”
Before Frank could respond
cheers from the SP stands made the men turn towards the game to see SP score a
touchdown. After kicking the extra
point, they were up by 3 points with a little over two minutes left in the
game. “You mind if we watch the last
couple of minutes?” asked Rain as he glanced at his cousin. “I’m sure the youngsters would like to know
their fathers watched at least a little bit of the game.”
Tristan and Carlo nodded and
the men moved from their groups to lean on the chain link fence. Principal Richards’ son, Kevin, caught the kickoff
on the 17 yard line and made his way to the 30 before he ran out of bounds
stopping the clock with 1:35 left. SP
defense was made entirely of the largest sixteen year olds on their team,
hoping to overpower and intimidate Sal and Victor who were the only fifteen
year olds on the field. Little did they
know the youngest Carlucci’s had been playing Carlucci Golf since they could
walk and the thought of getting hit and tackled by older and bigger boys didn’t
even bother them.
Enzo looked at the Coach
before turning to his team, “We’re running a ‘Down and Out 20’. Sal, you’re blocking for Victor and Victor
get out of bounds to stop the clock.
They’ll be underestimating you because of your age, but they have no
idea of the speed you have so use that to your advantage.” They nodded and gave each other fist
pumps. “The rest of you guys keep them
off my ass. After we complete this,
we’ll no huddle and the next play is a ‘Hook 15’, Sal you’ll be catching,
Victor will be the decoy.” Everyone
nodded as he shouted, “LET’S GO.”
The boys lined up at the
scrimmage, Sal and Victor could feel butterflies in their stomach and did what
their older brothers told them; their ragged breathing evened out and the
sounds of the crowds faded as they zeroed in their concentration. At the end of the Snap Count Sal and Victor
took off down the right side of the field, they could hear the grunts and
groans as the two lines met and out of the corner of his eye Sal saw a
cornerback coming at them. Everything
seemed to move in slow motion as he lowered his shoulders and tightened the
muscles of his arms as he met the player with all the force he had in his 5’9”,
180 lb body. The cornerback
underestimating his strength and determination was knocked on his ass as Sal
and Victor continued down the field and Victor turned on his mark, a
half-second before the ball landed in his hands. Seeing no one around them he continued down
the field an extra twenty yards before he was knocked out of bounds. Turning around the first person he saw was
Sal who had finally been knocked down by two defenders.
“LET’S GO,” shouted Enzo as
they lined up at the scrimmage on the 30, with the defense scrambling to get in
position. The two youngest Carlucci boys
once again got into their mental zone and at the end of the Snap Count took off
running this time one on each side of the field. The defenders zeroed in on Victor since he
had caught the last pass leaving Sal alone to run down the right side of the
field. Enzo saw what was happening and
scrambled until he saw the movement of Sal’s shoulders turning as he ran into
the end zone and threw the ball where it landed right in Sal’s arms. The stands from SMP erupted in cheers and
Frank glanced at the clock, there was 18 seconds left, time enough for one more
kick-off and a possible play. The extra
point was good and the stands were quiet as the kick-off teams came out.
The SP receiver caught the
ball on the 22 and began to run but was met by a brick wall named Paulo. Since he was so quiet everyone tended to
overlook him, but he was Captain of the Special Teams and Defense for a
reason. He was methodical in his
thinking due to his computer background and could read an offense like it was a
computer program. By the time the
receiver realized Paulo was in front of him, Paulo had already stripped the
ball which was recovered by SP on the 10.
With only seconds left, SP lined every available receiver on the field
and Paulo knew they were going for a ‘Hail Mary’. Directing his players where to go, his eyes
scanned the field and saw a small opening between the Left Guard and Tackle;
smiling to himself he waited for the end of the Snap Count and barreled his way
through tackling the Quarterback on the 5 as the clock expired. Chaos erupted around them as he put his hand
out to help Tristan’s youngest son up and said, “Good game.” He ran off the field and was immediately
tackled to the ground by his teammates.
“Hell of a game boys. Get off Paulo before you smother him,” said
Coach JR as he laughed. After Paulo got
to his feet, JR threw an arm around his shoulders and said, “Great read on the
offensive line. You spotted their weak
spot and took advantage of it.” Glancing
around at the players, he shouted, “GO GET CLEANED UP.” The boys ran to the locker room with the
cheers from SMP ringing in their ears and Sal turned to look at Gabby who was
smiling broadly before turning around so he could see she was wearing his
hoodie. He was so intent on looking at
her he tripped over his feet falling to the ground taking several players with
him.
“What the fuck Sal?” asked
Alonso as he got to his feet. Seeing
Gabby staring at Sal with wide eyes as she tried not to laugh, he said, “Damn,
she’s beautiful. I wonder if she’d go
out with me.”
“Oh fuck,” said Victor,
Paulo, Michael, Enzo and Gino at the same time as Sal growled and whipped his
head around to glare at his friend. The
boys quickly moved to separate them and Enzo and Gino put their hands under
Sal’s arms and yanked him towards the locker room.
“Calm down,” said Enzo as Sal
was struggling to get away. “You know
Gabby likes you, though why none of us have a clue. Think about that when you two are sitting
together at lunch with her wearing YOUR hoodie proclaiming to everybody that
you two are together.”
Sal said angrily as he
continued to struggle, “Yeah, but I don’t like the way he was looking at her. Let me at him so I can rip his fucking head
off.”
“Really Sal? Isn’t he like one of your best friends?”
asked Gino as he began to smile. “I’d
say you were getting rather possessive over Miss Gabriella Moretti. Now turn around and wave at your girlfriend
so she knows you’re okay, she looks worried and you don’t want her upset, do
you?” Sal instantly calmed down and
shrugged off his brothers arms turning to wave at Gabby who held up white
poster board with his name and number in blue glitter.
Sal turned to his brothers
and said with a smirk, “I don’t see any girls holding a sign with your names on
it.” He caught up to Victor and the two
ran into the locker room, laughing and talking about the end of the game.
“Bastard,” said Gino as he
stared at Sal’s back.
“Fucking Bastard,” added Enzo
as he turned to look at his brother.
“But he’s right. He’s fifteen and
has an older girlfriend; we’re sixteen and have nobody.”
“You have me you bunch of
idiots,” said Damian as he whacked them both on the back. “Do you realize the rest of the team is
inside while the two of you are standing out here feeling sorry for
yourselves?”
“Fuck off Damian,” said Enzo
with a scowl.
“And there goes my favorite
name again. Come on; let’s go inside so
you can get cleaned up, both of you are rank,” Damian said as he walked with
his cousins. “Now that I think about it,
I think I’m going to get ‘Fuck off Damian’ tattooed on my arm as soon as I turn
eighteen. Maybe get a skull with a tear
coming out of one eye socket, a dagger through the other, a black rose in its
mouth with drops of blood coming off the stem with ‘Fuck off Damian’ in Crypt
Keeper font around it.”
“Are you fucking serious? Aunt Annie and Uncle Joe would go ballistic,”
said Enzo as he stopped walking to stare at his cousin.
“Hell no, but it stopped your
whining, didn’t it?” asked Damian with a smirk before realizing Caitlin wasn’t
by his side. He turned to look for her
aggravated because he told her to stay next to him and when he saw her he began
to growl; she was with The Clan, but two boys from SP were walking with her. What got him and his wolf upset was…she was
talking to them. “Son of a bitch,” he growled
walking towards them. When he reached
them, he growled at the boys letting his eyes turn amber as he said in a firm
voice, “I think it’s time you left.” Their
eyes got big and they hurried inside the training center. He reached inside his gym bag pulling out his
hoodie, “Wear this, at least those idiots will leave you alone if you carry my
scent.”
Caitlin smiled at his
possessive tone, “I told those guys you wouldn’t like it, but they wouldn’t
listen to me.” He didn’t answer just
shrugged as he glared at several other boys who were looking at her.
“Put this on,” Lorenzo said
in a commanding tone as he threw his hoodie at Erin .
Without giving her a chance he threw his
gym bag on the ground and pulled the hoodie down over her, trapping her arms
inside.
Thrilled to be wearing his
hoodie, but upset with his attitude she squealed, “You’re wrecking my hair and
I can’t move my arms.”
“Deal with it,” he retorted
as he pulled the strings of the hoodie leading her down the trail to the
training center while the girls giggled in the background. He could smell his aged leather scent on her
and his wolf started pacing back and forth throwing his head up. They were both agitated because they had seen
the looks the boys from SP had given her and they were glad for the excuse to
have her wearing his hoodie and more importantly carrying his scent. “When I’m playing, I want you to stay with
Paulo and Michael. And don’t take my
damn hoodie off.”
Lorenzo let go of the strings
and grabbed her hand feeling tingles race up his arm as he heard Erin gasp. It was
unlike anything he had ever felt before and his wolf stopped pacing and laid
down baring his belly. He said in a
gruff tone, “Whatever. Don’t leave my side,
stick to me like glue.”
She smiled at him and determined
to make him laugh, she said in a bright cheerful voice, “We’ll be like two peas
in a pod, peanut butter and jelly, jam on toast, cheese and crackers, salt and
pepper, hot butter on popcorn, milk and cookies.”
“You forgot one.” Lorenzo’s lips twitched as he tried to hide
his smile, but his emerald eyes had a twinkle in them as he said, “Like flies
on shit.”
“That’s disgusting Lorenzo,”
she slapped his arm playfully and he squeezed her hand as she started to laugh.
He smirked, “Deal with
it. Come on, I’m hungry.” Without saying anything else, he dragged her
to the training center where they immediately went to the side where SMP was
standing closely together. Following
their training, the girls were standing close to the wall with their
brothers/intendeds in front of them. It
was a clear message for the other Pack, if they wanted the girls; they had to
go through the men. Fifteen minutes
later, the JV teams joined them.
Laid out on several tables in
the middle of the room was a huge buffet; turkey, ham, roast beef, venison, hamburgers,
hot dogs, lasagna, mashed potatoes, Au Gratin’s, French fries, and all kinds of
salads – macaroni, potato, pasta and veggie.
Off to the side in front of a set of doors was a dessert table filled
with cakes, pies, puddings, cookies and fresh fruit. Dining areas on each side of the room kept
each Pack separate. Carlo looked at
Tristan and said in a sarcastic tone, “Are you trying to win the Varsity game
by putting the boys in a food coma? If
so, it won’t work, they could eat the whole fucking buffet and it won’t slow
them down a step.”
Tristan smiled and strode to
the front of the room and said, “The buffet is ready. As guests, SMP will go first.” Carlo nodded and each grouping came forward
in the order they were given by Joe; each grouping consisted of a family plus
intendeds so the boys wouldn’t feel any anxiety. The Rossi’s, Carlucci’s, Millers and
Moretti’s were last since they were the largest grouping. Dante and Carlo who were last in line were
joined by Tristan and his family and after the Alphas got their food the three
of them plus their Level 5’s went to a separate table in the front of the room
to continue their private conversation.
Carlo looked around the room. “I haven’t noticed any behavior from either
Pack indicating a possible declaration, have you?”
Tristan sighed, “No, I’m
hoping it’s the fact they’ve been kept separate. Unlike your Pack, our birth numbers are about
even, 55% male and 45% female, but we haven’t had many in Pack declarations
made in the last six months.” He turned
to Rain, “Is everything set for the ‘Meet and Mingle’?”
Rain swallowed before saying,
“Everything is setup on the patio. We’d
like them to get dessert and bring it there so they’ll be relaxed. Of course, only those who haven’t had a
declaration will go, we don’t need possessive mates getting upset if someone
looks at their intended.” Twenty minutes
later Tristan and Carlo stood up informing both Packs that all undeclared males
and females over fifteen were to get their desserts and go to the patio for the
‘Meet and Mingle’.
Gina
said to the girls, “All of you who
haven’t had a declaration made are to go out to the patio, even if you know who
you mate is. Maybe seeing others take an
interest in you will make their wolf take notice.” The girls nodded and were visibly excited
while their brothers looked pensive.
Dante sent Luc a message that
he was to go outside too. “Devo?” he asked as he set his drink
down. (Must I?)
“Sì, ho promesso alla Nonna abbiamo
pensato di provare e trovare il vostro compagno. Se non si riesce a trovare la
sua prima di partire, quindi sto valutando se non qui, è possibile visitare la
altre confezioni con Frank e Joe,” Dante turned to stare at
him. (Yes, I promised your Grandmother we would try and find
your mate. If you do not find her before
we leave, then I am considering leaving you here so you can visit the other
Packs with Frank and Joe.)
“I business in Italia, Dante. Vorrei
trovare il mio amico quando è il momento, non prima e non mi piace la pressione
tutti è messa su di me,” Luc responded with a frown. (I
have business to attend to in Italy
“C'è qualcosa che devi dirmi? Si sono
terribilmente difensiva,” Dante said narrowing his eyes. (Is there something you need to tell me? You are awfully defensive.)
“No, non c'è niente da dire,” said Luc with a sigh as
he felt his wolf begin to pace angrily. He sent a prayer to Luna and hoped his mate would
forgive him; he thought of the diamond necklace he bought for her when he
slipped away from everyone at the mall and hoped it would help when he begged
her forgiveness. Dante watched Luc rub his hands over his face and smiled
to himself. He knew why Luc was hesitant
and was giving him every opportunity to tell him, but damn the boy was
stubborn. (No, there is nothing to tell.)
Seeing
the youngsters get their desserts, the Alphas and Betas headed out to the patio
to supervise if a declaration was made. On the patio, the Packs stayed separate with
the youngsters staring at each other and after several minutes of this, Carlo
and Tristan grimaced at the awkward situation.
Carlo sighed loudly and said, “Girls from SMP form a line on this end of
the patio, boys from SP form a line on the other and walk past each other
slowly.” Seeing some of the girls had on
hoodies, he said, “And take your hoodies off.”
He wasn’t surprised hearing some low growls from the SMP boys and said
to Frank and Joe, “I think we’re going to
have some declarations soon in our own Pack.” As they walked past each other, the boys
sniffed deeply as the girls giggled quietly. After they were finished Carlo shrugged and
said, “Okay, girls from SP and boys from SMP do the same thing.”
Tristan
sighed loudly when they finished.
“Apparently no declarations will be made today.” The Packs separated and the girls put their
hoodies back on. He narrowed his eyes as
he saw a group of older girls approach the Carlucci boys.
“Hi
Damian,” one of the girls said with a flirtatious smile, batting her eyelashes
and tilting her head as she laid her hand on his arm.
“I’m Lorenzo, he’s Damian.” He nodded
towards his twin as he looked at her and felt nothing but annoyance. His wolf was pacing back and forth wondering
why this female who was not their mate was putting her hands on them. Thinking of who his mate could be, he
unconsciously glanced at Erin and seeing the
hurt look on her face, he shrugged the annoying females hand off him and took a
step back.
“Sorry,”
she giggled. “I noticed the two oldest
had mates and figured I’d come and say ‘Hi’ to the rest of you.”
Lorenzo
said in a snide tone, “Because we’re interchangeable? One Carlucci’s as good as the other?”
Knowing
how Lorenzo could rip somebody to shreds with his remarks, Damian stepped
forward and said smoothly, “That’s not true brother, obviously I’m the best
looking one out of all of us. You’ve
proven you’re the grouchiest and if you want to know about the rest of The
Clan…just ask. We all have strengths,
but as Carlucci’s we have no weakness…unless it’s a pretty girls smile.” He gave the group his best crooked half smile
and the girls began to giggle. He heard
Caitlin give an annoyed sigh and turned to her with a smirk on his face. Leaning down he whispered so only she could
hear, “I can’t help it if everyone likes me.
I’m cursed with charm, devastating good looks and a chiseled body that
is absolute perfection.”
Caitlin’s
eyes raked him from head to foot, “Gabby was right, you are full of crap Damian
Carlucci.” With that announcement she
turned on her heel heading back into the training room shaking with anger, Damian’s
laughter echoed her footsteps as he turned to her sister and winked before
hurrying after Caitlin.
Tristan
said quietly, “I think these mandatory ‘Meet and Mingle’ events are a big waste
of time and quite frankly, a pain in my fucking ass. I know Roberts wants the girls protected but
doing it this way keeps everyone on edge.”
“I
agree, but its Alpha Council orders,” Carlo said with a shrug. “You ready to start the game? I think everyone’s getting anxious.” Tristan nodded and the men strode into the
training area and Tristan announced the game would start in fifteen
minutes. Anthony, Alberto, Vin, Dom and
the other boys with intendeds scented their mates before grabbing their bags
and following the rest of the team into the locker room. Now that the ‘Meet and Mingle’ was over, the boys
were more relaxed and went back to the buffet table and demolished everything
that was left.
Fifteen
minutes later, the Packs were in the bleachers and the men were leaning against
the fence as the team Captains walked out for the coin toss, SP won and elected
to receive. Anthony, Vin and Alberto ran
back to the sidelines for last minute instructions from JR before the Special
Teams took the field.
“Anthony’s
the fastest, so his primary position is Wide Receiver,” Carlo said with a smile
as he looked at Tristan. “JR put him on
special teams because he’s having some aggression issues since his declaration,
this way he can get some of them out by knocking people on their asses.” He turned in time to see the receiver catch
the ball on the 22 and take a step before Anthony hit him so hard he flew backwards
almost fifteen feet before landing and skidding to a stop on the 3. Anthony ran to him and stood over him before throwing
his head back, clenching his fists and howling loudly. There was silence in the stadium as almost
everyone bared their neck submitting to the power radiating off of him. Carlo looked at Tristan and Dante and saw
they were struggling not to submit to Anthony’s power; he could literally feel
it in the air, it was rippling over the stadium like a heat wave.
A
minute went by before Anthony realized that not only his Pack, but the other
Pack had submitted to him. He nodded to them,
acknowledging it and ran to the sidelines as though nothing had happened. The Packs sat in stunned silence as they
watched him, awed by his physical power and his power as a future Alpha.
“Do
you want to tell me what the fuck just happened?” Tristan asked with a frown as
he stared at Anthony. Seeing movement on
the field, he saw the receiver slowly get up with the help of two players and
walk to the sidelines. “I’ve never felt
or seen anything like that before. The
power coming off him was so strong it took everything I had not to submit and
my wolf was almost cowering in fear.”
Carlo
turned to Dante and asked, “What did you feel?”
“Son
of a bitch, I know you said he was strong Carlo, but I had no idea he was this
powerful. I hate to say this, but I
agree with Tristan. I’ve never felt or
seen that type of raw power before and he has not even received The Ascension to
obtain his Alpha power,” Dante said in a near whisper as he continued to stare
at Anthony who wasn’t breathing hard and was laughing with his teammates.
Carlo
took a deep breath before saying in a quiet voice, “The thing that worries me
is I don’t think he used all his strength either. Frank and Joe said he’s been holding back in
training and I’d like to find out how powerful he really is.” He saw Gina staring at Anthony with a worried
expression on her face, “It’s okay, he’s
more powerful than we’d thought. We’ll
talk about it later.” He saw her nod
and turn to Rose and Annie and start talking to them again.
Rain
cleared his throat before saying, “In our Ancient Texts, there is a fable most
people probably aren’t aware of. It’s
called ‘Le Guerrier’ or The Warrior. I’d
have to read it again to get the correct wording, but it talks about powers and
a son who after The Ascension will be one of the most powerful who ever lived.”
Carlo,
Dante and their Level 5’s looked at him and Dante said, “We have a similar
prophecy ours is called ‘Il Guerriero e la fanciulla’ or The Warrior and the
Maiden. If you do not mind, could you
tell us the exact wording? I would like
to compare the two to see if there is anything in your prophecy that is
different than ours.” At Tristan’s nod,
Rain left the group heading to the basement of the Alpha’s house where the
Archive room was located.
The
men watched the game in silence and Carlo heard Tristan and his men gasp when
they saw how fast Anthony ran down field and caught the ball, easily knocking
defensive players out of his way as he scored a touchdown. “While we wait for Rain, let’s continue our
plans,” Tristan said and his Betas bought tables, paper and maps out. The two minute warning drew their attention
to the field; SMP had possession of the ball and JR had the second string on
the field led by Lorenzo as the QB. With
ten seconds to go they scored a touchdown, the extra point was good and the
first half ended with SMP leading 42 – 10.
The teams ran to the locker rooms while the SMP cheerleaders took the
field for their routine. The men turned
back to their plans and the noise of the boys returning interrupted them and
they turned to watch them run onto the sidelines. JR kept the backups in the game and the
Seniors plus Anthony were helping to coach from the sidelines.
“I
found it,” Rain said in an excited tone as he rejoined them. “Sorry, it took so long but its been years
since anybody’s been in that section of the Archive Room. The book is too delicate to bring outside, but
I made copies.” He handed copies to the
Alphas before giving copies to the others.
“My French is a little rusty so I ran it through a translation program
and that is underneath.”
Carlo
took a deep breath before he started to read:
Par
la grâce de Luna, le sort d'un fils et une fille de deux puissantes familles
permettra d'aligner pour la première fois depuis la naissance du Loup. Avec les
guerriers ecliptical la conception et la naissance, le transfert de ses
ancêtres pouvoirs collectifs commenceront. Sa portée aura lieu sous le regard
vigilant de Luna et il va réaliser que sa pleine puissance à une ascension
rapide Luna sous le regard. D'autres vont lui lance le défi, mais ils ne seront
d'aucune correspondance pour qu'il sera le plus puissant de vivre.
By
the grace of Luna, the fates of a son and a daughter of two powerful families
will align for the first time since the birth of the Wolf. With The Warriors ecliptical conception and
birth, the transfer of his Ancestors collective powers will begin. His mating will take place under the watchful
eyes of Luna and he will realize his full power upon an early Ascension under
Luna’s gaze. Others will challenge him
but they will be no match for he will be the most powerful to live.
There
was silence as the men deciphered its meaning and Dante told them the Italian
prophecy, “A son to a strong Alpha
shall be born and by the will of Luna he will mate with a daughter of an equally
strong family. His mating will bring
forth an early Ascension giving rise to his true power as one of the most
powerful to walk the Earth. He will
become the true leader of his kind and the blood of the two joined together
will usher forth a new age and peace will finally rule over the land.” He stopped as a thoughtful expression covered
his face before he said, “They are similar but the French prophecy has Celestial
references and we need to understand what they mean; ‘Under Luna’s gaze’,
‘Under the watchful eyes of Luna’, ‘Align’, ‘Ecliptical’. We need Paulo
and his laptop.” Carlo nodded and nobody
talked as Dante rubbed his temples before he looked at Carlo and asked, “What is the date and time of Anthony’s birth and day of
conception?”
“He
was born April 9, 1986 at 1:23 AM,” Carlo said as he stared at Dante. “As far as conception, I’m not sure of the
date, but it was the first day of Gina’s heat because I noticed a change in her
scent the following morning. I’ll ask
her.” Dante nodded and moments later
Carlo said, “Gina said it was November 12, 1985.” Dante wrote the information down and handed it
to Paulo and his fingers flew over the keyboard as he searched for the
information.
Dante took a deep breath and
appeared lost in thought before he turned to Frank, “When is Sophia’s
birthday?”
“August 9, 1988,” Frank
replied as he narrowed his eyes.
“So, she will turn eighteen
on August 9, 2006,” Dante said quietly as he wrote that down and handed it to
Paulo. Moments later, Paulo stopped typing
and pointed to the laptop screen. After
looking at the screen, Dante turned to Carlo and said quietly, “Son of a bitch,
it is all coming true.”
“What the fuck are you
talking about Dante?” Carlo said angrily as he moved to look at the screen.
“Your son was conceived and
born on the days of Solar Eclipses, when Luna is the most visible object in the
sky. Sophia’s eighteenth birthday, when
they will be allowed to mate is on a full moon,” Dante said in a reverent
tone. “We normally receive The Ascension
on our twenty-fifth birthday when we are deemed mature enough to handle the
powers given, but I think Anthony will receive his on his twenty-third
birthday, the same day as the Full Moon… April 9, 2009.”
The
men were quiet as they thought of the meaning behind everything Dante
said. “No one can know of this. Paulo, we need to discuss this further before
we tell the Pack,” Carlo said in a firm voice as Paulo nodded, he was used to
keeping secrets from the others since he was in charge of their Electronic
security. “If anyone finds out, he will
be in grave danger from those wanting to gain control of his power or not
wanting him to fulfill the prophecies and Soph…”
Before
Carlo could finish what he was saying, Frank broke in and said in a worried tone,
“Sophia will be in danger too. In order
for the prophecies to come true, he has to mate with her and she must bear his
young.” Both men looked at Sophia
laughing with her friends in bleachers.
Sensing their gaze on her, she turned to them and waved, a big smile on
her face when they waved back.
“Do you need me for anything else Alpha
Carlo? If not, I’ll go back so you can
finish your discussion,” asked Paulo and when Carlo nodded, he closed out the
programs on his computer and handed the papers to Dante. Carlo watched as he sat on the bleachers and
when his family turned to him he shook his head.
Tristan
nodded and said, “We won’t tell anyone Carlo.
I’ll give an Alpha Command to my men and they will do everything in
their power to protect them.” He turned
to his assembled Betas and gave the Command, and his men bowed their heads and
submitted their necks in acknowledgment.
“It
goes without saying my men will protect them and will not tell anyone,” Dante
said and Carlo nodded. Dante ran his hands
through his hair before he turned to the two Alphas and said, “We have an
Italian and a French prophecy, but I wonder if there are more out there and if
there are, what clues do they contain?”
Fifteen
minutes passed, the men silent as they watched the game without seeing what was
happening; they were too busy thinking about everything that had happened so
far that day. Rain broke the silence
when he let out a sigh and said, “One thing we missed when we discussed our
fable…” The men turned towards him as he
took a deep breath, “What does ‘the transfer of his Ancestors collective powers
will begin’ mean? Is it the strengths
that make them an Alpha, like physical strength, toughness, leadership and
intelligence? Or is it their individual
strengths like compassion, sensitivity and determination?”
Everyone
turned towards Dante who threw his hands up and said, “Do not look at me like I
have all the answers in the Universe. I
know I am the smartest man here, but that is not saying much considering the
intellect in this group.”
“Fuck
you and fuck your attitude,” Carlo said with a frown before he began to
laugh. “Considering the fact the ONLY
reason you got into Oxford
Dante
stood up straight, his back rigid as he said in a voice filled with contempt, “How
I got there is not important, the important thing is the Rossi Building
Ric
started to laugh and said, “If your honor is the foundation, they better get
some engineers there, because the damn thing is going to collapse.”
“Bah,
you are jealous because the only building named in honor of a Carlucci would be
an outhouse,” Dante retorted. They
started to argue in rapid-fire Italian complete with wild hand gestures as the
Italians gathered around them cheering.
“Do
they always argue like that?” Tristan asked with a look of concern.
“Unfortunately,
yes. They’ve been like this since we
were little ones,” Carlo replied shrugging his shoulders. “Right now, they’re arguing over something
that happened when they were eight.
Apparently, Dante ate the chocolate cannoli Ric wanted.” Seeing the look on Tristan’s face, Carlo
smiled, “You don’t come between a man and his cannoli, especially if it’s
chocolate.”
The
sound of the whistle signaling the end of the game stopped the argument and the
men glanced at the scoreboard which showed SMP won 72-28 and SMP stood in the
bleachers cheering. As the boys ran off
the field Carlo said, “While we wait for them to shower and change, we’ll
finalize our plans. I’ll call Savannah
Thirty
minutes later, everyone was in the vehicles while Carlo, Dante, Frank and Joe
said goodbye to Tristan and Rain. “Thank
you Tristan. Knowing you will be at our
side will be a tremendous help,” Carlo said as the two shook hands.
Tristan
nodded, “Let me know what Savannah
Carlo
nodded, “I’ll call Monday after I talk with her.” With one last handshake the men went to their
vehicles and their escorts led the way from Hillside House. The ride back to their territory was quiet;
the youngsters talking quietly about the game while the men told their mates
what had been discussed.
The
Millers, Carlucci’s, Moretti’s and Rossi’s pulled in front of the Millers
house. Everyone got out of the vehicles
and the Miller girls were ushered into the house by Holly, Nana Ellen and Papa
Mike. Under Frank’s watchful eye, Ant
scented Sophia and told her he would be at her house at 6:45 before leaving in
his Dad’s SUV. Alberto whispered to
Maria he would see her at Carmelo’s and glanced up to see Joe’s steely gaze on
them, swallowing loudly he scented her quickly before he got in his families
SUV and left.
Vin
asked, “Dad, you need us for anything?
We figured we’d stay here and go in the woods and start to mark which
trees we’re going to pull down tomorrow.”
Frank
shrugged and Todd said, “Fine with me.
It’ll give me a chance to get to know my son-in-laws better.” Vin and Dom glanced at each other remembering
their talk from last night. Todd smiled,
“Relax, I’m not going to kill you…yet.”
Frank
said in a firm voice, “Behave yourselves and don’t be a nuisance.” Vin and Dom nodded and ran in the house. He quietly said to Todd, “Keep an eye on them;
I saw the lipstick on their shirts last night.
Make sure they’re occupied; have them do yard work or help get the
property ready for winter.”
“Dad
and I noticed the wood shed roof was leaking the other day when it rained,”
Todd said as he glanced around the yard.
“I’ll go to the store and buy what we need and have them work on that
this evening to get it ready for firewood.”
Frank
said, “Give me about thirty minutes and I’ll bring roofing supplies over; we
have shingles, tar paper and roofing nails in the barn, no sense in buying it. And don’t worry about the boys, they know
what to do, they’ve been working for Triple C since they were sixteen.” He turned to his family, “Load up.”
As
soon as they were inside the house, Sophia, Maria, Rose and Annie ran upstairs. Knowing they wouldn’t have much time, their
dresses were hanging on the closet door, their shoes and pocketbooks underneath
and their accessories on the dresser. Annie
said, “Maria, let me wrap your arm so you can shower and let me know when you
need me to wash your hair then I’ll help you dress and do your hair.”
Rose
said, “Sophia, take your shower in my room to save time.” At 6:30, both girls were dressed. Sophia was wearing a pink with white
polka-dots sundress with a sweetheart neckline, a white leather belt, platinum
hoop earrings, multi-colored pink Swarovski bracelets, and pink low-heeled
pumps. Maria had on a light blue
strapless sundress with swirls of black, the skirt flaring out before it ended
above her knees, multi-colored blue Swarovski bracelets, matching earrings and
black low-heeled pumps. Noting the time
she said, “You both look beautiful. Come
on; let’s go downstairs so you can wait for Anthony.”
When
the girls walked into the kitchen, Frank and Joe looked them over from head to
toe and Frank said, “Put a sweater on, the top is showing too much.” Joe and the boys nodded, Rose and Annie
frowned and Sophia sighed before running upstairs to get matching sweaters for
the two of them. After they put on their
cardigans, Frank and Joe nodded in approval and Frank said, “Now you look
beautiful. Let’s go over the rules one
last time. Anthony’s in charge, if
anything happens you listen to him, your brothers and cousins. I don’t care what you’re doing, if they say
leave, you leave. Am I clear?” Both girls nodded.
“We’ve
had a talk with them,” Joe said turning to the Carlucci boys. “They’re not to interfere in your date unless
they sense trouble.” The boys nodded and
when Frank and Joe turned back to the girls, evil grins crossed their
faces. Sensing what they were doing Joe
turned back quickly and frowned at the expressions on their faces, “Boys, I’m
serious. Don’t ruin this for them.” The boys nodded but the twinkle in their eyes
made Sophia and Maria question their sincerity.
“Anthony’s here.” Moments later, Joe
was ushering him down the hall and Anthony stopped when he saw Sophia and
swallowed loudly.
“Damn,”
he whispered as he began to walk towards her.
“I ugh…you look beautiful. Here.” He quickly thrust a vase of daisies at her and
she squealed as the water splashed the front of her dress, she took a step back
and unused to wearing heels her foot slipped on the tiled floor. He grabbed her arm to steady her, upsetting
the precarious balance of the vase and it tilted, completely soaking the front
of her dress and the water pooled on the floor.
Hearing her gasp he let go, thinking he had grabbed her too hard and
without his support she slipped and fell on her bottom landing in the puddle. There was silence in the kitchen as the
Carlucci’s looked at Sophia before their gaze swung to Anthony, who was
standing their wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open. “Oh, shit,” he muttered as he quickly moved
to help her. “It’s not that bad, it’ll
uhmm dry in no time.”
Rose
quickly stepped forward and said, “Sophia, let’s get you cleaned up.” The four women went upstairs to help Sophia
change and the Carlucci men continued to stare at Anthony who sat at the table
with his head in his hands.
“What
the hell is the matter with me? That’s
three dresses I’ve ruined so far,” he moaned.
Hearing movement behind him, he saw Sal cleaning up the mess and put his
head back in his hands. “When I see her,
I lose my ability to think and I act like a bumbling incoherent idiot.”
Frank
patted him on the back, “Don’t feel bad, it happens to all of us. When Rose and I started dating, Carlo, Joe
and I were sent to Alpha Council for training.
When we got back, I went to her house barged in and tackled her landing
on the table, right on top of the food.
Now that was embarrassing, Pops wasn’t happy with me, and made me put a
new roof on the barn later that week.”
“I
dumped a tray of sandwiches on my mate,” added Rocco.
“I
dumped a tray of drinks on my mate when she smiled at me,” added Ric.
“I
dropped a hot fudge sundae on Annie,” said Joe with a smile. “Of course, I also licked it off of her, but
that’s another story.”
“Seriously
Dad? I’m going to have nightmares for
months with that visual,” Damian said as he shuddered and covered his face with
his hands.
Frank
looked at his brother like he was crazy before turning to Anthony and saying in
a firm tone, “If anything like that ever happens, I don’t want to hear about
it. Ever. And it better not happen before she’s fifty
and I’m too slow to catch you and beat you to death.” Anthony nodded with a horrified look on his
face as the boys grinned. “Sophia’s
almost ready, take a deep breath, calm yourself down and relax.”
Damian
looked at Anthony with a big smile, “Look on the bright side, the rest of the
date can only get better. You’ve already
ruined her special date outfit, dumped her flowers on the floor and got her new
shoes wet. The only thing left would be
to kick her puppy and luckily for you she doesn’t have one.”
“Fuck
off Damian,” was heard from almost every one in the kitchen as he threw his
hands up in the air.
Sophia
walked into the kitchen wearing a white printed sundress with small light
purple hydrangeas. She had on multi-colored
purple bracelets, earrings, and matching braided belt, low heeled pumps and
cardigan. “I’m ready,” she said as she
looked at Anthony who stood up and stared at her with his mouth open.
Seeing
the look on his face, Frank sighed, “Okay, here’s the seat assignment; Gianni,
Marcus, Enzo, Salvatore and Victor with Sophia and Maria; Lorenzo, Damian, Gino
and Michael with Erin and Caitlin. After
Carmelo’s; Gianni, Marcus, and Enzo with Sophia; Victor, Sal and Angelo with
Maria; Lorenzo, Damian, Gino and Michael with Erin and Caitlin. Questions?”
The boys shook their heads and Frank continued, “Tell the Millers we’ll
be there in an hour.” As they walked the
youngsters outside, Frank asked Paulo, “You sure you don’t want to go?”
“Nah
Uncle Frank,” he responded as he shook his head. “I’ve got a lot of stuff to do for Alpha
Carlo. I’ve got to break that password
and check the other programs I have running, with the game and everything today
I’m running behind.”
Joe
put his arm around his shoulder as they watched the youngsters pull out of the
driveway, “I know you have a lot to do, but remember you’re a teenager. When we go to the Millers, I want you to
relax and have some fun.” Paulo nodded
before heading back into the kitchen, grabbing a drink and sitting in front of
his laptop, his fingers once again flying over the keyboard.
At
the Millers, Anthony and Lorenzo pulled to the side of the garage, Lorenzo
would be leaving his truck there and his group would ride in Pat’s SUV. Looking around, Lorenzo said, “I see the two
asshats aren’t here yet.”
Michael
frowned, “I thought Pat and Bob were friends of yours.”
“That
doesn’t mean they’re not asshats,” replied Lorenzo with a frown.
As
they walked to the door, Todd motioned them inside, “Boys, there’s cake in the
kitchen; girls, you’re needed upstairs.”
Vin and Dom were eating large slices of cake and when the boys came in,
they got up and got them plates and drinks, as if it was their house. Todd smiled, knowing the boys were feeling
comfortable and considered themselves part of the Miller household. While they waited, they talked about the status
assessments which would happen Sunday evening.
The
sound of quiet chatter was heard before the girls appeared in the kitchen. Vin, Dom and Anthony immediately went to
their intendeds, and Anthony after relaxing with the boys was once again more
confident and said, “You look beautiful
and I’m sorry I ruined your dress and you had to change.”
Sophia
gave him a side glance, “It’s okay, and I
like those jeans on you.”
“Your brothers and cousins told me,
that’s why I wore them,” he answered and started to smile when he saw her
blush.
Maria
looked at her two oldest brothers and saw they were trying not to stare at Erin
and Caitlin. Lorenzo’s eyes were
flashing amber before he took a deep breath and stared at his shoes. Damian shoved his hands in his pockets and
let out a low whistle before tilting his head back and shutting his eyes. Maria turned to Erin and Caitlin and smiled
broadly letting them know their outfits had the desired effect. Erin had on
a white sundress printed with small sunflowers with a square cut neckline and
she paired it with a medium brown cardigan and matching flats. Caitlin had on a terra-cotta colored dress
with beige swirls and a rounded neckline, a beige cardigan and matching
flats. Knowing what outfits the girls
were going to wear, Sophia had brought over matching bracelets for them.
The
doorbell rang and Erin and Caitlin giggled nervously as Todd went to
answer. Moments later, Pat and Bob
Reeder walked nervously into the kitchen, their gaze going to Vin and Dom who
were standing behind Erin and Caitlin with
their arms crossed over their chests. The
two older boys raked them with their eyes and Vin said, “Respect them and treat
them right, if not you’ll answer to us.”
Pat and Bob looked at each other nervously before nodding their heads.
Todd
coughed to cover his laughter before saying in a firm tone, “Have them home
right after the movie. I already checked
what time it ends.”
Anthony
said, “We’ve got to go. We’ll have just
enough time to eat before the movie starts.”
The Millers, Vin and Dom watched from the porch as the youngsters walked
to the vehicles, the younger girls talking excitedly about everything that
happened that day with their uncles.
“I’m telling you we’re gonna
look like a bunch of fucking clowns,” Damian muttered as they walked to the Reeder’s
SUV. “Sixteen people in two vehicles,
why couldn’t we take more cars?”
“Will you shut the fuck up,”
whispered Lorenzo as he glared at Bob.
“This evening is going to be difficult enough as it is without you
ranting and raving.”
“I can hear you and this evening isn’t about the two
of you,” said Vin with a frown. “It’s
about the girls and making sure they have a good time and Erin
and Caitlin’ll be more comfortable if they’re in the same vehicle. You two are along as their protection detail
to make sure they stay safe, that’s it.
Is that clear?”
“Yes, Dad,”
both boys said.
When they got to their SUV, Pat
and Bob looked uncertain as to where the girls should sit. Bob said, “Pat’s got to drive cause Dad won’t
let me cause I got a ticket last week and I’ve got to sit up front cause I get
sick if I’m in the back.”
Lorenzo rolled his eyes and
said, “Erin, Caitlin, Gino you’ll be in third row, Damian, Michael and I’ll be
in the middle.” The girls shrugged and
Lorenzo and Damian helped them in the SUV while Pat and Bob got in the front
seats.
“I don’t know much about dating, but is this weird or
what? They didn’t even say hello to the
girls, didn’t bring them flowers, didn’t say they looked nice, didn’t help them
in the car, Pat and Bob are dressed in ripped jeans and t-shirts and they’re
not even sitting together,” said
Michael as he looked at his older brothers.
“It’s the weirdest fucking date I’ve heard about,
we’re dressed better than Pat and Bob,”
replied Lorenzo with a smirk as he adjusted the collar of his polo shirt. “I want
us to stay quiet and let them talk, get to know each other.”
“That’s going to be hard, they’re so far apart they
may as well as be in separate vehicles,”
Gino said from his position between Erin and Caitlin. He was trying not to crowd the girls
remembering what Sal said about Lorenzo’s earlier tirade.
Erin and Caitlin looked at
each other and shrugged, so far this date wasn’t going like the ones they’d
seen in the movies. Sophia said Anthony
brought her flowers and told her she looked beautiful, and Pat and Bob hadn’t
even said anything to them. Erin sighed loudly as she stared at Lorenzo’s broad
shoulders and wondered if his muscles were as hard as they looked; as if
sensing her gaze his shoulders tensed and he half-turned towards her and their
eyes met before he turned back.
“I wish we’d never agreed to this date,” said Caitlin angrily as she stared out the
window. “My wolf’s mad because we’re going out with somebody who isn’t our
mate. She wants him to make his declaration
and do it soon; she’s losing what little patience she has.”
“Cait, calm down.
Remember what Momma told us …until their wolf is ready to claim us, no
matter what we do, they’ll resist,” Erin said with a sigh.
“I can sense a change in Lorenzo,
he’s getting possessive and it’s making him moodier because he doesn’t
understand. I’ve seen his eyes turn
amber when he looks at me, that means his wolf is coming to the surface.” She turned and looked at her sister who
shrugged again and the ride to Carmelo’s continued in silence.
In Anthony’s SUV, the mood
was completely different. Sophia was in
charge of the radio and was switching stations until she found a song they
liked and they would sing along, often dissolving into laughter because none of
them could sing on key or they couldn’t remember the lyrics and made up their
own. They were currently singing, ‘Free
Fallin’ by Tom Petty at near ear-shattering levels.
“We sound awful,” Maria said
with a laugh as the song ended and the familiar notes of another started. “Leave it there; ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ is
one of my favorites.” Five minutes later
they were singing ABBA, the boys louder than the girls, as Ant pulled into the parking
lot where the others were waiting in silence.
Pat and Bob were the last
ones in the restaurant arriving in time to see Alberto scent Maria and they
squirmed as they heard him tell her how beautiful she looked as he gave her a
bouquet of light pink roses. “I told you we should’ve brought them
flowers,” said Bob as he glared at his fraternal twin.
“Did not. I
told you we should’ve dressed nicer, they look gorgeous and we look like slobs,
and you realize we haven’t talked to them, we look like idiots,” Pat retorted.
“I was waiting for you, you’re the oldest,” Bob said with a frown.
“By two fucking minutes, that doesn’t make me an
expert on women. How the fuck am I
supposed to know anything? It’s my first
real date too,” Pat said as he hit
his brother on the shoulder.
“If you two are done arguing, would you like to join
us? We’re already seated,” Anthony said as he looked at them from across the
room. “Alberto and I’ll help, we’ll talk about music, movies and other shit
so you can get to know them, okay?”
The boys nodded and sat at the table; Bob, Erin, Sophia and Anthony on
one side, Alberto, Maria, Caitlin and Pat across from them.
“Brianna and Morgan told us
about pizza and Antipasto,” said Erin
excitedly. “I’d like to try the Supreme
without mushrooms.”
“And I’d like to try Italian
Sausage with extra cheese,” added Caitlin.
“Uhmm, sure. Whatever you’d like,” muttered Pat as Bob
nodded. Gabby took their order as Carmelo and Angelo placed two Antipasto platters
on the table with fresh baked bread. The
Carlucci boys were seated at a table halfway across the room and already had
their order taken and were eating Antipasto.
There was silence after Gabby
left and Anthony looked at Pat and Bob who had their heads down as they quickly
ate. “Pat and Bob, have you thought any
more of what you’re going to study at college?”
Pat nodded and said, “Law
enforcement.”
“Same,” added Bob as both
brothers got quiet again.
Anthony sighed and thought
this was going to be harder than he thought.
He looked at Erin and Caitlin and said, “What are the two of you planning
to study?”
“I like Art, specifically the
visual design of stained glass and the story it tells,” Caitlin said with a
sigh. “Daddy found a store in Hagerstown
Anthony looked at Pat and Bob
who simply nodded, he sighed again and said, “I don’t think you’ll have a
problem with the classes, as long as you have someone with you. Phil might like to take them; he’s very
creative and artistic.”
“He said he’d go to class
with me and when I start designing, they’ll carry them in the store,” Caitlin
said enthusiastically. “He said there’s
lots of fairs where I could set up a booth and sell them on weekends; I think
that’d be a lot of fun.” Damian looked
up from his food and stared at her, he felt his wolf’s agitation as he paced
back and forth as they wondered how many boys would be around her.
“Matt said they have a booth
for their store and that it’d be a good idea for us to have one to drive
business to the bakery,” added Erin putting her head down to hide her smile as
she heard a low growl.
“What the hell was that?” asked Gianni as he looked at Lorenzo.
“I was clearing my throat,” he answered with a frown. He had no idea what made him growl, maybe it
was because he was assigned to protect her, but the thought of her being
friendly with other boys didn’t seem right to him or his wolf. “Where’s
the fucking pizza, I’m starved.” He
looked around the table and seeing Victor still eating his Antipasto, he took
the Genoa Salami off his plate while Victor tried to stab him with his
fork. “You’ve got to be quicker baby brother.”
Sal watched Gabby as she
walked around the restaurant; taking orders, filling drinks, serving food,
laughing with customers as they paid and every time their eyes met, she would
smile and his heart would start to race.
Angelo walked by the table and said, “Pizza’ll be out in five, and stop
pervin’ on my sister.”
Sal’s mouth dropped open and
the boys began to laugh but stopped abruptly when a group of ten boys walked
in. “Fuckin Weaver,” Lorenzo said narrowing
his eyes. He stopped walking when he saw
the Carlucci’s then his gaze landed on Anthony’s table; he nodded to them before
leading the way to his table. Sal watched
as Gabby went to get their drink order and growled low in his throat as he heard
one of the guys with Weaver flirt with her and ask her out on a date.
“Thank you, but I have a
boyfriend,” she replied a little louder than necessary before turning and
waving at Sal, who automatically waved back.
“You’re going out with the
baby Carlucci?” Weaver asked with a laugh.
“Is he even old enough to drive?”
“Harry, you know his name is
Salvatore, and he’s old enough for a LOT of
things,” Gabby snapped and went behind the counter to place their drink
order.
Sal got up, shrugging Victors
hand off his arm as he went to talk to Gabby; hearing the snide comments from
Weavers table he stopped. “Leave my
girlfriend alone,” he said in a low menacing voice. “I may be young, but I can still put ALL of
you down. Keep that in mind the next
time you look in Gabby’s direction.” The boys at the table sat up straight as
they looked at Sal, who was suddenly flanked by Gianni, Marcus, Lorenzo and
Damian.
Angelo made a move to join
them and Carmelo stopped him saying, “Let
Sal handle it. If he is Gabby’s mate,
his wolf won’t like you interfering.” Angelo
nodded, not happy but he understood what his father was saying.
Sal clenched his fists as
Weaver stood putting his hands up, “Sorry dude, we didn’t mean anything by
it. Gabby’s a good looking girl and you
can’t blame anyone for wanting to go out with her.” Sal looked at Weaver until he lowered his
eyes then did the same to each boy at the table, making them submit to him.
He took a step towards Weaver
and said quietly, “A little bit of advice from the baby Carlucci…learn some
courtesy and respect. If you don’t,
you’ll always be looking for someone instead of having someone. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to make
sure my girlfriend is okay.” He walked
away without looking back, his wolf still agitated but proud they had defended
Gabby.
Lorenzo said in a nasty tone,
“I guess that’s the end of that Weaver.
Vin and Dom told us what happened last night; we’ll see you in two
weeks.” The four Carlucci’s went back to
their table where their pizzas were waiting.
“Sal handled himself well. He’s really getting possessive of Gabby.” They turned to look at Sal who was holding
Gabby against his side as he whispered in her ear. Minutes later, they heard one of the cooks
holler an order was ready and Gabby kissed Sal on his cheek before pulling away
and going into the kitchen.
Sal sat down and stared into
space for several minutes before looking at his pizza and said, “Who the hell ate half my pizza? I’m starving.”
“You snooze, you lose cousin. You’re lucky we didn’t eat all of it,” said Damian as he finished his last slice. “And don’t
worry about it stud muffin; we’ll get snacks at the movies. Now hurry up, it won’t take them long since
only Ant, Alberto and the girls are talking.
Pat and Bob haven’t said more than ten words the entire evening, which
is unusual because normally they won’t shut up.”
“And how would you know? You talk so fucking much it’s a wonder
anybody can say anything,” retorted
Lorenzo as he snagged a breadstick off Enzo’s plate. “Hey
Ant, you got any pizza left over there?
We’re still hungry.”
“Yeah, there’s almost two whole pizzas left, you can…”
before he could finish, the boys were
at their table and grabbing slices of pizza off the trays and the girls
plates. They didn’t even bother going
back to their table, just stood over them as they finished the rest of the
food.
“You all are a bunch of
vultures,” Maria said with a frown.
“With bad table manners,”
added Caitlin with a scowl.
“Now that’s an interesting sentence…do
vultures have manners?” Damian asked as he took Caitlin’s drink out of her hand
and emptied it before handing it back to her.
“Seriously, how polite do they have to be? Since their only purpose is to feed on the
carcasses of dead animals. Do they lay
down linen napkins and tablecloths before they start feasting? Or do they politely take turns as they’re
ripping pieces of meat off something lying dead in the road? Maybe they burped without saying ‘Excuse me’.” He let out a large burp drawing the attention
of most people in the restaurant but seeing his crooked smile, they smiled in
return.
Caitlin tried not to laugh as
she said, “You’re disgusting.”
“I know,” he replied with a
grin as he reached down and took the pizza out of her hand. “But my charm and good looks more than make
up for it.”
Holly welcomed the Carlucci’s
and minutes later they were on the patio where drinks and appetizers were waiting. Vin and Dom were on the wood shed roof
replacing the plywood and the girls were learning defensive moves with Matt
demonstrating and Phil, Todd and Papa Mike adjusting their stance and arms. The Carlucci men watched for several moments
before Frank had Paulo demonstrate so each man had one girl to focus and he
walked around supervising, low murmurs were heard as they offered encouragement
and advice. What they didn’t realize was
the many ways they were helping the girls; giving them confidence that they
could defend themselves, helping build their self-esteem and most important of
all - wiping the memory of what they endured in their previous Pack at the
directive of the males and replacing it with the loving caring nature of males.
“They’re really good with
them,” Holly said as Joe stood behind Fallon moving her left arm in a swinging
motion while bringing her right arm up to protect her head. After doing this several times, he had her do
it on her own while he stepped in front of her, making adjustments but always
offering encouragement.
“They’re tougher on the boys
but the girls get the same training, just in a different manner,” Annie said
with a shrug. “It’s in their nature to
protect and nurture them, so when they train the girls, they’re more patient
and speak in a quiet tone.”
“But they get the same
results,” added Rose smiling at Fiona and Maeve who were working with Matt and
Phil. “Looking at them now, in a couple
of months you won’t believe what they’ll be capable of.”
Holly sighed and took a deep
breath before saying quietly, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to hurt let alone
kill anyone when the time comes.”
Rose and Annie swung their
gaze towards her and Rose said quietly, “None of us knows what we’re capable of
until the times comes.” She looked at
her family with a determined look on her face, “But I know if somebody tried to
hurt my family, nothing on this earth would stop me from killing them.”
Annie nodded, “I wouldn’t
hesitate to kill anybody that threatened what belongs to me. They made the choice to attack us and we’ll
fight them, until our last breath.” The
sisters looked at each other, knowing if anything happened to one of them, the
other would raise their family like their own.
“I’ll try my best on Tuesdays
to learn everything you teach me. I need
to focus on the fact it’s them or us,” Holly said in a determined voice. She stopped talking as she looked at her
daughters before saying in a voice laced with steel, “More importantly it’s
them or my daughters and no one will hurt my daughters.”
Rose raised her glass and
said in a low voice, “To family.” The
women clinked glasses and saw Frank and Joe look around the side of the house
and turned to watch Gina, Carlo and Dante come around the corner.
“I’m sorry we’re late, but
Dante got a call from someone in his Pack and had to deal with that,” said Gina
as she looked at the women while Carlo and Dante went to help with the girls. “He wants to talk to us in private without
the youngsters.” The women looked at her
and she shook her head, “He didn’t tell us either.”
“We missed the start time for
‘Freaky Friday’, but ‘S.W.A.T.’ starts in fifteen,” said
Anthony as he tried to hide his smile. He saw the expression on Sophia’s face and
said quickly, “It wasn’t my fault. Maria
asked Gabby if she wanted to join us and we had to wait on her. Come on, let’s get tickets, then get some
snacks.”
“You ugh, want something?”
muttered Pat. Erin and Caitlin nodded
and followed him to the snack bar where they ordered popcorn, a drink and Juju
Beans.
Five minutes later each
Carlucci boy had a tray with a large tub of popcorn, large drink, four hot
dogs, cheese nachos and several candy bars.
Erin and Caitlin gasped when they saw all the food and Lorenzo said,
“What? The movie’s almost two hours,
we’ll starve to death before it finishes.”
“Let’s grab our seats,” said
Anthony carrying his and Sophia’s snacks.
The small theater which only had forty seats was empty and the four
couples sat in two rows in the middle, while the Carlucci boys and Gabby sat in
the back.
“I ugh, did you like the
pizza?” asked Bob without looking at Erin .
“Yes, it was really
nice. Different than what we’re used
to,” she said with a smile. “Thank you
for asking me out, I’ve had a good time so far.”
“I ugh don’t want to sound
like a perv or anything, but do you mind if I scent you?” he asked as he
blushed bright red. “I want to find my
mate really bad and so far I’m not getting anything. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m nervous or
if your scent is being overpowered by everything around us.”
“Did your wolf do anything?”
she whispered as the coming attractions started to play, preventing anyone from
hearing her.
“I got nothing; he basically
yawned. Now that I know you’re not my
mate I’m not nervous anymore and I can relax and be myself,” Bob whispered as
he heard the growl again. “I think
Lorenzo likes you and might be your mate.
Did you hear him growl when I scented you? And he’s still growling because I’m
whispering in your ear. He watches you
all the time; I noticed that the other day.
Plus he acted really possessive of you today at the football game.”
“You really think he’s
jealous?” Erin asked with a smile.
“Yeah, I think he’s
boiling. He’s a good friend of mine and
one of the reasons I was so nervous tonight was I wasn’t quite sure what his
reaction was going to be. I’m not sure
if you’ve noticed or not, but he’s a huge pain in the ass,” he whispered in her
ear and smiled when he heard her giggle.
Sitting back, he watched the screen for a few minutes before whispering
in her ear, “Hey, I have an idea but I don’t know if you would want to do
it. It’s not very nice and he’d get
really upset with us, but he’s such a dick…ugh I shouldn’t have said
that…anyway he deserves it.”
A playful smile crossed his
face and he waited until the movie was loud before he whispered, “I think we
should flirt, I’ll put my arm around you, scent you, whisper in your ear, you
smile at me, put your head on my shoulder, things like that. I think it’ll drive him nuts for you to be
close to another male. What do you
think? Is it too much?” Erin was
laughing so hard she couldn’t answer but managed to nod and Bob whispered, “I
can see him out of the corner of my eye and he’s watching us, not the movie. You ready?
I’m going to put my arm around you, scent you and whisper in your
ear. Okay?” Erin nodded
while she tried to stop laughing.
When Bob was sure he had
Lorenzo’s attention, he brought his arm up and placed it on Erin ’s
shoulder. He heard a loud growl and Erin began to giggle as he whispered, “You hear him?” Bob kept talking, telling her about his
family and that he hoped she would be good friends with his sister Emily. She smiled at the pride in his voice as he
talked about her plans to become a veterinarian. He glanced at Lorenzo before scenting her
hair and kept scenting her as the growls got louder. “Next time it’s quiet, say something that’ll
annoy him.”
“What the fuck is the matter with you? Why do you keep growling?” asked Marcus as he looked around trying to find out
what was setting Lorenzo off.
“You don’t see what’s going on? He’s practically molesting her,” Lorenzo answered with a snarl. “And
she’s sitting there giggling like an idiot and telling him how good he looked
in his fucking football uniform.”
“You’re losing your fucking mind, he’s not molesting
her. They’re laughing, so let them be,” Damian said with a grin. “And
stop the fuckin growling. The manager’s
gonna call Animal Control cause they’re gonna think a dog’s loose in here.”
Lorenzo slumped in his seat, watching
Erin while everyone else watched the movie. Fifteen
minutes passed and he got angrier and angrier, his wolf was no longer pacing
but running as if trying to break free, his eyes were amber and the hair on his
arms was growing longer. He heard a loud
giggle and said, “THAT’S IT, I’M GOING TO
MOVE BEHIND THEM.” He tried to get
up but Damian threw his hand over his chest from the right while Gianni threw
his over from the left.
“Sit your ass down, you’re acting like a jealous
possessive mate,” Marcus said as he turned
to look at his cousin. Seeing the scowl
on his face and feeling his anger, he burst out laughing, “Face it Lorenzo, it’s time to shit or get off the pot. She means something to you, so you need to
deal with it. Until you decide to man
up, leave the poor girl alone and let her enjoy her date…the date that she’s on
with another male… an UNMATED male who is holding her, scenting her and
whispering in her ear while she enjoys it.
And from the looks of it, she’s REALLY enjoying it.”
“SON OF A BITCH… TAKE THAT
BACK,” Lorenzo yelled, throwing
Damian and Gianni’s arms off and launching himself at Marcus who was sitting
four seats away. Sal seeing what was happening
grabbed Gabby and pushed her out of the way.
The four couples turned to see what was going on and Anthony, Alberto,
Pat and Bob went to help as it dissolved into a free for all in the back of the
theater.
Ten minutes later, the girls
were leaning against the seat backs as they watched them and Gabby said, “This
is boring, I’ve run out of popcorn.”
“Have some of mine, I’ve got
Juju Beans too,” said Caitlin with a smile.
“I can’t believe they’re
still fighting,” said Erin as she took a sip
of soda.
“I can…they’re idiots,” Maria
responded as she rolled her eyes before she picked up Alberto’s tub of popcorn. “What set them off this time?” Seeing the look of guilt on Erin ’s
face, Maria’s eye lit up. “Spill.” The girls moved close together as Erin told them what she and Bob had done. The girls put their hands over their mouths
to hold in their laughter and Maria had a twinkle in her eye, “He deserves
it.”
After another ten minutes,
Sophia said, “We’ve eaten all the snacks, we have no idea what’s going on in
the movie and we’re bored. You all ready
to leave?” The girls nodded and she
whistled loudly, stopping the boys instantly.
“Let’s get out of here. Damian,
you know what to do.” She spun on her
heel and they followed her out of the theater.
They waited in the hallway while Damian went to the office explaining
they had an issue in the movie; he gave the Manager $500 to help with the
cleanup and a Triple C business card if the damages exceeded that. The lobby was quiet as people stared as the
girls led the way while the boys followed two steps behind with black eyes,
split lips, torn shirts and covered in bruises and food.
As they stood in the parking
lot, the boys shook the food off as the girls stood away so they wouldn’t get
dirty. “What should we do now?” asked
Caitlin with a smile.
“I wanna go home and take a
shower, I’ve got soda running down the crack of my…well, someplace it shouldn’t
be,” said Damian with a smile. “I say we
go back to the house, get cleaned up then figure out what to do.” Everyone climbed into the assigned vehicles
and Bob gave Erin and Caitlin a blanket to wrap around them so they wouldn’t
get dirty sitting next to Gino.
“Dinner was delicious Holly. I’m glad we were able to save the steaks
after the fire was put out,” said Gina as she helped bring in plates from the
patio.
“I’m surprised the men let
Matt near the grill,” Annie added with a laugh.
“Did you see the look on their faces when they saw the flames?” The women looked out the patio doors as the
men drank beer and watched while the girls practiced with Paulo and Vin and Dom
shingled the roof.
“I really want to know what
Dante found out, and if it has anything to do with what happened at the game,”
Holly looked at Gina with a thoughtful look on her face. “I’ve never felt that kind of power before,
he had the whole stadium submit to him and he wasn’t even trying.”
Gina sighed loudly as she
said, “We’ve always known he was powerful, but seeing it like that was totally
unexpected and he hasn’t even come into his gifts yet. I worry if he’ll be able to handle all the
power and responsibility that comes with it.”
“He’s always been mature,
responsible and level headed… except where it concerns my daughter,” said Rose
as the two women smiled. “Sophia is
mature for her age, responsible, a fierce fighter, detail oriented, able to
withstand pressure, but most of all she’s a calming influence…she’s had to be
considering the twelve heathens she’s put up with since the day she was born. They’ll make a good Alpha pair; they’ll
enrich each others strengths and overcome their weaknesses.”
Gina started to laugh and
said, “I notice you didn’t say anything about her having a bad temper. She’s part Vitti, and I know the temper you
have.”
“That was a given, us Vitti’s
are legendary when it comes to our tempers, it puts Frank and Joe’s to shame,”
said Rose with a shrug. “I’m afraid the
combination of Vitti and Carlucci tempers has given all of our youngsters a
horrible temper, but on the plus side it brings out their forgiving side too.”
They pulled in front of Frank’s
house, and after the youngsters got out Lorenzo looked at Pat and Bob and snarled,
“The date is over. Go home.” He grabbed Erin
by the hand and dragged her towards the house while the boys stared and the
girls hid their smiles. After unlocking
the door and punching in the code he continued to drag her into the kitchen
where he pulled out a chair and ordered her to sit. He took a deep breath and stared at her
before waving his arms in the air and shouting, “WHAT THE FUCK IS THE MATTER
WITH YOU?”
Upon hearing him holler, the
youngsters hurried into the house while Marcus kept Pat and Bob outside saying,
“It might be better for the two of you to leave. Seeing you around Erin
will probably set him off again.”
Noticing the smile on Bob’s face, he started to laugh, “You did all of
that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I did. I heard him growling whenever I got close to
her, and I saw the way he’s been looking at her. I figured he either liked her or was her mate
and decided to have a little fun. What
are friends for, if not to torment the hell out of each other,” Bob said with a
smile.
“Well, it was entertaining as
hell, we haven’t had a good brawl in weeks,” replied Marcus as they gave each
other fist bumps. “I’ll see you guys
tomorrow evening at training. Oh, and
Bob, you’d better hope you don’t get partnered with Lorenzo.” He watched them pull out of the driveway
before going into the house, setting the alarm and as he walked in the kitchen
he saw Lorenzo standing over Erin continuing
to rant while the youngsters stood there with amused expressions.
“What the hell Lorenzo? She’s not responsible for all of that. She wasn’t even part of the Pack when you got
in trouble for breaking curfew or shattering the window in your truck. I said it before, hell we’ve all said it
before, but you’re losing your fucking mind,” Marcus said before he started
laughing.
“That’s not the point I’m
trying to make. My point is…fuck, she
has me so fucking confused I don’t even know what my point is anymore,” Lorenzo
said as he threw his hands in the air. Erin smiled which set him off again, “You think it’s
funny? It’s not fucking funny, none of
it is. You’re too good for him, he
didn’t talk to you, he didn’t tell you how beautiful you looked, didn’t bring
you flowers, didn’t treat you the way you deserved. And you’re giggling like an idiot while you
let him SCENT you. Why? Why would you do that? You deserve so much better.”
“If your mate doesn’t realize
who he is, then he’s the biggest fucking fool on this planet and a gigantic
ass,” he snarled. “Anybody would be
lucky to have you as a mate; you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,
you’re smart, sweet, funny and you dress nice.
He’s got to be the biggest fucking idiot around.” He stopped talking and looked at her and felt
his wolf snarling and pacing again, “I’m going to ask Dad and Uncle Frank to
change the protection detail. I can’t
deal with this anymore and I don’t want to be around you right now.”
The youngsters watched as he
strode down the hall, anger radiating off him in waves and Anthony said, “What
the fuck was all that?”
The girls ran over to Erin
who was crying, “He really hates me.
What did I ever do to make him hate me so much?”
“Go get showered and
changed. We’ll take care of her,” Sophia
said in a firm tone. The boys quietly
left the room, and once Sophia was sure they were upstairs, she ushered the
girls to her mothers sitting room and closed the door. She handed Erin
some tissues and Caitlin held her twin as her tears slowly stopped.
“He doesn’t hate you Erin, I
know he doesn’t,” whispered Maria as she moved to Erin ’s
other side. “He’s really stubborn and
right now he’s so confused by what he’s feeling for you that he’s lashing out.”
“Was it like that for you and
Sophia?” she asked with a hiccup.
“No, but we knew Alberto and
Anthony our entire lives. They had time
to develop their feelings; with you and Lorenzo it’s been really fast. Brianna and Morgan were lucky because Vin and
Dom were ready to find their mates and Lorenzo…well…he’s Lorenzo and totally
different,” she responded.
“He said some really nice
things about you, concentrate on that instead of the end of his little rant,”
added Gabby with a smile.
“He did, didn’t he?” asked Erin as a smile crossed her face. She took a deep breath and said, “What do you
think I should do now? I’ve tried
ignoring him and we’ve had the debacle of him seeing me with another male.” The girls thought for several minutes and
came up with another plan for both Erin and Caitlin.
The boys got their clothes
and went to the pool house to shower and change; there was a large shower,
reminiscent of a locker room and it would be easier for all of them to shower
there. Lorenzo still had an angry
expression on his face and after several minutes Ant said, “You want to talk
about what happened?”
“Not really,” said Lorenzo
angrily before he sighed. “She just
makes me so mad and irritated that I don’t know what to do and then I get mad
and holler at her.”
“You made her cry again,”
said Gianni with a frown.
“Oh fuck, I didn’t mean to
make her cry again,” he said putting his hands on the tiled wall as his head
fell down. “Was she really crying or
just tearing up?”
“Big fucking tears running
down her face, eyes all red and puffy, hiccupping…the whole works,” added
Angelo with a frown. “What are you going
to do to make things right? We were
raised with the same set of principles Lorenzo and what you did was wrong and
you know it.”
Lorenzo started to hit his
forehead on the tile as he said, “I know.
It was wrong on so many levels that I don’t know where to start.”
“You can start by apologizing
and being nicer to her. She didn’t do
anything wrong, you over-reacted to a harmless bit of flirting,” Ant said in a
firm tone. “You also ruined the girls
first date, something they were looking forward to and will remember the rest
of their lives.”
“Fuck, I wasn’t thinking of
the rest of them, I was only thinking of Erin . I always seem to be thinking about Erin lately. It’s
like even when I’m trying not to think of her, I’m still thinking of her. When I’m not with her, I’m wondering if she’s
okay and what she’s doing,” he turned around and slid down the wall, putting
his head in his hands. “Seeing Bob with
his arm around her and scenting her…I wanted to rip his fucking head off. He’s lucky he didn’t try to kiss her; I know
I would have lost it. Bob’s my friend
and I want to kill him for touching her.
That’s why Dad and Uncle Frank have to take me off this detail, I can’t
think straight any more. It’s driving me
nuts cause I don’t even like her.”
Ant and Alberto looked at
each other and Alberto said, “Could he
really be that dense? He’s feeling all
this for her and doesn’t realize she’s his mate?”
“He doesn’t realize he’s saying the same things we
were about our mates and the issues we had,” said Ant and saw Gianni about to say something and shook his head. He opened the link to include the boys except
for Lorenzo and Damian, “They’re
obviously mates and what he’s feeling is the mating pull. He’s so fucking stubborn he won’t listen to
anybody and he needs to figure it out on his own and until he accepts it, he’ll
be more and more miserable.” He
turned to Damian and watched him as he was muttering something about Caitlin
and continued, “I also think Caitlin is
Damian’s mate. If you look under the
smart ass remarks and attitude, he’s extremely possessive of her, listen to him
over there rambling.”
“…and Caitlin didn’t let Pat
scent her, but he was sitting entirely too close to her,” Damian said with a
scowl. “And did you see all the guys
from SP looking at her, or Weaver and his group of dickheads? I know she’s beautiful, but they were acting
like they’ve never seen a beautiful girl before. What a bunch of fucking idiots. Now that I think about it I don’t think
either of them should go on any more dates.”
He stopped talking and rinsed the shampoo out of his hair.
Enzo asked, “Are you going to
tell us why?”
“They’re too young, they
should wait until they’re in college or something. It’s disturbing to see them with other guys,”
he shrugged as he stepped out of the shower and started to dry off. “Lorenzo’s right …fuck…that’s something I
never thought I’d say. Anyway, they
deserved a lot more out of their first dates.”
Michael said, “What about the
other girls, and their first dates?”
“Who?” Lorenzo responded with
a blank stare.
“Sophia and Maria, you
fucking idiot,” retorted Ant with a scowl.
“Remember them?”
Lorenzo finally stood and
moved under the warm spray rinsing the nacho cheese out of his hair. “I know who the fuck they are. Erin ’s got
my mind so fucked up right now that I wasn’t thinking straight and was a little
confused. But you’re right; we need to
make it up to her…to all of them. How
about we go to Fred’s and get some ice cream?
That’s one of the things Erin wanted to
do.”
“Sounds good to me. I’m getting hungry anyway, since we ended up
wearing the snacks instead of eating them,” said Anthony as the boys finished
their shower and got dressed.
Frank hung the phone up and
scowled, “That was the manager of the movie theater. Apparently our youngsters got into a fight and
left such a mess the manager had to close the one theater down while it got
cleaned. They left $500 but it wasn’t
enough to cover the damages so I told him to send the bill to me. It seems it’s not the first time either but they
always pay for the damages. He said that
except for the fact they wreck the place, they’re nice, well mannered
children.”
“What? Are the girls ok?” asked Todd with a concerned
look on his face.
“I’m going to ask Lorenzo how
everything is going. Carlo open the link
so everyone can hear,” said Joe with a frown.
“Lorenzo, we were wondering how
everything is going. Are the girls okay
and having a good time?”
“Fuck, Dad’s asking me how
things are going,” Lorenzo said as they stopped halfway to the house. “What should I say?”
“Tell him everything’s fine,”
said Enzo as he looked nervously around the yard as if expecting his Dad to pop
around the corner.
“Ugh, everything is fine,” Lorenzo replied as Anthony opened the link to the
boys and motioned for him to keep talking.
“We had dinner at Carmelo’s, and
we were running late so we got tickets for ‘S.W.A.T.’ instead of ‘Freaky
Friday’.”
“Are you still at the movies?” The boys froze
and looked at each other. “Lorenzo, what’s the matter, why aren’t you
answering?”
“Uhm, there was too much fighting so we decided to get
ice cream from Fred’s,” the boys
nodded in approval of his answer. He
wasn’t technically lying to his father, there was a fight, but it was the boys
that were fighting.
Joe looked at the other men,
they knew he wasn’t telling the entire truth, “You know that father/son talk we had after Anthony’s declaration, and everyone
said they wanted another one? Well,
we’re going to have another one at the lake….YOU HEAR ME BOYS? I KNOW ALL OF YOU ARE LISTENING.”
“Uhmm, okay Dad, we’ve uhmm, got to go,” Lorenzo said as he closed the link. He turned to the boys and said, “We are so
fucking busted.”
“Come on, let’s get the girls
and get to Fred’s. We told them we were
going there and they might check,” said Gianni with a worried frown. They ran into the kitchen and saw the girls
sitting at the kitchen table quietly talking.
Lorenzo’s eyes went
immediately to Erin and his heart slammed in
his chest as he saw her red eyes. He
cleared his throat and said quietly, “Uhmm, Erin
can I talk to you in private? We can go
into the other room.” Erin
looked at the other girls and he saw them nod and she went into the family room
where she stood uncertainly in the middle of the room. “Why don’t we sit on the sofa, it’ll be more
comfortable.” She sat in the middle of
the sofa, smoothing her dress before clasping her hands on her lap, following
the girls suggestions to act in a ladylike manner and let him apologize but let
him know he wasn’t going to treat her like that anymore.
Lorenzo glanced into the
kitchen where everyone was pretending to be busy but were listening intently to
what was going on. He sighed loudly
before sitting next to her. “I’d like to
apologize for my earlier behavior.
There’s no excuse for the things I said to you, and my mother would be
appalled if she knew I behaved like that,” he said in a sincere tone. “I’d also like to apologize for ruining your
first date. Again, there’s no excuse for
my behavior except to say I acted like an idiot and I promise you it won’t ever
happen again.” He ran his hands through
his hair and sighed deeply again before continuing, “I’m not going to ask Dad
and Uncle Frank to change the detail.
I’m not sure why, but my wolf and I are extremely protective of you and
it wouldn’t be right to have somebody else doing what we consider our job.”
Lorenzo leaned forward with
his elbows on his knees and his head bowed waiting for Erin
to say something. Several minutes went
by and he felt the tension ratcheting up before he heard that delightful soft
Texas drawl that he liked listening to, “I accept your apology, but I want you
to know how much you hurt me. You’ve
said some really mean and hateful things to me, things I don’t feel I
deserve. I know the day we came over for
the dating meeting I was a little sarcastic and I’ll apologize to you for that
now. But I’m not sure why you dislike me
so much and I don’t understand where the hate for me comes from. I’m not a bad person Lorenzo, and I think if
you got to me know, you’d realize that and not hate me so much.”
“I don’t hate you, I think we
just got off to a bad start and if you’re agreeable I’d like to start over,” he
said with a sigh. “And to make up for
the disaster I made of your first date, I’d like to take you to Fred’s for ice
cream. I remember that was one of the
things you wanted to do.”
“You remembered that?” Erin asked with a smile.
“Well, yeah. I remember everything about you, everything
you say I listen to,” he said with a shrug.
“You like carrots, hate brussel sprouts; love ‘NCIS’ but hate ‘CSI’;
like classic rock, hate banjo music; there’s more but you get the idea. Now, would you like to go to Fred’s with me
and get some ice cream?”
“Yes, I’d like that,” she
said with a big smile and his eyes focused on her grey eyes that were still
shimmering from her earlier tears.
He whispered in her ear so
the others wouldn’t hear and said, “I’m so sorry I made you cry. I promise it’ll never happen again, I hate
myself for doing that to you.” He
breathed deeply of her strawberry shortcake scent and felt a calmness wash over
him and his wolf stopped pacing and sat at attention. He sat back and shook his head to clear his
thoughts and stood up, reaching out to Erin . She smiled shyly at him before placing her hand
in his and they walked into the kitchen.
“You ready?” Anthony asked with
a smile. Everyone nodded and moments
later they were in the two vehicles and headed to Fred’s.
“Okay Dante, we’ve waited
long enough. The youngsters are in the
family room watching a movie; the others are at Fred’s. It’s time to let us know what the hell is
going on,” said Carlo as he leaned back on the sofa in Todd’s office.
“Hold on a sec, let me put
the monitors on so we can see what’s going on in the family room,” said Todd as
he glanced at Frank who nodded. Holly
got up and got wine for the women and whiskey for the men.
“I contacted my Archivist
Nick, earlier in the week to confirm my suspicions and to search for additional
information and he finally called me back today. While we were talking I informed him of the
discovery of the French prophecy and he is going to search the Vatican Archives
to see if there is any more information there.
I am also going to contact my cousin to see if there is an English
prophecy, and we will contact our other allies to see if there are any other
nationalities that have similar prophecies,” Dante said as he looked at Carlo
who nodded his head in agreement. “Now,
onto the original reason I contacted Nick.”
Dante stared at Todd and his
father and took a deep drink of his whiskey before asking calmly, “Have you ever
seen the movie ‘Braveheart’?”
Todd nodded, “Of course, it’s
one of our favorite movies, but what does that have to do with us?”
“History has a way of
combining myths and legends into fact and that is where your family comes in,”
Dante said before taking another drink.
“At the Battle of Stirling Bridge, those elements come into play because
what is not known in the present day is some of the Highland Clans were Werewolf
Packs. William Wallace and Andrew de
Moray were the Alphas of two of those Clans or Packs and I believe you are the
last true descendants of Andrew de Moray, The Guardian of Scotland.”
Silence surrounded them as
everyone stared at Dante who calmly got up and got more whiskey. Todd cleared his throat and said, “What does
that mean and what makes you think we’re his descendants? As far as I knew, we were Irish.”
“Your eyes…liquid sterling
silver eyes,” Dante said as he stared into Todd’s eyes before looking down and
swirling the amber colored whiskey in his glass. “After the battle according to legend, Luna
came down and as a reward for his faithful service she healed Andrew of his
mortal wounds and it changed his eye color to sterling silver signifying the
eternal color of the moon showing he had been blessed by the Moon Goddess
herself.”
Dante took another long drink
of whiskey and let the silence surround them before he continued. “According to legend when his wolf took over,
his eyes remained the purest of silver and did not turn amber…just like yours,
your fathers and the girls. I had a
suspicion but was not sure until the night of your status level assessment and
when you changed into your wolf your eyes remained silver. There are members of the Clan who have light
blue eyes with streaks of silver but their eyes change to amber when they
shift. Only his true descendants would
have eyes of pure sterling silver and remain that color when they shift.”
The only sound heard was the
clinking of ice cubes as Dante swirled the whiskey in his glass. “If I am right, this places your family in
serious danger. The true line has been
missing for seven hundred years and there are those who will do anything to
keep you from claiming your birthright.
A birthright that made his descendants go into hiding to keep them safe
from their enemies and those of Scotland
“I think somebody has
discovered your true identity and that is why they are interested in your
daughters,” Dante said staring at Todd.
“By mating with one of them they can take over the Pack as the rightful
Ruler of the Land…and everything it entails, including power, wealth and most
importantly influence over the other Packs of Scotland and thus of all Europe.”
Before anybody could respond,
Paulo screamed to his Alpha, Dad and Uncle, “I
CRACKED THE CODE. I CRACKED THE FUCKING
CODE; I’M IN CHARLES’ HARD-DRIVE.”
*******
The "Cold Storm' was an actual event that took place in 1857. Frigid arctic air and back to back blizzards pummeled the East coast and brought record low temps some of which still stand to this day.
'Swift's Silver Mine' is a mine that is purported to be in Southwestern VA or Eastern Kentucky. Supposedly lost for over 240 years people are still looking for it to this day.
The actual dates and times for Anthony's birth and conception are actual dates of solar eclipses and Sophia's 18th birthday is a full moon.
