I would like to thank hcsd1719 for his help in editing
and offering encouragement, and Tammy for keeping me from going off the rails. Again, there are no actual sex scenes, since
the main characters are underage. All italics indicate communication through
the mental bond.
If anyone would like an excel spreadsheet of the ‘cheat
sheet’ of Pack members, please send me an email and I would be happy to provide
one for you. I would like to thank mrtdust1 for his invaluable help in putting
the cheat sheet on an excel spread sheet that can be added to as details are
revealed.
Please remember to vote and comment, I appreciate all
comments and feedback. Thank you.
“The fucking Security
Division?… I…I can’t believe that… they’ve taken oaths to uphold the laws of
the Alpha Council,” Tristan said as he slowly exhaled as the others stood in
stunned silence.
“Gabe did say he felt
betrayal around him. We have to wonder
though, why didn’t they warn the three Packs of the upcoming raids? Is it a play for power and money or something
else?” Carlo asked quietly before turning to Paulo. “Can you find who accessed the account?”
“Unfortunately no, all I got
was the IP address but it doesn’t tell me who was using the computer only the
area it originated. The ACSD changes IP
addresses randomly so I can’t target a specific computer. I can
access the video and narrow it down by seeing who was using computers at the
time,” Paulo said with a sigh. Ten
minutes later he said, “The video’ll start five minutes before the alert.”
“Look at their body
language,” Savannah
“Alpha Carlo, while you’re
doing this I’d like to take Rain to the roof so he can do his recon,” Ed said as
he looked at his watch.
“Take Frank, George, Brad,
Aldo and Jeff with you,” Carlo said as he continued to stare at the screen.
“I’ve got everything I need,”
Rain said as he nodded to the x-large duffle bag he had kept at his side the
entire day. The men headed to the third
floor and went down the hall stopping in front of the door to the center column. “Frank, this is the first time I’ve been
anywhere but the cafeteria and gym. It’s
freakin amazing.”
“Aldo and his men have done a
wonderful job maintaining the building and all the updates have been
historically accurate while upholding current codes. That’s why it’s considered one of the more
important historical buildings in Maryland
Aldo removed the third tread
on the staircase revealing a keypad, after typing in the code he replaced the
tread and proceeded up the stairs opening the trap door and the men followed
him into the tower room. The only
furnishings in the room were a small table with two chairs and a two door metal
cabinet. “We keep tools here, so we
don’t have to run down to the maintenance shop,” Aldo explained with a shrug as
he moved to the front wall and removed the window molding. He typed the code in and part of the rear
wall swung open on hinges.
“Follow me,” Jeff said as he stepped
through the door onto the flat roof.
Rain set his bag down and got
out a notebook and pen before turning to Aldo, “You have the exact dimensions
and plans of the roof?”
Aldo turned to Frank who
said, “Get him a copy of the external specs.”
Jeff nodded and headed to the maintenance department in the basement.
Aldo opened his notebook and
followed Rain to the roof’s edge where he crouched down to check the decorative
iron railing that ran along it. “Doesn’t
provide much cover does it?” Rain asked to no one in particular. “We’re going to need solid planks, like an
inch thick of lead.”
Aldo asked, “How high and is
it to cover the whole roof line?”
“We don’t want them to cover
the entire surface, we’ll need sections open so we can shoot and use them for
cover. At the corners, leave a 1’
section open on both sides. We don’t want
them to be visible, so lay them out and when we need them we’ll insert them in
‘U’ brackets,” Rain looked at Frank, “We’re the two broadest guys, lay next to
me and they can measure us to see how wide the planks need to be.” After they lay down, Aldo pulled a tape
measure out of his pocket and Ed measured them and Aldo wrote it down. Rain got up and looked at the measurements,
“They’ll need to be 6’ long and 2’ high.
I’ll go over the plans with Tristan and we’ll send the schematics of
where we want them set up.”
Rain continued walking around
the roof line until he arrived back to where his bag lay. Crouching down he pulled out Steiner binoculars
and went to the right side of the tower room.
“What are you looking for?” Frank asked as the men moved to stand next
to him.
“Several things. I’m trying to figure out which way they’re
going to come, the front gate is obvious but if they’re trying to sneak up on
you, they’ll come through the woods. You’ve
got cameras and made funnels to direct them, that’s good but once they get to
the wall, they’re going to look for the least resistance while still looking for
cover,” Rain said as he turned to glance at Frank. “That jump from the top of the wall will be
difficult, but it can be done.”
“We’re installing an iron
railing with ornamental spikes in front of the shrubbery and we’re also putting
spikes inside. Well, I guess it won’t be
so ornamental if they get speared with them,” Frank said with a smile.
“Right before the battle paint
them with liquid silver and shake wolfsbane on it when the paint is tacky,”
Rain said as he moved along the roof, staring and then looking through the
binoculars before writing in his notebook.
“Where can we get
wolfsbane? I don’t know of anybody that
has it,” Aldo said as he turned to stare at Rain before writing in his notebook.
“There’s a store in Leesburg , VA
Frank looked at Rain in
amazement, “I never would’ve thought you believed in the power of crystals and
rocks.”
Rain said in a quiet voice,
“When you’ve been to some of the places I’ve been and seen some of the things I
have… well, you learn to accept and believe in things you don’t understand.” He turned to Aldo, “When you go, talk to the
staff because there are crystals that will help center you when you’re
meditating and help you focus.” Frank
passed the information to Carlo knowing Maeve wanted to find somebody to help
her understand her gift better.
After he finished his visual
inspection of the roof and grounds, he went to his bag and pulled out an olive
green plastic carrying case. The men
leaned forward anxious to see the weapon inside and Rain flipped the locks
revealing an M24 sniper rifle and scope nestled inside foam interior
compartments. He assembled it and handed
it to Ed, “Joe verified its empty, but before I do anything more I want you to
verify it also. I need to lie down at
the edge of the roof to get a good feel for things. I’ll do it on the back of the building, away
from the football field.” Ed took the
rifle and verified the chamber and magazine were empty. Rain lay down and put a small sandbag under
the muzzle and moved until he found the position he wanted, “We won’t use the
bi-pod stand because we’ll have to move around too much, the sandbag will allow
us the flexibility to do that. Aldo,
here is where we’ll be shooting from, so you’ll want the planks here.” He pointed to an area 8” behind the muzzle.
Jeff went into the tower room
and came back with spray paint and sprayed a small line. “I’m not sure how many men Alpha Carlo and
Tristan are going to put up here, but we should plan on 40 – 50, depending on
how many are attacking and where they are.
To put it simply, the bullets we’re going to manufacture are lead-tipped
silver with a wolfsbane core. We need to
find people to mine the silver from Swift’s and then manufacture the bullets
according to our specs; obviously we can’t do it. Tristan will talk to Alpha Carlo about that
when we get more information.”
Rain got up, dismantled his
rifle and carefully put it into the case and said, “Now I need some pictures.” He got out a digital camera and walked around
taking pictures of the areas he had noted down.
They repeated the process in relocking the tower room and center column
before rejoining the others.
“Any luck?” Frank asked as
they walked in the cafeteria which had just been finished being cleaned.
Carlo shook his head in disgust,
“Every fucking computer was being used and Savvie says they all look guilty of
something. Paulo’s going to enhance it
to see if he can get any more details.
We do have something interesting; ten minutes after the account was
accessed Charles was served his tray.”
Paulo cued the video on the large screen and the men watched Charles
howl before shifting.
“We’re assuming that was his
reaction to finding out the money was gone,” Tristan said with a smile. “Losing $600 mil will do that to a man.”
“The question is… how did he
find out? Nobody spoke to him, the metal
in the bars prevents the use of the bond, and his cell is away from the others
… so again, how did he find out?” Savannah
“Had to be a note. Look at the guard; when they open the cart
doors he pulls out a specific tray and instead of watching the prisoner while
he hands it to him, he glances down like he’s telling him something. I’m getting a feeling of subservience; but
there’s something off about it, like he’s doing this because he has to, not
because he wants to,” Aldo said as he stood to the side of the screen.
After watching the video three
more times, Carlo said, “You’re right Aldo.
It’s very subtle but it’s there.
When he sits on his cot that must be when he read it because he howled
and shifted almost immediately.”
“How’d you spot it?” Savannah
“Twenty years of working
here. Even though the families use the
bond, they still need to find ways to talk to their friends when they’re
supposed to be studying,” Aldo said with a grin as the others nodded.
Carlo glanced at his watch,
“Let’s finish.” After everyone was
seated, Vinnie and Carmelo passed out copies for the next item to be discussed. The first page contained the Key to the
Prophecies and was numbered 1 - 8 with Italian, French, and Greek filling the
first three spots with the rest empty.
Each page contained a Prophecy, the original along with the translation
and how they pertained to Anthony and Sophia.
He waited until they finished reading and looked around the room, “As
you can see, we’ve located three, and possibly know of a fourth, more on that
later.” He explained how Dante had
revealed the Italian Prophecy and the discovery of the other two. “Do you know of any others?”
They shook their heads and Savannah
Tristan shook his head, “I’ve
already asked everyone and Rain and I went though the rest of the books in the
Archives and haven’t found anything else.”
Carlo nodded, “As for the
Prophecies, we’ve discovered increased powers my son has using the mental bond. Anthony is able to communicate to those he
isn’t related to by blood or Pack ties; this morning he was able to talk to
Alpha Tristan and Rain. He also has a
farther than normal range when using it.
We haven’t tested the range yet, but he was able to talk to a Pack
member who was 25 miles away.” There
were gasps from PR and Tristan and Rain sat back with smirks on their faces.
Tristan looked at Carlo, “We
should do more tests; does he have to know them? Be physically near the person? What are the limits?”
“I don’t know. I honestly have no idea what he can do or how
he does it,” Carlo answered with a sigh as his voice trailed off. “What I do know is his strength is off the
charts, he’s been hiding it from us so I don’t think even he knows how strong
he is.” He was quiet for several minutes
before saying, “The first half is almost done.
We’re ahead 30 – 6 so Coach is pulling the seniors and Anthony for the
second half. He would like to join us.”
*****
“Are you going to talk to
me? You’ve been mad at me all week,” Bob
asked as he moved to run alongside Lorenzo on the way to the locker room. Getting no response other than a growl he continued,
“You know you’re gonna have to talk to me during the game since you’re the QB
and I’m a receiver.”
Lorenzo stopped running and
glared at him, “You went on a fucking date with MY MATE. You were whispering to MY MATE. You put your hands on MY MATE. You scented MY MATE.”
Bob grinned and said, “But
she wasn’t your mate… THEN.”
“I’m gonna fucking kill you,”
Lorenzo growled as Vin, Dom and Damian held him back and Bob began to laugh
loudly as his brothers Patrick, Jim, and Ethan moved quickly to his side. Ant grinned and motioned for them to head in
the gym and they nodded as grins spread across their faces before they left.
Vin pushed Lorenzo before grabbing
him by the facemask and staring into his eyes, “You know he’s right; Erin was free to
do what she wanted with who she wanted.
The person you’re really upset with is yourself; you’re mad because it
wasn’t you on that date with her.”
“Bob’s been your friend since you were in diapers so get
over it. If it wasn’t him on the date
with Erin , then it would’ve been somebody
else,” Dom said as he grabbed the
other side of the facemask and they lead a growling Lorenzo towards the gym as
everyone else followed.
“He’s right bro.
The past couple of weeks you’ve been acting like a bear with a sore ass…
or is it a sore head? I can never
remember that expression and what exactly does it mean anyway? How the hell do they tell if a bear has a
sore ass? Or a sore head? And who in the hell would want that job? And what kind of college degree do they have
to have? They’d better be getting paid a
shitload of money if they have to check some bears ass,” Damian rambled while The Clan stopped and stared at
him as he continued to walk. He began
laughing so hard he stopped walking and put his hands on his knees, “You see what I did there? Shitload and ass. Damn, that was funny; I crack myself up.” He stopped to look at the rest of the
boys and noticed they were ten feet behind him staring at him, “What?”
“You’re seriously disturbed Carlucci,” Angelo said as he began to laugh. “I mean
seriously. What the hell goes on in your
brain to think like that?”
Damian smirked.
“Aldo gets feelings and premonitions, Maeve sees auras and I… I have the
gift of disambiguation and dissimulation.”
“You don’t have any special gifts you fucking nitwit,” muttered Marcus as he rolled his eyes. “And the
only ‘dis’ you are… is DISturbed.”
“Those were this week’s vocabulary words in Mrs. G’s
English class you fucking idiot,”
Gianni said as he frowned.
“And part of our homework was to use them in a
sentence. Which I just did … so mission
accomplished,” Damian continued to
smirk before he ran towards the gym when Marcus and Gianni began to chase him.
“You need to get ready for the second half. You going to behave?” Vin asked Lorenzo and when he nodded the two oldest
Carlucci’s let go of his face mask and he quickly caught up to Marcus and
Gianni.
“I can’t believe they’re going to be my brother in
laws,” Alberto said as he ran his
hands over his face. “What the hell did I do to deserve them?”
“I heard that.
You should be thanking Luna that my beautiful sister is your mate,” Damian said as he turned at the door of the gym. “Having
us for brothers in law is the icing on the cake, the cherry on top of the
sundae, the extra prize in the Cracker Jack box, a double scoop of vanilla ice
cream with apple…” He stopped as he was tackled by Lorenzo, Marcus and
Gianni.
The older boys started to
laugh as Coach JR shouted, “Get in the locker room now or I’m gonna bench all
of you.” The boys scrambled to their
feet as JR shook his head before he started to grin.
*****
Anthony stood in the hallway and
listened as they discussed the Prophecies and his father told everyone about
Dante’s upcoming meeting with Alpha Lykaion.
“Hey Vin, you’re with Sophia and
Abby, right?”
“They’re on the bleachers, sitting with the young’uns,” Vin responded as he scanned the bleacher area before
he began to smile. “Though I don’t know how much attention Sal’s paying since he’s staring
at Gabs and drooling.”
“Bite me Vin,”
Sal retorted as he glared at his oldest brother before he returned his
attention to Gabby. She waved and Sal brought
his hand up to wave back spilling his tub of popcorn all over Victor.
“I’m not even going to say
anything cause I can see you’re in enough misery,” Victor said quietly as Sal buried
his face in his hands and muffled laughter was heard from the boys as the girls
smiled.
“I’m ready to go into this meeting but I’ll keep the
bond open if you need me,” Ant
replied as he took a deep breath and rolled his neck.
“We believe Dante located the
fourth one in England
Paulo flushed bright red and
began to fidget in his seat, “Dad, can I
leave? I don’t want to hear about heat
cycles and stuff. I’ll come back if you
need me.” Joe nodded and watched Paulo
nod to the Alpha’s before leaving and smiled when he saw Paulo bump fists with
Ant as they passed each other in the doorway.
Anthony entered the room instantly
feeling uncomfortable as everyone stared at him. He walked to his father with his head down,
shoulders slumped and he was dragging his feet.
Seeing this Carlo narrowed his eyes, “You
are Anthony Eduardo Rossi, Alpha-heir of South Mountain
Anthony’s head snapped up as
he stared at his father. His demeanor
changed and a crooked grin came over his face as he strode confidently towards
his father with his shoulders back. He
nodded to the visiting Alpha’s and turned to face the others saying in a firm
clear tone, “Let me introduce myself to those that don’t know me; I’m Anthony Rossi,
Alpha-heir of South Mountain Pack.”
Carlo nodded for Doc to start
and motioned for his son to join him at the Alpha’s table, “Don’t ever let me see you behave like that again. Always remember you are a Rossi and belong to
one of the oldest lines of Were’s. During
the time of the Royal Court
“I remember my lessons Dad. I just don’t like it when people look at me
like an experiment on a Petri dish,” Anthony
interrupted him as he looked around the room and shrugged. “Damn,
everyone in here is way older than me. I
figured there’d be at least a couple of young guys.”
Carlo was silent for several
minutes before he ran his hands over his face, “I forget you’re only seventeen.
I forget all of you boys are so young and I’m asking so much of you… so
much of everybody. I wonder if it’d be
better if we left and started over somewhere else.”
“You’d never let the threat to our Pack go unanswered
and hang over our head… especially since it involves Sophia,” Ant said as he stared at his father.
“You’re right, no matter where we went they’d find us
because of the girls.” Carlo closed his eyes and ran his hands
through his hair, “As far as Sophia... I
wasn’t able to protect your sister, but my wolf and I sure as hell will protect
your mate until we take our last breath.”
*****
Mr. P scanned the stadium and
grounds as he stealthily made his way to the bleachers where the Clan and the
Crew were sitting. Feeling his phone
vibrate he looked at the text, ‘Road clear.
Continuing patrols’, and typed a reply, ‘Continue. Fourth quarter 30 –
13’. He thought back to the time before
cell phones and smiled; while they could use the bond in wolf form, when they
were in human form they had to rely on family bonds and sometimes a message had
to go through ten people to get passed on if the Alpha didn’t leave the bond
open for them. He scented Enzo moving to
stand next to him and without looking he said, “Good game young Enzo.”
“Thanks, but I get the
feeling you came over here to talk about more than the game,” Enzo said as he
watched the young ones on the bleachers, particularly Hope and Brooke who were
jumping from row to row.
Mr. P nodded and said
quietly, “Gather your team, we need to talk.
The Elders have voted who is going into the safe room.”
Enzo nodded and saw Hope
begin to fall as her feet got tangled.
Before he could holler, Victor snaked his arm around her and pulled her onto
his lap. “You okay munchkin?” Victor
whispered before he blew raspberries on her cheek.
Even though her eyes were
bright with unshed tears, she grinned, “I’s is fine. I knews you’d catches me so I weren’t skeered
at all. I’s a big gihrl.”
“I told you to stop doing that. You need to listen to your elders,” her nine
year old cousin Alec said with a loud sigh.
She scrunched her little face
up, “You’s not an elder. Gweat Gwampa Howie
says they’s old an gwrumpy, like Gweat Gwampa Marvie. You’s not old, you’s jus gwrumpy an bossay.”
Mr. P grinned as he said,
“You’d think after 50 plus years those two would finally be able to get along,
especially since their families are joined.”
“I’ve heard the story,” Enzo
said as he turned to look at Mr. P. “Are
they really still upset over a poker game?”
“Yep. Thing is, it wasn’t even a big pot, like we
play for nowadays, we were playing Penny-ante.
Howard said Marvin didn’t put in the full bet, Marvin said he did and it
escalated from there. Ironic thing is
neither of them won the pot. They were good
friends too and after that they refused to be around each other, except when
they had to,” Mr. P said with a shrug.
“When Marvin’s son made his declaration for Howard’s daughter, everyone
thought the feud would go away, but it hasn’t.
They still don’t talk, and it’s been over 50 years.”
Enzo smiled and said, “And I
thought Italians held grudges.”
“We do young Enzo, we do,”
Mr. P replied with a smile. “It looks
like the little ones are getting restless, why don’t we go near the fence so
they can release some of that pent up energy.”
Enzo nodded and since Ant left the bond open, he contacted the members
of the team and moments later, they gathered their charges and made their way
to the fence.
“Where are you going with the little ones?” Dom asked from the sidelines as Vin turned around and
watched Victor carry Hope and Hyatt.
“Don’t get your panties in a wad,” Enzo replied with a scowl. “We’re
going to the fence. Mr. P wants a
meeting and the little ones are restless.”
“Okay, but make sure they stay safe,” Vin said with a glare.
“What the fuck?
We’re gonna be there, we’re in the middle of The School House grounds,
the entire fucking Pack is here, so what exactly do you think is gonna fuckin
happen?” Enzo asked with a snarl.
“You think I missed you letting Hope almost fall? Don’t forget I’m your oldest brother, I know
all and see all,” Vin retorted as he
moved to the left so he could see the fence line where the little ones were.
“I’m ten feet away, so tell me how I almost let her
fall?” When Vin didn’t answer, Enzo replied, “See Mr. Know It All, you don’t know a
fucking thing.” Enzo smirked at the
glare Vin gave him before he and Mr. P walked to the fence.
After making sure the little
ones were settled, the team turned to Mr. P.
“The Elders had their meeting and discussed the skills the Pack would
need to start over, each pair of mated Elders, their strengths, weaknesses and
how they matched up to what was needed. The
selections were narrowed to five pairs. This
morning we informed Alpha Carlo, Madame Gina, Frank and Joe so they could give
their approval. If they hadn’t agreed or
wanted changes we would have abided by their wishes but they approved our
choices,” he said as he looked around the stadium then turned to look at the
little ones before focusing his attention on the team.
The youngsters nodded and
waited patiently for him to continue, “The first is Dwight and Gladys Sullivan;
he’s a Doctor and she’s a scientist. The
second is Randall and Donna Knight; he’s a former Chief of Police and she’s an
architect. The third is Robert and
Alessia Benedetto, he’s a lawyer and she’s an accountant. The fourth is Howard and Annette Martin; he’s
a former Senator, they are excellent hunters both as wolves and with guns and
she is skilled at gardening, canning vegetables and preserving meat. The last pair is my mate and I, even though
I’m not technically an Elder for another two months, they think my particular
set of skills being a former CIA agent would come in handy, as well as my mates
skills at gardening, sewing, and helping Madame Gina with the little ones.”
Enzo said, “Do they know
they’ve been chosen?”
“Yes, they were informed
after my talk with the Alpha’s and Level 5’s this morning,” Mr. P responded as
he looked around the stadium. “Alpha
Carlo and Madame Gina wanted me to make one thing clear to them… they will be
there to help, but all decisions will be up to Sophia, you, and the team.”
The team nodded and Sophia
said, “Paulo’ll send out an email with details of our next meeting.” She turned to the team, “At the next meeting,
I want a list of your team members, what supplies you need as well as a
budget.”
“One last thing,” Mr. P said
as he looked at Sophia then Enzo. “When
I let the others know we had a talk and none of us has a clue where we should
go. Except for an occasional trip to Italy
Michael sighed, “Anybody have
any ideas?”
“None,” Sophia said with a
shrug. “I do know two people that would
have that information; do you think we should involve them?”
Enzo sighed before nodding
reluctantly, “I’ll call them now.” He
pulled his phone out of pocket and they heard it ringing before it went to
voicemail. There was no flowery
greeting, only ‘Leave a message’ and Enzo took a deep breath before he said,
“We need you. We need both of you, it’s
bad, real bad.” He called a second
number and left the same message.
*****
As Doc finished speaking, the
reactions of those in the room were excited mingled with disbelief. Savannah
“Let me start with this
example and then I’ll answer your questions.
Two weeks ago Anna Moretti had some unusual bleeding lasting only a few
hours; it was unusual because she had her period and heat cycle only four months prior. Last week she went into heat and after trying
through three cycles she is expecting her first little one with her mate
Marco.” Marco was sitting off to the
side taking notes and grinned as everyone cheered and Carmelo had a broad smile
on his face. “As far as the women going
into heat after their cycles stopped… I think there is a possibility, let me
stress that… a possibility of it
happening. With the threat of the line
perishing our wolves will want to make sure their bloodline continues.” The majority of the men began to talk
excitedly since they and their wolves were the most content when their mates
were expecting. It was also the time
they were the most protective of their family.
“What are your
recommendations?” Savannah
“We need to pay closer
attention to the heat cycles than we normally do. Are they closer than the usual six to seven
months? Is the duration longer than the
usual seven days? Are they stronger than
normal? If they do conceive, how soon
after the cycle began did it happen? As
far as the women that had stopped their cycles - we need to monitor their
behavior as well as their wolves to see if they’re experiencing increased
stress or anxiety about the upcoming battle.
Anything that would trigger their wolf to go into heat again,” Doc said as
PR and Tristan took notes.
“Trust the Carlucci’s to be
overachievers and outdo everyone else,” Tristan said with a smirk. “I’m not sure if Luna blessed or cursed you.”
“I’m not sure either,” Frank said
with a grin. “Be grateful you don’t have
to feed and clothe them.”
“Or put up with everything they
get into,” Joe added with a laugh.
“I’ve heard about Damian and
his antics, and believe me I’m grateful neither of my boys are like him,”
Tristan responded as everyone began to laugh.
“He is a handful and I hate
to admit it, but he is pretty funny,” Carlo said with a smile before he looked
around the room. “But don’t let that
fool you. Like all Carlucci’s, he’s an
exceptionally gifted fighter, extremely protective of those he cares about, has
been trained from birth to observe and react to what’s going on around him and
won’t hesitate to take on any threat he sees.”
All eyes in the room shifted to the Carlucci’s standing behind their
Alpha. Both men had their arms crossed
over their chest and had a steely look in their emerald eyes as they nodded.
Tristan glanced at his cousin
and said in a flat tone, “I’d like to propose a trade Carlo. Rain for one of the Carlucci youngsters…” Rain snapped his head toward his cousin and
began to scowl. “To make it fair based
on skill level, it’ll have to be one of the younger ones…” The room was silent as Rain glared at his
cousin before looking away and fisting his hands. “Probably one of the fifteen year olds.”
Rain remained quiet, knowing
he couldn’t say anything out loud. If
they were on their territory and Tristan said this in front of their Pack, he
would tell him off like he normally would, but not here. Not in front of a neighboring Pack, make that
two Packs, so he kept quiet. At least
out loud. “What the fuck Tris?”
“You don’t think that’s a fair trade? Do you think SP is getting way more out of
the trade since you don’t measure up to one of the baby Carlucci’s?” Tristan asked as he began to smirk. Everyone was glancing between the cousins
knowing they were talking through the bond.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re comparing me to a fifteen year
old? Are you fucking nuts?” Rain continued to rant before totally losing his cool
and waving his arms in the air resembling a windmill as everyone began to laugh
quietly. “When we get home, I’ll show you my fighting skills you miserable
bastard.”
“Ah, ah, ah, you’re letting your temper show, and if
anybody is a miserable bastard, it’s you,” Tristan said with a smile. He turned
to face the others, “You’ll have to excuse me teasing my cousin, but we needed
a laugh.” Seeing the nods and hearing
the laughter, he continued, “All of you know the bond between an Alpha and his Level
5 is unique. There are many variables as
to how strong the bond is; if they are related by blood like Rain and I, have family
ties like Savannah
“Are you going to tell your
cousin you love him so we can finish our meeting?” Savannah
Tristan laughed loudly
followed by everyone else before he turned to Rain and said, “I know I haven’t
said this in years, but you know I love you.”
Rain nodded and said in a
gruff voice, “I love you too, you ugly bastard.”
“Now that we got the
proclamations of love out of the way, let’s finish,” Carlo said with a smile as
he motioned for Doc to continue.
“We’ve ordered extra supplies
and youngsters over fifteen, boys as well as girls, will be trained in labor
and delivery, learning to care for newborns and advanced First Aid,” Doc said
looking over his notes. “We’re making
sure every medical record is current and Paulo is writing a program for us to digitalize
them.”
Carlo stood as Doc sat down,
“If things happen as Doc thinks, we’ve decided not to inform the Alpha Council
what’s going on. They’d want to know why
and the specifics and we don’t want to tip our hand.”
Carlo nodded, “We are NOT going to falsify documents; we need
to find a way to fulfill our obligations without disclosing things we don’t want
them to know. John and Antonia
Benedetto, the Packs lawyers, are working on that.”
“I do it all the time,”
Tristan said with a grin as Rain nodded.
“We’ve always felt the AC was too intrusive on Pack matters. What business is it of theirs when the
females go into heat? What declarations were
made? What the finances are?” He turned to Carlo, “Do you tell them how
much money your Pack has? I bet you
don’t.” Next he looked at Savannah
Savannah slowly put her pen
down, her Pack members sat up straight all traces of humor gone from their
faces and Marlin, her brother in law and Level 5, growled low in his
throat. The tension ratcheted up as Rain
narrowed his eyes and scanned the room looking for any sudden movements. “Tristan, I advise you to keep any and all
thoughts about when my mating took place out of your head and mouth. What I do in my personal life has nothing to
do with our discussion here.”
“That is exactly the point
I’m trying to make Savannah
“How exactly do you do that?”
Carlo asked with a frown.
Tristan folded his arms over
his chest, “Where it asks, ‘Have any declarations been made?’, I answer yes or
no. The line, ‘Any births?’, same
answer. I don’t provide them any
additional details. It’s none of their
fucking business.”
Carlo looked to John who
nodded then turned to Savannah
“Good idea, I’ll have
somebody within a day or two,” Savannah
All eyes shifted to Anthony,
and even though he didn’t like everyone staring at him he didn’t let it
show. “Whoever can hear me, raise your hand.” There were startled gasps as everyone in the
room raised their hand.
“Hold on,” Savannah
“I knew only those above a
Level 2 were here, so that’s what I concentrated on; just like Dad taught me,”
Anthony said with a shrug. “I didn’t
take into account Alpha Garner or his Dad though.”
“There for a second, I swear
I felt something… like pressure in my head,” Savannah
Tristan slowly nodded, “Now
that you mention it, I felt the same thing earlier. I didn’t put the two together because as soon
as he talked to us, you were arriving and we said we’d talk about it later.”
“He must be using the Alpha
bond,” Carlo said as he squeezed Ant’s hand.
“Try it again, but contact my
whole Pack,” Savannah
Anthony nodded and sent out
the same message, seconds later Savannah
“It worked, I could feel him
using my bond but it was so subtle I had to concentrate to feel it,” Savannah
He sent the same message to
those in the room, and they raised their hand.
Marlin said, “It worked, but it wasn’t as clear or as loud, almost as if
he was talking with his hand over his mouth.”
The other members of PR nodded.
“Marlin lets make sure it
works both way, you say something to him,” Savannah
“Congratulations on your declaration,” Marlin said as he narrowed his eyes.
Anthony raised one eyebrow, “Thank you… I know you hoped either Sophia
and or Maria were mates to your sons. To
maintain harmony and friendship between our Packs, I’ll forget that and we’ll
move on.”
“I was hoping for strong mates for my sons and having
Carlucci’s for in laws would have been a bonus,” Marlin admitted with a shrug. “Thank
you for understanding and I’ll make sure they don’t bother your intended.”
Anthony turned to his father,
“It works fine, I heard him loud and clear…” he turned to Marlin and narrowed
his eyes, “And he heard me loud and clear.”
Carlo nodded, “That must have been an interesting
conversation. Anything I need to know
about?”
“Not really, just letting Marlin know I knew of his
desire to have Sophia and or Maria for a daughter in law and that we’d move
forward from it,” Anthony replied as he began to doodle in the corner of
his notes.
Carlo nodded, “The rest of
you go and enjoy the last few minutes of the game; we’re ahead 37-20.” The PR men looked to their Alpha who nodded
before they gathered their notes and followed Carmelo, Vinnie and half of the
SMP Beta’s out of the room while Todd, Mr. G and the rest of SMP Beta’s
followed.
Tristan turned to Rain, “Do
you have everything we need?”
He nodded, “Yes, but I’d like
to come back with some Level 4’s to familiarize ourselves with the woods, schoolhouse,
and grounds.”
“Savannah
“Dad, can I be part of the recon?” Anthony asked quietly.
Carlo looked at Frank before
saying, “Your father in law will be in
charge of that, so you need to talk that over with him.”
Frank narrowed his eyes as he
looked at Anthony, “Yes, you can be a
part of it as well as several youngsters.
I expect you to pay close attention and not be distracted by my daughter
or your friends.”
“Yes, Sir,”
Anthony replied as he made note of the date on his phone.
When Joe returned he handed
the box to Carlo. After opening it he handed
each Alpha a phone and read off a paper in his hands, “Here are Satellite
phones, they’re encrypted, untraceable and only to be used in communications
between us and Gabe. SMP can be reached
by hitting #*701, PR #*601, SP #*501 and Gabe #*401. They’re set up so if another number is
dialed, a trace will start since we’ll assume you’re under duress. The redial button’s been disabled and there’s
no incoming or outgoing call log. Finally,
if they’re destroyed or the battery is removed, it’ll send an alert of your
last position.”
“If they’re untraceable, how is
that possible?” Tristan asked as he looked over his phone before handing it to
Rain.
“Something Paulo whipped up?”
Savannah
Joe smiled, “I have no clue
how it works. All I know is he took the
phone apart and threw some things away before adding other things he built.”
As they were gathering papers
to leave, Savannah
“Dante ordered me a Sikorsky
S-76C-something; it should be here in a couple of weeks. The problem is, none of us know how to fly
the damn thing,” Carlo said with a laugh.
“I asked the Pack who wanted to learn and none of them want to. They all want to keep their feet on the
ground.”
“I can help with that,”
Tristan said with a grin. “We know several
former military pilots who are looking for jobs. They’re not Were, but they’re damn good
pilots and are familiar with the different models of Sikorsky helicopters.”
“Can you send me their
information so we can do background checks on them?” Joe asked as Tristan
nodded.
“Most of their information
will be inaccessible since they’re military, but I’ll pass on what I know,”
Tristan replied. “Oh, and they’re
female.”
“As long as they get me from
Point A to Point B safely, I could care less.
Actually, I’m going to need four pilots.
After seeing Dante’s plane I decided I want one. I figured I could get it if I said I was
buying it for Gina… just don’t tell her,” Carlo smiled sheepishly as the others
began to laugh. “I ugh already ordered
it. It’ll be ready in three months since
they have to change the specs due to my height and they’re waiting to hear from
Rose so she can design the interior.”
“She’ll be thrilled to do it,
since it’s for Gina,” Frank said in a sarcastic tone before he broke out in
laughter again.
“Mom’s gonna flip out,”
Anthony said with a smile. “Especially
since you gave her such a hard time with her new SUV and that was what $50,000
with the upgrades? This is what twenty
or thirty million?”
“A little more with upgrades…
but your mom’s worth it,” Carlo said with a grin.
“Especially if it’s something
YOU want,” Anthony retorted with a matching grin.
“Exactly, now let’s get out
to the game, there’s only a minute left,” Carlo replied as he threw his arm
over his sons shoulders as they walked out of the room.
As they were walking across
the grounds Savannah
“She says she’s fine,” Joe
began before he hesitated and sighed loudly.
“But I think… no, let me change that… I feel like there’s something
wrong.”
Joe looked at his daughter
who was laughing loudly along the fence surrounded by her friends and
family. At the mention of the danger she
was in he felt his wolf rise to the surface, “I don’t know Savvie, but
something isn’t right.”
“I’ll tell Eric’s staff to
make an appointment so he can see her,” she said and smiled as her twelve year
old daughter waved to her from the stands.
“Let me know when you and the others are going to join the training, but
give us a couple of weeks so we can brush up on our rusty skills.”
Joe nodded and looked at his
mate in the stands and the rest of his youngsters hoping to calm his wolf down
by assuring him that his family was fine. He sensed his brother moving to his side and asked,
“Everything okay?”
“So far so good.
Mr. P has everything under control and they’ll continue to patrol until
everyone is gone. He said The Elders are
having a blast feeling useful again,”
Frank replied as he watched the two teams running off the field and glanced at
the scoreboard to see SMP had won 37 - 27.
“You going to tell me what’s going
on baby brother? I can feel your
agitation.”
“Nothing specific… it’s just everything together. Trying to figure out this threat to our Pack
and family, our sons and daughters declarations, the revelations about the
Prophecies, the Miller family history and Maria being hurt,” he stopped and turned to his brother. “It’s
so much to try and take in and make sense out of all of it, seeing how it links
together and what we’re going to do about it.”
“I know what you mean and I’m stressed too,” Frank sighed and turned to watch the Packs walk
towards the gym. “I feel this is Luna’s destiny for us to be in this place at this time
Joe. We were taught by two of the toughest
Level 5’s that ever held the position. We
took everything they taught us, learned even more and have done everything we
could to prepare our Pack for a day we hoped would never come. I know in my heart we can do this.” Joe nodded as Frank continued, “Now baby brother it’s time for us to finish
our duties. You have to escort Tristan
and I have to do the same to Savvie.
Then it’s lake time.”
“That’s what we need… to relax and spend some quality
time with our family and friends. Come
on, let’s head into the gym,” Joe
said with a smile. As they walked in they
saw their daughters, the Millers and Gabby gathered around Emory, Anna and
Cynthia talking quietly while they took turns rubbing Emory’s stomach. Ant, Vin, Dom, Enzo and Gino were holding the
little girls who were struggling to stay awake and the rest of the boys were
trying not to look bored.
“Where’s Sal?” Frank asked in
a worried tone as he quickly scanned the room looking for his youngest son.
“Over there,” Joe said as he
motioned with his head to a corner of the gym.
“Why in the hell is he
talking with Garner? And what are they
talking about?” Frank asked as he began to scowl.
“No one in our Pack has dated
an older woman, so I asked Garner to talk with him and give him some advice,” Rose
replied quietly as she moved to his side.
Frank smiled and leaned down
giving her a gentle kiss, “You constantly amaze me. I wouldn’t have thought about that.”
“I know, and that’s why everyone says I’m the smart
one in our family.” Smiling broadly she
walked away.
As Frank watched the gentle
sway of her hips, he began to growl before saying in a gruff tone, “Oh, my sweet mate, you’re going to pay for
that later.”
“Promises, promises…” she replied in a sing song voice as she looked at her
mate over her shoulder raking her eyes down his body.
“Don’t tease me my love, my wolf is on edge as it is,” he warned as his eyes flickered between emerald and amber. “We
didn’t have time to make love this morning and if you keep looking at me like
that… I’m gonna throw you over my shoulder, take you into the woods, strip you
naked and bend you over a…”
“Do you realize I can hear you?” Joe interrupted with a laugh. “You
never closed the bond, you horny bastard.”
Rose laughed seeing the glare
on Frank’s face as he angrily said, “And
it took you that long to let me know?”
Joe grinned broadly as he
slapped his brother’s back, “Yeah, your
clumsy attempt at seducing your mate really cheered me up.”
“Hold on a sec, you bastard,” Frank motioned for Aldo and Jeff Mendez to join him
and Joe. “With the holiday, the
youngsters won’t be back until Tuesday.
I want every inch of The School House and grounds swept before
then.”
Aldo nodded, “I told the
security detail to meet tomorrow at 7. I
know we’re allies, but I knew you and Joe would want to make sure everything’s
secure for the youngsters. I told them
we’ll be doing this after every home game.”
“I should’ve known you’d have
thought about it,” Frank said with a smile.
Aldo shrugged, “You’ve taught
us well.”
The noise level increased in
the gym as the Varsity teams emerged from the locker rooms. “Wenzo,” Brooke sleepily said as she held out
her arms for him to hold her. He gently
pulled her from Gino’s arms and settled her in his arms as she murmured, “I’s
cheereded real woud for yous, didya hears me?”
“I did, you were louder than
anyone,” he answered quietly as he gently rubbed her back.
“Come here munchkin,” Damian
said as Enzo handed Toni over and she smiled sleepily. “I heard you hollering too, even when I
wasn’t in the game.”
“I didn’t want you to be
lonely,” she said laying her head on his shoulder.
“Wenzo, is you’s gonna kiss
Erwin? She saids she couldn waits for
you to kisses her again,” Brooke said with a smile as Erin
blushed bright red.
“Is that right?” Lorenzo said
as he stared at his intended with a huge smirk on his face. “What else did she say?”
Brooke rubbed her eyes and Erin had a look of horror on her face as she shook her
head to stop her. “She saids when you
kisseded her she saw da stahrs, I wanna see dem too.” She yawned and snuggled into his shoulder,
“And her toes curleded up. Could ya tell
hers ta take her shoes off so I can sees?”
Erin put her head down and covered her
face with her hands as everyone began laughing.
“What did Caitlin say?”
Damian asked as he stared at Caitlin who was starting to blush.
Toni scrunched up her face as
she tried to remember and a minute went by before she said proudly, “She said
she got warm and chilly at the same time, and you gave her goose bumps…and made
her dizzy…” She stopped and thought for
a couple of seconds before smiling, “And she can’t wait to do it again… and she
likes your hair, says its soft… and you smells good.”
“No stars or toe curling?” he
asked as Caitlin’s blush got even deeper.
Toni was lost in thought
before she sighed, “I can’t remember.”
“Well, we’ll just have to
make sure she sees them this time, right?” Damian asked as his eyes raked over
his intended before he pulled her into his side and growled. “I’ve been thinking about this the whole
game,” he whispered before kissing her gently.
When he felt her respond, he growled again and deepened the kiss.
Lorenzo stared at his
intended and his eyes began to flicker between emerald and amber as she stared
back at him. Taking a deep breath, she
moved in front of him and gathering her courage, she whispered, “I’m
waiting.” He growled and pulled her
against his side before kissing her possessively.
The sound of a throat being
cleared several times drew the couples apart.
Lorenzo and Damian turned to glare at whoever interrupted them before
realizing it was their father in law. “I
already gave this speech to Vincent and Dominic… Don’t slobber all over my daughters in front
of me.”
“Ye… yes Sir,” Lorenzo
mumbled as Erin buried her head on his chest
and Brooke began to play with her hair.
“Technically Sir, I wasn’t
slobbering,” Damian said with a smirk before he glanced at his intended. “I think Caitlin was, but I know I wasn’t.”
“Technically speaking, I
don’t care,” Todd retorted before glaring at the four oldest Carlucci’s and
walking away.
Caitlin’s mouth fell open in
astonishment, “What??? I can’t believe…
I mean… the nerve… I’ve never…” She
stopped talking and glared at her intended.
“We need to work on your
communication skills,” Damian whispered in her ear as he leaned down to scent
her neck.
Before Caitlin could respond,
Brooke tugged on Erin ’s braid and asked
loudly, “Did ya toes curl? Or see da stahrs? I’s looked for dem but didn see any.”
Not to be outdone by his twin
and wanting to help his idol, Eddie crawled to Erin
and felt her shoes, startling her. “I’s
can’t feels her toes Orenzo.”
Lorenzo picked him up,
“Thanks for trying little man, you’re good backup.”
Eddie puffed up with pride
and said, “Daddy says when we’s gets olda our jobs gonna be to helps you at
Twiple C and da Pack.”
“We’ll be proud to have you
as part of the team, all of you,” Vin said as he looked at the young boys who
began to grin. He looked around the gym
and said, “We’re going to be leaving soon, make sure you have everything.”
Alec pointed to the wall,
“Our bags are ready and we put them over there.”
“Good job,” Anthony murmured
as Alec beamed up at him.
Carlo strode to the front of the gym and everyone
quieted down, “Everyone, please gather your belongings and make your way to the
vehicles as soon as we get the all-clear.”
The Level 4 and 5 Delta’s and Level 1 Beta’s exited the gym and
surrounded the parking lot, while the rest of the Beta’s fanned out across the
grounds. Frank and Joe strode to the
door and within moments began to hear ‘Clear’ come over the bond Carlo had
opened.
“I’ve always wondered why you
all are so tense when it’s time to leave,” Rain asked quietly as he moved to
stand next to Frank.
“One would expect our guard
to be down in the confusion of leaving, the youngsters being tired, parents
frazzled, etc… it would be the perfect time to launch an attack to catch us
unaware,” Joe answered quietly as he scanned the woods.
“Make no mistake Rain; we
never let our guard down. What others
think is paranoia and a distrust of everything, is everyday life for us,” Frank
said as he watched Jeff, and five others jog to the gate. They took up positions on both sides and
Frank heard ‘Clear’ from Jeff. “Everything is clear Carlo.”
Rain nodded, “Perfectly
understandable considering your history.”
“Everyone to the parking
lot,” Carlo said as he walked to the door with Tristan and Savannah
“If you hear anything or
discover anything new, contact us immediately,” Carlo said quietly as the two
Alpha’s nodded. “Thank you again my
friends.”
As Carlo and Tristan shook
hands, Tristan said, “Savannah
Carlo nodded and said
quietly, “Have a safe journey.” He
watched the Alpha’s get in their vehicles and Joe lead Tristan’s detail out the
gates. Moments later Frank led PR
through the gates and then SMP began to leave.
Aldo walked up to Carlo and
said, “We already have our orders from Frank and Joe. Go get ready for the lake; everything will be
taken care of.”
“Yes Sir,” Carlo said with a
laugh and slapped Aldo on the back before walking to Gina’s SUV. Carlo thanked the Pack for all the extra work
that had been done. When they arrived at
the Millers he told everyone to meet in an hour and be ready to leave as soon
as the others returned from their escort duties.
“Hurry up,” Rose yelled to
her youngsters as they came downstairs toting their duffle bags. “I hope you remembered to pack your swimsuits,
sweatshirts, sweatpants, a nice shirt and pants if we go out to eat and…”
“Mom, you tell us the same
thing every time we go to the lake. We
know what to pack,” Vin said with a sigh as he walked down the hall.
“Don’t talk back to me
Vincent,” Rose said with a scowl. “Get
the coolers out of the garage and load them in Gianni’s truck along with the
bags.” She sent the youngsters onto the
porch as she walked through the house one last time, making sure everything was
turned off and secure. “Come on, they’re
waiting.”
“They’re on the way, let’s
wait on the porch,” Annie hollered. As
Lorenzo was locking the door, she said, “Crap.
The coolers are in the garage.”
“Will you calm down, they’re
right there,” Lorenzo pointed in front of the garage. “You act like we’ve never gone away before.”
Annie sighed, “I know, I’m on
edge. Your father left the bond open so
I could hear, but I want to hear their opinions on what was discussed.”
“Nothing you can do about it
now, so just relax,” Damian said with a grin before lowering his voice, “You
want to hear a secret?”
She began to smile, “If it’s
coming from you, I’m afraid to hear it.”
“I’m not that bad, am I?” he
replied as he began to pout.
Annie’s laughter rang out
over the yard, “Yes you are, and you know it.”
He grinned and she began to relax, “Okay, tell me. I can’t wait to hear this.”
“I was thinking of writing a
romance novel,” he replied in a quiet tone as he looked at his family to see
who was listening. “Along the lines of
one of the historical bodice rippers Aunt Rose reads. I really like those, but I’d want mine to be
a little different, with some supernatural elements to it.”
“I think with your
imagination and sense of adventure that if you wanted to do that, it would be a
best seller. You know no matter what you
want to do, I’ll support you,” she whispered before giving him a hug.
He pushed his mom with his
shoulder and grinned as he watched his cousins and Aunt pull into the
driveway. “Woohoo, lake time boys and
girls.”
A little over ten minutes
later everyone was gathered in front of the Millers garage, as Joe, Frank and
Carlo went over the seating arrangements.
“I want to change it a little,”
Carlo said. “Put Angelo and Victor in Frank’s vehicle. From now on, when we’re traveling together
even in our own territory, I want extra protection for Sophia and Anthony.” Frank and Joe nodded and made the
changes. Carlo looked the list over
again and nodded before handing it to Joe.
“From now on when we travel,
this is the seating arrangement we’re going to use, unless specified
otherwise,” Joe said as everyone turned to look at him. “Alpha Carlo – Fiona, Maeve, Gino, Enzo. Todd – Fallon, Shannon, Paulo, Michael. Phil and Matt – Erin, Caitlin, Lorenzo,
Damian. Papa Mike – Brianna, Morgan,
Vincent, Dominic. Carmelo – Gabby,
Aislin, Gianni, Salvatore. Frank -
Sophia, Anthony, Angelo, Victor. Me –
Maria, Kelly, Alberto, Marcus.”
The youngsters talked
excitedly as the men were complaining about the amount of items their families were
taking. “What the hell is in here? Concrete?” Frank grunted as he moved a cooler
into the back of Rose’s SUV.
“Stop complaining you big
baby,” she replied with a smile. “It’s breakfast
casserole, lasagna, gravy and cinnamon buns.”
Joe turned to Annie and she
shrugged, “Chili and slippery pot pie.”
Gina smiled, “Venison stew
and baked ziti.”
“Cakes, cookies, pies, scones
and biscuits,” Nana Ellen said.
Carlo began to laugh, “I told
everyone we’d go shopping up there, why in hell are we bringing all this food?”
“So we can relax too. It’s not much of a vacation if we’re busy
cooking for forty-two people,” Gina said with a frown.
“I know you two didn’t cook
anything, so what do you have?” Carlo asked as he pointed to the back of Matt’s
SUV.
“Beer in the coolers… and two
cartons of Pop- Tarts; chocolate fudge for Phil and frosted brown sugar
cinnamon for me,” Matt replied.
“You and your damn
Pop-Tarts,” Joe said with a laugh.
“And you?” Carlo asked as he
turned to Rita.
“Beer, rum, tequila, whiskey,
vodka, kahlua, mixers and snacks.”
“Well damn, I think we should
leave the youngsters here and have our own party, just like when we were
younger,” Carlo said as the adults began to laugh.
“If you bunch of degenerates
want to go to the lake and leave us unsupervised, go right ahead… we won’t mind,”
Damian said with an evil grin.
The adults stopped laughing and
Todd snarled, “Millers, load up now.”
They quickly got in the assigned vehicles and Todd glared at the boys,
“We’re going to be keeping a close eye on all of you.” He turned to Damian, “Especially you.”
Damian’s mouth fell open and
his eyes were wide, but the twinkle in them was full of mischief, “What did I
do?”
“Well… nothing yet,” Todd
admitted with a sigh. “But I’m still
going to keep a close eye on you.”
“You don’t have to worry
about me. I know the dating rules by
heart even though I haven’t had time to get them tattooed on my ass yet,”
Damian said with a crooked grin as everyone laughed.
“Alright everyone, load up,”
Carlo said and minutes later they were pulling out of the driveway for the 2.5
hour trip. Carlo began telling Maeve and
Fiona the history of Western Maryland , its
importance for settlers heading west and how those settlers were the beginnings
of the Pack and the Rossi fortunes.
“So, that’s how Rossi’s
grocery started, as Rossi’s Outpost?
Like the Oleson’s on ‘Little House
on the Prairie’?” Maeve asked with a grin.
“Yes, we sold, bought and
traded everything; horses, wagons, guns, food supplies, clothing, knives,
hardware, candles, cookware… you name it, we dealt in it,” Carlo said as he
looked in the rear view mirror. “Route
40, also called the Cumberland
Road National
Road Mississippi
“How do you manage all of
them?” Fiona asked with a smile.
“We hire good store managers,
district managers and regional managers, but the most important employees are
the ones who work the floor, like cashiers and stock people. They’re the ones who deal directly with the
public and are the ‘face’ of Rossi’s,” Gina replied as she turned in her seat
to look at the girls. “Remember that
when you start the bakery. You can have
an average product but if you have exceptional staff serving it, people will
come back. The opposite is also true,
you can have exceptional product with bad, rude staff and the public will never
come back.”
“Do you have Were’s working
in your other stores, in the other states?” Maeve asked.
Carlo shook his head, “Years
ago, even before the Were War, my family decided not to have other Packs
working in the stores. If they
manufacture food products, we’ll buy it and carry it, but it wouldn’t be in our
best interests for them to be involved in the actual stores, especially in a
managerial position.”
“We buy wine, produce,
cheese, meat and many assorted products from other Packs but we don’t treat
them any different from the thousands of vendors we have. You have to remember that first and most
foremost, Rossi’s is a business and must be treated as such,” Gina said in a
firm tone.
“You also have to remember
who and what we are. We have to walk a
fine line between our position in society as business leaders and maintaining
the secrecy of our Packs. No matter
what, our Pack will always comes first and we will do what needs to be done to
protect them,” Carlo said as the boys nodded.
The girls were quiet as they
merged onto Interstate 68 heading towards Cumberland
Fiona reached over to hold
her twin’s hand, “Daddy and Papa Mike say as long as we listen and pay
attention that we’ll be safe. That you
and the Carlucci’s won’t let anything happen to us and I believe them.”
Enzo turned around to look at
the girls, “I don’t want to lie to you, we’ll always be there to protect you,
but things do happen; that’s why we’re teaching you as much as we can so you
aren’t defenseless.”
“Like we may be fighting with
the bad guys and if there are enough of them, you may be taken. But you’ll know how to defend yourself; we
taught you how to get out of restraints, but there’s a lot more for you to
learn,” Gino added as Enzo nodded. “What
we’re teaching you is how to survive until we come for you.”
Enzo stared into the eyes of
the two young girls and they were mesmerized as his eyes flickered from green
to amber to black and his snarl was almost feral, “And make no mistake… we will come for you… we will find you… and we will tear apart every person who dared
to take you.”
Carlo glanced at his mate, “They’re getting more and more like their
parent’s everyday. I’m not sure if that
reassures me or scares me.”
The girls nodded and Maeve
said, “I know you will. I can see it swirling
all around you, such beautiful colors, and they’re mixed with gold for
protection.”
Fiona looked at Gino and
asked quietly, “Is he always that intense?”
Gino began to laugh, “We’re
Carlucci’s. We’re always intense… well,
except for Damian. I have no idea what’s
going on with him most of the time.” The
girls began to laugh and the tension inside the car went down as they began to
talk about what they would do at the lake.
***
Matt looked in the rearview
mirror at his nieces and smiled as he saw their intendeds nuzzling their necks. “I’ve
never seen Lorenzo when he’s not scowling or Damian when he’s not talking,”
he said as he reached over to hold his mates hand.
“Our family keeps getting bigger,” Phil replied with a smile before he turned to look
out the passenger window. “Do you ever have regrets that we’re
mates? That you lost everything?”
“Only one,” Matt said as he glanced at his mate. “That I
wasn’t able to protect you better. Without
you by my side, I had nothing. Nothing
but emptiness inside… and now I feel complete.
So, I lost nothing and gained everything. I wonder if you have regrets because you’re
the one who lost the most.”
Phil
was quiet before shaking his head, “When
I look back at our previous life, I see the slights and insulted they directed
my way and how I never truly fit into what they wanted me to be. Here, they’ve never made us feel that way and
we have a family that loves us, unconditionally.” He turned to the window again and sighed, “So no, I have no regrets, only for what
could or should have been.”
“Uncle Phil, how much longer is it going
to be? I’m getting hungry,” Caitlin asked as Damian continued to nuzzle her neck.
“About another hour Cait, if you’re
hungry we have Pop-Tarts in the back and a bag with snacks,” he answered and turned around to see her smiling at
him.
“Thanks Uncle Phil, love you,” she responded before moving out of Damian’s arms as
he began to growl. “Hold on, I’m getting
some snacks.”
“Love you too sweetheart,” he responded with a smile.
“If we had any doubts, there’s our proof…
a family bond. Everyone has said they’ve
never heard of one spontaneously happening.
Only Luna could have given us something we desperately needed, a family
that loves us no matter what,” Matt
said as he rubbed his thumb over the back of his mates hand.
***
Rita looked at her mate and
said, “I’m surprised you haven’t said
anything about Angelo not watching Gabriella.”
Carmelo shrugged, “Salvatore at fifteen is as good a fighter
as Angelo and I’ve seen the way he’s protected her. If he is her mate, he will stop at nothing to
protect her, so I have no worries.”
“They look cute together,” Rita said as she looked at them as they sat in the
middle seat, while Aislin and Gianni were in the back. Gabby had his Science book on her lap and was
quizzing him and Aislin on cell structure and function.
***
Paulo’s fingers were flying
over the laptop’s keyboard as he listened to Michael talk about the activities
they could do at the lake. He pulled up
his email and sighed when he saw ten more had come in during the last five
minutes. The end and the beginning of
the month was always the worst; clients wanting to highlight their monthly
specials, adjusting prices on sale or clearance items or adding new pictures,
and they all seemed to wait until the last minute. He quickly scanned them and put them in a
folder according to how much work would be involved.
“You’re awful quiet, even
quieter than normal,” Shannon whispered into
his ear from where she was sitting in the back seat.
Paulo could feel his face
flushing, “Just busy doing stuff. I was
hoping to get most of it done on the way to the lake, but I’m gonna need a few
more hours.”
“Michael was telling us they
have putt-putt golf, jet skis, and those little racing cars. We’ve never done any of that. To be truthful, none of us have ever driven
anything before, so it should be interesting,” she said with a smile.
Paulo began to laugh quietly,
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you.”
She said softly, “I’m not
worried. I know you won’t let me get
hurt.”
***
“I can’t wait to get on the
lake and do some fishing. Alpha Carlo
said the lake has big mouth bass,” Papa Mike said with a smile. “My boys and I went to Robertson’s and got
fishing rods and tackle the other day.”
“Alpha Carlo got a really
nice boat from Madame Gina for his fortieth birthday. You can fish from that, the dock or the lake
shore. The land next to them is finally
for sale, not much lake frontage, but it’s about twelve acres of land. Dad and Uncle Joe said they were going to look
at it and possibly put in an offer; that it was about time we built our own
cabin,” Dom said with a grin.
“That was last month, I’m not
sure what they’re going to do now,” Vin said quietly as silence descended
inside the SUV as everyone thought about all the things that had happened in
the last month.
***
Joe looked in the rearview
mirror at his daughter and her intended.
Alberto was leaning against the side of the vehicle while Maria was
stretched out on the seat. Her head was
tucked on his chest and he had his arm around her shoulders while he scented her
hair. Her even breathing indicated she
was asleep and Joe quietly asked, “Does she have her arm on her pillow?”
Alberto nodded, “Yeah, it
looks good, not swollen or anything. She
took her pain meds before we left so she could rest on the drive.”
“I know she’s going to want
to do all the activities they normally do at the lake, but I want you to keep
an eye on her so she doesn’t overdo it.
She’s stubborn…” Joe said with a grin.
“Like her mother.”
Quiet laughter filled the car
as Annie whacked him on the arm. “I’m
not stubborn you jackass, I’m just always right.”
***
Rose looked at her mate, “We’re
almost there, a little over half an hour.”
“I’m glad, because I’m hungry
and I know if I’m hungry then the ravenous beasts must be starved,” Frank
answered with a smile.
“I could eat a whole deer…
maybe two,” Victor answered as he looked up from his English homework.
“Squirt, you couldn’t even
eat the flanks off of one, let alone two deer,” Angelo said with a snort.
Victor glared at him, “I bet
I can eat as much as you.”
“Doubt that. I’m a foot taller and outweigh you by a buck
fifty. My arms are bigger than your
little twig legs,” Angelo retorted as he began to grin.
“I do not have twig legs. You’re jealous become I’m normal sized. Everything about you is jumbo-sized,
including your head with that ginormous ego of yours,” Victor said with a
smile.
“My head’s not big; it’s
proportionate to the rest of me. Face it
Squirt, I’m a big man with a big personality,” Angelo said with a grin as he
bumped Victor with his shoulder almost knocking him off the seat.
***
“You tired?” Carlo asked Gina
as he reached for her hand.
She nodded and sighed, “Yeah,
it’s been a long day.”
“Instead of fixing the stuff you
brought, how about if we stop at that Chinese buffet?” Carlo asked with a
smile. “This way nobody has to prepare
dinner or do dishes afterwards, we can relax the rest of the evening.”
“That sounds wonderful,” She
replied with a smile before turning to the girls. “Chinese food okay with you two? If not we can stop somewhere else.”
“Yes ma’am,” both girls said,
happy the Alpha’s had asked their opinion.
“You’ll like the buffet; you
can try everything and see what you like. We like them because we can eat as much as we
want,” Enzo said with a grin.
“Maeve and Fiona are perishing from hunger and
demanding we stop and feed them Chinese food.
I tried reasoning with them, but they’re relentless in their demands,” Carlo said to everyone in a teasing tone as Maeve and
Fiona gasped and Gina, Enzo and Gino laughed at their expressions.
“Alpha Carlo,”
Maeve replied in a horrified tone.
“They’re tenacious like their mother and grandmother, like wolves after
prey. It’s better to give in than be
nagged to death,” Todd said with a laugh.
“Daddddyyy,” Fiona squealed as everyone started to laugh.
“Joe, you’re the lead car, we’ll follow you,” Carlo said with a grin as he closed the bond. He looked in the mirror at the girls and felt
his heart clench, the ache was a familiar one and he felt his wolf hang his
head before he started to whine. He took
a deep breath and hid his emotions so no one else could feel them.
Gina squeezed his hand, “You don’t have to hide it from me, I feel
it too.”
“You okay Carlo?
Anything wrong?” Frank asked
his voice laced with concern. As Frank
was speaking, Joe broke in and asked the same thing.
“I’m fine; I should’ve known I couldn’t hide anything
from the two of you. Our bond is too
strong. Seeing the two young ones brings
up memories of my Angelica,” Carlo
said as he sighed again.
“We can always shift their seat assignments if that
would help you and your wolf,” Joe
said as he took the next exit.
Carlo felt his wolf begin
pacing back and forth, “No. In an odd way, it makes us feel better to
protect them.”
“Okay, but let us know whenever you want to change it,
or need a break,” Frank said as he
pulled into the parking lot. Thirty
minutes later the boys were demolishing the buffet, the girls had finished
eating, the men were talking about fishing and the women discussed the new
declarations.
“I don’t know why you bother
to sit. You should get one of those
rolling chairs and just scoot along the counters,” Kelly said to Marcus as he
brought his sixth plate of food back to the table.
“Don’t give them any ideas
Kelly,” Sophia said with a laugh.
“You know what ‘Buffet’
stands for, right?” Damian asked to no one in particular. Seeing the confused looks, he said, “Big Ugly
Fat Friends Eating Together… that would work for the rest of you guys but since
I’m here, it’ll have to change to Brawny Utterly Fabulous Friends Eating
Together.”
“Carlucci, you’re so full of
shi…” Angelo began and stopped speaking as he looked around the restaurant.
“What was that you were
saying Angelo?” Victor said with a smirk.
“Shove it Squirt, you know
darn well what I was going to say,” Angelo retorted as he threw a fortune
cookie at Victor.
Frank looked around the
restaurant and said, “The food’s really good here, I’m surprised it’s not
busier, or are we eating early?”
Carlo looked at his watch,
“It’s almost 6, so we’re not early. It’s
been a while since we’ve been to this part of our territory and I wonder what’s
been going on; the store manager says sales are down too.” Carlo motioned for the waitress and he
quietly asked to speak to the owner.
Several minutes later an older gentleman in his sixties came out and
slowly walked to their table.
“I’m Charles Wu, is there
something I can help you with?” he asked with a smile.
Carlo stood to shake hands, “I’m
Carlo Rossi and this is my wife Gina, we own Rossi’s grocery stores. We have a cabin at the lake and are here for
the weekend with our friends; Frank, Rose, Joe and Annie Carlucci of Carlucci
Construction Corporation, Carmelo and Rita Moretti of Carmelo’s Pizza Parlor’s,
Matt Washburn -Miller and Phillip Moeller-Miller of South Mountain Florists and
Mike, Ellen, Todd and Holly Miller who are in the process of opening a
bakery.”
Mr. Wu nodded at each couple
as they were introduced. “It’s a
pleasure to meet everyone. I’ve seen
your families around town, but I don’t remember seeing all those girls.” He turned to Carlo with a questioning look, “Is
something the matter? Was the food
unsatisfactory?”
Carlo turned to the buffet
where the boys were still getting plates of food and he smiled, “Obviously the
food was wonderful and our children are eating everything in sight.” Mr. Wu smiled and let out a deep breath. “We haven’t been to the lake in several
months and were wondering with the holiday weekend, why it isn’t more crowded
here.”
Mr. Wu shrugged, “We had a
large distribution center close three months ago.” He turned to the Carlucci’s, “I know you’re
bidding on the new shopping center they’re building, and with your reputation
I’m sure you’ll get it. I have a feeling
you’re going to have hundreds of people applying for jobs, there’s just no
other companies hiring in the area. I
don’t know how much longer some of us can hold on, there are a lot of people
who are selling their homes and businesses are starting to close. We’ve done everything we can to stay
open. We used to have the buffet every
night, now we only have it on weekends and I’ve laid off all my staff, the only
ones working here are family now. Your
group is the first business we’ve had today and I greatly appreciate you coming
in.”
“It was our pleasure, the
food is excellent,” Rose said with a smile.
“Do you know who to contact
about the building? We’ve been in the
same building for close to thirty years and not only is it outdated, but we’ve
outgrown it. We’ve been looking to
expand for a while now,” Gina asked with a smile.
“I could make some calls,”
Mr. Wu said with a smile.
“We’ll be here for the
weekend so there’s no hurry. Let me give
you our contact information,” Carlo said as he pulled his wallet out. “The main corporate number is on the front,
but let me put Gina’s number on the back.
She handles new property acquisitions and knows the specifications of
what we’re looking for.”
Mr. Wu nodded, “I’ll make
sure they contact you.”
“You should have breakfast at
The Settlers Diner, it’s the best place to talk to the locals to find out
what’s going on,” Gina said as Mr. Wu nodded.
“That diner’s kinda small, so
why don’t you men go. We’ll stay at the
cabin with the youngsters,” Rose said as Carlo nodded.
“I’ll settle the bill and get
your business card,” Carlo said and walked to the register with Mr. Wu. Five minutes later, he returned and asked the
youngsters. “Everyone done?” At their nods, he turned to the adults, “I
paid for dinner, you all leave the tip.”
Frank, Joe, Carmelo and Todd each threw a hundred dollar bill on the
table as the youngsters got up and walked to the door. The girls stood in the lobby and talked
quietly while the older boys walked outside scanning and scenting the area before
giving the all clear for the girls to join them.
“That was really good, we didn’t have to tell you to
wait and you acted natural while we checked the area,” Anthony said to the girls.
“We’re learning little by little,” Aislin said with a grin.
Marcus smiled, “It’s all about baby steps, little girl.”
“I’m not a little girl, I can feed and dress myself
and do the potty on my own,” Aislin
said in a huff as she walked towards Rita’s SUV with Gianni.
“Okay, I deserved that, but you’re not exactly grown either. You’re the same age as my sister and I still
picture her in pigtails with grape jelly smeared across her face at snack time,” Marcus said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes, “You’re seventeen, which means you’re two
years older, so stop talking like you’re my grandfather. Talk to me like a friend.”
“I’m your protector so I have to…” Marcus began with a scowl.
Aislin stopped walking and
turned to stare at him, “No… you are my
SISTER’S protector; I have Gigantor over here as MY protector.”
“I’m 6’1”, I don’t think that qualifies me to be
called Gigantor and don’t drag me into this,” Gianni said as he threw up his hands in surrender.
Aislin smiled at him, “I’m 5’6”, so you look gigantic.”
“What do you think of when you see me?” Marcus asked with a scowl.
Aislin stared at him and
shrugged before getting into the SUV, “Actually,
I don’t think about you at all.”
Gianni threw his head back and laughed at the disgruntled look on
Marcus’s face before he followed her into the SUV.
Twenty-five minutes later
they were pulling in front of the Rossi Cabin.
“This is a cabin?” Maeve asked in astonishment as she looked at the
Rossi vacation home. The main section
was two stories high with a wing on the right and a three car garage on the
left. It was constructed of multi-hued tan
bricks with cream mortar; the dark brown shutters were the exact shade of the
roof shingles and the trim work was painted in a complimentary darker cream
color. “It’s beautiful.”
“Part of the main house dates
back over a hundred years and was the caretaker’s cottage when they operated
the outpost here. Over the years each
Rossi Alpha has expanded and updated it.
We finished the last update three years ago and finally have everything the
way we want it,” Gina said as she turned to smile at the girls. “Come on; let’s get our things inside so we
can enjoy the weekend.” The girls
nodded, and Enzo and Gino grabbed their bags.
“You’ll be in the bonus room
over the garage. The first thing we’ll
show you is how to get to the safe room,” Enzo said as Carlo opened the door, Gina
turned the lights on and the girls followed the boys upstairs and down the
hallway. There were eight sets of bunk
beds; four on the back wall and two each on the right and left side wall, under
the bottom bunks were two drawers. On
the front wall was a large screen TV with bookcases on both sides filled with
games, books and DVD’s. In front of the
TV were two leather sofas, bean bags and behind them was a large table.
“Not sure what bunk you’re
going to be in. The door in the corner is
the bathroom, and the other is a linen closet with towels, blankets and sheets,”
Gino said as they put their bags on the floor.
“I still think we should pick
your bunks, I want to know where you’re at,” Lorenzo said as he carried in Erin ’s bags.
She sighed, “I think we can
pick our own sleeping arrangements and you don’t have to know exactly where I’m
sleeping.”
“Let her be,” Vin said as Lorenzo
was opening his mouth. “The room is
safe. The floor, walls and ceiling are a
foot thick of reinforced concrete. The
door is solid steel and Dad and Uncle Joe are going to install the braces on it
today.”
“Fine, but I want you to keep
your phone by your side,” Lorenzo said with a scowl as Erin
smiled and walked away.
“Okay, listen up. If the alarm goes off in the middle of the
night, there’s direct access to the basement from here. Think ‘Hogan’s
Heroes’,” Anthony said in a firm tone.
The Millers looked around trying to find the door and Ant smiled.
“Huh?” Caitlin asked with a
confused look on her face.
“I told you we have to work
on your communication skills Zucca,” Damian leaned in and whispered as he began
to scent her neck.
“You still haven’t told me
what Zucca means,” Caitlin said with a smile.
“Pumpkin. That’s what you smell like, pumpkin pie. A combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger,
cloves all mixed in with pumpkin. It’s
intoxicating and I can’t get enough of it,” he said with a low growl as he
pulled her closer.
“If you could leave your
intended alone while we give them instructions for their safety, I’d appreciate
it,” Ant said as he stared at his best friend.
Damian snorted, “As if I’d
let anything happen to her.”
Caitlin pushed him away,
“You’re not going to be with me every moment of every day. I need to know this Damian, so leave me
alone.”
“Our first argument, you know
what that means…” Damian said with a wicked smile. “We have to kiss and make up.”
“That wasn’t an argument you
idiot,” Caitlin said with a laugh before moving to his side and whispering,
“But I wouldn’t mind the kissing part.”
Damian began to growl again and moved to bring her into his side but she
quickly moved out of his reach to stand between Fiona and Maeve.
“As I was saying before being
interrupted… there is an escape route and we modeled it after ‘Hogan’s Heroes’,” Ant said with a
smile. He opened the closet door and the
Millers watched as he pressed on the upper hinge then the lower one before
closing the door. He turned back to the
bunk, “Watch.” The bottom bunk along
with the drawers began to rise quickly along with the carpet underneath. The Millers moved forward and watched as a
ladder came into view.
“Now, that is cool,” Shannon said with a grin.
“We’ll meet you there. I don’t want Maria going down the ladder with
the brace on her arm,” Alberto said as he reached for Maria’s hand. She smiled and they walked out of the room
followed by Gabby, Sal, Victor and Angelo.
“This goes between the walls
of the garage and the house and leads to a small room along the footers. It’s tight for us, but you shouldn’t have any
problems. Be careful, it’s a long drop
if you fall,” Ant said as he descended the ladder. “As soon as the last person is on the ladder,
make sure you push the button to close it and throw the latch so it can’t be
opened from the bonus room.” Ant waited
until everyone was in the room before he showed them how to power up the
monitor and they saw the others waiting in the basement. “If the basements not clear wait here, it’s a
little cramped but it’ll protect you until help arrives.”
“There’s a cell phone, food and
water, and one last thing… it’s primitive, but there’s a bucket for…” Vin said with
a grin.
“You don’t have to say it, we
get the picture,” Brianna interrupted as she turned bright red as the girls
began to laugh.
“Okay then. Let me show you how to access the basement,”
Ant said as he opened a control panel and punched in the code. The door slid open and Anthony crawled out
into the basement. Everyone followed and
the girls turned to see the opening in the wainscoting. “There is no access back into that room from
here, so make sure the safe room door is open before you close that door.”
Carlo looked at the youngsters
and smiled, “Now for the safe room, with all of us here it’ll be cramped; we
don’t have enough bunks for everyone.”
“That’s okay; we don’t mind
sharing with the girls, do we?” Damian asked with an innocent smile and Ant,
Vin, Dom, Lorenzo, Sal and Alberto grinned.
“I’m going to end up killing all
of you before my daughters turn eighteen,” Todd replied as the men began to frown. The four oldest Carlucci’s pulled their
intendeds close to their sides and smiled widely at their father in law.
“Don’t even think about it,”
Joe replied as he glared at Alberto who grinned as Maria covered her face with her
hands.
“In two seconds I’ll wipe
that smile off your face,” Frank said as he stared at Ant who stopped smiling as
Sophia hid her smile in his shoulder.
Carmelo narrowed his eyes and
stared at Sal, “Don’t even go there.”
Sal’s eyes got wide and he turned bright red as Gabby grinned.
“The girls will double up
except Maria who’ll have her own due to her arm; the younger boys get the bunks,
older ones the floor. This is obviously
the theater room; as you can see the door to the safe room is hidden behind one
of the book cases. Madame Gina gave me
orders that she wants all of you to relax this weekend, so after we show you
the layout of the safe room, the weekend is yours,” Carlo said in a firm tone
and walked into the safe room followed by the others.
The Millers looked around and
Todd said, “It’s double the size of the one in our house and I’m assuming the
mechanicals work the same. Oh, we
brought clothes to put in here as well as our safe house.”
Maeve moved next to Carlo and
held his hand as she smiled, “Your colors have changed, there’s more pale
colors around you than before, that means you’re more relaxed. Daddy printed out a better color chart for me
so I can understand them better.” She
pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to Carlo.
“You can see all these
colors?” Carlo asked, his voice containing awe, reverence and excitement. “What does it look like when you see them?”
“Let me try to show you. I’ve tried with Daddy, but he only gets bits
of color, maybe since you’re an Alpha it’ll work better.” They moved to the
theater room and sat facing each other on the sofa. “I need someone to look at.”
“You can try me,” Enzo said
quietly as Maeve jumped, not aware the others had heard and followed. She nodded before projecting his image to
Carlo.
Maeve smiled, excited to
finally have somebody see what she sees.
“What do you see when you look at Mr. Frank and Mr. Joe?”
“The colors are identical and
they swirl the same way, but Frank’s swirl clockwise and Joe’s swirl counter-clockwise. Can I see what I look like?” Carlo asked with
a smile. Maeve swung her gaze to her
Alpha and he saw the bursts of colors swirling around him and he let out
another gasp.
Frank asked quietly, “Can you
show us?” Carlo tried projecting and
looked at Frank who shook his head. “All
I’m getting is flashes of color.”
“Let me try,” Anthony said
and Carlo stood so he could take his place.
He reached for her hand and she looked at Sophia who nodded her consent. Maeve placed her hand on top of Ant’s and she
looked at Enzo. Ant drew in a loud shaky
breath, “This is amazing. Let me try and
project it to everyone.” Moments later
gasps were heard along with the sound of footsteps running down the steps.
“What’s going on?” Gina asked
as the women ran into the room.
“Maeve’s projecting the
aura’s she sees to Anthony; she sent them to me, but I couldn’t project them to
the others. Even the ones I saw weren’t
this clear or bright,” Carlo said quietly.
“Do all of us. I’ve always wanted to see what you see,”
Fiona said as she sat behind her twin and laid her head on her shoulder.
“Before she begins, let me
tell everyone what the colors mean,” Carlo said and began to read off the paper
he was holding. They were quiet as Maeve
went around the room; the last was Fiona who moved so her sister could see her.
“Mr. Joe, do you think you
could get mad? I want to show everyone
what it looks like when the colors change,” she asked with a smile. Without saying anything he turned and stared
at Alberto who was nuzzling Maria’s neck.
“Now I know what ‘seeing red’
means,” Alberto said with a grin as the others began to laugh.
Seeing his father’s
expression Damian said, “After seeing everyone’s colors, I have to remind
everyone what I said the other night.”
As they turned to him, he grinned, “I told Maeve I had the prettiest
colors, and I was right.”
There were groans, sighs, eye
rolling and laughter at his remark and Carlo said, “I can’t believe I’m saying
this, but I think he’s right.”
“Maeve, can we try
something? Can you project them to me
without us touching?” Ant asked as Maeve turned to Enzo. “I’m getting it bright and clear. Let me move around the room.” Ant got up and walked around before leaving
the room and they heard him go upstairs.
“Still getting a clear image. Hold on, let me go out in the yard.” Almost two minutes passed and everyone in
the basement began getting clear images of Enzo. “I’m
about a mile from the house in the woods.
Is everyone getting the images?
Are they as clear?”
“As if you were standing here,” Carlo replied with a grin.
Ant stopped and looked around
the woods breathing in the crisp air. “Dad, I think we should hunt this weekend, I
smell tons of deer and a couple bears.”
“Been a while since we’ve eaten fresh bear, it’ll be a
good training exercise for the younger ones on hunting as a Pack,” Carlo replied as the youngsters grinned. “Come
on back, we’ll go out later and see if we can find some tracks.”
“On my way,”
Ant replied as he retraced his steps.
Carlo turned to Maeve and
smiled, “Thank you for sharing your gift with us. Now I have a better understanding of what you
see and your abilities.”
Maeve smiled and took a deep
breath, “We talked before about how I can help and you said you’d talk it over
with Madame Gina and my family. Well…
the way I look at it, the Carlucci’s are my family because they’re my sister’s
mates and the Moretti’s are part of the Carlucci’s family and the same goes for
you. So basically, we’re all family
here, through blood, matings or love.”
When Maeve stopped talking Gina
smiled, “What are you trying to say?”
“That if we’re going to talk
about it, ALL of us should discuss it; Mr. Frank and Mr. Joe especially since
they’re in charge of security,” she said with a blush, but everyone heard the
determination in her voice.
“I agree with Maeve,” Fiona
said as she moved to sit next to her twin and reached out to hold her
hand. The other girls nodded and moved
to sit on the sofa or stand behind it, presenting a united front.
“I could do more than tell
you if I see somebody around here with bad colors. Daddy told us about what happens at the
Council meetings and he said Mr. Aldo is going to the next one… I want to go
too,” Maeve said in a firm voice.
“Absolutely not. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you near
those people,” Enzo said before anybody else could reply. Everyone stared at him as he crossed his arms
over his chest and had a belligerent look on his face.
“Please Enzo? I’ve been thinking really hard about this and
I think it could really help if Mr. Aldo and I went. Between the two of us we could see things
nobody else can and figure out who wants to hurt us,” she pleaded.
“That’s my point. They want to hurt you, so why would you think
I’d let them anywhere near you?” he asked as his tone and posture got more
agitated.
“But if we can figure it out,
then they wouldn’t be able to hurt us.
It may stop us from going to battle and save lives,” she said in a
calming tone.
“I’m not willing to risk it,
so the answer is NO. End of discussion,”
he said in a firm tone as he threw his hands up in the air.
Maeve took a deep breath and
exhaled slowly, “I hate pointing this out, but it’s not up to you. You may be my protector… but you’re not in
charge of security … you’re not my father… and you’re not my Alpha.”
“You think I care about
that? I said NO, and I mean NO,” he said
as his eyes began to flicker between emerald and amber.
“Can you try and be
reasonable? If you’d think about what
I’m saying instead of just reacting you’d realize the benefits outweigh what
little risk there is.”
Enzo began flailing his arms
in the air, “Do I look like I’m reasonable?”
Maeve put her head down as she
tried to hide her smile as muffled laughter was heard throughout the room. “Is
that a trick question?”
“He’s a Carlucci, none of
them are reasonable,” Carlo said as everyone but the Carlucci’s began to
laugh. “I’ve known all of them since
birth and I can’t think of one instance where they were reasonable.”
“I’m not sure what’s going
on, but I agree with Dad,” Ant said as he walked in the room with a smile that
turned into a frown when he saw the girls grouped together. “Wanna fill me in?” Sophia quickly told him what was going on and
he shook his head. “I agree with
Enzo. She’s too young to be put in a
dangerous position like that. She’s not
even able to shift into her wolf if needed.”
“She would be with Daddy,
Alpha Carlo, Mr. Frank or Mr. Joe, and the other Beta’s who would attend the
meeting,” Brianna said with a firm tone.
Kelly nodded, “Don’t forget
Alpha Savannah, Alpha Tristan and their people would be there, plus Uncle Nick
too.”
“No one else could supply you
with the information she can, even Mr. Aldo can’t do what she does. If you don’t let her do it, you’d be wasting
a valuable resource,” Caitlin added as the other girls nodded.
Fiona looked at her Alpha and
said quietly, “Please think about it.
Everybody else has things they’re good at and jobs they’re responsible
for. We don’t have anything we’re good
at yet, but we can offer our Pack this to help.”
“We don’t want you to answer
right now, we want you to think about it and weigh the pros and cons then we
can get together as a family and discuss it,” Fallon said as the girls nodded.
Todd sighed, “Is this what
you’ve been talking about the last couple of days? I knew something was up with all the
whispering, calls and texts.”
“Yes Sir, Maeve wanted to
talk to us so we could help her convince everyone,” Gabby said with a shrug.
“We even came up with a plan
to get her to the meeting. It’s genius
if I have to say so myself,” Maria said as the girls began to smile.
“I can’t wait to hear this,”
Annie said with a grin.
Enzo stared at her, “I can’t
believe you’re encouraging them, Aunt Annie.”
“Why not? We want our daughters to be independent,
think for themselves, voice their opinions and be able to back those opinions
up, and most important not to let the men tell them what to do,” Annie said as
she put her hands on her hips.
“She can be as independent as
she wants, as long as she does what I tell her…and she’s still not going,” Enzo
retorted with a frown.
“What’s your plan?” Gina
asked as the men turned back to the girls.
“It’s simple, have President
Roberts call a special meeting to discuss what’s going on at Davis, Carlsbad
and Grant Packs and Madame Alpha Helen will invite the Alpha’s to bring several
youngsters with them,” Sophia said as the girls nodded.
“She could say it’s to show
us how the Alpha Council works and how we self govern, it could be part of our
education,” Erin added.
“You all have put a lot of
thought and effort into this,” Carlo said as he looked at Gina who nodded. “You’re right, Maeve has a very special gift
but I’m not certain the rewards outweigh the danger, but we will think about it
and discuss it as a family to make our decision.”
“Well, I’m not changing my mind,” Enzo said in a stubborn tone.
Carlo looked at his watch
with a smile, “It’s almost eight, let’s get everything brought into the house
and then begin our relaxing weekend.”
An hour later, Frank and Joe finished
installing the braces on the doors on the bonus room, safe room and theater
room and joined the rest of the adults who were watching the youngsters play
volleyball and horseshoes. Carlo took a
long pull of his beer and said, “Damn, it’s good to be here.”
“I know, I’ve been looking
forward to this all week,” Frank said as he leaned back in the chaise and
pulled Rose tighter to his chest. “I
wanted to ask with everything going on; do you think it’s the right time to
expand?”
Carlo was silent for several
moments, “It’s a great business opportunity that Rossi’s can’t afford to pass
up and we have decided to proceed as if everything is normal. We also have a responsibility to the people
who live in our territory, even if they’re human. When we see a need we must be willing to step
in to help, and by helping them we help ourselves.” He looked at the youngsters and said, “Let’s
get a bonfire started, we can sit around and talk some more and then after the
girls go to sleep we can have our talk with the boys.”
Twenty minutes later they
were around the bonfire eating bowls of chili Annie had heated knowing they
would be hungry. “The first thing we
need to discuss is the dating rules,” Carlo said with a smile as the youngsters
began to groan. “I know you’re tired of
hearing them by now, but it’s AC rules. Since
Erin and Caitlin are sixteen, they’re allowed to be kissed by their intendeds,
but you’re not allowed to be fully against their front or back.”
The youngsters waited and
Carlo took a sip of beer and the silence resumed. “Is that all?
There’s nothing else you’re gonna say?” Lorenzo asked.
“Nope. You’ve heard the same thing four times now in
the last month, what more do you want me to say?” Carlo asked with a grin.
Damian threw his hands in the
air, “Thank Luna for that. I’m sick and
tired of hearing about these damn, I mean darn rules. You need to bring it up at the next AC
meeting that they should be printed and have the intendeds sign instead of
putting us through this misery… and it is misery.”
Carlo threw back his head and
laughed, “How do you think I feel? Every
time the Pack has a declaration, I have to give this speech.”
“I hadn’t thought about
that,” Damian admitted with a sheepish smile.
“You must be miserable doing that all the time, I feel bad for you.”
“I get dinner and beer, so
it’s not so bad,” Carlo replied with a grin.
“If you’re going to feel bad
for anyone, feel bad for me. I have to
go with him and if he can’t go, then I have to do it,” Gina said with a
shudder.
Carlo kissed her gently, “We
make a great team.” Gina smiled and laid
her head on his shoulder. “Now that
we’ve gotten the dating rules out of the way…”
He looked at the Millers, “Have you ever heard of the Snarly Yow?” They shook their heads while everyone else
smiled.
“It’s an urban legend centered
around South Mountain
“One night, when the moon was
full, a known marksman encountered this beast and even though he was terrified,
he took aim and shot the beast several times with no effect. Frightened, the marksman ran back the way he
had come and refused to ever go out on the mountain after dark again. According to legend, within a year he moved
away from the area and was never heard from again. Over the years the Snarly Yow has been seen
by dozens of credible witnesses and has been known to chase cars, hikers,
bikers and has even been run over several times. When they get out of their vehicles to
investigate, the dog has either disappeared or been standing behind the vehicle
growling. At the top of South Mountain
He stopped and smiled before
taking a long sip of his beer before leaning forward. “I’m letting you in on a secret, it’s no
legend… the Snarly Yow is real.” The
Millers eyes were wide and full of excitement.
“The first documented sighting was actually the first Alpha of SMP, one
of my great-grandfathers. He was
patrolling the territory and came across a lost group of travelers. Needless to say they were scared shitless;
they thought they’d seen a ghost or some giant beast. After that, random sightings have been us
running around the woods. Though the
story about one of them getting hit by a car is real, that was my Grandfather,
he wanted to add something to the tale and after he got hit, he got up growled
and ran away.”
The Millers began to laugh
and Todd said, “That’s fantastic. So
instead of having people chase beasts, they put up a plaque honoring it.”
“It’s perfect cover if
somebody sees one of us,” Frank said with a laugh. “Check the internet, there’s all kinds of
stories about it.” His phone beeped and
he pulled it out of his pocket, “It’s from Joel. The permits for the bakery came through so
we’re going to start the build-out this week and it should be done in three
weeks, maybe less. How’s the ordering
for supplies and equipment going?”
“Good, we placed our initial
food order, and they’ll deliver within 24 hours after we call. The cooling racks, baking sheets, cookie
trays, muffin tins, pie pans, mixing bowls, utensils and the thousand other
things we need have been ordered.
They’re gathering the order and they’ll ship when we call and we’ll have
it within two days. The Hobart floor
mixer, ovens, proofers, coffee machines, refrigerator units and dishwasher have
been ordered and like you suggested, we’ll have them installed once everything
is ready,” said Holly with a smile.
“I’ll set up the computers
with a touch screen Point of Sale system so you can keep accurate inventory and
be able to see what your best selling items are. The website’s started and I’ll make templates
of the different types of baked goods which you can upload daily so you can
feature them,” Paulo said with a blush.
Todd looked at him with a
smile, “We never discussed price for all this.”
Paulo squirmed and said
quietly, “Well, we’re family. I wouldn’t
feel right taking money from you, how about if you just pay for the equipment?”
Todd looked at Joe who
shrugged. “Pretend I’m not a family
member. How much would your expertise
and all the equipment cost?”
“$8,000 to $10,000 to start,
and it would go up depending on what was involved. By that I mean how many pages and items are
on the website, how many items need to be put on the POS, how many computers
you need, wiring, scanners, if you want to buy or rent the credit card machine,
and photos too but Mom does all the photos for me,” Paulo said as he played
with his shoelaces. “That includes the
Pack discount; I charge more for regular customers. It includes a year contract for monthly website
updates, cyber-security, maintenance and if anything happens I’m on call. After that we renew the contract at $1,200
per year.”
Todd looked shocked, “How
many customers do you have? How do you
find the time plus play sports, train, go to school and college and be a
teenager?”
“To be blunt Sir…I’m damn
good at what I do. Right now, I have 100
accounts and a waiting list,” Paulo replied as he blushed. “That’s why I always have my laptop with me. I’m constantly doing things for my accounts
plus all the stuff I do for the Pack.”
He looked at Todd and gave him a crooked smile, “How about this, you pay
for the equipment and for my time I get three cakes a week?”
“You want cake? Are you kidding?” asked Holly with a smile.
“Ma’am, I’m a teenage boy
with a never ending appetite…I never kid about food,” Paulo said with a
smile. “You can throw in some cookies,
brownies, muffins, bread, pies, whatever you need to get rid of, I’ll take.”
Holly looked at Nana Ellen
who nodded and she said, “It’s a deal.”
Nana Ellen sighed, “We still
need to come up with a good name for the bakery and until we do that we can’t
order the signs, napkins, cups, bags and boxes.”
Everyone was quiet as they
thought of names then started to say them.
“Decadent Desserts” “Millers
Munchies” “The Blarney Scone” “Sweet Temptations” “Millers Sweet Shoppe” “The
Sweet Indulgence” “Your Just Desserts” “Sweet Scents Bakery” “Sinfully Sweet”
“Sweet & Kneady” “Sweet Endings” “Millers Confections” “South Mountain
Sweets” “Rollin in the Dough” “Rising to the Occasion” “The Sweet Life”
“Decadent Delights” “Sugar & Spice” “Sweet but Sassy”
“What was that you said
Lorenzo?” asked Holly with a thoughtful look.
“The Sweet Life, because your
life is so much better here than at your old Pack,” he replied with a grin
before looking at his intended and his expression changed to one of
possession. He whispered in her ear,
“And you are pretty fucking sweet, la mia piccola
fragola.” Erin
blushed and buried her face in his chest as he pulled her tighter to his
side. (My little strawberry)
“I
like that,” said Holly with a grin.
“Millers, what do you think?”
They nodded before everyone started talking excitedly. “Now we have to pick out a color scheme. Rose, you’re good at decorating, what do you
think?”
“Well,
you want something comforting and warm, light in color but not too feminine
because you want men to come in and feel comfortable…,” she trailed off as the
fire crackled loudly. “I’m thinking rust
slate flooring, green and brown braided rugs, celery wainscoting, white upper
walls and trim, pictures of baked goods in cocoa frames with celery
matting. For seating; round oak tables
and chairs with celery and cocoa patterned seats, darker cocoa leather love
seats and oversized chairs with celery and sage throw pillows, oak coffee
tables and end tables with different accent lamps. For the windows, white plantation shutters
with paisley curtains in shades of celery, sage and brown.” She turned to Holly who looked stunned.
“That
sounds beautiful,” said Nana Ellen with a wide smile. “You have any thoughts about the logo?”
“I’m
not a graphic or logo designer, but something like… ‘The Sweet Life’ on top
with a cake on a stand, a loaf of bread, cup of coffee and cupcakes and cookies
around the base with a whisk or something,” she said.
Frank
pulled his mate closer to his chest as he said proudly, “I keep telling Rose
she should open a design firm to use her Art degree, she has an eye for color
and details. She designed our offices,
our house, Joe and Annie’s, updated The Manor House and helps in our
construction projects and so does Annie.”
Joe tightened his hold on his
mates waist as she sat between his legs, “Annie takes a photo after we complete
each build and we frame it for our clients.
It’s gotten to the point that when we’re bidding on a project, they ask
if the picture will be included. Her
photos and Rose’s design ideas have set us apart from other companies and
helped in our success...well that and mine and Frank’s charm.”
Everyone groaned or rolled
their eyes as Carlo drawled, “Better pick your feet up youngsters, anytime Joe
starts talking about how charming he and Frank are, you know the shits getting
deep.”
Their laughter echoed around
the fire until a comfortable silence enveloped them. Phil said quietly, “You wanted to know how we
established the bond. Let me start at
the beginning…” He described the
shopping trip with the Millers and how Papa Mike asked what led Todd to adopt
them as brothers and after Matt told their story everyone had started to
cry. How the girls started hugging them
and calling them Uncle Phil and Uncle Matt like it was the most natural thing
and Nana Ellen and Papa Mike agreeing they were now part of their family and they
had felt the family bond form and Papa Mike tried the bond it worked. After he finished his story, the Millers
smiled at each other and reached out to hold hands.
Phil looked at his family and
feeling the encouragement from Matt through the bond, he said quietly, “I have
something to add to what I told you about our previous Pack. It’s something I’ve never told anybody, but I
think Alpha Carlo knows.” He took a deep
breath as he held hands with his Mom and Holly and he stared at Todd and his
Dad. “The Alpha in our old Pack was my
Grandfather; he was the one who abused and banished us.” Tears started falling down his face and he
closed his eyes so he couldn’t see the pity on the others faces. “My own Grandfather did that to me and my
mate…. and my family stood there and did nothing to help. Why couldn’t they love me and accept me? Am I that horrible of a person?”
Papa Mike recoiled in shock,
but seeing the defeated look on Phil’s face he hurriedly said in a gentle
voice, “Come here son.” Phil opened his
eyes and looked up expecting to see pity but instead saw nothing but love and
took the two steps to his Dad who engulfed him in a hug. He patted his back as Phil cried on his
shoulder and said quietly, “Its okay Son, let it out. Those people can never hurt you again; you
have a family who loves you now.”
The Miller girls started
crying quietly, unable to understand how their Uncle Phil’s grandfather could
hurt him. One by one they got up and
went to their Grandfather and Uncle and put their arms around them. Gentle whispers could be heard “I love you,
Uncle Phil” “Its okay, you have us now” “We need you, Uncle Phil” “You’re our
family now”, they were echoed over and over and then Maeve said, “We won’t ever
let them hurt you again, Uncle Phil. I won’t let them …Enzo, Mr. Frank and Mr.
Joe are teaching me to fight and I’ll protect you.” Matt, Holly, Todd and Nana Ellen joined their
family as they whispered words of love and support.
“Did you know that was his
Grandfather?” Frank asked Carlo with shock in his voice as he held Rose’s hand
and heard sniffling from Sophia and Maria as their intendeds held them and
comforted them.
“Yes, as soon as Matt called
and told me their names. I debated on
whether or not to tell you, but it wasn’t my secret to tell,” Carlo said and
hesitated before continuing. “Years ago,
I was playing poker with several Alphas’ in the games room after meetings were
done for the day. I’m not sure how the
topic came up, but Moeller said he hated gays and if he found out there were
any in his Pack they were disciplined until they weren’t gay anymore. I saw Matt’s reaction and I said any gay
members would be welcomed in my Pack. He
never responded or sought me out to talk and to be honest I forgot about it,
until he called me.”
The four Carlucci boys joined
their intendeds providing even more support to the Miller family. A couple minutes later, Matt looked at his
mate and after kissing him gently, said to nobody in particular, “Unconditional
love and a deep need for each other, that’s how we established a family bond.”
“A family isn’t about being
bound by blood, it’s about being bound by love and loyalty,” Carlo agreed
quietly as the fire continued to crackle.
Phil nodded and looked at
Carlo, “We have a new family and we owe it all to you. You saved us…”
“You saved yourself; it was
your strength and determination that got you through what you suffered,” Carlo
interrupted in a firm voice. “All I did
was provide some assistance but I know you would’ve gotten here on your own.”
“Even if you would’ve been
walking from North Carolina
“I’d rather be naked then
wearing SpongeBob or Tweety bird boxers,” retorted Matt with a grin as everyone
began to laugh and after giving each other one last hug the Millers went back
to their seats, the four older Carlucci boys holding their intendeds closely to
their sides.
Todd looked at Frank and Joe
and asked, “I got a question for you two.
Were you seriously considering the Alpha positions?”
“Let me explain a bit of our
history,” Frank said as he looked at his twin.
“Except for being away from each other for a day when we mated with
Annie and Rose, we’ve never been apart more then a couple hours, and that’s
only when we sleep. Even without using
the bond, I know what he’s thinking and what he’ll do before he does. Except for my mate, he’s closer to me than
anyone and it sounds weird, but even when we dream we often dream of the same
things. I can’t imagine not being with
him everyday, it’d be like a part of me is missing.”
“I feel the same, hell, it’s
been that way since our conception,” Joe smiled at his older brother and took a
sip of beer. “Mom was in labor for
eighteen hours and Doc was getting ready to give her a C-Section but she wanted
to deliver naturally and pushed even harder.
Frank came out feet first and I followed immediately so we were born
within seconds of each other. That’s
when they noticed what the problem was, our hands were fused together and Doc
had to cut us apart.” Joe held up his left
hand and Frank held up his right showing matching scars.
Frank smiled, “We’d been
holding hands our entire development.
When they put us in separate bassinets we cried until we were together
and only slept if we could touch the first two years. The only time we wouldn’t cry if we were
separated was when Carlo was there.” He
looked at Carlo and smiled, “When we were a couple of minutes old, you were put
in the bassinet with us, me on your right and Joe on your left. I believe that’s why the three of us are so
close.”
“We did the same thing when
Gianni, Marcus, Lorenzo and Damian were born; we placed Anthony in the center,
with Vin and Dom watching over them.
That’s the way it should be and always will be,” said Joe as Frank and
Carlo nodded. The five boys smiled,
thinking of the secret pact they made when they were seven.
“Earlier, I said except for
Rose that Joe was the closest to me but that’s not entirely correct,” Frank
stopped talking and looked at Carlo.
“Carlo, you’re as much a part of my soul as Joe and I can’t imagine not
being around you. The three of us were
always meant to be together. Rose said
we do it without thought; when we stand we always stand the same way, you in
the middle, me on your right and Joe on your left. It’s not something we were taught, its
instinctive with us.”
Carlo nodded, “Even though I
knew it would be an excellent opportunity for both of you, I prayed to Luna you
wouldn’t take the positions. I don’t
know what I would do without you both.”
The three men were quiet thinking of everything they had been through
and what was yet to come.
“So yes, we were thinking of
taking the Alpha positions. Not for the
prestige of the position but the advantages it could bring our youngsters. It would’ve been difficult for us but if it
was something they wanted, we would’ve done it,” Frank said with a sigh. “But personally it would’ve killed me.”
“Why didn’t you tell us this Dad? We could’ve made a decision you wouldn’t have
been happy with,” asked Vin with a frown.
“Because as a parent you do
everything in your power to make sure your youngsters have every advantage
available to them, even if it means doing things you don’t want to. When you’re blessed with little ones you’ll
understand what I’m talking about,” Frank said as he looked at his family.
“And we won’t find out for at
least five years, right boys?” asked Todd in a menacing tone as he glared at
his daughters intendeds who started to squirm and look anywhere but at
him. He then turned towards his daughters,
“Now that you’re allowed to go to college, I expect you to fulfill your dreams
and…”
Holly rolled her eyes,
“Before you go all nutso Dad, it’s time for the girls to go to bed. You can lecture them tomorrow.” The girls smiled at the incredulous look on
his face and said goodnight as their intendeds followed them into the house to
say goodnight without the watchful eyes of their fathers on them.
“We’re going to head in too;
it’s been a long day,” Rose said with a smile as the women joined her. As they walked away, she turned and looked at
her mate, “Don’t be too hard on the boys.
I remember what you were like at that age, and they’re angels compared
to you bunch of degenerates.”
Seeing the boys grins, Frank
scowled, “You’d better wipe those grins off your faces; we’re going to have a
serious discussion as soon as the others return.” He went to the cooler and tossed each man a
beer before taking a long pull of his.
He stared at the boys who lowered their heads as they sat in an
uncomfortable silence and not even the warmth from the fire could ward off the
chill they felt.
The younger Millers went into
the bonus room as the coupled pairs said goodnight under the supervision of
their mothers and Nana Ellen. Sal and
Gabby were talking quietly while they glanced shyly at each other; Anthony was
holding Sophia tightly to his side as he scented her and ran his hands through
her hair; Alberto was whispering in Maria’s ear as she scented him and her
giggles and his responding laughter echoed in the quiet hallway; Dom was
leaning against the wall, his hands fisted at his sides as Morgan scented him
and ran her hands up and down his arms; Vin was nuzzling Brianna’s neck as she
ran her hands through his hair; Damian was holding Caitlin’s face as he softly
kissed her and Lorenzo was taking Erin’s hair out of her ponytail as he alternated
between nuzzling her neck and kissing her.
Gina looked at the other
women and said, “They are so cute,
especially Salvatore and Gabriella. I
remember what it feels like to have that first hint of love.”
“If Todd could see his daughters, he’d go ballistic. He forgets how he acted after his
declaration,” Holly said with a big
smile on her face.
“It’s not just the boys who act that way,” Nana Ellen said with a hint of reproach as she turned
towards her daughter in law and raised her eyebrow. “Who gave my son that giant hickey the evening he made his declaration?”
Holly’s eyes were wide and
her face flushed as she said, “You saw
that?”
“How could I miss it?
It was right on the front of his neck.
He was so proud of it and was so disappointed it disappeared by the next
morning; he wanted to show it to all of his friends,” Nana Ellen replied as she rolled her eyes.
The women began to laugh and
moments later Gina cleared her throat, “Its time for the girls to get some
sleep and I believe you have a meeting to get to.” They quickly said goodnight and moments later
they heard the back door close.
Chattering noisily the girls went into the room and the sounds of
laughter rang out as the women quietly shut the door before going downstairs
and settling in the family room.
“How much do you want to bet
they don’t get much sleep tonight?” asked Holly with a smile as Rose poured
them a glass of wine.
Gina grinned, “I don’t think
any of us would take those odds. While
we have the house to ourselves, we’ll go over our plans.” The women nodded and went to their rooms to
get their notebooks.
The men watched with narrowed
eyes as the boys returned; their laughter and smiles disappearing as they took
in the tense atmosphere and the subdued expressions of the other boys. As agreed upon, Carlo let the silence drag
out and the men leaned back and stared at them.
After fifteen minutes of total silence with even the normal sounds of the
woods absent, the boys were completely unnerved and when a loud popping noise
with ensuing sparks came from the fire, they jumped.
Another two minutes went by
and Lorenzo couldn’t take anymore. He
squirmed and took a deep breath before he blurted out, “Alpha Carlo, it’s my
fault. I was in a bad mood and let it
get out of hand and started a fight during the movie.” He looked at his Dad and Uncle Frank before
lowering his eyes once more.
Gianni rubbed the back of his
neck and said quietly, “It’s as much our fault as it is his. We knew he was in a bad mood, and kept
needling him to get a reaction out of him.”
He looked at Lorenzo and a hint of a smile crossed his face before he
quickly removed it, “But we didn’t expect that explosive of a reaction.”
“It developed into a free for
all and we made a huge mess and had to go home and change,” said Marcus as he
stared at his shoes. The men crossed
their arms over their chests as they stared at the boys.
“The girls were never in any
danger. Even though we were fighting, we
were aware of our surroundings,” added Anthony as the other boys nodded.
Carlo held his hand up to
stop them, “Show me, I want to see
how the girls were protected.” Anthony
nodded and Carlo said, “You were with Sophia most of the evening, I want
somebody who was in the back.” He
focused on Gianni, “You show us.” Gianni
nodded and projected things from his point of view.
As the evening replayed in
their heads, Lorenzo could feel himself getting aggravated again as he watched
Erin and Bob. He began to growl and said
angrily, “I’m going to fucking kill him when I get a chance.” The men glanced at each other and shook their
heads at his response.
After Gianni finished, Carlo
asked quietly, “Who was watching the entrance to make sure no one
entered?” Getting no response he
continued, “The girls were halfway across the theater, so who was watching them
while you were busy beating the shit out of each other?” The silence continued before he said in a
voice that was full of anger, “Try and answer this…if someone had come in and
taken the girls, how long would it have been before you noticed?” The silence was deafening before Carlo
shouted, “DO YOU REALIZE WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED? NONE OF YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN AWARE OF IT UNTIL
IT WAS TOO LATE.” He was towering over
the boys by the time he finished and they bowed their heads and showed their
necks knowing he was right.
Carlo took several calming
breaths as he paced in front of the fire, “As disappointed as I am in all of
you, I’m most disappointed in Anthony and Alberto… you were with your
mates.” Anthony started to say something
but Carlo stopped him, “I don’t want to hear excuses. All of you know you were wrong and we took
into consideration the fact Lorenzo was acting out because of feeling the
mating pull so that’s why your punishment isn’t more severe. We expect more out of you from now on.”
“We’ve discussed the
punishment and for the next two months, you’re going to help train the young
ones, the boys and girls,” Frank said in a firm voice.
“Obviously, you aren’t
getting enough of your aggression out since you’re fighting,” Joe added as he
narrowed his eyes. “You’ll join us on
our morning run, go on an evening run in wolf form and your overall training
will be increased.”
“From the time you wake up
til you go to sleep, every minute of every day you’ll be busy. There won’t be time for anything other than
school, football, training and work,” Carmelo said with a scowl before turning
to Sal. “I know you want to ask Gabby on
a date and you will be allowed to go with Angelo and one of The Clan.” Seeing the smile on Sal’s face his scowl got
deeper, “The only reason I’m allowing it is you pulled her out of the way when
these idiots started to fight and I’ve seen the way you protect her. But if I hear one bad thing, you’ll be a
senior in high school before you go out with her again…am I clear on this?”
“Ye…yes Sir,” said Sal as he
lowered his head and Carmelo nodded.
Frank took a deep breath,
“Anthony, you may see Sophia at the house, but there’ll be no dates for a
month.” Anthony nodded before lowering
his head.
“Alberto, the same goes for
Maria,” Joe said with a scowl on his face as Alberto closed his eyes before
nodding.
“Lorenzo and Damian, the same
goes for Erin and Caitlin,” Todd said with a frown. Damian gave a big sigh before nodding.
“All of this was my fault,”
Lorenzo said in a voice full of remorse.
He brought his head up and looked at his Dad, Uncle, and Todd before
looking at his Alpha, “Don’t punish them by restricting their time with their
mates.”
“We took that into consideration. You started it, but it was their decision to
join in and neglect their duty,” Carlo replied as he stared at Lorenzo.
The boys nodded and Anthony
said, “Dad, I’m sorry. I know better and
can’t believe I left my mate and the other girls unprotected.” Carlo nodded in acceptance and Anthony
swallowed loudly before looking at Frank, “I’m sorry Poppa Frank, I let the
trust you had in me go to shit. It won’t
happen again.”
“Make sure it doesn’t, next
time the punishment will be worse,” Frank said as he leaned back against the
log.
“I’m sorry too, Poppa Joe,”
Alberto said as he glanced at Joe before lowering his gaze. “Maria means everything to me and I…”
“I know and take this as a
learning lesson; you know what you’ve done wrong, now make sure it never
happens again. You bunch aren’t the
first to do something this stupid. Frank
and I used to get in so much trouble with our father in law it was unreal,” Joe
said as he began to smile.
“Rose and Annie got mad at us
on a date and said they were going to the bathroom,” Frank said with a smile. “Thirty minutes went by before we realized
they snuck out the window and we went into full blown panic mode. We drove around town for hours looking for
them and finally went home to find Pops sitting in the living room furious
beyond words. I don’t think I’ve ever
been that terrified in my life. He sat
there drinking a beer while he calmly told us how bad we had fucked up and how
we were going to make things right.”
“They’d been with him the
whole time; after they snuck out they ran down the street and called him and he
had them within ten minutes,” Joe said with a frown before he looked at Frank
and smiled. “I still have the blisters
on my hands from chopping wood, mowing the yard, fixing the roof on the house,
digging flower beds and building a deck.”
“Did Mom get in trouble?”
asked Enzo with a smile.
“Fuck no. You know how Pops is… his precious daughters
do no wrong,” Frank responded with a disgusted look as Joe rolled his
eyes. “If something happens that he
doesn’t agree with, even if they caused it, it turns out to be our fault.”
Vin looked at his dad, “That’s
something I’ve always wondered about. I
heard Pops talking to Mom and he said something about the first time you ever
did something right. What was he talking
about?”
Joe, Carlo and Carmelo burst
out laughing as Frank flushed before taking a deep breath. “He’s talking about your birth.”
Vin and Dom looked at each
other in confusion before Dom said, “That’s something else we’ve always wondered
about. You and Uncle Joe do everything
together, why don’t we have cousins the same age?”
“Well…that was your mothers
doing, but I was definitely a willing participant. Even if things got a little out of hand,”
Frank said as he began to smile.
“Anytime the police are
involved it’s more than a little out of hand.
Remember, I had to talk them out of giving you a ticket and towing your
truck for parking on the lawn. You’re
lucky I was there visiting Gina,” Carlo said with a laugh.
Joe added with a laugh. “I had to help replace the doors and fix the
drywall. Not to mention buy a new
kitchen table and bed frame when you broke them.”
“If we’re going to talk about
you and Aunt Rose doing the nasty then excuse me while I throw up,” Damian said
with a shudder as he pretended to gag.
Frank smiled at his nephew
and said, “Wait until your mate goes into heat and you’re not there, you’ll do
whatever it takes to get to her.”
“Why weren’t you there?”
asked Vin.
“And what does this have to
do with us?” asked Dom.
“Stop interrupting,” Frank
said with a laugh. “We’d graduated but
Rose and Annie were in their final year and arranged their schedules so they
were done by noon on Thursday, then they’d come home. We were getting Triple C up and running so we
were working from sunup to sundown six days a week.”
“Going without our mates for
three nights was driving us insane, so Monday and Tuesday nights we’d make the
ninety minute drive at 8 PM. We’d be so
exhausted all we’d do is come into the apartment, eat, fall asleep, wake at 4
make the drive back and work all day. It
was brutal,” Joe added with a frown.
“We knew her heat was coming
soon, because she’d had her period the week before. Your Mom knew how tired I was, so when her
heat started Wednesday around noon she thought she could deal with it until she
saw me Thursday. A couple hours later
she called frantic telling me how bad it was and I left work and drove like a
madman to see her,” Frank said as he ran his hands through his hair. “Like Carlo said, I left the truck parked on
the lawn because there was an accident and traffic was backed up so I ran
across campus. As soon as I got to the
apartment complex, I scented her increased pheromones and my wolf went nuts.”
“Now that’s an understatement,”
Carlo muttered as he began to laugh.
“I ripped the apartment door
off the hinges scaring the fuck out of Annie and in my enthusiasm to get to
Rose I kicked her bedroom door down too,” Frank leaned back with a smile on his
face, clearly enjoying his memory of that evening. “She was in such a frantic state she
basically attacked me as soon as I ran into her room and I had to hold her down
and suppress my wolf while I put a condom on.”
He stopped talking and sighed loudly, “During our uhmm activities it
broke because I was in such a hurry I didn’t put it on right.”
Vin and Dom looked shocked
and Vin said in a surprised tone, “You’re telling me we’re here because the
condom broke?”
“I believe it was Luna’s fate
and your destiny to be the oldest and look after your family. Something you’ve always excelled at,” Frank
said as he looked at his oldest sons with pride. “Never think for a moment we didn’t want
you. The next morning when I noticed the
change in her scent we were thrilled and couldn’t wait for you to be born. But we were scared too, she was still in
school and we were struggling to get Triple C established… not to mention the
fact I had to tell Pops.” He stopped and
shuddered, “He was furious beyond words, he thought I got her pregnant on
purpose. That was the most embarrassing
conversation in my life when I told him the condom broke. He still ranted and raved for months.” He began to smile and said, “All of that
changed the moment he saw the sonogram of the two of you and he couldn’t wait
for you to be born. That’s when he told
me I had finally done something right and when he’s proud of something all of
you do, he says that.”
Anthony looked at his father
and said, “I’m afraid to ask.”
“No, we had been trying
through two of your Mom’s heat cycles to conceive. As soon as I noticed the change in her scent,
I informed the entire Pack,” Carlo said with a smile. “All births of blood-born Alpha-heirs are
celebrated as a blessing from Luna. You
know from your lessons it is harder for Alpha pairs to conceive and they
usually do not have more than three children.”
Anthony looked at his Dad and
asked quietly, “Dad, do you think Mom is gonna go into heat again? Like Doc talked about?”
Carlo shrugged, “If it
happens I would be thrilled.” He took a
deep breath before exhaling loudly, “I’m more worried about if it doesn’t
happen because I know how badly she wants a little one.” He felt her pain when they were at Pack
functions and she held the little ones; she covered it well but he could feel
her heartache, an ache he shared with her.
“I never got to say goodbye,”
Anthony whispered as he met his father’s eyes.
“I may have been young, but I knew… I knew what having a baby sister
meant… I’d watched the older boys with their baby sisters. One night when Mommy fell asleep I whispered
to her belly so my baby sister could hear… I told her I was going to be the
best big brother ever, no one would ever hurt her, and I’d… I’d always be there
for her. But I never…I never got the chance
to be her big brother.” He put his head
down so no one could see his tears and when he was once again in control of his
emotions he continued, “No one would let me kiss her goodbye and tell her how
much I loved her.” The tears were
streaming down his face now and he made no effort to hide them.
Carlo pulled his son to his
feet in a bone crushing hug, “I never realized that’s how you felt. You were so little and I thought not seeing
her would be easier for you. I was trying
to protect you, and I failed, I let you down.”
“You could never let me down
or fail at anything, you’re the greatest man I know,” Anthony said as he stared
into his fathers eyes. “Everything you
do and say shows how great you are and I can only hope one day to be like you.”
Carlo wiped the tears off his
sons face and then wiped his own, “You’ve been the greatest joy in my life and
I’m so proud you’re my son.” Carlo
kissed him on the forehead and instead of Anthony sitting with the boys, he
moved to sit with his father needing the closeness since they were both emotionally
drained.
There was a comfortable
silence for several minutes before Damian said with a smirk, “Well Dad, have I
been the greatest joy in your life?”
“You’ve been the greatest
pain in my ass,” Joe retorted with a straight face as everyone laughed at the
satisfied smirk on Damian’s face. Joe
waited for the laughter to die down before he continued, “When trouble rears
its ugly head, I know you’re behind it peeking around to see what else you can
get into, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
You’ve got a unique outlook on life and sometimes it’s what we need…
other times I wonder what the fuck is going on inside your head.”
Damian smirked at his Dad and
said, “Pops says I’m just like you.”
“Of course he’d say that, his
daughters can do no wrong,” Joe rolled his eyes as Frank nodded. He turned to Alberto, “You’re lucky we’re
understanding father in laws. We know
our daughters have faults and aren’t perfect.
They’re like their mothers; stubborn, pig-headed, opinionated, never
wrong, bossy and temperamental.”
Matt began to laugh, “You
described the two of you.”
“Fuck you Matt,” Joe and
Frank said in unison as they scowled at him.
“Oh come on, you left
yourself wide open for that. If anybody
is bossy and stubborn, it’s the two of you,” Matt said as everyone began to
laugh.
“He’s got you there,” said
Carlo with a grin. “I think the two of
you are even bossier than your father.
Now he’s scary… and so is Ray.”
“Yeah, they’re both intimidating. I can’t believe they worked for the State
Department, there’s nothing remotely diplomatic about either of them. With us, it’s always been their way or no
way.” Frank said with a frown.
“Again, that sounds like the
two of you,” Phil said with a grin.
“Fuck you Phil,” Joe and
Frank said with matching scowls.
The sound of the crackling
wood surrounded them and Todd leaned forward and looked at Joe, “I want to hear
this story about your declaration.”
Carlo, Frank and Carmelo began to laugh as Joe turned towards them and
frowned.
“I need a beer,” Joe said as he
got up to get one out of the cooler only to realize they had finished all four
cases. “Big brother, before I start
let’s get some refreshments; beer for us and Enfamil for the youngsters.”
“Funny Dad” “Fricking
hilarious” “Good one Mr. JC” “Come on Poppa Joe” were heard from the boys as
the men grinned before Joe and Frank walked to the house to get more beer.
Carlo said, “While they’re
gone, let me give you some background on Tuckahoe Pack. They’re on the Eastern
Shore and one of the smaller Packs, roughly half the size of
ours. Seventeen years ago Alpha Atticus
Payne assumed command after his father’s death and began to change things. For years they depended on farming; strawberries,
dairy, corn, and tomatoes. They asked to
borrow money from SMI to build a hotel in Ocean City
He got up and threw another
log on the fire, “Back to TP. We go
there for games leaving early Friday morning and returning Monday evening. We charter a boat on Friday and the adults
relax and fish while the youngsters learn about the Chesapeake
Bay . We have scientists and
preservationists talk about its history, starting with its formation to its
settlement first by Native Americans and later Europeans, its flora and fauna,
and the impact it has on the economy; local, state and national levels. Saturday’s the games; Sunday we go to the
beach and Monday we relax before coming home.
It’s a great weekend.”
“There’s miniature golf,
arcades, the boardwalk, amusement parks and tons of other stuff to do in the
evenings,” Carmelo added as Carlo nodded.
“We’re definitely going to
have to get that bakery up and running soon,” Todd said with a grin. “We’re gonna run out of money with all these
trips.”
Carlo smiled, “The Pack pays
for the rooms and you’ll get an allowance for meals. Next quarter you’ll get your Level 4 stipend
which will help out a little.” He turned
as he heard Frank and Joe return, “Everything okay inside?”
“The girls are still awake,
we heard them laughing and it sounded like they were having a good time,” Joe
said with a smile.
Frank shrugged, “The women
are up to something; as soon as we walked in they hid their notebooks and
stopped talking. I could smell their
anxiety and asked what was up and they quickly said ‘Nothing’ but they looked guilty
as hell.”
“You know as well as I do
they’ll tell us when they’re ready and not a moment before,” Carlo said with a
sigh. Seeing the grin on Ant’s face he
said, “You get your stubbornness from your mother and her family.”
Ant snorted before rolling
his eyes and saying sarcastically, “Naturally, because the Rossi’s are known
for their patience and understanding.”
“Exactly,” Carlo said with a
smile and out of the corner of his eye he saw Frank throw him a beer and he
caught it. He waited until Frank and Joe
sat down before he said, “Time for your story Joe.”
He sighed, “When Frank made
his declaration for Rose our parents and Grammy were ecstatic, but Pops was
less than thrilled.”
“That’s putting it mildly,”
Frank said with a grin. “He knew some of
the shit we’d done and the trouble we’d gotten into when we were teenagers. To be honest though, nobody would’ve been
good enough for his little girls.”
“Now that I’m a father of a
teenage girl I can understand why he felt that way,” Joe said as he glared at
Alberto who grinned back. “After Frank
made his declaration, I couldn’t take a step without Annie being glued to my
side and I can’t tell you how many times I knocked her down because she was in
my way. I hated it. It set me and my wolf on edge; I’d never felt
that way before. I was getting into arguments
and fights with everyone and it didn’t matter what they said or did it pissed
me off and my wolf was worse. He was all
over the place growling, pacing and trying to break out. Basically, I was in the mother of all bad
moods.”
Lorenzo nodded, “That’s how
I’ve been the last week.”
Damian rolled his eyes,
“You’re like that all the time.”
“Fuck off Damian,” Lorenzo muttered
angrily as his twin laughed.
“Are you two done so I can
continue?” Joe asked with a frown and they nodded. “Anyway… we were at TP for a football game, and
we didn’t do the Meet ‘n Mingles like we do now, between games the guys would
stand on one side of the room and the girls on the other and we basically
ignored each other or pretended to. It
was beyond awkward and painful, definitely worse than what you guys do now. Anyway, I was standing there listening to the
TP guys talk about Annie and I was getting more and more agitated and couldn’t
understand why. Finally, the Alpha’s
called for the game to start and put us out of our misery.” He got up and got each man another beer and
took a long pull of his, “TPs training center only had one locker room back
then, so they put up a sheet to keep the teams apart. We were getting changed after the game and we
heard the TP guys talking and this one guy said he was going to ask Annie out. The rest of the story is simple…my wolf and I
realized Annie was our mate so I put my cleats back on and went to make my
declaration.”
Carlo, Frank and Carmelo
burst out laughing and Carmelo said, “What a crock of bullshit. You did way more than that.”
Joe hung his head down and
sighed, “Can’t we just leave it at that?”
“NO,” everyone shouted before
they broke out in laughter.
“Ahh, fuck,” Joe said as he
ran his hands over his face before staring at the sky. “When he was talking, I was getting more and
more agitated and for some strange reason put my cleats back on. I couldn’t think straight, all I kept
thinking about was her and how dare they talk about her. Once I realized she was mine, my wolf broke
out and I partially shifted so I had a wolf’s head and claws. I snarled and howled a bit then left to find
my mate.”
“You snarled and howled a bit?
That’s an understatement. You
scared the fuck out of TP when you ripped the sheet apart with your claws, let
out a blood-curdling howl, shifted back and screamed, ‘SHE’S MINE’… all while
you were bare assed naked,” Frank said and began to laugh. “Tell the whole story baby brother.”
“Fine,” Joe glared at his
older brother before he crossed his arms over his chest. “I was still so disoriented that I grabbed my
helmet and put it on…”
“THE HELMET,” Carlo shouted as
he dissolved in laughter followed by Frank and Carmelo. “How the fuck could I have forgotten about
the helmet?”
Joe glared at Carlo and took
a deep angry sigh, “Then I ran out of the locker room and stood at the door of
the training center. As if me standing
there naked except for my cleats and a helmet wasn’t drawing enough attention,
I started howling and screaming for Annie…”
Hearing laughter from everyone Joe stopped and glared at them. “I finally scented her and took off running
after her with…” his voice trailed off and was barely above a whisper, “A hard
on.”
Shouts of laughter were heard
and Papa Mike laughed so hard he fell off his chair which made them laugh even
harder. “It’s not funny,” Joe said with
a scowl before he began to grin and joined in the laughter. “Annie started to scream and ran which made
me and my wolf even more excited. I took
off after her, still screaming her name and I was so focused on her I didn’t
notice I had Dad, Pops, both football teams and the men from both Packs chasing
after me. All I saw was my mate and she
was running… and I had to get her. ”
Joe stopped and had a big
smile on his face, so Frank picked up the story, “When Joe ran out of the
locker room, we put on shorts and followed.
We were too late to grab him and all we saw was ass and elbows as he
took off. She was weaving all over the
place, screaming her head off but laughing at the same time. I honestly don’t think he would’ve caught her
if she hadn’t of fallen.”
“Bullshit, I could’ve caught
her easily, my wolf and I were enjoying the chase,” Joe said as he scowled at
his brother before he started to smile.
“She was in her uniform and I was enjoying it… a lot. Seeing her tan legs with that skirt bouncing
around and when I caught her it took ten men to get me off of her and…” Seeing the looks of disgust on his sons and
nephews faces he stopped, “What?”
“That’s sick Dad. Hearing your declaration is one thing,
hearing you describe mom physically is just wrong and ewww,” Lorenzo said with
a scowl.
“You got to remember, to us
Mom isn’t a woman, she’s Mom. Big
difference,” Paulo said with a grimace as Michael nodded.
Seeing Damian pull his phone
out of his pocket, Joe asked, “Who the hell are you calling at this time of the
night?”
“I’m seeing if there are any
therapists available for an emergency session. I’m gonna need one. Who am I kidding? I’m gonna need a hundred,” Damian said as he
looked at his Dad who was grinning. “I’m
serious; you’re emotionally damaging me for the rest of my life.”
“Payback for the crap you’ve
done. You have no idea the amount of
people I meet that say, ‘Oh… you’re
Damian’s father’,” Joe said as he laughed.
“Really? That is so cool so many people know me, it’s
all part of my master plan,” Damian responded as a crooked smile appeared on
his face.
There was silence as everyone
looked at him and Matt said, “I know I’m going to regret this, but what is your
master plan?”
“I want to be President,”
Damian said with a grin.
“Of the Alpha Council? You have to be an Alpha to do that,” Ant said
with a confused look.
“No… of the United States
There was stunned silence as
everyone stared at him. Carlo cleared
his throat and took another long pull of his beer, “Are you serious?”
“Yep. I’ll go to college, get my degree in
communications and work for Triple C handling the PR. This’ll get my face out in front of everybody
in Maryland, then when it’s time I’ll take over Senator Martin’s seat with help
from Alpha Carlo, stay there a couple of terms, then move onto the national
level.”
Everyone continued to stare
at him and a slow grin spread over Carlo’s face, “You know I think we could
make that happen.”
“I know we could,” Damian
stated with a smile. “Think of the
support we’d have from other Packs, after we deal with these fuckers. There’s 200 Packs across the country, each
with between 300 to 1,500 members. Each
Alpha is generally acknowledged as business leaders in the town near their
base, but none of them have the political pull and nationally known name as
Alpha Carlo. The Carlucci name is
associated with him and is known up and down the east coast because of our
reputation for the quality of our work and our business practices.”
Joe continued to stare at
him, “How long have you been thinking about this?”
“Since I was a little
one. Mom and Aunt Rose had us sit and
watch President Bush’s inauguration, I wasn’t sure what was happening or who he
was but I remember sitting there thinking, whoever he was I wanted to do what
he did.”
“The Martin’s have held that
Senate seat for close to sixty years,” Joe said as he glanced at his brother
and saw him roll his eyes.
“I for one won’t be sad to
see him go,” Frank muttered with a grin.
Damian shrugged, “None of the
boys want to run when he retires, and Victoria
“You really want to do this?”
Joe asked as he searched Damian’s face.
Damian didn’t hesitate but nodded immediately. “Well, if that’s what you want, you know I’ll
support you and do whatever I can to help.”
“I’ll be right there too,”
Frank said as Joe looked at him and smiled.
“Us too,” Vin said as his
brothers and cousins nodded.
“You can count on the
Millers, all sixteen of us,” Papa Mike said as Matt, Phil and Todd nodded.
“The Moretti’s too,” Carmelo
added as Alberto and Angelo smiled.
Carlo tilted his head and
said, “You can count on me too. I think
when you go to MD you need to take some Political Science courses. We’ll talk to the advisors and see what they
recommend. We need to start planning
now.”
“I’ve already started a
little. I’m fluent in Italian, working
on Spanish and French, that’s why I’m taking both of them this year. I know it doesn’t seem important but I’ve
seen the films where President Kennedy went to France
Todd grinned, “I can’t
believe one of my daughters may become First Lady.”
“If my son wants to be
President then you can bet he will and your daughter will be First Lady,” Joe
said as he looked Damian, the pride evident in his eyes.
“Well then, we’re going to
have to start preparing Caitlin too,” Todd said as he smiled at Damian.
“Thanks Dad and Pappy. Thanks everyone for the support,” Damian said
with a smile as he looked around the bonfire.
“Pappy?” Todd asked with a
scowl. “You couldn’t think of a better
name than Pappy? It makes me sound old.”
“If the name fits…” Damian
said with a smirk.
Papa Mike grinned, “If you
keep harassing my son, you can definitely count on me.” Todd glared at his Dad while his brothers
laughed.
“Well, I’m putting my request
in first,” Gianni said with a smile.
“What request?” Carlo asked
as he got up to get more beer for the men.
“First dibs on the Lincoln
“Anything else you want to
discuss before we wrap this up?” Carlo asked as the boys began to yawn and nod
off.
Vin shook his head and said,
“We’re going to head inside.” He looked
at the two youngest Carlucci’s who had fallen asleep. “I’ll get Sal.”
“I’ll get Victor,” Dom said
as Vin nodded. The men were quiet as
they watched the boys walk through the yard into the house.
Frank looked at his watch and
saw it was almost 2, “I’ve got an idea, why don’t we go for our run now and
sleep in until 8?”
“Sounds good, let’s run in
wolf form,” Joe said as the others nodded.
“I’d ask the women, but they’re asleep.”
Carlo threw dirt on the remnants of the fire and as the darkness
surrounded them, the men stood, stripped and shifted before running into the
woods; Carlo in the lead, Frank on his right flank, Joe on his left with the
others in a loose formation behind them.
“I love running here, makes me wonder what it was like
when they first arrived and the land was open to them,” Carlo said as he jumped over a log.
“Let’s look at the property next door,” Joe said and Carlo veered in that direction.
“You still thinking of buying it?” Carlo asked as they came to the edge of his property
line. “If you don’t then I will.”
“It’s been on the market for almost six months and
they haven’t had anybody out to look at it,” Frank answered as they jumped a small stream. “The
house is basically a teardown; it’s the land we’re interested in. If we could get that and the property next to
it which is sixteen acres, we could build two houses.”
“We’d own the whole end of the lake then,” Carlo said and stopped at the edge of the woods when
the cabin came into sight. Scenting the
air they could tell no one had been there recently so they shifted and
strolled through the yard naked. “You’re
right; the house would definitely need to be torn down.”
“But look at the view,” Joe
said as he walked around the side of the house.
“Not to intrude on your
little Carlucci Compound in the making here, but can we get in on this?” Papa
Mike asked as he looked at the lake. “If
we get both properties, we could split it three ways so we could have a place
here too.”
“What am I? The red-headed stepchild? I want in on this too,” Carmelo asked and
everyone laughed as they looked at his auburn colored hair.
Phil coughed and said, “What
about us?”
“You’d be with us… with your
family,” Papa Mike said as Phil smiled.
“That would work too,” Matt
said with a grin.
“Okay, we’ll have Paulo do a
check of property records to see what’s up.
Let’s finish our run,” Carlo said as they walked back to the tree line
before shifting.
At 7 AM, the boys and the
adults woke to the smell of coffee, biscuits, cinnamon rolls and breakfast
casserole. As they came into the
kitchen, Sophia said, “We were going to make breakfast, but didn’t want to wake
everyone up, so we put the frozen stuff in the oven. It should be ready in ten minutes or so.”
“The men are going to that
local diner for breakfast so it’ll just be us,” Rose said as she kissed
Sophia’s forehead. “What are you all
planning?”
“We’re going jet-skiing. The Millers have never been and we thought
it’d be fun,” Vin walked to Brianna and scented her. He looked at the clock and said, “If we’re
there by 8:30, we can get two hours in, then we’ll walk around town.”
“We’ll come back for lunch, go
swimming, relax for a bit, eat dinner then go to that amusement center and race
go-karts and play putt-putt,” Marcus added as he looked at the lake through the
French doors.
“Sounds like a full day. Make sure you keep an eye on the girls,”
Carlo said as he walked into the room and got a cup of coffee before kissing
his mate.
“How much money will they
need?” Todd asked as he reached for his wallet.
“You have to be sixteen and
have a driver’s license to rent them, so we got it,” Dom said with a smile.
Brianna smiled as she pointed
to her pocketbook, “We’ve got our allowance if we wanna buy something.”
“You all ready?” Carlo asked
as he looked at the men who nodded and followed him out the door. As they drove into town, they noticed the
‘For Rent’ and ‘For Sale’ signs that dotted the landscape.
“I wonder how much they want. I’ve always wanted to have a Carmelo’s
here. What do you all think?” Carmelo asked
as they passed a restaurant with a ‘CLOSED’ sign on the door and a ‘For Sale’
sign in the window.
“You know what I think?” Joe
asked with a frown. “I think we should’ve
taken two vehicles. I can’t fucking move
back here with Matt and Phil.”
“At least you’re in the
middle seat, I’m back here with Todd and Papa Mike,” Carmelo complained from
the third seat.
Carlo grinned from the passenger
seat, “Consider it bonding and stop your whining, you sound like a bunch of
little ones.” Frank pulled into the
diner parking lot and went around the side, pulling through until he was parked
hood out. The men didn’t say anything
just smiled as they walked across the parking lot. When they walked into the building Frank, Joe
and the men scanned and scented the restaurant for any signs of danger. All talking stopped as everyone stared at
them and several men nodded at Carlo.
There was a long empty table in the middle of the restaurant, the rest
of the tables and booths filled to capacity.
The waitress walked up to
them and without saying anything grabbed menus and led them to the empty
table. Carlo sat at the head, Frank,
Matt and Phil on his right; Joe, Todd, Papa Mike on his left and Carmelo at the
end. “Coffee?” At their nods, she brought cups and left two carafes,
“I’ll give you a couple minutes.”
“Everyone is staring at us and you can hear a pin
drop. Mr. Wu obviously spread the word we’d
be here,” Carlo said as he casually
looked at the menu. “Did you notice nobody is eating?
They only have coffee.”
“The kitchen staff is standing around too, it’s not
like they’re busy filling orders,” Carmelo
said as he got a cup of coffee. “I can hear their stomachs growling; maybe
they don’t want or have the money to spend on breakfast.”
“Good morning Mr. Rossi,” an
older gentleman around seventy said.
“Not sure if you remember me, but I’m Bob Perkins I own The Settlers
Diner, been in my family for over a hundred years.”
Carlo stood and shook his
hand, towering over him, “Of course I remember you Mr. Perkins, my family has
been coming here for years. You remember
Frank and Joe Carlucci, and Carmelo Moretti?
We have new guests with us this weekend at the cabin; Mike, Todd, Matt
and Phil Miller.”
Mr. Perkins nodded and said,
“We heard you were in town and some of the men would like to talk with you all,
at your convenience of course.”
“That’s fine, but I can’t
think on an empty stomach. Why don’t you
bring the Settlers breakfast for everyone and we can talk after we’ve eaten,”
Carlo saw the hesitation on some of the men’s faces. “Naturally, I’ll pay since I’m sure most of
these gentlemen weren’t planning on being here this morning to see us.”
Mr. Perkins smiled, “I’d
better get that grill fired up.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like
to see your kitchen and help,” Carmelo said and Mr. Perkins nodded.
A low hum of talking began
and ten minutes later one of the younger men called out, “Is it true you’re
going to expand your distribution center?”
Carlo got up and walked to
the front of the diner near the counter so everyone could see and hear him,
“Yes, we are. I know some of you work
for me already…” He nodded at several men, “And you know the building we
currently own is outdated and cramped.
If we can work out the details on acquiring the building, we plan to
make it our focal point for distribution out west. To that end, it will be operating as a
24-hour facility. We’d need to promote or
hire new shift managers, foremen, office staff, maintenance workers, truck
drivers, plus line workers.”
Someone hollered, “Who is
going to do the build-out?”
Joe stood up, “Triple C will
handle the construction work. We’d bring
our own site supervisor, foremen and specialized workers but we’d be hiring
local laborers. Most of you know we’ve
put in a bid to build the new shopping center in Cumberland
There were excited murmurs
and someone else asked, “What if you can’t get the building? What are you going to do then?”
“We’ll take it day by day,
but Rossi’s is going to expand,” He saw the waitresses bring out plates of
food to his table and grinned, “Now let’s eat and we’ll talk more after we’re
finished.”
*****
Four carloads of youngsters
pulled into a parking lot at the opposite end of the lake. As they walked into the building the clerk was
flipping through a catalog and didn’t look up, “Welcome to McHenry’s, I’m Wayne
“We’d like to rent fourteen jet-skis,”
Ant said as he narrowed his eyes.
Seeing Anthony’s color
change, Maeve said, “Anthony, calm
down. He’s a nice boy but he’s worried
about his family, something to do with money.”
“There’s a ban on personal
watercraft on the lake from 11 to 4, so you can have them for two hours. The rate is $70/hr plus a $250 deposit per
watercraft, credit card only no debit card.”
He finally looked up at the boys who had on board shorts and t-shirts
and the girls who had on shorts, t-shirts and bathing suit straps visible
around their necks. “No exceptions. Before I start on the paperwork, I’m assuming
you have a credit card, at least one between all of you and it’s not stolen and
it’ll go through?” The clerk sighed, “If
you don’t, you’re wasting my time.”
Ant, Vin and Angelo placed
Black Am-Ex credit cards on the counter.
“I’ll pay for one,” Ant said.
“I’ll pay for ten,” Vin said.
“I’ll pay for three,” Angelo
said.
The clerk looked at the names
and swallowed loudly before he whispered, “Fuck me sideways. I’m so getting fired for this.”
A girl in her twenties walked
out from the back, “Is there a problem?”
Ant stared at Wayne Wayne
The girl looked at Wayne who
nodded before lowering his gaze to the floor.
“I’ll need your ID’s so I can make a copy, and here’s the forms, read
them and sign on the bottom.” When she
walked out of the room Wayne looked up and quietly said, “Thanks. My Dad worked at the distribution center that
closed. Right now this is the only
income my family has and I can’t afford to get fired.”
“No problem, but next time
dial down the attitude a little,” Ant said before he began to grin. “What did your dad do?”
“Head of human resources, we
moved from Ohio Wayne
Anthony nodded, “Hopefully
everything will work out. Tell your dad
to fax his resume to our corporate office.
We’re always looking for good people.”
He pulled a card out of his wallet and handed it to Wayne
“Thanks,” he said putting it
into his pocket before pointing to the life jackets hanging on the wall,
“They’re x-small to x-large, make sure it’s snug but not too tight.” He filed the paperwork while the boys helped
the Millers. “Ready?” He led them outside and gave final
instructions, “Any questions?” Everyone
shook their heads and he said, “Have fun and see you in two hours.”
Victor looked at Damian, who
he normally rode with and realized he would have Caitlin with him, “Who am I
going with?”
“You’re with me Squirt,”
Angelo said with a shrug.
“And you’re with me,” Gabby
said as she smiled at Sal who eagerly nodded.
“We won’t go fast, we’ll let
you get used to it,” Vin said as Brianna got on behind him. “Put your arms around my waist and hold
on.” Within minutes the girls were
urging the boys to go faster as they were laughing and shouting at each other
as they raced along the edge of the lake.
“You okay Gattina?” Alberto
asked as he felt Maria snuggle into his back.
“I’m fine. I like this, I like holding you,” she whispered
and giggled as Alberto growled. “You’re so
big and strong and your muscles are so hard.
I wish we didn’t have these jackets on so I could feel them.”
Alberto growled louder, “Stop
Gattina, you’re driving me crazy and if you keep it up I’m gonna crash.”
“What’s the matter?” Gabby
asked as she glanced over her shoulder.
“Nothing,” Sal said as he
blushed. “I’m just not sure where to put
my hands. I don’t wanna you know, like
put them somewhere they shouldn’t be.”
Gabby didn’t say anything, but reached with her left hand and placed his
hand on her waist and he followed with the other. He glanced around; no one was paying
attention so he leaned in and began scenting her neck. Gabby could feel the rumbling from his chest
and leaned back into him and smiled when she heard him growl.
“When can I drive?” Shannon asked Paulo as she peeked around his side.
“When we get to the inlet in
front of the cabin. I’ll show you how
the controls work and we’ll stay there until you feel comfortable, then we’ll
go back on the lake,” he answered and felt her nod. As they pulled into the inlet, they looked at
the cabin and saw the women sitting on the balcony.
“Gattina, I don’t want to
argue about this, but I don’t want you to drive. I’m afraid your arm may be jarred or have
pressure put on it,” Alberto said as he watched everyone else switch places.
“I guess I’ll have to stay
back here and hold you then… that’s if you don’t mind,” she said as she
squeezed him again.
“You’re gonna fucking kill me
Gattina,” he growled out in a raspy voice as he glanced at her over his
shoulder.
“Anthony, I know how to do
this,” Sophia said rolling her eyes as he continued to give instructions. “I
figured you’d be more preoccupied with holding me.”
“I’m trying not to think about it. Damn, you smell so good. I love your scent of warm sugar cookies
drizzled with honey. You have no idea
what it does to me,” he tilted her
head so he could scent her even deeper.
“Hey Ant, anytime you’re done
perving on my baby sister, we’re ready to go,” Vin said with a glare and Ant
jumped back and almost fell off the Jet Ski.
“Okay, let’s head out to the
lake,” Dom leaned forward and put his hands over Morgan’s giving it a little
more throttle.
Gina was smiling as they left
the inlet, “It looks like they’re having a good time. While they’re out, let’s get some practice
in.” The women nodded and went to the
basement where the workout room was.
“We’ve been practicing,”
Holly said as they warmed up.
Rose nodded, “Your movements
are more fluid. We’re going to work on
offense today. Annie and Rita will demonstrate
while Gina and I make corrections.” They
practiced for the next hour and then went upstairs to take showers so the others
wouldn’t realize what they had been up to.
“Mommy, did you see us?”
Fiona asked as she ran into the kitchen.
“I did, it looked like a lot
of fun,” Holly answered as she hugged her.
“It was the best thing ever,”
Maeve said as she hugged Nana Ellen. “We
hit a wave and I flew up in the air like forty feet, it was amazing.”
“She was there then she was
gone,” Enzo began to laugh. “I forgot
how little she is and I told her to go through the boat wake and she went
flying but it was only like four feet, so yeah she got some air time.” Everyone began to laugh at the delighted look
on Maeve’s face.
“Everybody hungry?” Gina asked
as the youngsters nodded. “The venison
stew is ready and Miss Holly made biscuits, so go wash up.”
The youngsters were almost
finished eating when Anthony asked, “Hey mom, where’s Dad? I figured he’d be home by now.”
“Still talking, I’m going to
meet him in thirty minutes,” she replied as she reached for another biscuit.
Maeve looked up and asked,
“Are you going to the store?” Gina
nodded and began to smile. “Can I go
with you? Is it like your other one or
does it have a different layout? Do you
carry the same products? How many
checkouts does it have? Do all your
employees wear the same uniform?”
“If it’s okay with your mom,
same layout but slightly smaller, yes but smaller quantities, twelve, yes and
we supply them,” Gina answered with a smile.
Holly nodded and Maeve jumped
up and ran out of the room yelling, “I’m going to take a shower and get ready,
and I’ve got to get my notebook, and get my…”
The others looked at each other as her words trailed off.
“I guess I better get
showered too,” Enzo said as he finished his stew.
“Mommy, I don’t have to go,
do I?” Fiona asked with a sigh.
“No, you can stay here and
relax,” Holly answered with a smile.
Twenty minutes later, Gina
was driving to the store and Maeve was in the passenger seat, she had her
notebook and was asking questions.
Angelo and Enzo were in the back listening as Gina answered and Maeve
carefully wrote everything down. As they
pulled into the parking lot, Maeve carefully put her notebook in her pocketbook
and said, “Can I walk around the store while you’re busy with Alpha Carlo? I want to see the differences since it’s a
little smaller.” Gina looked in the
rearview mirror and Enzo nodded.
“Alpha Carlo will be here
while the rest of the men go to the cabin, so if you aren’t with us, I want you
with Enzo and Angelo,” Gina said in a firm voice and Maeve nodded. After Gina put the car in park Enzo and
Angelo got out, scanning and scenting the area and Maeve got out when she got
the clear signal.
She grabbed Gina’s hand as
they walked across the parking lot, “In case I forget, thank you for letting me
come.” Gina smiled and squeezed her hand.
As they walked in the door, Enzo
asked, “Are you going to need a cart?”
“Yes, I think I will,” she
replied as she began looking around and waved at the men who were talking in
front of the customer service area. “Is
it okay if I write my observations down and tell you what I think?”
Carlo smiled as he walked up
to her, “I’m looking forward to hearing them.
We’ll compare them to my notes.
We have an appointment to see the distribution center in an hour and a
half and it’ll take twenty minutes to get there. Mr. Frank is staying, so he can give an
assessment of the building. I’d also
like yours.”
Maeve smiled, “If I only have
an hour, I better get started. Follow me
boys.” Enzo and Angelo nodded and
followed in her wake.
“They look ridiculous following
her around like little pups,” Matt said with a laugh as everyone grinned. “She’s barely 5’ and 80 lbs; Angelo is 6’5”
and 330 and Enzo’s around 6’ and at least 200.”
“She didn’t even say hello or
goodbye,” Todd said with a frown.
“She sees you all the time,
it’s only her third time in a grocery store,” Papa Mike said as he smiled. “We ready to go? I got what Ellen wanted; she wants to make
apple pie for dessert with vanilla ice cream.”
“See you later,” Carlo said
as he, Gina and Frank went into the office.
Angelo and Enzo watched as
Maeve opened her pocketbook and got her notebook out and she glanced around and
began making notes. This continued for
the next twenty minutes until they stopped in the cereal aisle. She flipped the pages until she came to a list
and then walked down the aisle until she reached the Captain Crunch. Grabbing three boxes off the shelf she put
them in her cart and then they were off again.
They went down each aisle, then the deli and bakery, finally ending up
in the back of the store where she went into the bathroom then the walk-in
refrigerator and freezer, all the while making notes. “Okay, let’s checkout.”
As they waited Enzo asked,
“Can I ask what your obsession with cereal is?”
Maeve smiled, “When I was
little, we were only allowed Cheerio’s and Corn Flakes. Now that I’m allowed to have what I want, I
want to try them all and Captain Crunch is next on my list. We open a box each morning and have a small
bowl, then everyone tells me what they liked or didn’t like and I write it
down. I got three boxes because there’s
a lot of us here this weekend.”
“We don’t eat a lot of
cereal. It would take about ten boxes
each to fill us up. That’s why we eat
heavier stuff, like pancakes, French toast, oatmeal and that kind of stuff,” Enzo
said with a smile.
Maeve put her boxes on the
conveyor belt and watched carefully as the clerk scanned her purchases and put
them in a bag. “That’ll be $8.43.” Maeve smiled and handed her a $10 bill. After getting her change she said, “Thank
you.” The clerk glanced at her and began
to ring up the next customer. Enzo
grabbed her bags and when they were at the entrance she began to write
hurriedly in her notebook.
“Ready?” Carlo asked as they
walked towards them.
“Yes Sir,” Maeve said as she
grabbed his hand as they walked out of the store. “I made lots of notes.”
Carlo smiled down at her,
“Frank’ll drive while we go over them.”
As soon as they were seated
in the middle seat, Maeve opened her notebook, “The first thing I want to say
is this isn’t criticism, just observations from somebody who is a first time
visitor to this store.” Carlo nodded and
she continued, “Some of the overhead lights weren’t working properly, the paint
looked kind of faded, some of the floor tiles were chipped, the glass on the
deli counter needed to be cleaned, there was old spilled milk that hadn’t been
cleaned in the dairy section, in the women’s room the paper towel dispenser was
empty and a roll of Bounty was on the counter and some of the carts looked like
they needed to be cleaned.” Carlo pulled
his notebook out and read off the exact things she had noted plus one more,
that some of the employee uniforms looked faded. Maeve sat silent for a moment before she
nodded and wrote it down.
She looked at her notes, “But
the worst was when I was checking out.
Madame Gina said the clerks were the ‘face’ of Rossi’s. The clerk…” she consulted her notes, “Wanda,
didn’t greet me or say anything except to tell me my total and when I said
‘Thank you’, she didn’t respond just began to ring up the next person. Maybe she was having a bad day, but it wasn’t
courteous and not what you want your customers to remember.” Carlo nodded and wrote it down.
“You saw all that?” Enzo
exclaimed from the backseat.
Maeve shrugged, “I’m like
Nana Ellen, I’m an observer. I like things
having a place and fitting together right.”
“You like doing puzzles?” he
asked as she turned around to look at him.
“Papa Mike bought me some
when he went to town. I’ve never done
them before and the one I’m working on is a picture of different cakes and
cupcakes. It’s a big one, like 1,000
pieces. Mommy said she’ll frame it when
I’m done and hang it in the bakery,” she said with a smile. She turned back to Carlo and they discussed
the changes the store needed and she wrote everything down.
***
“I want you to wear my
shirt,” Lorenzo said with a frown.
“Why? Nobody else has a shirt over their bathing
suit,” Erin said with an even fiercer
frown.
“Because I don’t want anybody
looking at you,” he responded as his eyes began to flick to amber.
“You’re crazy. There’s no one here but family and I’m not
gonna do it,” Erin said in a determined voice
as she ran into the water joining the other girls.
Lorenzo stood there with his
mouth hanging open in astonishment that she didn’t listen to him and do what he
told her to. “You have to choose your
battles carefully. Remember, she’s
getting her first taste of freedom and if you keep pushing her, then all you’ll
end up doing is arguing,” Matt said quietly.
Lorenzo reluctantly nodded
and sighed, “I know. You have no idea
what it’s taking me to stand here and watch her. I want to put her in a room and lock the door
so no one can see her, touch her or hurt her.”
Matt began to laugh quietly,
“I’d like to see you try.”
“Don’t tell her, but I like that
she stands up to me and doesn’t take any of my shit,” Lorenzo said with a grin
as he stared at his intended. “I know
I’m a controlling ass and she doesn’t let me get away with it. She’s perfect for me.”
“Luna in her infinite wisdom
always brings us the perfect mate,” Phil said quietly as he moved to stand by
his. “We compliment each other’s
strengths and together we are better than we were apart.”
“Wise words from a wise old
man,” Damian said as he joined them.
“Old man? Who are you calling old?” Phil asked with a
scowl.
“You’re what, a hundred
fricking years old? And your mate is
even older, he’s what a hundred fifty?”
Matt and Phil slowly turned
their heads to stare at him and he grinned before he took off running as they
took off after him. Hearing their shouts
of retribution against Damian, the girls stopped splashing each other as they
watched the rest of the males join in until it resulted in a free for all as
they wrestled on the grass.
“How come the women don’t
fight and argue like that?” Aislin asked.
“Because we have more sense,”
Sophia responded with a laugh.
Almost three hours later, the
others returned from their visit to the distribution center. Maeve was smiling broadly as she ran to her
father and said, “Oh Daddy, I had the best time. We walked all around the store and I bought
Captain Crunch with my own money for all of us to share at breakfast then I
gave Alpha Carlo a critique of the store then we went to the new building and
we looked at everything and I helped Mr. Frank take measurements and Alpha
Carlo asked me what I thought and Madame Gina had them stop at a store and
bought me graph paper, rulers, colored pencils and another notebook so I can
sketch and write more thoughts down and Enzo and Angelo were so nice and
followed me all around the store then the warehouse and they let me do what I
wanted and didn’t tell me I was too little to do something…” She stopped and caught her breath. “It was fricking amazing!”
Todd raised his eyebrow and
turned to the boys who quickly hid their grins, he zeroed in on Damian and
said, “This is your fault, she sounds like you.”
Damian grinned, “I know, it’s
so cool.” Seeing the murderous look on his
father in laws face Damian’s grin grew wider and he took off running with Todd chasing
him and the men followed until they were wrestling again.
“They’re fighting again,”
Aislin said with a confused look.
“Yep,” Maria said with a
sigh. “They’re like little boys
sometimes.”
“Momma says it’s because they
never really mature, once they hit puberty their brains stop developing,” Gabby
said in an authoritative tone and the girls looked at her and nodded in
agreement.
“I heard that,” Angelo said
as he tore himself from the pile and chased his sister through the yard. Her shrieks of laughter were followed closely
by the other girls as the men turned their attention to them and began to chase
them. Not to be left out, the women
joined in and their laughter echoed over the lake.
Alberto moved to Maria and
pulled her tightly to his side, “It’ll only be a couple more weeks until you’re
back to doing your normal stuff.”
“I know but I like having you
to myself with nobody paying attention to us,” she said as she snuggled into
his side.
“Oh, we’re paying attention
and you’d better move baby sister,” Paulo shouted and Maria quickly moved out
of Alberto’s arms. Paulo hit him high
while Michael came low knocking Alberto off his feet and he hit the ground with
a thud. Maria began laughing as they
pinned him to the ground by sitting on him.
Thirty minutes later they
were sitting down to a dinner of lasagna and baked ziti with meatballs, hot and
sweet Italian sausage, salad and Italian bread.
As Carlo was telling everyone what happened at the diner lightning lit
up the lake and the sound of thunder filled the room. “Looks bad; let’s secure the house,” Carlo
said as the lights flickered. The men got
up while Gina lit the candles on the tables.
Moments later, the youngsters
watched as the guards slid over the windows.
“Why do we need the guards down?” Kelly asked as her sisters stopped
eating.
“It’s just a precaution
little ones,” Gina said with a smile.
“If anybody were planning something, the storm would make good cover
especially if the power goes out.” The
girls nodded and resumed eating as they discussed what they were going to do
since they weren’t going out.
Ten minutes later the men
returned and Carlo finished his story.
“We sign the papers tomorrow.
Since we’ll be paying cash, we can take immediate possession. The architect will be here Tuesday to start
drawing up plans and within two weeks Frank and Joe will have a crew remove
everything we don’t need.”
“Mr. Frank, when you come
back, can I come with you? I really want
to watch,” Maeve asked with a shy smile.
“That’ll be up to your mom
and dad,” Frank answered. “I wouldn’t
mind but you’d have to listen carefully, wear a hard hat, work boots and
jeans.”
“I could come with her. We really can’t do anything with the bakery
yet, and I could work on my project here,” Todd said with a shrug.
Enzo began to scowl again,
“Why can’t you stay home? As if I don’t
have enough to worry about, now I have to worry where the hell you are.”
“I’ll be with my Dad, your
Dad, plus other Pack members… I think I’ll be okay,” Maeve replied calmly
before she looked at Fiona and rolled her eyes.
“I saw that eye roll,” Enzo
muttered.
“Good,” Maeve muttered before
she got up to get more lasagna.
“We’ll talk about this
later,” he replied as he stabbed a meatball before shoving it in his mouth.
“No we won’t, I believe that
conversation is over and we’ve moved on,” she replied with a smile as the girls
hid their grins. She turned to Carlo and
asked, “Did you get a chance to call the painters?” Carlo nodded and they continued to talk about
the store while Enzo muttered under his breath.
“What is up with you tonight?” Ant asked as he got up to get more ziti.
“Nothing, except she’s not listening to me,” Enzo replied as he rolled his neck.
“She’s asserting her independence, leave her be. You have to give her room to grow and
mature,” Lorenzo said as the boys
stopped eating and stared at him.
“Excuse the fuck out of me, but when have you ever not
gotten upset when you didn’t get your way, or somebody did something you didn’t
want them to?” Enzo asked as he stared
at his cousin.
“I’ve matured since I’ve gotten a mate. I realize I have to be more flexible and not
so domineering,” Lorenzo replied as
he looked at Erin and smiled. Marcus spit his soda out over the table, Vin,
Dom, Ant and Alberto started to choke, Damian was laughing so hard he fell off
the bench, and the rest of the boys began to laugh so hard everyone else
stopped talking and stared at them.
“What’s the matter with
them?” Morgan asked as she stared at Dom who was coughing and laughing at the
same time.
Sophia sighed, “They were
talking through the bond and one of them said something funny. Get used to it; they do it all the time and
they never tell us what they’re talking about.
They say we’re not old enough.”
“What’s so fucking funny?” Lorenzo asked as he threw his fork on the table.
“You. You’ve
had a mate for two fucking days, not even two days and all of a sudden you’re
the voice of reason? You’re the most
unreasonable, stubborn and obstinate one out of all of us,” Vin said as he began laughing even harder.
“FUCK YOU, FUCK ALL OF YOU,” Lorenzo shouted as he glared at them.
“Now THAT is the Lorenzo we all know and argue with,” Damian said from where he was laying on the floor.
“Are you done yet?” Frank
asked quietly as the boys stopped laughing and looked to Damian who popped his
head over the table.
“Sorry about that. We were talking about how since we have mates
things are changing,” he said with his best crooked half smile as he got up. “Speaking of which, we need to set up a
schedule to work on the bakery and don’t forget we still need to cut wood for
the Millers. We never did get around to
that. How about we do that the next day
we have off from school?”
Joe nodded, “Joel, Jerry,
Larry, Barry and Harold said they’d help with the bakery, I’m sure they’ll
offer to help with cutting wood too.”
“We’ll have more time this
coming weekend since the youngsters have games on Thursday and Friday evening,”
Frank added.
“I can’t wait to meet them on
the field,” Vin said with a growl as the boys nodded. “Frickin Weaver and his buddies disrespected
our intendeds and I’m not going to let them get away with it.”
Carlo looked at all the boys
and said, “Remember the rules. Don’t do
anything to draw attention to your strength and speed.”
Dom nodded, “We’ll play by
the rules, but we’ll skirt at the edge of them.
I want Weaver and his cronies to remember who they messed with.”
“He’s an arrogant bastard
that needs to learn a lesson,” Alberto snarled.
“You come from the right,
I’ll come from the left… we’ll make a Weaver sandwich and flatten his scrawny
ass,” Angelo said with an evil smirk.
Fiona waved her fork at
Angelo, “Just make sure you don’t get called for a penalty for roughing the
passer. Also we can’t afford for you to
get thrown out of the game for something stupid like unsportsmanlike conduct
which they can escalate to a personal foul if there’s contact.”
“Yes ma’am,” Angelo said with
a grin.
“I’m serious. Their offense is rated high in the league,
they have several players who could go All-County,” she added as she waved her
fork again.
“When it comes to football,
you can’t get anything by my girls,” Todd said proudly as he smiled at his
daughters. They continued to talk about the
upcoming game while they finished dinner and the youngsters cleaned up.
“So what are your plans this
evening?” Rose asked as Frank pulled her into his side.
“Watch a movie,” Sophia answered
as she helped pass out dessert.
“I think we’re gonna join
you,” Carlo said with a grin. “But I get
to pick.”
The boys groaned and Ant
said, “It better not be ‘Patton’. We can recite that word for word.”
“I was thinking ‘My Cousin Vinny’,” Carlo replied with a
smile and everyone agreed. Twenty minutes
later they were in the basement, Ant put the movie in the DVD player and the
younger girls snuggled up on the x-large sofa in front, the boys on the floor
while the mates took recliners.
Thirty minutes later all of
the men were asleep and Gina said, “Girls,
we want to talk to you upstairs.” Moving
quietly, they exited the room and went to her study where she shut the
door. She went to a panel in the wall
and released the catch to display a bank of monitors and turned on one
displaying the theater room. “So we can
keep an eye on them in case they wake up.”
She motioned for the girls to sit on the sofa and the younger girls sat
while the older girls sat on the floor.
Gina sat behind her desk, with Rose and Holly standing on her right,
Annie, Rita and Nana Ellen on her left.
“What we are going to talk about goes no further than this room, is that
understood?” The girls nodded and Gina
proceeded to fill them in on the women’s plans to join the battle. “We know you were counting on us to be with
you in the safe room and help lead you if the Proteggere command was given… but
we can’t do that… not with our mates and families in danger.”
“But momma, you don’t know
how to fight,” Morgan said with concern.
“They’re teaching me and Nana
Ellen,” Holly replied as she stood tall with a look of pride on her face. “I can’t stand by and let you be in danger
again. I failed to protect you once; I
will not fail you again.”
“You did everything you
could. I was the one who didn’t listen
momma,” Morgan whispered as she began to tear up.
Holly moved to her side and
looked in her sparkling grey eyes. “You
were a curious girl who wanted to know what was going on, it’s not your
fault. We were in a situation that was
out of our control and all we could think of was protecting all of you. Every thought we had was of you even when we
weren’t with you.” She stopped and took
a deep breath and her eyes glistened with tears as she put her hand on her
heart, “I could always feel all of you here and I held onto that as hard as I
could. That night I felt your fear and
it broke my heart. I never want you to
feel that way again.” She pulled Morgan
tight to her and they began to rock back and forth, both fighting tears as the
other Millers joined them.
Gina wiped her eyes and said,
“Unless we want our mates running up the stairs and banging on the door, we
need to get control of our emotions.”
She pointed to the monitor and they saw the men moving restlessly.
“Knowing my son, he won’t be
banging on the door. He’s like his
father; he’ll knock it down without thinking twice,” Rose said as Annie nodded.
Morgan smiled, “He is kinda
overbearing and protective.”
“Sweetheart, they’re all like
that. Wait until you’re pregnant with
your first little one. Frank wanted to
carry me everywhere, he was afraid I was going to fall and hurt myself and the
little ones,” Rose said with a smile.
“Joe wanted me on bed rest
from the moment my scent changed,” Annie stated as she rolled her eyes. “The worst part was he tried to cook for me. Between morning sickness and his cooking I
almost starved to death.”
“Every time I moved Carmelo
asked if I was okay and if I didn’t answer immediately he was on the phone to
Doc. He would even wake me up if I
looked uncomfortable,” Rita said as she shook her head.
“Carlo and his grandparents
watched me like a hawk. I wasn’t allowed
to pick up anything heavier than a glass of juice and he had them write down
what I ate and drank while he was gone,” Gina said with a smile.
“After my miscarriage, Todd
refused to let me leave the house when I became pregnant with Brianna and
Morgan,” Holly said with a sad smile.
Gina said quietly, “I didn’t
know you had a miscarriage.”
“I was at the end of my
second month and woke in the middle of the night with cramping and moments
later… he was gone,” Holly said as she began to tear up and Nana Ellen held her
hand. “The doctor isn’t sure what
happened or what caused it.” She smiled
at Brianna and Morgan, “We waited two years to try again and that’s when we
were blessed with you two. Your dad was
a nervous wreck the entire time and didn’t relax until he held you in his arms.”
“Momma, was daddy ever
disappointed we weren’t boys?” Fiona asked as Maeve reached for her hand.
“I think men want a son to
carry on the family name, but as soon as your father saw you he fell in love
with you. When he looks at you there’s
nothing but love and pride,” Holly said with a smile.
Gina looked at the clock, “We
need to finish before they come looking for us.” She waited for everyone to calm down, “The
reason we wanted you to know is we need your help. We have our own training classes but we’re
going to be practicing when we get a chance and we’ll need you to cover for
us.”
“Are you going to let us
fight in the battle?” Sophia asked quietly.
All the women shook their
heads as Gina answered, “No. Our
survival as a Pack depends on you and the young ones and we aren’t taking any
chances with your safety. You must be
protected at all costs, even if it costs us our lives. As mothers there’s nothing we wouldn’t do for
our youngsters…” She looked at Sophia
and her eyes filled with tears, “Or those we consider our own.”
In a blur of movement Sophia
raced across the room engulfing Gina in a hug and brought Rose into the embrace. The other girls followed enfolding their
mothers in their arms as they began to cry.
Less than a minute went by before loud banging noises were heard as the solid
steel door and the wall began to vibrate as they were repeatedly hit. A minute later the sound of wood splintering
sounded throughout the room as the door frame and part of the wall caved in. Carlo, Frank, Joe, Carmelo, Anthony, Alberto
and Todd fell through with the others running over them in their urgency to get
in the room. All had their claws
extended with amber eyes as they hurriedly scanned and scented the room.
“WHAT’S THE MATTER?” they
shouted in unison.
“Nothing. We were having a chat; talking about
declarations, matings, little ones and family.
You men aren’t the only ones allowed to talk,” Gina stated as the women
nodded. “I think the question should be…
why’d you break my wall?”
The men turned and saw the
large hole and Carlo shrugged, “We were in a hurry to get to you.”
Gina sighed before raising
her eyebrow, “And you didn’t try the knob?
It wasn’t locked.” The men looked
at each other and put their heads down.
“Next time use your brain instead of your brawn.” The women began to laugh and she asked, “How
the hell did you break it down? Those
logs are 14” in diameter.”
Carlo looked at Anthony, “Blame
him.” He turned to Rose, “And Rose. She wanted to keep the original log walls for
her design element.”
Rose crossed her arms over
her chest, “It’s not my fault; it beautifully blended the original cabin with
the new design.” She looked at the hand hewn
centuries old logs that were splintered into kindling, “Or it used to.”
Gina looked at the hole, “All
I know is somebody owes me a wall.”
“And a door,” Maeve said
cheerfully as everyone began to laugh.
***
“Just like we train in human form, your wolf needs to
train. Trust his instincts and follow
his lead,” Frank said as he looked at
Victor and Sal as they came to a stream bed that was eight foot wide and nine
feet deep. “Watch how we plant our feet and land.” Victor and Sal watched them then the men
shifted and jumped down. “Go ahead and try, we’ll catch you if you
fall.”
Victor came at a loping run
and planted his feet leaping into the air, his feet kicking wildly like he was
still running. His front left paw
managed to touch the rock on the other side before he fell where he was caught
by his father, Todd and Matt. They set
him down and he looked up to see Sal slide off the rock, twisting in mid-air
before he was caught by his Dad, Carlo and Phil. After they set him on the ground both boys
looked up to see the older boys looking down at them.
“Well, that could have gone better. You looked like two baby kittens trying to
leap off the couch,” Damian said as
he threw his head back.
“Fuck off Damian,” Victor said in a surly tone.
“Leave them be. I remember teaching all of you how to do this
and if I remember right you weren’t any better,” Frank said in a no nonsense
tone.
“Maybe not… but at least when we fell, we did it in
style,” Damian responded as the rest
of the boys nodded.
“Go downstream about fifty
feet, you can get out there the bank is low,” Joe said as Victor and Sal
nodded.
“Don’t hesitate, let your
wolf take control,” Carlo instructed as he scented the boys coming and heard
them move back to get a running start.
Sal went first and jumped
across but his front legs collapsed under him when he landed causing him to
skid across the rock on his chest and chin with his ass in the air before
coming to a stop. Victor followed
moments later, continuing to kick his feet through the air before he landed
with a thud, all four legs splayed out to the sides and he bounced several
times before sliding across the rock on his stomach.
“You okay baby brother?” Vin asked as Sal got to his feet. Seeing the cut under Sal’s chin, Vin licked
it to quicken the healing process.
“Well, that was graceful,” Damian said as he walked over and nudged Victor with
his nose. “You alright Squirt?”
“Don’t call me Squirt and I’m fine… just scraped my …
my ugh… you know,” Victor answered as
he stood up.
“Well I’m not licking that… it can heal on its own,” Damian said as he began to laugh followed by the
other boys.
Victor growled out, “Why don’t you kiss my ass instead?” The boys began to howl with laughter until
their fathers once more in wolf form joined them.
“You have to trust your wolf, if you don’t trust him
and his abilities you’ll never be in harmony with each other. You’ll fight for control and neither will
win,” Frank said as Victor and Sal
listened intently. “You ready to try it again before we finish the run?” They nodded and Carlo led them over the jump
several times until the boys cleared it with ease. They lay in the cool grass and rested several
minutes before he led them deep into the woods.
An hour later, they
approached the edge of the woods near the house and shifted before changing
into the shorts and t-shirts they had left.
They were laughing as they talked about their run and Sal asked, “Are
you going to teach the girls to jump like you showed us today?”
“Everything you learn, they
learn. They train at the center with
padded equipment to avoid injury before we go outdoors,” Joe said as they
walked into the house. “Time for weight
training.” Papa Mike and Todd groaned
loudly.
Almost two hours later, they
had finished their training, showered and changed into shorts and
t-shirts. As they sat down to breakfast
of French toast, sausage patties, scrambled eggs and Captain Crunch their talk
centered over what they would do and Frank said, “I want to go to that big flea
market. You know the one they put in the
old drive-in movie theater.”
“Can I go Mr. Frank? I’ve never been to a flea market. I’ve seen them on TV and they look
fascinating,” Aislin asked as her sisters nodded.
“Why don’t we all go, have
lunch then show the Millers their safe house,” Carlo said as the boys sighed
and the girls began to talk excitedly. An
hour later they piled into the SUV’s and began the thirty minute drive.
“Wow, I didn’t think it would
be this big,” Maeve said as she looked through the windshield. She was bouncing in her seat as she waited
for Enzo’s signal and when she got out she grabbed Carlo’s hand.
“Stay close little one,
there’s a lot of people here,” Carlo said as he squeezed her hand and she
smiled. As a group they began to wander
booth to booth.
“Holly, look at these. They’re perfect for the bakery,” Rose
excitedly said as she held up several antique picture frames.
“Are you sure? They’re all different styles, colors and sizes,”
Holly said as she looked through the box.
“I’m not worried about color,
and it’ll be a good contrast to have different sizes and shapes. We don’t want everything too matchy matchy,”
Rose said before she looked at the vendor, “How much are they?”
She began to count and a
minute later said, “There’s fifty of them.
How about $4 each or all of them for one fifty?”
Holly said, “We’ll take
them.” As they wandered the aisles Frank
and Joe bought antique woodworking tools; Annie - depression glass; Rose – Longaberger
baskets; Matt and Phil - vases to use in their store; Rita and Carmelo -
pictures of Italy for their restaurants; Gina – Victorian era perfume bottles,
explaining to Maeve she was adding to the collection her great-grandmother had
started.
“When are we eating?” Michael
asked as his stomach began to growl.
“We only have this last row,”
Annie said as she ruffled his hair.
“It can’t be soon
enough. I’m starving and tired of
carrying all this crap,” he complained as he continued to scan the crowd.
“Holly, look at these. They’d be great either sitting in a crock on
the corner of the fireplace hearth or Joe could make a custom holder to put on
the wall,” Rose exclaimed as she held up antique rolling pins.
“I like that. What do you think of these in a shadow box
behind the counter?” Holly asked as she held up old fashioned cookie cutters
with handles.
The vendor asked what kind of
store she had and when Holly told her, she pulled a box from under the table
unwrapping an antique crystal cake stand.
“I have twelve, all different styles, my grandmother collected them. How about ten each for the cake stands and three
each for the rolling pins? I’ll throw in
the cookie cutters,” she asked with a hesitant smile.
“Sounds good, we’ll take all
of them,” Nana Ellen said with a smile.
“If you finish shopping that’ll
give me time to wrap them to make sure they don’t break,” she said as her
husband joined them and he nodded to Carlo.
“You were at the diner
yesterday… Ralph Kershaw, right?” Carlo asked with a smile as he held out his
hand.
“Yes Sir and this is my wife
Miriam,” he replied before turning to his wife. “Miriam, this is Mr. and Mrs.
Rossi.”
“I know everyone will hear
about it soon, but if you could spread the word we’re signing the papers for
the building this afternoon, I’d appreciate it,” Carlo said as he looked around
to see several people stealing glances at him.
Ralph smiled in relief, “I’ll
tell them.”
“My assistant sent me your
resume and I was going to call you later.
I didn’t expect to run into you,” Carlo replied with a grin. “I know your previous employer in Ohio
“Thank you Sir,” Ralph said
as his wife grabbed his hand. “When Wayne
Carlo felt Maeve let go of
his hand to join the rest of the girls in the next booth. A smile crossed his face as he watched them trying
on sunglasses. He turned back to Ralph,
“I’d like to get things started with training and hiring new staff so when the
building is ready we can move forward quickly.
We’ll discuss it more Wednesday… now if you don’t mind, we have a lot of
things to do before our meeting this afternoon.” The men shook hands and Carlo said he would
have his assistant send directions to The Pub.
As Carlo moved to the next
booth Maeve turned and said, “What do you think Mr. Carlo?” He burst out laughing at the bright pink
rabbit face sunglasses.
She smiled widely as she took
them off and said, “I want to get a pair of sunglasses. Enzo has Oakley’s, like all the boys. Maria, Sophia and Gabby have Ray-bans, but I
don’t know what to get. And I only have
$10 left of my allowance.”
Carlo picked up a pair of
imitation pink Ray bans, “Try these.”
Maeve put them on and turned to
the mirror. “Yep. I like them.”
She looked at the tag and sighed, “But they’re $20, that’s more than I
have.”
“You worked for me yesterday,
so let me buy them,” Carlo said.
“Daddy and Mommy gave us a
lecture about how to spend our allowance and not ask for extras. I’ll keep looking until I find something I
like and can afford,” Maeve said as she put the glasses back on the table and
grabbed his hand to move to the next booth.
“Besides, I like doing stuff in the store, when I get old enough I want
to work with you. Until then, I’m doing
research and putzing around.”
Carlo smiled, “With your eye
for detail you’d be a fine addition to Rossi’s.” Maeve smiled and talked about what she had
seen so far. “Gina, can you go to that booth and buy the pink sunglasses Maeve was
trying and whichever ones Fiona was looking at?
The vendor should know which ones.”
As they came to the end of
the aisle, the boys pointed to the concession area and shouted, “FOOD.” Grabbing a hold of the girls, they pulled
them towards the building jostling against each other to get in the front of
the line. “You sure you want to eat
here?” Frank asked as he looked at the menu of French fries, chicken tenders,
steamers and hot dogs.
“YES,” the boys hollered back
and Frank began to smile.
“Families group up, the
Millers’ll go first,” Joe said as the boys groaned, each one complaining about how
long it had been since they’d eaten and how they were starving to death.
As Alberto finished his order
the cashier looked at him then Angelo, raking them both head to toe. Tilting her head, she smiled and said, “My
shift ends at 4; if you’re not busy maybe we could meet somewhere.”
Before he could answer, low
male laughter caught his attention and he turned to look at Maria who had her
arms folded over her chest with a murderous expression on her face. Sunglasses covered her eyes, but he knew what
they would look like; sparkling emerald with flecks of amber glaring death
daggers at him. He quickly went to her
side. “I have a girlfriend,” he all but
screamed at the cashier.
She looked at Angelo who
grinned, “Sorry, I already have plans.”
“That’s a shame, maybe
another time,” she said quietly with a grin.
Gabby rolled her eyes, “Angelo,
place your order and move out of the way.
You’re not the only one who’s hungry.”
The cashier stopped smiling when she noticed the scowls from the girls and
quickly finished taking everyone’s order.
As they ate Alberto kept
stealing glances at his intended. She
was laughing and talking with the others but hadn’t said anything to him
yet. Leaning towards her he quietly said,
“You know you’re the only one I want Gattina.”
“I know you’re used to having
sex Alberto, I’m not stupid and three years is a long time to wait,” she
whispered as she stared at her food.
He gently put his hand under
her chin and turned her towards him, “You
are the only woman I want to be with for the rest of my life. Yes, three years is a long time to wait… you
have no idea how long of a wait it
is, but I will wait.” She tilted her
head so he could scent her and he whispered, “Don’t get me wrong… I’m still
going to bitch and gripe about it, especially if you keep wearing outfits like
that.” He pulled back and looked at her,
the light pink silk t-shirt with matching pink, tan and brown shorts flattered
her petite figure and highlighted her tan while her lace edge socks and light pink
Converse drew attention to her slender legs.
His breathing became slow and labored, “Every time I look at you, you
take my breath away.”
Maria sighed and leaned into
his chest, burying her face in his neck, “I thank Luna every night that you’re
mine.”
“Me too,” he whispered back
as he kissed her gently on the forehead.
***
“I thought we were going to
the safe house,” Maeve said as Carlo pulled into the cabin’s driveway.
“We are, but we bought a lot
of breakable stuff and I want to unload it because the road is pretty rough and
not all of us are going,” he replied.
As the boys carried the packages
inside Joe and Frank looked at a piece of paper before handing it to Carlo. “Remember, Gina, Anthony, Sophia and I are
going straight to our meeting,” Carlo said as he looked at the list.
“I’ll drive you,” Frank said
as Carlo nodded.
“How bout me?” Maeve said as
she jumped up and down.
“Yes, you can go,” Gina said
with a smile.
“That means I’m going too,”
Enzo said. Carlo told them their car
assignments and as they pulled out of the driveway Maria and Gabby waved to everyone.
“What do you want to do?”
Rose asked with a smile.
“Get out the inner tubes and
go on the lake,” Angelo said with a grin.
“We’ll join you,” Rita said
as she put her hair in a ponytail. “It’s
been a while since we’ve really relaxed.”
***
“Could you have picked a more
remote property for our safe house?
We’re in the middle of nowhere, hours from civilization,” Todd said with
a grimace as the SUV bounced along the barely cleared old logging road.
“Relax Pappy, you don’t need
to worry until you hear banjos,” Damian said with a grunt as Caitlin’s elbow
slammed into his side after a particularly deep rut.
“What banjos?” Erin asked as Lorenzo quickly pulled her into his side so
her head didn’t hit the window.
“It’s a reference to the
movie ‘Deliverance’, you know with
Burt Reynolds. Though you probably
haven’t seen it,” Damian said with a wide grin.
“And you’re not going to,”
Todd said as they pulled off the road onto a path that had been cleared through
the woods.
“I’m not sure why I have to
know this. If something happened, how
would I get here? It’s not like I drive,
plus I’m never alone,” Fallon said with a sigh as the dilapidated cabin came
into view.
“It’s important to learn
this. Even the little ones know where
their safe house is and how to get in.
Suppose you’re almost here and your detail has to hold off attackers. What are you going to do? Escape to the safe house or stand and watch?”
Michael replied as he got out and scented the area.
“I guess Daddy’s right…
there’s a method to Mr. Frank and Mr. Joe’s madness,” she replied as she got
out of the car. Frank and Joe threw
their heads back and laughed, the others joining in as Todd hung his head.
“It looks like its going to
fall down but don’t worry about it,” Carlo said as he looked at the old
trappers cabin which was leaning to the left.
“Get the bags.” Instead of going
inside he led them to the water pump; picking up the handle the rusty metal made
a grinding noise. “Pump it once and then
twist the spout to the right until you hear the click.” He turned to a grouping of boulders along the
tree line and one of the larger ones in the middle began to rise slowly from
the ground.
Carlo began to descend. “The rock lifts with hydraulics, as soon as you’re
inside disable it so it can’t be opened.
There’s a small area so you can gather while you open the door. You see it?”
The Millers looked around the chamber which was 4’ x 8’, and made of 4’
wide concrete panels, the only thing in the room was a bare light bulb in the
corner. Carlo walked to the light bulb
and pushed until they heard a click and one of the concrete panels began to
swivel open.
“Once inside disable the door
so it can’t be opened,” Frank said as he stepped inside making sure the rooms
were empty and no one had been there.
“It’s not that big just three rooms, but it’ll keep your family
safe. There’s a six month food supply, ten
x-large cots, plus the sofas pull out into sleepers. It’s got the bare necessities as far as
entertainment, some movies, games and stuff.”
“Girls, let’s empty the bags
and get things sorted,” Nana Ellen said and the girls followed her into the
sleeping area.
Paulo turned on the computer and monitors located in
the corner of the living area, “Once you’re here, turn this on as soon as you
can. Go to Word, pull up the file list
and open the ‘Evac’ one; it contains a list of instructions. There’ll be a special email address that’s
been set up for you to send an email to an address that’s to be used only in
emergency. In the email let us know
you’ve arrived, how many are here and if you were followed.” The Millers nodded and Paulo continued,
“There’s cameras located on the property; they’re motion sensitive so an alarm
will sound if they’re activated. Click
on the camera icon to display them on the monitor.”
“If you notice activity send
an email immediately to that same address,” Joe said as Paulo clicked the
cameras icon and showed the Millers how to split the monitor to show all ten
cameras at once then individual locations.
Carlo checked his watch, “We
need to go.” Paulo checked all the
cameras before shutting the computer down and Carlo led them out of the safe room. “We rarely come to our safe houses to
eliminate attracting attention, if there’s things you want to bring, stockpile it
and bring them in a couple of months.” They
repeated the process to exit and within minutes were on the way back outside.
Frank threw his keys to Vin,
“You’ll be the second car going back, Dom you’ll be in the passenger
seat.” Both boys nodded and they began
the drive back to town. Frank glanced in
the rearview mirror and saw Maeve between Carlo and Gina and listened as she
asked questions and tried to write the answers down but the rocking and jerking
motion of the SUV wouldn’t let her.
Frustrated she put her notebook in her pocketbook and turned to Gina,
asking about the perfume bottles.
Twenty minutes later, the
others turned onto the road leading to the cabin while Frank continued onto the
realtor’s office which was in the middle of town. Frank and Enzo got out nodding to the others
and they followed Frank into the office.
Maeve looked through the glass window at the three men waiting in the
conference room and reached for Carlo’s hand, “I don’t like the looks of that man in the grey jacket. His colors are dark… he’s hiding something
Alpha Carlo.”
“That’s Mr. Wells, he owns the building. And your right, he is hiding something but
we’ve got it taken care of,” Carlo
said with a reassuring smile.
“We’ll wait in the lobby,”
Frank said as Carlo walked into the conference room with the others. Introductions were exchanged and Carlo
motioned for Ant, Sophia and Maeve to sit in chairs along the wall. Gina picked the contract up and scanned
through it while Carlo made small talk with the three men.
Mr. Wells looked at his
watch, “If you don’t mind could we hurry this up? I have another meeting to go to. It’s a standard document requiring your
signature.”
Gina stared at Mr.
Wells. “The majority of the document
looks fine, but I want to know why it says…” she turned to the required page,
“The new owner shall be responsible for any and all liens or judgments placed
on the building.”
Mr. Wells shrugged, “Standard
legalese.”
“It has nothing to do with
the $450,000 personal loan?” Gina asked as he paled. “Let me refresh your memory… you borrowed
money to invest in two buildings, using the distribution center and your
contract with the tenant as collateral.
Not only did you fail to purchase the buildings, but when the bank
called in the loan you ignored them, this past Friday in Garrett County Circuit
Court they gave you five business days to repay the loan or a default judgment
will be placed on the building.”
Sweat beaded on his upper lip
as he stammered, “The… the papers haven’t been… filed yet… how do you know
about this?”
Gina leaned forward, resting
her forearms on the table, “Who do you think you’re dealing with? Do you think you’re the first person who has
tried to do something dishonest? I’m
tempted to leave you hanging.”
Mr. Wells turned to Carlo who
said, “My wife handles our real estate transactions, any decisions are up to
her… and only her.”
Gina picked up the contract
again, “We do want the building, but that provision will be removed and instead
it will state you will be responsible for any judgments or liens placed on the
building for ninety days in case anything else comes up. Also instead of $1.2 million, we’re offering
$800,000.”
“That’s way below market,” he
said as he pounded the table.
“And more than you would get
when the bank forecloses because you’re three months behind the mortgage
payments… not to mention the delinquent property taxes,” Gina replied
calmly. She let the silence stretch out
for several minutes, “By the time you pay the mortgage, the personal loan, the
property taxes, the delinquent light, water and sewer bills… you’ll come out
with about $150,000.”
Mr. Wells stared at Gina and asked,
“How about $1 million?”
“$800,000 is our final offer…
our only offer,” she replied as she stared back. The silence stretched out endlessly; Sophia,
Ant and Maeve looking back and forth between Gina and Mr. Wells wondering who
was going to crack first. Carlo sat back
and pulled his phone out of his pocket, showing his complete disregard for the
proceedings since Gina was in charge.
“Fine,” Mr. Wells replied
with an angry sigh. “I’ll have my lawyer
draw up the documents with the new stipulations.”
“No need… I already have
them,” Gina replied as she retrieved a document from her pocketbook. “Our lawyers have already looked it over and
you’re welcome to go through it with your lawyer.”
Mr. Wells grabbed the papers
out of her hand and Carlo scowled. “I
realize you’re upset with this outcome, but I’m warning you... be respectful to
my wife or no matter how badly we want that building we’ll walk right out of
here and leave you to the mercy of the courts and bankruptcy.”
“I’m sorry, please accept my
apologies,” he murmured before lowering his eyes and passing the document to
his lawyer who looked it over. Thirty
minutes later, they were signing the documents.
“The money will be deposited
into your account at 9AM Tuesday. I
won’t say it’s been a pleasure because I don’t like people lying to me,” Gina
said with a frown. The men lowered their
eyes and walked out the door without saying anything. “Maeve,
did the real estate agent know about this?
What do his colors say?”
“He has good colors, but he knew. I think he tried talking them out of it
because he’s showing conflict,” she
replied as she stared at the real estate agent projecting the images to Anthony
who sent them to his parents.
“That’s all I needed to know,” Gina said as she gathered the papers. When the agent went to shake hands, she
stared at him, “I don’t like the way you do business Mr. Cantor. You knew they were trying to take advantage
of us and did nothing to stop them. I’ll
be making a call Tuesday to the Real Estate licensing board to report your
unethical behavior.” He opened his mouth
to protest and Gina held up her hand stopping him, “Save it. It’s a shame really; when word gets around
about this I doubt anyone will use your services… I know we never will.” Without saying another word, she spun on her
heel and left the room, followed by the others.
***
Maeve came bounding into the
kitchen and everyone stopped talking to stare at her as she began jumping up
and down, “You should have seen it…Madame Gina kicked ass… it was fri…well… it
was awesome.” Gina walked into the
kitchen smiling broadly and listened as Maeve told everyone what happened.
“I have to give thanks to
Paulo for finding all of that information,” Gina said as she smiled at
him. He blushed as everyone turned to
him and he smiled shyly before lowering his gaze to his laptop.
“Let’s have dinner, the
slippery pot pie is ready then we can talk more,” Rose said as the youngsters
began jostling each other to be first in line.
The talk was loud, full of
laughter and teasing as they ate dinner when Maeve asked Gina, “What are you
going to do with the old building?”
“Try and sell it, though
it’ll probably sit on the market for a while,” she replied as she looked at
Maeve. “Why? Do you have an idea?”
“I heard Miss Christy and
Miss Veronica talk about how much daycare would cost if their parents didn’t
help with the little ones while they work.
So, why don’t you turn part of it into a daycare center for families
that work for you? The remaining part
could be turned into a community center.
I didn’t see anything like that when we were walking around.”
Gina smiled, “I hadn’t
thought about that, but we’ll definitely look into it.” Maeve smiled and turned back to finish
dinner. “She has some really good ideas Carlo; I think it might be a good idea
to bring her into work once a week. As
long as it’s okay with Todd and Holly and she keeps her studies up.”
“I agree my love.
By the way, you were magnificent today… as always,” he said before leaning over and kissing her gently. “Luna
knew what she was doing when she blessed me with you.”
“Do you think she sent us the Millers so we could help
them… or they could help us?” she
asked as she smiled at Maeve and Fiona.
***
“So do you like
putt-putt? I know it’s one of the things
you wanted to do,” Gino asked Fiona as they waited for their turn at the last
hole.
“It’s fun, but I don’t like
the obstacles on the course, like when my ball hit the windmill blade and
bounced back,” she said with a frown.
He grinned, “That’s the whole
point of putt-putt. When we go to
Tuckahoe Pack we’ll play at some of the courses in Ocean City
“Maybe I’ll like it better if
you let me win,” she said with a sly grin as he broke out in laughter.
“I’m glad all of us are
here,” Kelly said as she watched Sophia poke Anthony in the side mid-swing and
he hit the ball too hard causing it to sail over the hole. Carlo laughed at the look on his sons face
and encouraged Sophia to do it again.
“We would’ve finished quicker
if the parents would’ve stayed home,” Marcus said as he sighed. “I hope the concession stand’ll still be
open. I’m hungry.”
Aislin rolled her eyes, “Is
that all you ever think about? Food?”
“Not really, but it’s high on
my list,” he replied with a smirk.
“You look like you could skip
a meal or two bro,” Gianni said as he patted Marcus’ stomach. “You’re getting kinda soft.”
“What?” Marcus spun his head
towards his twin and pulled his shirt up to look at his abs. “There’s not an ounce of fat on me, my
stomach is hard as a rock.”
“And so is your head,” Aislin
murmured as Gianni howled with laughter.
“No, it’s the lowest score
that wins,” Dom said as Morgan placed her putter on the counter after their grouping
finished.
“How? I got the highest score, therefore I won,”
she stated as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Dom turned to the man behind
the counter and grinned, “Will you tell her low score wins? She doesn’t believe me.”
The elderly man shook his
head, “If I was you, I wouldn’t argue with her.
I’ve been married 45 years and I’ve never won an argument with my wife.”
Morgan gave him a bright
smile which he returned, “Thank you.”
She turned to Dom and put her hands on her hips, “See… I won, now
where’s my prize?”
Dom’s eyes raked his mate and
his voice got husky, “I’ll give you a prize.”
Seeing his look, she took off running screaming for her uncles to help.
“You’re on your own little
one,” Matt yelled as he watched Dom jog after her, not trying to catch her, but
content to chase her.
After a trip to the snack bar
to get hot dogs and fries for the boys and funnel cakes for the girls, they walked
to the go-kart area. Since the Miller’s
had never driven before, the instructor explained how to operate the karts and
that each race was four laps. The first two
races they were hesitant and driving slowly and carefully as the adults shouted
encouragement. After the third race they
began to speed up and were soon keeping up with the boys.
Watching them Todd groaned,
“I don’t even want to see them behind the wheel of a car; I swear they’re going
around the turns on two wheels.”
“Looks like Brianna is gonna
be a helluva driver,” Carlo said as he watched her go through the ‘S’ loop
without slowing down during the fifth and final race.
Her face was a mask of
concentration as she pulled next to Lorenzo before passing him and they saw a
small smile cross her face. The yellow
light came on, signaling the last lap and they saw her lean forward as if
trying to make her kart go faster as she tried to catch Vin, Dom and Paulo, the
only ones in front of her. Paulo crossed
first, then Dom then Vin and Brianna at the same time. They pulled into the pit area and she got out
of her cart jumping up and down, “I won… I won.”
“How did you win? You finished the same time as me, and behind
Paulo and Dom,” Vin stated with a laugh.
“I get a handicap because
I’ve never driven before, so I won,” she stated as her sisters nodded in
agreement.
“I agree,” Maria hollered
from where she was standing along the fence.
Vin snorted, “Of course you
agree with her since you and Sophia usually knock us into the wall or spin us
out so the other can win.”
“You’re a sore loser,” Sophia
muttered with a grin as she walked past him.
“First, I didn’t lose. Second, Ant was clearing the path for you so you
could finish in the top ten. Third,
you’re annoying,” Vin said as he grabbed a hold of her ponytail and pulled her
against his chest wrapping his arms around her.
“You have no idea how
annoying you are,” Dom added as he hid his grin.
“Like a bee around my head,”
Lorenzo swatting at imaginary bees.
“Buzzing in my ear,” Marcus began
making buzzing sounds.
“And when you talk all I hear
is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” Damian brought his hands up and made mouth
motions.
“And you never stop whining,”
Gianni stamping his feet.
“Daaaadddddyyyy, they’re
picking on me,” Enzo said in a high pitch squeal.
“Uncle Joe, do you hear
them? They’re being mean to me,” Gino
said in a falsetto as he let out a deep dramatic sigh.
“Make them stop,” Michael
pretended he was crying as he rubbed his eyes.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,”
Paulo crossed his arms over his chest.
“I didn’t want to do it, they
made me,” Victor stuck his bottom lip way out, in an exaggerated pout.
“But… but why am I getting in trouble Daddy? I’m the baby, shouldn’t that count?” Sal
started giving puppy dog eyes as he tilted his head.
Frank, Rose, Joe and Annie
were laughing and nodding their heads as Frank said, “They got you pegged Sweetie.”
Sophia sighed dramatically
before elbowing Vin in the stomach and moving out of his arms, “I’m so glad
everyone is finding amusement in all of the pain and suffering I’ve had to deal
with growing up with this group of idiots.”
Maria linked arms with her,
“They have no idea what we had to put up with.
Those morons beheaded, drowned, buried, stabbed and mutilated our baby
dolls, knocked us down, ran us over, said we were playing hide ‘n seek and
never looked for us, ate all the mixes for our EZ bake ovens and picked on us
endlessly.”
“And you tattled on us every
time we did something wrong and stood there with a smile on your face when we
got punished,” Vin said with a grin.
“But it was worth it to
torture you two,” Dom added as the Carlucci boys began to give each other fist
bumps as they broke out in laughter.
“Yeah well, we’re big enough
to take care of ourselves now. Plus we
have intendeds to even things out,” Maria said with an evil smile as the
Carlucci boys stopped laughing and looked at Alberto and Anthony.
Ant pulled Sophia into his
side, “I remember you pouting and thinking how cute you were with that bottom
lip sticking out and you stomping your feet.
I always wanted to make you feel better, that’s why I never did any of that
stuff.”
“So… you weren’t in on the
plot to ruin Barbie’s wedding to G.I. Joe?” Sophia asked as she narrowed her
eyes as they walked to the vehicles.
Anthony grinned, “You
remember that?”
“Of course, it traumatized
me. I got his chopped off hand in an
envelope with a ransom demand of five boxes of Twinkies, three boxes of
Suzy-Q’s, four boxes of Hostess Cupcakes and a box of Sno-Balls. I remember it as if it were yesterday, you
don’t forget about things like that,” Sophia said with a shudder.
Frank
started to laugh, “Is that why I had to take you to Rossi’s and buy them? You said it was a matter of life and death, I
always wondered about that.”
Gabby hit Sal in the arm,
“You did that?”
“Ouch. And no, it wasn’t my idea… but I got a box of
Twinkies out of it,” he replied with a smile as he reached for her hand.
“Barbie was emasculating him
and was a jerk; making him take her to tea parties and for rides in her stupid
pink car. Besides, he wasn’t ready to
get married yet, he was having too much fun with her friends,” Damian said with
a wicked grin.
As they neared the vehicles,
Sophia stared at Anthony, “Wait a minute… you WERE in on it. You’re the only one I know who likes
Sno-Balls.”
“I was eight years old,” he
exclaimed with a sheepish expression.
“They promised me a box of Sno-balls if I distracted you by… and that’s
why I ugh…” He blushed bright red and
put his hands over his face.
“You kissed me and gave me
the cooties… I can’t believe I forgot that,” Sophia leaned against the SUV she
was laughing so hard.
“You kissed my daughter?”
Frank said as he stood in front of Ant. He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms
over his chest.
Anthony paled and quickly
said, “On the cheek… I swear Poppa Frank… that’s all it was… I didn’t do
anything else.”
Frank began to laugh, “I’m
just picking on you. I can understand
why you did it; I would have done the same thing for a box of Ho-Ho’s.”
Carlo looked at the darkened
sky, “Come on everyone let’s load
up. My wolf and I want to go on a run
and see if we can track down that bear.”
***
The women entered the woods
on the left of the clearing and the men on the right to shift. They returned to the clearing and the mated
pairs immediately went to each other; the males standing still scanning the
woods while their mates/intendeds rubbed against them mingling their
scents. Gino, Enzo, Paulo, Michael lay
down so the four youngest girls could climb on their backs and they walked
slowly around the clearing so the girls could get comfortable. Alberto rubbed against Maria’s legs as she
leaned against him, “Soon Gattina, you’ll
be able to join us on our runs. For now,
my wolf is pleased knowing you will be holding us.”
“Good puppy,” Fallon murmured
as she patted Michael on the head.
“You do know I’m not a dog, right?” he asked as he tried not to laugh.
“Don’t ruin this for me, I
never had a pet before,” she answered as she scratched him behind the ear as
they moved into the woods. “Can I
steer?”
“Not only am I not a dog, I’m not a car either,” Michael stated with a laugh. “If you
want to guide, we can do that later, right now just relax and have fun.”
“I’m a little scared, this’ll
be our first time running in the woods,” Shannon
said as she gripped the fur on Paulo’s forechest harder.
“Don’t worry, I’ll never let anything happen to you,” Paulo said quietly but with authority and felt her
relax.
They ran for almost an hour,
Carlo in the lead, Gina on his left and Anthony on his right with Sophia at his
side. Carlo slowed as the scent they
were looking for crossed their path. “Smell that?
It’s pretty fresh. Be on guard,
he can’t be far away. Time for the girls
to go up in a tree.”
The boys lay down and the
girls got off, following Frank and Joe they used their backs as steps to climb
up into the tree. The last was Maria and
the girls helped pull her up. “Climb higher, at least fifteen feet from
the ground,” Frank instructed and the young girls helped Maria making sure
she wasn’t going to fall.
“The scent is coming from the west, but I’m scenting
more than one,” Ant said as he tilted
his head back.
“If it is a mother with her cub, we will not hunt
them. If we were desperate for food,
they would be fair game, but we are not desperate,” Carlo said and everybody nodded. “There
is plenty of other game for us to hunt.”
“I’ll stay,”
Joe said and Nana Ellen, Papa Mike, Matt and Alberto quickly said they would
stay too. Seeing the four boys look at
their protectee’s Joe said, “Go on the
hunt. The girls will be safe.”
The wolves spread out moving
stealthily through the forest; ears raised to hear any sound, eyes alert for
any movement and noses scenting the air.
“The scent is getting heavier and
you were right Anthony, there are at least two of them,” Carlo said as he
crouched down, the others mimicking his actions. “Frank,
take a team and flank right; Carmelo flank left, Gina and I’ll keep going
forward. Make sure the girls aren’t in
harms way.” Frank split everyone
into two teams with the boys in a loose circle around the girls.
Loud growls were heard
followed by a high pitched squeal. “I’m scenting three bears and blood,” Anthony
said. They moved forward until the trees
began to thin at the edge of the stream bed.
On the other bank a large male black bear reared up on his hind legs
facing off against a female bear. Upstream
about twenty feet away was a cub and they could see a long gash in his front
leg and part of his ear missing as he cowered in the small stream and
whimpered. With a roar, the male lunged
at the female raking her with his claws along her side and with enough power
that she was flung several feet away where she lay unmoving on her side. Growling loudly he eyed the cub and began to
move slowly towards him.
“I don’t want the girls involved in the fight, the
male is obviously in a blood lust,”
Carlo stepped forward growling loudly followed by the rest of the men. Seeing the other predators, the bear reared
on his hind legs letting out a roar before dropping to all fours shaking his
head back and forth, he charged halfway across the stream and roared again. Carlo and the others growled again before Carlo
tilted his head and let out a feral howl showing his dominance. The bear threw his head back and roared and
began pacing back and forth, agitation apparent in every step as he began to
move faster and faster. With one final
roar at the wolves he turned to the cub and began to run towards him. The cub cowered in fear and whimpered,
calling to his momma who raised her head and struggled to get up.
“NOW,” Carlo
shouted and they attacked. The men went
after the male, the women raced across the stream and stood guard in front of
the female; Gina in the lead, Rose on her right, Annie on the left, Holly to
the side watching the female. They watched
as the boys attacked the bear’s rear legs, while the men attacked his back and
sides making sure to stay away from his lethal claws and his mouth.
“GET THE CUB,”
shouted Gina. Sal and Victor raced to the
cub who whimpered loudly as he hobbled away.
Sal moved to the cub’s right and rubbed his head against the top of the
cubs to calm him down. When he stopped
whimpering they lifted him by the scruff and half dragged half carried him to
where his mother was struggling to get up.
Seeing her cub being carried by wolves she growled until Sal and Victor
put him down and nudged him to go to his mother.
Weakened by blood loss from
the numerous bites the bear was quickly killed as Carlo ripped out his
throat. Blood was running down his
muzzle as he let out a triumphant howl with the men following. Hearing them the female began to get agitated
and the cub whimpered as he nestled against her. Carlo rinsed his muzzle in the stream before
moving to the female where he stared at her before sitting down and shifting,
remaining in a crouched position. He slowly
extended his hand while he spoke softly, “I know you can’t understand me, but I
want to check your little one and see how badly you’re hurt.”
Staring at the wolves around
her and her cub and seeing no sign of aggression, she put her head down and
began to breathe heavily. “Gina, this is
going to take both of us. Move
slowly.” Carlo let the cub scent him before
he began to rub his fur. After several
minutes he scooted forward and looked at his ear, “Sorry little one, nothing I
can do about the missing part of your ear, but I can stop the bleeding and fix
your leg.” He lifted the cubs injured
front leg, after examining it carefully he shifted his head and licked the cubs
ear before Gina joined him to tend to his injured leg; within minutes it
stopped bleeding and was starting to heal.
Carlo shifted back and looked at the female and saw she was watching him
but made no move to stop him. Nudging
the cub towards his momma’s head, Carlo began to examine the wound on her side
and saw four deep claw marks from just below her shoulder all the way to the
middle of her hind leg. “Anthony, we’ll
need you.” Anthony moved forward slowly
and the female watched his every step as he joined his parents. Shifting into his full wolf, Carlo stayed
where he was while Gina and Anthony moved to the other side to begin licking her
wounds.
“Todd, since you are a latent Alpha you should be able
to help,” Carlo said as he moved
closer to the females head since she was familiar with him and Todd moved
forward slowly as he joined Carlo.
Almost five minutes later he moved back, “I think we’re done. She’ll be
sore for a day or two while it completely heals but she and her cub will
survive.”
Gina, Ant and Todd moved
slowly back to the others and Carlo sat once more in front of the female, he
bowed his head to her before turning around and leading his Pack mates across
the stream and he stopped at the edge of the tree line while Gina led them into
the woods. After the last wolf ran by,
he threw his head back howling loudly and with one final glance at the female,
he followed his Pack back to where the others were waiting.
***
“I don’t understand Alpha
Carlo, why didn’t you hunt the bears?” Fallon asked as they walked into the
house.
“If we would have killed the
mother, then the cub would have died. As
Were’s we have two distinct personalities; our wolves who like to hunt and our
human half who know we don’t have to hunt to survive. As far as the male, yes we killed him because
he was on a blood lust or rampage and was going after the cub and would have
killed him then killed the mother. The
male needed to be put down, suppose he wandered into town… who knows what he
would be capable of doing,” he replied with a frown. “After he was dead we chose not to feast on
him because we didn’t want the female to get agitated and think she and her cub
were next.”
“I think I understand
now. We can choose what we do and we
have to think of the consequences of our actions,” she replied with a smile as
Carlo nodded.
“Right now I choose to have
some ice cream,” Fiona said with a giggle.
“I’ll
second that choice,” Carlo agreed with a smile.
“I’m
not really tired, I’m too wound up,” Sophia said as the girls nodded. “How about if we get some popcorn and snacks
and watch some movies.”
“Sounds
good. What are we going to watch?” Ant
asked with a smile.
“No
boys. We’ll make a girls night of it in
the theater room and sleep there and you all can sleep in the bonus room,”
Maria said as the girls clapped. “We can
watch ‘Steel Magnolias’, ‘Titanic’, and
‘The Princess Diaries’.”
The boys rolled their eyes
and Marcus griped, “You couldn’t pay me enough to sit through all those stupid
movies.”
“I don’t remember anybody inviting
you,” Aislin replied with a sweetly sick smile as the youngsters began to whoop
and holler at the scowl on his face.
***
“Are the girls settled?”
Carlo asked as they left the house and began walking to the fire pit.
“Yes, they have blankets,
pillows, popcorn, snacks and a bunch of movies to watch,” Gina replied reaching
for his hand. “The house is secure,
alarmed, the safe room is opened and Nana Ellen and Papa Mike are staying to
watch TV.”
Before he could say anything
else his satellite phone rang. He quickly
glanced at Frank and Joe before saying, “Rossi here.”
“Good evening Carlo,” a crisp
British voice came over the speakerphone.
“What the hell are you doing
up Jarrod? Isn’t it a little early for
you? It’s got to be 5 am there… or is
your nanny gonna make you take a long nap this afternoon?” Carlo replied as
Frank and Joe began to grin.
A deep sigh was heard, “For
that remark, you are buying me dinner Tuesday and not at The Diner, I want to
go to Roberto’s.”
Carlo began to laugh, “How
the hell are you Jarrod? It’s been too
long.”
“I am doing fine and yes, it
has been too long. Dante told me to call
you regarding the Prophecy and I waited until I had confirmation about several
other things as well. He wants you to
start deciphering the meaning because neither of us understood it completely,”
Jarrod stated as they heard him shuffling papers.
“Hold on a second, Gina wants
to write it down,” he waited until she returned from the house with her
notebook. “Go ahead.”
“It is entitled, ‘The Warrior
and his Knights’
When great evil pervades the
hearts and souls of men
Others shall cry out ‘Never
shall it happen again’
On the field of battle they
shall meet
Neither knowing full victory
nor defeat
Until the Warrior with four
Knights at his side
Enters the fray with Luna as
their guide
Strong though the five be
alone
Together is when their full
strength be known
True blood sworn companions
til their last breath tis drawn
They
will fulfill the oath of ancient ancestors long since gone.”
“That’s
beautiful, but what the hell does it mean?” Rose asked with a frown.
“Is
that you Rose, or your equally lovely sister?” Jarrod asked with a laugh as he
heard Frank and then Joe growl.
“Hi
Jarrod, how are you and Caroline doing?” Rose asked as Frank pulled her into
his side and scented her neck.
They
heard a loud sigh, “Since she is accompanying me, I will let you know we were
recently in Switzerland New York
There
was silence for several moments, nobody quite knowing what to say until Gina
quietly said, “Tell her if she needs to talk, I’m here.”
“Thank
you Gina, I will let her know,” Jarrod answered quietly and they heard a knock
on the door. “That is my assistant with
the information I wanted to give you.
Hold on please.” They heard him
quietly talking before he said, “Carlo, he is going to email you the
information we have gathered. Dante gave
me the secure address you want to use and obviously the satellite phone Joe
sent me.” They heard him shuffling
papers and he quietly said, “That will be all Huntley, please check the
arrangements for our upcoming trip.”
They heard the door close and moments later he said, “As far as the
Prophecies, I know of no others. I
didn’t even know of the Italian one until Dante told me, so I’m of no help
there.”
“Did
you and Dante discuss the ones we discovered?” Carlo asked.
“We
did and I agree with his interpretations.
While I’m staying with you, I would like to talk with Anthony and meet
the Millers. I do have information
concerning them. After Andrew Moray’s
death in 1300, his pregnant mate was spirited out of Scotland France
“The
search was renewed and the next sighting was in Bavaria
“As
Dante told you, Scotland Scotland
There
was a minute of silence before Carlo said, “What the hell is that?”
“We
have no idea; after 700 years the meaning of it has been lost to time. I didn’t tell him the reason I was inquiring,
only that I had run across the Lost line of Moray when I was reading some books
in the Archives. I’m not quite sure he
believed me but he said if he could be of any further use to contact him,”
Jarrod said with a sigh. “One last
thing, the British Embassy is having a formal dinner party Wednesday evening in
my honour and President Roberts, Gina, Rose and Annie will be sent
invitations. Ladies, if you need
suitable escorts let me know.”
“Fuck
you Jarrod,” Carlo, Frank and Joe said in unison while their mates laughed.
“Dante
told me to say that,” Jarrod said as he began to laugh. “I really must go Carlo; we need to leave
soon for New York
“Thank
you for everything Jarrod and we’ll see you on Tuesday. Let me know your travel arrangements,” Carlo
replied.
“Carlo,
I didn’t say anything because I assumed you would know, but I want to make my
position clear … my Pack and I will stand by your side. We may not be related by blood, but we are
still family,” Jarrod stated in a clear firm voice.
Carlo
grabbed Gina’s hand and in a quavering voice said, “Thank you Jarrod.”
“No
thanks are needed Carlo, you have done the same for me. See you Tuesday.” They heard the click as the line was
disconnected.
Carlo
motioned for everyone to follow him to the fire pit. “What took you guys so long? We were getting ready to send out a search
party,” Matt said with smile before frowning when he saw the look on their faces. “What happened?”
“Jarrod
called,” Carlo replied and repeated the conversation, Todd relaying the
conversation to his parents. There was
silence as they thought over the information Jarrod had relayed. “Any ideas?”
“Can
you repeat the Prophecy?” Ant said as he leaned back.
Gina
recited it and said, “The first four lines are pretty easy to figure out. Who are the four Knights?”
“It
has to be Gianni, Marcus, Lorenzo and Damian.
They’ve been by my side since the day they were born,” Ant stated as the
four Carlucci’s nodded.
“The
line, ‘Enters the fray with Luna as their guide’, does that mean it will happen
at night or near the full moon?” Rose asked as Frank shrugged.
“The
next lines, ‘Strong though the five be alone, Together is when their full strength
be known’… I’ve seen you fight together against older boys during scrimmages,”
Frank looked at the five boys sitting together.
“You move as one, almost as if it’s ingrained in you. We didn’t teach you to fight that way.”
“I
know we’re going to amp up your training, but we’ll work more with the five of
you fighting together,” Joe said and the boys nodded.
“The
next line is baffling to me, ‘True blood sworn companions til their last breath
tis drawn’. I know generations ago, Pack
members would make a small cut and place a drop of blood in a chalice and the
Alpha would drink it when he took command of a Pack to strengthen the
bond. But I’ve never heard of anyone
drinking an Alpha’s blood,” Carlo said as the other adults shrugged.
“As
far as I know, nobody has done the Blood Swearing Ceremony in years,” Frank
added as he looked at Carlo. “I know you
didn’t.”
The
five boys looked at each other and Ant cleared his throat, “Do they have to
drink the blood for it to work?”
The
adults looked at the boys who were squirming around and looking everywhere but
their parents. Carlo narrowed his eyes
and asked, “Why?”
“We
were seven when we heard Pops and Papaw talking about blood sworn companions,”
Gianni said with a sigh.
“Since
Damian and I are brothers and Gianni and Marcus are brothers and the four of us
are cousins, we wanted Anthony to be blood brothers with us,” Lorenzo added as
he looked at his father before lowering his gaze.
“So,
we went out in the woods one day and had our own ceremony,” Marcus said as he
tilted his head back and looked at the darkened sky.
Seeing
the astounded looks on the adults faces, Damian said, “If it’s any consolation
we sterilized the knife beforehand and put Neosporin on afterwards.”
Joe
stared at his son, “Thanks for that valuable piece of information Damian. You don’t know how worried I was that you
used unsterile procedures.”
Anthony
put his head down to hide his smile at Joe’s sarcastic tone and a few moments
later he looked at his father, “We swore that like our ancestors before us we
would always love and protect each other until we died. Rossi’s and Carlucci’s together til the end.” There was stunned silence from everyone as
the five boys held up their thumbs where a thin line was visible.
“Did
you feel any different afterwards?” Gina asked as she leaned forward.
“I
felt a shock go through me, but I didn’t think anything about it because
Marcus, Lorenzo and Damian felt the same thing,” Gianni said with a shrug.
“Can
you project what you did?” Carlo asked as he pulled Gina back to his side.
“I’ll
do it, so you can see what Ant said and did,” Lorenzo said and closed his eyes
as he searched his memory as Carlo opened the link.
The boys were outside playing on Frank’s
patio, while Ray and Steve watched over them.
They were sitting in a circle with their legs crossed while in the
middle were small plastic wolf figurines that the boys were using in mock
fights. Hearing the older men start to
talk, the boys stopped playing and listened.
Steve leaned forward and asked, ‘Did you
notice any unusual behavior at Council Headquarters? Anything we should be concerned about?’
Ray was quiet for several moments, ‘Nothing
more than the usual plays for power since the Advisory Board elections are
coming up in six months. I still think
Carlo should be on it.’
‘I agree. He needs to become more active in Council
matters. SMP has always been one of the
strongest Packs, not just for our physical abilities but for our
alliances. He needs to be more open and
cultivate those alliances and bring in new ones,’ Steve said before lighting a
cigar.
‘One thing I noticed was Alfred
Williamson seemed to be even tighter with Brantley Sutherland from Chesapeake
Steve let the smoke out slowly through
his mouth and smoke rings floated through the air, ‘That used to be popular
because it was felt the sharing of blood made them closer… true blood brothers
as it were. The last time it was done here
was when Carlo’s grandfather did it with the Beta’s during the Were War.’
Their talk shifted to work and the boys
went back to playing. Another image
popped up as the boys were sitting at a table on the patio eating lunch and
Lorenzo said, ‘I never heard Daddy talkin bout the blood thing before.’
Ant sighed, ‘I wish I had brothers. I don’ even have a sissy anymore.’
‘We’s could be your brothers, like Papaw
said,’ Marcus said with a grin.
‘I’d like that,’ Ant replied with a
matching grin showing his missing front teeth.
Gianni reached into his pocket pulling
out a Swiss Army knife, ‘We could use my new knifes.’
‘No, we need somthin sharpah,’ Damian
said, his lisp evident from his missing top and bottom teeth. ‘Awnt Wose told us to stay away from the
knifes on the counter cause they is sharp and we’d cut ourselfs. We need one of dose.” The boys nodded in agreement and finished
their lunch.
The next image was of Damian distracting
the adults while Lorenzo got the first aid kit and Ant picked up Marcus so he
could grab a knife out of the knife block.
‘Get the one Mommy uses to cut meat, that’ll be the best one,’ Gianni
said as he peered down the hall as lookout.
Marcus nodded and got the 10” carving knife. After wrapping it in a tea towel he ran out
the back door and the others followed.
‘Where are you all going?’ Steve asked
as he was playing cards with Ray, not looking at the boys but scenting them run
past him.
‘To the woods to play, it’s a secret,’
Gianni replied.
‘Okay, but don’t wander too far,’ Steve
said as Ray dealt out the new hand.
‘I think this is far enough,’ Lorenzo
said as he looked around. They were
twenty feet inside the tree line and could still see the house but far enough
away that they wouldn’t easily be spotted.
They sat in a circle grinning at each other. ‘What do we do first? I think we gotta make an oath like Pops
said.’
‘Ant has to say the oath cause he’s
gonna be Alpha,’ Marcus said as the four boys turned to look at Ant.
Ant sat quietly, obviously lost in
thought before nodding, ‘Daddy tells me stories bout our families. We’ve always been togetha for like a
kajillion years.’
‘Our daddy tells us the same stories,’
Gianni said with a grin.
Ant picked up the towel and Lorenzo said,
‘Hold on.’ He opened the first aid kit
and got an alcohol wipe and wiped the end of the blade before handing it to
Anthony. ‘Doc does this when we get cuts
and need stitches.’
‘From now on we will be brothas, we will
love and protect each other until we die, like our families have always did. Rossi’s and Carlucci’s together til the end,’
Ant picked up the knife and grimaced as he sliced his left thumb. He passed the knife to Lorenzo who made the
same vow then it went to Damian, Marcus and Gianni. The boys held their thumbs out and Ant
pressed his against each boys.
‘Did you feel that?’ Gianni asked as he
felt a shock go through him.
‘That must mean it worked,’ Lorenzo said
with a grin. ‘We’re brothers.’
‘Rossi’s and Carlucci’s together til the
end,’ the boys said in unison, grins breaking out over their faces.
There
was silence across the clearing and the five boys looked at each other and
smiled. As one they held out their
thumbs and said, “Rossi’s and Carlucci’s together til the end.”
“If
I had any doubts the Prophecies weren’t about you, they’ve been dispelled,”
Carlo quietly said as he looked at the five boys; Anthony in the middle with
Gianni and Marcus on his right, Lorenzo and Damian on his left.
“Well,
I for one think it’s cool. I can’t
believe I’m mentioned in a secret Prophecy,” Damian said with a smile.
“Well,
I for one think we need to talk to your grandfathers about their babysitting
abilities… or lack of them,” Frank said with a frown.
“Before
we start talking about the other information Jarrod gave us… is there anything
else you want to tell us? Any other
confessions you need to make?” Carlo asked in an Alpha tone as he looked at all
of the boys.
“I
broke the vase in the living room,” from Sal.
“I
put the dent in Dad’s truck with my baseball bat,” from Victor.
“I
ate the lasagna mom had in the freezer,” from Enzo.
“I
broke the living room window,” from Gino.
“I
add water to cake mix and eat it like pudding,” from Michael.
“I
broke the dining room window,” from Paulo.
“I
broke the tractor belt so I wouldn’t have to mow the yard,” from Marcus.
“I
ate the pot roast mom took out for dinner,” from Lorenzo.
“I
broke dad’s power drill trying to drill through concrete,” from Gianni.
“I got caught speeding and used your name to get out of a ticket,” from
Ant.
“I broke the lamp in the family room,” from Dom.
“I ate twenty pounds of meatballs mom made,” from Vin.
“I ate the cannoli filling and had to make another batch,” from Angelo.
“I broke the door on the restaurant refrigerator,” from Alberto.
The adults looked at Damian who was smirking. “What?
I’ve never done anything wrong and even if I did… I’m sure there was a
good reason for it.”
“Spoken
like a true politician,” Carlo said as everyone laughed. “As interesting as this episode of true
confession has been… I meant anything major, like blood oaths and secret
ceremonies.” The boys shook their heads.
Holly
said, “Before we start on the revelations about my family I was wondering about
something else. This probably isn’t the
time with so much going on, but what’s the matter with Alpha Jarrod’s mate?”
Carlo
and Gina looked at each other and she closed her eyes before sighing. “Jarrod and Caroline aren’t true mates. The Thetford Pack Second in Command, Alistair
Morgan had two children, Clifford and Gwendolyn; they were the intendeds of
Caroline and Jarrod.” She stopped and
put her head down as she began to tear up and Carlo pulled her into his side
kissing her gently.
Carlo
continued the story, “Alpha Bradford, Jarrod’s father, took his family on an
annual cruise to Italy
Carlo
reached for Gina’s hand, “Even with Were healing, they knew it’d be a week
before he was healed with all those injuries, so Bradford made arrangements for
them to fly out to greet the Morgan’s when they arrived at Rossi Pack.”
Holly
gasped, “You mean he saw the boat blow up?”
Carlo
nodded. “It almost killed him. The only reason it didn’t was he wasn’t fully
mated; he’d only made his declaration.
Dante was with him the whole time; didn’t leave his side for months and
I flew over to be with him too since I had experienced the pain of losing my
parents. It’s not the same as losing
your mate, but… loss of a loved one is a shared pain.” He stopped speaking and pulled Gina closer. “Jarrod really changed after the loss of his
mate. He’s very quiet and reserved now,
whereas before he was the life of the party, always getting into trouble and
having a good time.” He stared into the
fire. “It’s been almost twenty-four
years and he still hasn’t gotten behind the wheel of a car. He can’t bring himself to do it.”
“I
remember seeing him a couple of years after it happened and it was like he was
a shell, he was empty,” Frank said as Rose nodded.
“About
five years later, his father stepped down as President of Coleman Industries
and Jarrod took over. He realized since
he was an only child he needed to find a mate and have an heir,” Carlo said as
he looked at Anthony before turning to look at Gina. “He and Caroline talked and came to a mutual
understanding that since neither of them had intendeds they would mate.”
“They’ve
been trying to have a little one since then, it’s been over seventeen years now
and she hasn’t been able to get pregnant,” Gina added quietly. “They’ve been to Were doctors and human ones
too. No one can figure out why.”
“Jarrod
is the last of his line. He and Caroline
are under enormous pressure from his parents and Pack… no one wants to see an
Alpha line that dates back thousands of years die out,” Carlo said as he finished
his beer.
“I’ve
always wondered why Alpha’s have a hard time conceiving and don’t have many
little ones,” Vin said as he glanced at Anthony.
“No
one really knows. My grandfather told me
it could be because if an Alpha had many heirs there would be fighting for the
Alpha position. Which doesn’t explain
why Todd and Holly have so many youngsters.
Even if a female is born first, she would be Alpha-heir. Just adds to the mysteries surrounding your
family,” he replied as he looked at Todd and Holly.
“As
far as I know, there has only ever been one little one born in each generation
before my girls arrived,” Todd said as he looked at Holly. “And all of them have been male. My girls were the first females born in our
line.”
Paulo
cleared his throat and they turned to him causing him to blush as he opened his
laptop, “I did a little digging and found some stuff out about the Millers, or
the Morays. The Morays were quite
wealthy, one of the wealthiest families at the time. Their extended family, which included uncles
and cousins, owned large tracts of land in Scotland and England and were well
thought of in both countries until the Scottish Moray’s joined the fight for
Independence; after that, the majority of their lands in Scotland were
confiscated by the Crown. Now here is
where things don’t match up. Andrew
Moray was known to have died in 1300 after the Battle of Stirling Bridge; he
did leave a pregnant wife who gave birth to a son also named Andrew. This younger Andrew had a first wife who was
unknown and had two sons with her. His
second wife was related to Robert the Bruce, also known as King Robert I of Scotland
He
looked up, “I checked the European Were registry and there are several listed,
but not many considering the size of the Clan.
I did find a reference to the first Andrew in the European Archives that
he was married when he found his true mate.
If you recall our history lessons, most marriages at the time for
nobility were done for political reasons or the gaining of wealth, status and
land. My thought is Andrew married because of this but when he
found his true mate he mated with
her, thus starting the line the Millers are descended from.”
Carlo
nodded, “That would make sense. In Were
culture, only the offspring from mates would have the ability to shift and be
considered true heirs. That would
explain why his mate was spotted in France
“I
think we’re on the right track but I’d like to see what Alpha Dante and Alpha
Jarrod have to say about it. I’ll keep
looking and add The Treasure of Scotland references to my search,” Paulo said
before closing his laptop. He looked at
the five boys relaxing against a log and added, “I’ll also see if I can find
any information about an Alpha sharing his blood and what happened.”
Carlo
opened his mouth to respond when he heard.
“Dad, can you show us how to work
the karaoke machine? We can’t figure it
out.”
He
leapt to his feet and ran out of the clearing shouting, “I’m being
summoned.” Hearing everyone follow him
he said, “Relax, it was Sophia, she needs me to show her how the karaoke
machine works.”
They
stopped running and Frank smiled “My daughter’s going to sing? She sounds like claws on a chalkboard. We should say a prayer of thanks to Luna that
the theater room is sound proof so we don’t have to hear her.”
“Maria
sounds like two tomcats fighting,” Joe added with a smirk and moved out of the
way as Annie went to slap him on the chest.
“Gabriella
sounds like brakes squealing,” Carmelo said with a grin as Rita hit him in the
arm. “Ouch. You know it’s true and you sound worse.”
Todd
nodded, “I heard a coyote being killed by a bobcat, his death call sounded
better than my girls. I have ten of them
and each one sounds worse than the other.”
The
women crossed their arms over their chests as the men began laughing. “And you think any of you are blessed with
the ability to carry a tune? There’s a
reason why when you sing I tell you to shut up and kiss me… it’s to get you to
stop,” Annie said as she glared at Joe who smiled back.
“I
know and that’s why I do it,” he said as he pulled her against his chest.
“That’s
something I’ve always wondered about,” Gina said as she led them back to the
clearing. “We’re wolves… when we get
together we howl and sound beautiful but I don’t know of one Were that can
sing.”
“It
has to be genetics… cause you know there’s nothing wrong with me… I’m a perfect
Were specimen with my dazzling good looks, chiseled physique and charming
personality,” Damian replied with a grin as everyone rolled their eyes.
“Not
to mention a massive fucking ego,” Vin retorted with a smile.
“When
you’re as perfect as I am, it’s not ego… its fact,” Damian said with his best
crooked half grin as the others groaned.
“I
think it’s time you headed to bed… you’re obviously becoming delirious,” Joe
said with a smile. “We’ll wake you for
the morning run.” The boys nodded and
said goodnight before they headed into the house.
Ten
minutes later Carlo walked into the clearing, “They’ve given up on movies and
are going to entertain themselves. They
have on their jammies, fuzzy slippers, avocado face masks and are doing each
others nails.”
“Now
that we got rid of the boys, how about if we have some adult beverages?” Rita
asked with a smile.
“I’ll
second that motion. How bout we start
off with Pina Coladas?” Gina asked as the women got up and started to walk to
the house.
***
“What
time is it?” Paulo asked as he rolled out of the bunk and stretched.
“Almost
4:50. I thought Dad was supposed to wake
us up?” Michael asked as he walked out of the bathroom.
“They
may be testing us to make sure we’re mature enough for our duties after the
talk we had,” Lorenzo replied as he went into the bathroom.
“We’re
in enough trouble, let’s get ready,” Ant sighed and the boys got dressed and
went down stairs. “I don’t scent them
and the guards are down.”
“Well…
this looks familiar,” Damian said with a grin as they walked into the kitchen;
empty food containers, liquor bottles, cups and plates littered the counter.
Ant
turned off the alarm and as soon as he opened the door they could hear music
and the boys grinned. “Hold on a sec.” He
ran to his moms study returning with her video recorder. Making sure to stay
downwind they circled around to the back of the clearing and stood in the
shadows with their hands over their mouths to muffle their laughter. Anthony hit ‘record’ and from their position
they could see the men on one side leaning against logs drinking straight out
of tequila bottles watching the women who were dancing and singing to ‘Pour some sugar on me’.
“Shake
it like you mean it Sweetcakes,” Carlo shouted before taking a drink.
Joe
got his wallet out, “Come here baby, let me tuck a buck.”
“Shake
that gorgeous ass,” Frank hollered as his eyes raked his mate.
“If
I give you a dolla, will it make you holla?” Todd shouted as Matt and Phil
began laughing hysterically.
“That’s
it, shake that moneymaker,” Carmelo raised his bottle of tequila to his mate
before taking a drink.
“I’m going to need serious therapy after
this,” Damian said as he struggled to
control his laughter.
“We’re all going to need therapy,” Ant said as he struggled to keep the recorder steady
as he was shaking with laughter.
“If they’re acting like this when
they’re middle-aged, what the hell did they get up to when they were our age?” Alberto asked as they looked at each other. Just then someone stepped on a twig and it
snapped and they watched as the men bolted to their feet and leapt in front of
the women who instantly stopped dancing.
Anthony quickly turned the recorder off and placed it behind a tree.
“It’s
the boys,” Carlo said as they stepped out of the tree line and looked at the
adults with frowns on their faces.
“Nice
show. Maybe you could go on tour to pay
for all the therapy we’re gonna need after seeing it,” Damian said with a
smirk.
“Not
to mention hearing your catcalls,” Lorenzo said with a shudder. “Seriously Dad? Tuck a buck?
And you said it to MOM? That is
just wrong on so many levels that I can’t… I just can’t.”
“Sweetcakes?? Really??
There isn’t enough bleach in the world to get that nickname out of my
head,” Ant said with a grimace.
Vin
looked at his dad, “I have no words for what you said to MOM. It’s… it’s… just…” He threw his hands in the air in disgust.
“And
you…” Angelo said as he looked at his father.
“Moneymaker? What. The.
Hell. She’s a mom. Our MOM.”
Dom
looked at Todd and shook his head in a disapproving manner, “I don’t know what
to say.”
Instead
of feeling chastised the men began to laugh loudly. “You ready to go on our run?” Joe said as he
took a drink.
“We
are… I don’t know if you are,” Lorenzo said as he nodded towards the bottle in
his fathers hands.
“Try
and keep up,” Joe said as the men headed into the woods before stripping and
shifting into their wolves and the boys hurriedly followed. Two hours later, Carlo, Frank, Joe, Carmelo, and
Anthony waited at the tree line as the others finished the run. “Put on your shorts; we’re going for a swim.”
After
swimming for an hour Carlo, Frank, Joe and Carmelo stood on the small sandy
beach as the others finished. “I swear
you’re… trying to kill us,” Todd grunted as he flopped on his stomach and
groaned before rolling onto his back.
“Call the girls… I think the ten of them… are strong enough… to carry me…
into the house.” He looked at Matt and
Phil who were crawling out of the water and began to laugh. “After they carry me … they can come back…
for their uncles.”
“I’m
starving… but I don’t think… I can lift the fork… to my mouth… my arms… feel
like Jell-o… and I’ve lost… all feeling in my legs… I don’t think… I can walk,”
Matt gasped as he lay down next to Todd.
“This
was supposed… to be a vacation… what the fuck… supposed to relax… and have a
good time… drinking and eating… not putting me… in a coma,” Phil gasped out as he
lay on Todd’s other side.
Carlo
looked at them and smiled, “You’re endurance is increasing. We ran twenty-five miles and did a two mile
swim. We’ll cut you a break and not do
any weight training.” With a laugh he
moved to where the others were doing warm down exercises, talking quietly while
they stretched.
After
their breathing slowed, the Millers slowly sat up and stared out over the
lake. “I’ll make inquiries about the property when Frank, Maeve and I come back. Dad and I were thinking that maybe we’d have
something like the bonus room here… but make it two rooms, a bedroom and living
room for the two of you. This way you’d
have some privacy.” Todd looked at Matt
and Phil before turning to the lake to hide his smile, “You all do get kind of loud sometimes.”
Matt
and Phil had identical expressions on their faces; their mouths fell open, eyes
wide with surprise and embarrassment.
Todd threw his head back and began to laugh. “Have
you really heard us?” Matt asked.
“Fiona asked what you were doing and Dad
said you were expressing your love for each other,” Todd answered with a grin as he put his arms around
them. “They’ve heard Holly and I too.
I’m not worried because the more they see couples express their love in
a positive way I’m hoping the bad things will start to fade. Madame Gina is still looking for a therapist,
but I can see the changes in them. I
think most of it’s because they’re surrounded by love.” Seeing the others had finished, he stood and
held out a hand to help his brothers.
Hearing the doors on the deck open he turned and saw his daughters come
out and wave before running down the stairs towards them. “I know
I don’t have to ask… but if something happens to me during the battle…” he
stopped as he began to get choked up and pushed those feelings aside so his
daughters wouldn’t notice, especially Maeve.
Phil
exhaled slowly, “We’ll take care of them
as if they were our own.”
“That’s all I needed to know,” Todd replied as the girls reached them, grabbing
their hands as they dragged them toward the house talking about what they had
done last night and how much fun they had over the weekend.
Papa
Mike was walking onto the deck with a cup of coffee when he saw his sons and smiled,
“Morning boys, have a good run?”
“How
did you get out of training?” Todd asked with a scowl.
“I
asked if I could go fishing instead,” he replied as he pointed to a chair,
tackle box and fishing rods they hadn’t even noticed on the dock. “Had a couple of nibbles so far, but no
bites. After you get cleaned up, you
should join me.” He grinned and walked
down the steps heading to the dock.
“Get
away… you’re all sweaty and wet. You smell
like a rabid wet dog,” Erin squealed as Lorenzo
tried to hug her.
“But…
I’m your rabid wet dog,” he said in a
whiny tone as he pouted.
“Yes,
you are mine… but you still stink,” she said with a grin as she ran down the
stairs and across the yard towards her grandfather.
“Run
all you want Fragola, I’ll catch you every time,” he replied as he ran halfway
down the stairs before jumping over the railing and began chasing her.
“Don’t even think about it”
“Get away” “You’d better not” “I’ve got clean clothes on” “Stay right where you
are” “Don’t come a step closer” Seeing
the determined grins on the boys faces, Sophia hollered, “Run girls run.” They ran down the steps as the boys laughed
as they gave them a head start before following. “Line up,” Gabby hollered and they faced off
against each other twenty feet apart, the girls behind Sophia while the boys
lined up behind Ant.
Carlo looked out the window,
“We’re going to have some entertainment while we have our coffee. The youngsters are lining up in formation.” The adults quickly got their drinks and
leaned against the deck railing to watch.
“REMEMBER THE RULES,” Carlo hollered and the boys scowled but nodded.
“Wait… what rules?” Erin asked with a confused look.
“We aren’t allowed to hurt
you in any way. The only way we’re
allowed to fight is if you’re wearing pads, a helmet and are on a cushioned
mat, like at the training center. Out
here the only thing we’re allowed to do is defensive moves to block. The only rule you all have is no groin shots,”
Ant said as the boys nodded.
“That still leaves a lot of
area, since you all are so fricking big,” Gabby said as she eyed Angelo.
“Sophia, choose your opponent,”
Ant said as he smiled at her.
“Vincent… he’s been picking
on me and Maria all weekend,” Sophia said with a frown.
“He’s been picking on us our
whole life,” Maria added with a frown.
“Oooh, this is gonna be good. Let’s move closer,” Carlo said as the adults moved down the steps to
watch.
Vincent stepped forward,
“Fine munchkin, if that’s the way you want to play this. Now come at me, and come hard.”
“Are you sure? I don’t wanna hurt you… or more importantly
hurt your pride,” she replied with a smirk.
“Kick his ass Sophia,” Maria
hollered from the side as the girls cheered.
Vin raised his eyebrow and
Sophia smiled as they circled each other.
Vin feinted right but Sophia didn’t fall for it and anticipated his next
move. As he was moving left, she kicked
him in the hip with her right foot knocking him off balance. Vin staggered back a step, “Good move, now
what are you going to do?”
“I’m gonna do what Maria
said… I’m gonna kick your ass,” she replied as her eyes narrowed and she ran
towards him.
Thinking she was coming high,
he crouched down and was surprised when she brought her knee up smashing it
into his chin, a second later her elbow connected with his nose snapping his
head sideways and an arc of blood flew to the left. Moving quickly out of his reach she was
smiling and flexing her arms when he turned to look at her. “WWE, you missed it last week.”
“I wish I could fight back. Dad, Uncle Joe and Alpha Carlo would have my
ass if I hurt you or made you bleed,” he griped as he snapped his nose back
into place.
An evil smile crossed her
face, “I know.” She turned to Ant, “I’m
done with him, I think I’ve dented his pride enough.”
“Gabs, you’re up,” Ant said
with a smile. She stepped forward and
motioned for Angelo who swore under his breath as the boys laughed quietly.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten
what happened on the way to school… or that you dumped me in the pool last year
with my favorite dress on.”
“Come on Gabs, you still
can’t be holding a grudge,” Angelo grumbled as his sister continued to glare at
him as they circled each other.
She narrowed her eyes and feinted
left, when he followed she moved forward ramming her shoulder into his abdomen
knocking the air out of him. As he stepped
back she spun around and jumped on his back putting him in a choke hold
bringing him to his knees and then onto his stomach. “Hell in a cell.” She moved back to the girls and said quietly,
“See, even if they’re bigger there’s always a way to knock them to their
knees.” The girls nodded as they looked
at the boys.
“Brianna and Morgan, you have
a choice, you can go separately or together,” Ant said as he turned to look at
them.
“Together,” they answered in
unison motioning Vin and Dom forward.
They glanced at each other before weakly punching their intendeds in the
arm.
“Hit me harder, I can barely
feel it,” Dom said with a grin.
Morgan took two steps back
and when Dom let his guard down, she spun around like she had seen the girls do
at training and kicked hard him in the stomach.
Hearing him grunt, she smiled sweetly as she asked, “You mean like
that?”
Vin saw his twin’s disgruntled
look and laughed. Seeing he was
distracted Brianna twisted his arm flipping him on his back. He looked up to see her smiling, “Mr. Joe
said when you’re fighting you shouldn’t be distracted by what’s going on around
you.” She turned to her sister and they
gave each other fist bumps before turning on their heels walking back to the
others as the boys laughed.
“Erin and Caitlin,” Ant said
with a smile.
“We’ll go together,” the
girls stepped forward and without asking, Lorenzo and Damian stepped forward.
“That was for making me cry,”
she said as she moved back a step.
“When did I make you cry?” he
asked with a frown.
Her eyes got wide, “At Mr.
Franks, at school, on my date…” at the mention of her date he began to growl. Seeing how upset he was getting she
continued, “And I was having such a good time with Bob. He’s such a nice boy and we…” His eyes closed and he was fighting to
control his breathing and Erin grinned as she
kicked him in the stomach and followed with a left to the jaw.
“And that was for being an
ass,” she said with a smile.
Damian looked at Caitlin and
gave her his best crooked half smile.
She narrowed her eyes and brought her leg back as if going to kick him,
when he moved to counter it, she hit him in the eye with her right fist and
followed with a left fist to the jaw.
“Mr. Frank says to never underestimate your opponent.” The two girls gave each other fist bumps
before moving back.
Ant turned to Kelly and
Aislin but before he could say anything they stepped forward and said,
“Together.” They looked at Gianni and
Marcus who stepped forward warily.
Giving the boys innocent looks they saw them relax and the girls launched
their attack. Aislin threw a punch at
Gianni which he blocked and she turned to see Kelly throw a punch at Marcus
which he also blocked. Seeing Gianni was
also looking, she quickly threw another punch clipping him in the jaw. Seeing his brother get hit Marcus began to
laugh and Kelly hit him in the stomach knocking the air out of his lungs. “Mr. Carmelo says never take your eyes off
your opponent.” The girls gave each
other fist bumps and moved away.
Fallon and Shannon stepped
forward and motioned for Michael and Paulo.
They stared at each other and Paulo quietly said, “It’s okay to practice
on us. We do this to make sure you know
how to take care of yourself.”
“It’s okay, you won’t hurt
us,” Michael hit himself in the abs.
“See, they’re rock hard.” The
girls hit them as instructed and stepped back.
“Mr. Frank says to pay
attention to our instructors then practice what they’ve showed us until we
become proficient,” Shannon said with a smile
before giving her sister a fist bump and moving back.
Fiona and Maeve moved forward
with a bounce in their step and looked at Enzo and Gino. The size difference was more pronounced in
them and the adults laughed quietly as they looked at them. “With how small you are, it’d be better if
you teamed up. I’ll show you,” Enzo said
quietly. He moved Maeve in front of
Fiona and had her lean back with Fiona’s arms across her chest. “Lean back and kick him in the chest.” They practiced this several times and then
switched positions.
“Mr. Joe says by working
together to a common goal we all win,” Fiona said with a smile as she turned
and gave her sister a fist bump and moved back.
“They really are learning how to take care of
themselves,” Todd said as he looked
at his daughters proudly.
“It’s our turn now,” Vin said
in a nasty tone as the boys lined up behind him. “We’re giving you to the count of three
before we…” The girls looked at each
other and took off running towards the adults screaming and laughing. With a war cry the boys took off after them,
grabbing their protectee and running towards the dock; they jumped in making
sure they turned so they hit the water first and not the girls.
Papa Mike threw his hands up
in disgust, “I think they just scared the fish away.”
***
“We’ll have to go somewhere
for lunch, the boys have eaten every scrap of food in the house,” Gina said as
she walked onto the deck. “There were a
couple boxes of stale crackers in the cupboard, they even ate those.”
Carlo shrugged, “How bout
that buffet place in town? We ate there
last time we were here and it was pretty good.”
“Sounds good, we definitely
need a place with a buffet. All I’ve
heard from the boys is how hungry they are, especially Salvatore and Victor,”
Frank said as Joe nodded. “Since they
shifted, they should be going through their first growth spurt soon and with
how they’re eating it looks like they’re fueling up for it.”
Joe’s phone began to buzz and
he pulled it out of his pocket, “No idea who it is.” Joe put it on speaker, “Carlucci here… yes,
we are interested in the property… fifteen minutes? Sure we can meet you there… see you then.”
“Go, I’ll look after the
youngsters,” Carlo said as Frank, Rose, Joe and Annie got up and minutes later
they were pulling out of Carlo’s driveway.
“Paulo did the search on the
property and the owner, right?” Rose asked as she saw Frank nod.
Joe pulled a piece of paper
out of his pocket, “He’s two months behind on the mortgage, they’re living with
his mom and dad, have two kids in elementary school, and they’re a month behind
on their car payments.”
“How much are they
asking? And how much do they owe?” Annie
asked.
“$150k and $145k, basically
they’re gonna break even,” Frank said.
“They listed it for $200k and have been bringing it down a little every
month. They haven’t had anybody out to
see it or had any offers.” They pulled
into the driveway and saw an old Jeep Cherokee in front of the garage.
“Curt Williams,” he said
moving forward to shake hands. Frank
made introductions and they followed Curt as he unlocked the door. “It’s not much. We bought the property ten years ago,
intending to either knock the house down or add on to it. The property is a little under twelve acres
with 500’ of lake frontage.”
While Rose and Annie explored
the house, Joe turned to Curt, “How did you find out we were interested in the
property?”
“I’ve seen you next door over
the years with Mr. Rossi, and I heard you were here so I took a chance. I called your offices and left a message and
some guy named Joel called and gave me your number,” Curt began to fidget and
glanced at the brothers before lowering his eyes. “I hope I wasn’t out of line.”
Frank smiled, “Not at
all. We were going to contact you, but
we were busy all weekend.”
“I saw your kids in
town. Those boys of yours are huge,”
Curt answered with a smile. “I’m glad I
don’t have your grocery bills.”
Frank laughed, “Two of them
are going to MD next fall, I’m afraid after they see them eat I’m going to have
to pay for four meal plans.”
“I heard what happened with
Wells and Cantor. He had the listing but
did nothing to sell the place, I think he wanted to wait until I was desperate
and then buy it himself,” Curt said. “I
cancelled the contract this morning. He
said if I sell the house within sixty days I still have to pay his commission due
to the cancellation clause. Thing is, I
can’t afford to wait, I’m already behind the mortgage and if I wait, the bank’s
gonna foreclose. We’re hoping to sell so
we don’t have to deal with that.”
Rose asked, “Could you send
the contract to our lawyers? I wouldn’t
trust that man and I wouldn’t want to see him make another dime if we can help
it.” He nodded and Rose gave him a
business card with the fax number on it.
“How much are you asking?”
Frank asked as Rose and Annie went upstairs.
“We were hoping $150k,
that’ll pay off the mortgage and we can walk away,” he replied as he looked at
Frank.
Frank asked, “What do you think?”
“I think we should take it, its way below market,” Annie replied.
\
“Do you mind me asking why
you listed it?” Joe asked.
“I worked at the center, got
laid off six months ago and my wife did daycare. Things were tight until the center closed and
then my wife’s business dried up; no job no reason to need daycare,” he said. “As soon as I got laid off, we put the house
on the market hoping to capitalize on the summer traffic but Cantor delayed listing
it and it went downhill. We moved in
with my parents and were able to keep the mortgage up with my unemployment
checks, but they stopped last month.”
“What did you do at the
center?” Frank asked.
“Line worker, but I went to
school and am a certified HVAC tech. I
was living and working in Hagerstown
Joe’s phone rang and he
looked at the screen, “Excuse me, it’s my son.”
He moved to the side of the room, “What do you need Damian?... yes,
we’re almost done… yes, I know how hungry you are… no, you’re not going to die
if you don’t eat in the next twenty minutes… no, you can’t order a pizza, by
the time it gets delivered we’ll be back… see you soon.” As he was walking across the room he asked, “Why the fuck did you call? Why didn’t you use the bond?”
“Because it’d be normal for a kid to call their
parent, especially since there’s fourteen of…,” he began as Joe cut the bond off. He looked around the kitchen and grinned, “He
mentally hung up on me.”
“The views are gorgeous from here,” Rose said as they looked out the window in the master
bedroom. “Give him a deposit to hold the property.”
Frank looked at Joe before
turning to Curt. “We’d like to give you
a $15,000 deposit, 10% of the cost, to hold the property for sixty days. Depending on what the lawyers say is when the
final sale will go through. We weren’t
planning on doing this so we don’t have a contract, but we’ll write a receipt
and have all of us sign it. Is that
okay?” he asked as Joe went to the SUV to get a notebook.
“That’s fine with me, if it’s
okay with you. I’ll get the mortgage
current so there isn’t any problem with the bank,” Curtis said with a smile as
they heard Rose and Annie walking down the stairs. Frank quickly explained what was going on
even though it had been Rose’s idea and they had been able to hear what was
going on. Ten minutes later they were
shaking hands in the driveway, each party had a signed copy of the receipt and
Curt had given Frank the spare key.
As Frank pulled into the
driveway the front door burst open and the youngsters ran out, except for
Damian who dragged himself down the steps before collapsing. Joe turned to Annie, “He takes after your
side of the family.”
***
“I don’t think I’ll ever get
used to how much those boys eat,” Todd said as he watched the boys go up for
their sixth plate of food.
“You’d better get used to
it,” Frank said with a smile and Carlo opened the bond. “I’m
figuring Vin and Dom’ll move into your house when they mate with the girls, at
least until they leave for college, then they’ll be home on weekends. It’ll give you extra protection for the other
girls.”
“Where the hell am I going to put them?” Todd asked as he shook his head.
“The attic; we can make a small apartment, two
bedrooms with a bath in each and a living room,” Frank answered.
Seeing the look of horror cross Todd’s face as he realized what those
bedrooms meant and the glare he directed at Vin and Dom, Frank began laugh, “Don’t worry, we’ll soundproof the rooms.”
“This meatloaf is good, but
not as good as Carol’s,” Phil said as he ate his fifth piece. “I wonder if she would teach me how to make
it.”
Gina set her fork down and
stared at him, “That would involve using the oven and you’d probably burn down
the house.” She turned to Nana Ellen,
“Did they tell you they had another fire?
And they were only using the toaster.”
“I think we bought the wrong
voltage or something,” Matt said as Phil nodded. “All I did was put some Pop-Tarts in and the
next thing I know the damn thing was smoking and flames were coming out of it.”
Joe started to laugh, “What
setting did you put it on?”
“I programmed the setting on
the last one and tore the dial off so they couldn’t adjust it,” Carlo said with
a smile. “How’s the microwave holding
up?”
“Well… when we had the issue
with the toaster, we put our Pop-Tarts in there and I’m not sure what happened,
but sparks were shooting around inside and it stopped working. But at least this one didn’t blow up. That was scary when the door blew off the old
one,” Phil said with a smile.
“I’ll be over tomorrow to
disconnect the stove so you can’t use it,” Papa Mike said in a ‘Dad’ tone and the
men watched as Phil and Matt nodded meekly.
“Daddy set the law down on your ass,” Carmelo said.
“You’re lucky he didn’t put your ass in a time-out,” Frank added.
“Or take away your toys,” Carlo added.
“Or make you do extra chores,” Todd added.
“Or ground you,” Joe said and the men started laughing so loud they drew the attention
of everyone in the restaurant and when Matt and Phil glared at them they
laughed even louder.
“And they tell us not to draw
attention to ourselves,” Damian said as he looked at the men who continued to
laugh. “I never draw attention to
myself; I’m very discreet in what I do and what I say.”
“You live in a special little
world all your own, don’t you Damian?” Caitlin asked as she began to
smile. “There’s nothing you do that is
discreet, and you always draw people’s attention by the way you act and what
you say.” Seeing his mouth open as he
went to reply, she said, “And if you tell me it’s because you’re devastatingly
handsome I’m going to dump this plate of mac ‘n cheese on you.”
“Did
you get enough to eat?” Lorenzo asked as he leaned down and scented Erin . “Do you want
me to get you anything?”
“I’m
fine, though I may get some ice cream later,” she turned her head and rubbed it
against his chest smiling when she heard his low deep growl.
Seeing
their intendeds had finished their drinks, Ant and Alberto got them more tea,
Alberto reminding Ant to put lemon in it.
“Here you go Arachide, and I remembered the lemon,” he said with a smile
as Alberto rolled his eyes.
“Thank
you, Maria and I were going to get scalloped potatoes and fried chicken,” she
said and Ant and Alberto raced to the buffet to get it for them.
Maria
looked at her in confusion, “Why’d you
say that? We could’ve gotten it.”
“Because it makes them feel good to do
things for us, remember what our moms and Madame Gina told us,” she replied and nodded to the boys who were carrying
plates back with huge smiles on their faces.
“I think we’re done Dad,” Vin said almost thirty minutes later.
“Are you sure? I think they may have some food left in the
freezer,” Frank replied as the adults
grinned.
“Funny Dad. We’ve been expending a lot of energy this
weekend,” Vin replied as he smiled at
his intended. The men paid for their
families and they followed their usual routine before getting into the vehicles
and returning to the cabin.
As
they walked into the house Carlo said, “It’s almost 1; we’ll leave around 5 so
we get home around 7:30. Don’t forget,
you youngsters have school tomorrow.”
“Well,
I’m going to go fishing, can’t think of a better way to finish our weekend,”
Papa Mike said with a smile.
“We’ll
join you Dad,” Matt said as they went to the garage to get the gear.
“Don’t forget that camera Ant,” Vin reminded him and at the first opportunity he ran
to the clearing and gave it to Paulo so he could download the video before he
replaced it in his mom’s study.
For
the next several hours, everyone relaxed except for Sal. They’d been at the lake all weekend and he
still hadn’t gotten the courage to ask Gabby out. Every time he tried, his throat would seize,
his hands would shake and he would start to get sweaty and hyperventilate. Realizing he was running out of time, he took
a deep breath and looked at where she was sitting with the girls. He couldn’t hear what they were talking about
but every time she laughed it brought a smile to his face.
“Heads
up,” Vin said as he threw him the football.
Sal turned in time to catch it and threw it to Dom. “What’s
the matter with you?”
“I’m on edge and nervous cause I still
haven’t asked Gabby to go on a date,”
he replied as he snuck another look at her and saw her smiling at him.
“For fuck’s sake, just ask her,” Marcus scowled as he threw the ball to Ant.
“Why did you wait so long?” Lorenzo asked as he glanced at Erin
making sure she was okay.
“I was afraid if she said no that it’d
ruin the weekend,” Sal said as he ran
his hands over his face.
“She’s not gonna say no. I think she’s been waiting for you to ask her
out and is as anxious as you,”
Alberto replied as he threw the ball to Gianni.
Sal turned to look at her as Gianni threw the ball hitting him in the
head. He staggered back and heard the
boys laughing and the girls quietly giggling.
“YOU
DID THAT ON PURPOSE,” Sal shouted as he looked at Gianni who was laughing so
hard he bent over and put his hands on his knees. With a loud growl he ran towards his brother
and barreled into him knocking him on his back.
“I
don’t think they’re goofing off, I think they’re serious,” Kelly said as she
watched them trade blows as they rolled back and forth.
Maria shrugged and Sophia
said, “I’ve seen worse, much worse. Sal
is embarrassed it happened in front of Gabby and Gianni isn’t going to back
down. When Vin sees them going too far,
he’ll stop it.”
Vin let them continue for
several more minutes before he and Dom stepped forward and pulled them
apart. Both boys had a black eye and
split lips, Gianni also had a bloody nose while Sal’s t-shirt was torn. “Say you’re sorry,” Vin said as both boys
glared at each other. “But he…” “I
didn’t…” Vin began to growl and said in a firm tone, “I said to say you’re
sorry, I didn’t ask whose fault it was.”
“I’m sorry,” both boys
mumbled.
“Go clean up,” Vin ordered pushing
them towards the house. Ten minutes
later they returned laughing and their injuries were healing. They continued tossing the football back and forth
while Sal stole glances at Gabby.
“Its 4:00, come inside and
make sure you have everything,” Gina said as she stepped onto the deck. The girls picked up their blankets, while the
boys made sure every thing was secure in the yard.
“Hang back while the rest of us go inside,” Vin said as he walked across the yard. Seeing how anxious Sal was he smiled, “Relax and take a deep breath.”
As Gabby walked by him, he took
the blanket she was holding and carried it up the stairs to the deck. “Hey Sophia, could you carry this in the
house, I want to uhmm… yeah… I want to talk… Gabby and I… and yeah…,” he closed
his eyes and felt his sister take the blanket out of his hands while she tried
not to laugh.
Gabby leaned against the
railing looking over the lake while she shifted nervously from foot to foot. Sal moved next to her resting his forearms on
the railing and he began to panic; sweat beaded on his forehead and he began to
feel dizzy. He took several deep breaths
and turned to Gabby and when their eyes met she shyly lowered her gaze. Several minutes went by as they continued to
glance at each other before turning away when they saw the other looking. Sal was tapping his hand on the railing
nervously while Gabby continued to shift foot to foot.
“For fucks sake, say something,” Lorenzo said as he tried not to laugh.
“Hi, how are you doing?” Sal asked
nervously as his voice cracked.
“I’m fine,” she answered with
a look of confusion.
“You’re not meeting her for the first time you
idiot. Remember the things we talked
about, tell her she looks nice, compliment her,” Marcus said as he jostled with Kelly, Aislin and
Gianni for position to look out the second floor window.
“Your hair looks nice all
messed up and frizzy like that,” he said as he glanced at her before lowering
his head as he realized what he said.
She looked horrified as her hands went to smooth her hair.
Muffled laughter was heard as
Paulo said, “THAT was a compliment? Why didn’t you tell her that she stunk or
looked like crap?”
“I… I meant you look nice
when you’re not all neat and stuff. Like
your outfit is kinda old and faded and you still look kinda nice,” he finished
and narrowed his eyes as he thought of what he said.
Gabby smoothed down the front
of her outfit before looking at him with a frown, “I got this outfit for my
birthday in May; it’s supposed to look this way.”
“Sal… what the fuck?” Dom asked with a laugh as Morgan pushed him out of
the way. “Take a deep breath and calm the fuck down.”
Sal took quick deep breaths
which made him dizzy and he began to sway back and forth. He gripped the railing and put his head down
muttering, “Fuck my life, I can’t believe I’m messing this up so bad.”
“Was there something you
wanted to talk about or ask me?” she asked quietly as she turned towards him.
He sighed deeply and closed
his eyes, everything they had told him running through his head and he shouted,
“I WANNA TAKE YOU ON A DATE.”
Gabby took a step back shocked
he was shouting at her until his words registered, “You’re asking me out?”
“I knew this was a bad idea
and you’d say no,” he muttered as he shoved his hands in the pocket of his
shorts and turned to go inside.
“I’d… I’d love to go on a
date with you,” she said and hearing cheers from inside the house she turned
and saw the curtains on all the windows moving.
“Really? You’re not just saying that because you feel
sorry for me?” he asked without looking at her.
“No, I’ve been waiting for
you to ask me out,” she said with a smile as she pulled on his forearm to get
his hand out of his pocket and interlocked them. “I’ve never gone on a date before and I
wanted my first date to be with you.”
She put her head down and began to scuff her KEDS back and forth across
the deck.
“I want my first date to be
with you too,” he said as he looked at her before lowering his head, but she
saw his smile. “Next weekend the
Maryland Symphony is playing at the Maryland Theater and I thought we’d go to
Roberto’s for dinner first. I remember
you saying you wanted to go to one of their performances when all of us went to
Antietam Battlefield for the July 4th Celebration.”
Hearing what Sal said, Gina
pulled her phone out of her pocketbook and went into the next room. It rang four times and she heard Anna’s voice
on the other end, “Yes, Madame Gina what can I help you with?”
“I need you to make a note to
contact the Maryland Theater first thing tomorrow to tell them we’ll be using
our box seats for the Symphony performance… no, Alpha Carlo didn’t change his
mind… I’m sure Gabby will call you later, but Sal finally asked her out…” she
held the phone away from her ear as Anna began to squeal. “He wants to take her to the Symphony and I
know the performance is sold-out, so they’ll use our box… I’ll see you in the
morning.” She disconnected the call and
walked into the kitchen as she whispered, “What did I miss?”
“Nothing, they’re smiling at
each other,” Rita whispered as her and Carmelo peeked through the kitchen
curtains, Nana Ellen and Papa Mike peeking on one side, Holly and Todd on the
other. Carlo was looking at them through
the window above the sink, but standing off to the side.
“Thanks for getting them
tickets,” Rose whispered from the other side of the room as her and Frank peered
through the curtains with Annie and Joe on one side and Matt and Phil on the
other. “They’re coming.” The women went behind the breakfast bar, the men
ran to sit at the table staring at it like it was the most interesting thing in
the world, and the youngsters ran down the steps into the living room and
turned the TV on as if they had been there the whole time.
Sal and Gabby walked into the
kitchen holding hands and she excitedly said, “Sal asked me out to dinner and
the Symphony.” The girls ran in and
began jumping up and down asking her questions about how he asked, acting like
they hadn’t listened to the whole conversation.
“Oh, it was so romantic. He told
me how pretty my hair looked and complimented me on my outfit and then he asked
me out.” She turned to Rita, “Oh Momma,
we’re gonna have to go shopping. I don’t
think I have a dress nice enough for the Symphony.”
Frank looked at his son and
smiled, “I’ll take you to get fitted for a tux tomorrow after football
practice.” Seeing the look of confusion
on Sal’s face he continued, “Opening night is a black tie event.”
Victor began to laugh and
looked at Angelo, “That means you have to wear a tux too. Do they make them in your size?”
Angelo glared at him, “Just
for that, you can help me chaperone Squirt.”
“What???? Why me?” Victor said with a whine.
“Because it’s a Saturday
night and everybody else will have something to do. Face it, you’re fifteen and have no social
life, so don’t tell me that you’re doing something,” Angelo retorted before he
began to smirk.
“Fine, I’ll go… but you’re
buying me dinner,” Victor said as he grinned.
Before they could argue more,
Carlo’s phone rang and he looked at the screen, “Its Marco… Rossi here… when
did she call and how’d she find out?… please call her and tell her Gina and I will
give her an interview about our plans… see you tomorrow.” He disconnected the call and looked at Gina,
“That was Marco obviously; he received a call from Jessica Anders. Apparently friends of hers live here and they
heard about our purchase of the distribution center and told her. She’d like to speak to me about it, but I
think it’d be best for both of us to do the interview.”
Maeve began to jump up and
down, “Can I go with you? I’ve never met
anybody on TV before.”
“Cupcake, we’ve got plans for
tomorrow; Papa Mike, Uncle Phil and Uncle Matt have to work, I have to meet my
boss in Frederick
“I can get Austin
“Austin Sabatini?” Enzo asked
as he narrowed his eyes. “Isn’t he kind
of young to be protecting her?”
“He’s a hell of a fighter…
and may I remind you that he’s eight years older
than you?” Frank said as he began to laugh.
Enzo snorted and rolled his
eyes before he looked at Maeve, “You stay by Alpha Carlo’s and Madame Gina’s
side AT ALL TIMES… and call me if you sense any danger. I mean it.
Do not go wandering off.” Maeve
nodded knowing it was the only way he was going to shut up and leave her
alone.
Carlo looked at his watch,
“We’d better get packed up. I want to be
on the road in ten minutes.” As the
Millers packed the vehicles, Frank, Joe, Carmelo and Carlo checked the house
room by room making sure everything was secure.
***
The drive back was
quiet. The only excitement had been in
Gina’s SUV when Carlo gave the girls their sunglasses which they insisted on
wearing even though it was overcast. In
all of the vehicles the girls, who had been up most of the night, were taking
naps, the boys and the adults talked quietly about what was going on in the
upcoming weeks.
***
“I’m fucking glad to be
home,” muttered Frank as he pulled in front of the garage after they stopped at
the Millers. “What’s that expression… we
need a vacation after our vacation?” He
turned to his mate and his voice got low and husky as he caressed her thigh, “I
think you and I need to go away for a weekend somewhere, without our
youngsters. Just the two of us so I can
ravish…”
“You do remember we’re here,
right?” Sophia asked as she interrupted her father before she began to
giggle.
Frank turned around and
flushed slightly, “Sorry sweetie, I was thinking about something else.”
“Obviously,” Anthony said as
he began to smirk as Frank glared at him.
“Come on, while the boys
unload the vehicles, you and Joe fire up the grill and we’ll start dinner,”
Rose said with a laugh.
Frank unlocked the front door
and shut the alarm off before turning to Joe with a questioning look on his
face, “Do you scent…”
“Daddy” “Mamaw” “Grammy” “Pops”
“Mommy” “Papaw” rang out as their families ran past them into the kitchen where
Steven and Mara Carlucci and Ray and Bianca Vitti were drinking coffee. They were smiling broadly as they hugged and
kissed the youngsters, the noise from them talking was overwhelming as Frank
and Joe stood near the doorway with their arms folded over their chest.
“Carlo, you’d better hurry the fuck up. You won’t believe who is sitting in my
kitchen,” Frank said as he tried to
control his anger and failed miserably.
“I’m pulling into your driveway now,” he replied.
“How are my two beautiful
girls?” Ray asked as he pulled Rose and Annie into a bear hug, one in each arm
before planting kisses on their forehead as they squealed in delight like three
year olds, “We missed you Daddy.”
Steve looked at his sons and
raised his eyebrow, “Aren’t the two of you going to say hello?” Suitably chastised Frank and Joe greeted
their parents and in-laws before sending the youngsters upstairs with the
luggage while Anthony and Alberto went to the family room to get out of the
tension filled room.
Ray sat down and folded his
arms over his chest while he pierced his sons in law with a penetrating gaze,
“What the fuck have you two hot heads gotten my baby girls involved in
now? It’s got to be bad for the little
ones to call us.”
***********************
Esoterica of Leesburg is a real place. It is owned by a wonderful friend of mine and they sell crystals, loose stones, herbs, tarot cards, aromatherapy candles and much much more. They closed their brick and mortar store several years ago due to the economy, and they are in the process of getting their website up and running but they do go to trade shows. Please check out their facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/esotericanova
The Snarly Yow is an urban legend centered around South Mountain. I grew up listening to the stories and though I've never seen him, I do know of people who say they have. Whenever we drive over the muntain, we also keep our eyes open hoping to one day see him.
http://www.nightwatchparanormal.com/snarly-yow.html
http://www.jesterbear.com/Hoodoo/SnarlyYow.html
