South Mountain Pack Ch. 13

Annie walked into the kitchen and said, "Sophia, could you zip up the last part for me? I couldn't get it."

The youngsters who were watching TV and playing games turned around and Lorenzo said loudly, "That's...that's not the dress you described to me. That... that...is too low, too high and too tight Mom...it's too much and too little at the same time...Dad is gonna freak, heck I'm freaking and you're not my mate...you're a mom and moms shouldn't dress that way..."

"Well, I think you look beautiful," said Sophia as she raised the zipper and hooked the eye clasp. She looked her aunt over from head to toe admiring the teal blue satin low-cut bodice with spaghetti straps, the tight rhinestone encrusted waist and the chiffon hanky skirt which had an uneven hemline ranging from four inches above her knee to three inches below which drew the eye to her tan legs and teal stiletto's. Her hair was pulled back in a loose chignon and her only jewelry beside her wedding band was large diamond drop earrings.

"You look gorgeous Momma," said Maria as she smiled. "Maybe Sophia and I can borrow those dresses for Homecoming."

"Oh, that I have to see. I'd pay to see Ant's and Alberto's reaction to the two of you in those dresses," said Damian as he started laughing. "Mom, you've got to do me a big huge ginormous favor, please please please open the bond so we can hear Dad's reaction when he sees you."

Before Annie could respond Lorenzo said, "The Costello's and Poffenberger's are here." The Carlucci boys hurried outside, after what their fathers had said to them they were even more anxious than before.

"Get them inside quickly. We'll tell you what's going on inside," said Vin to the Costello's and Poffenberger's who nodded and within minutes they were safely inside the house and Sal quickly locked and alarmed the door.

"Wenzo, yous didn't even say hewwos to me," complained Brooke as he carried her and her twin Eddie down the hallway.

Eddie rolled his eyes and said, "Stop acting like a babies Bwooke."

"Both of you are acting like babies and if you don't stop, I'm going to put you in a time-out," said Reggie Costello in a voice much older then his ten years.

"Now HE is definitely acting like Vin," said Damian as Vin glared at him. "He's like a miniature version of Vin, ol' bossy boots himself."

"I feel like a recording but shut the fuck up. If you don't, I'll put you in a time-out, right after I whip your ass," said Vin as he put Cal and Brady on the sofa.

Damian snorted making Toni and her twin, Don laugh as he carried them into the family room, "I'm only shutting up because I have nothing else to say to you, Mr. Grouchy Pants." Vin watched as Dom put Jackie and her twin Wade next to Morgan and looked at Brianna who was talking quietly to Hope and Hyatt. What surprised him was Lorenzo carrying Brooke and Eddie to Erin and asking her to watch them for a couple of minutes and then he saw Damian carry Toni and Don to Caitlin and ask the same thing. The boys went into the kitchen and quietly told the Costello's and Poffenberger's what was going on at the reception and that as soon as the Moretti's and Papa Mike and Nana Ellen got there, they would lock the house down.

Annie glanced at the clock and said, "We've got to get going. I think we should take two vehicles instead of one like we originally planned. Let us know immediately if something isn't right." The boys nodded and the adults went into the family room and said goodbye to the young ones and Vin walked them to the door making sure the door was locked and the alarm set. Before going into the kitchen to help his brothers fix dinner he went into his Dad's office and opened the hidden panel in the wall, turning on the monitors he scanned the yard for anything unusual.

"See anything?" asked Paulo as he worked on his uncles computer while his laptop was also on the desk. "I'm going to be in here working on stuff for the Pack, but let me know if you need me."

"Don't worry about it, what you're doing is important for the safety and security of the Pack," said Vin as he looked at the monitor on his fathers desk, but things were moving so fast he couldn't make sense of it. "Let me know if you need anything, we should have dinner ready soon." Paulo nodded and Vin quietly left the room. When he walked into the kitchen he saw the boys making a salad, stirring the venison chili in the crockpot, putting the casseroles Veronica and Christy had brought into the oven and getting plastic plates and utensils out of the pantry. He was surprised with how quiet it was considering there were forty-nine of them in the house and turned to the family room and saw everyone sitting quietly while Sophia read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He felt a surge of pride run through him as he watched her, she knew something was going on but her main focus was in keeping the young ones happy and focused on her calm attitude.

"She's going to make a great Madame Alpha, isn't she?" asked Dom quietly as he stood beside his twin. "She's a nurturer; it comes natural to her to make others feel good. She also feels a need to protect them and with those tremendous fighting skills she has, she'll be damn good at it." Sophia looked up at her two oldest brothers and smiled and kept reading until the boys announced dinner was ready and they made sure the young ones and girls were fed before they started to eat.

"We're going to leave Alpha Carlo," said Papa Mike with a concerned look on his face. "Annie and the others should be getting here soon and we want to get back to the youngsters." Carlo had been expecting this, knowing the Millers would be anxious with everything going on.

"That's fine, let us know if you need anything," said Carlo as Papa Mike and Nana Ellen said their goodbyes to everyone. Five minutes after they left, Annie, the Costello's and the Poffenberger's entered the conference room. The Costello's and Poffenberger's felt out of place because this was an official Council Reception and they were the only Delta's there and the Whitmer's and Rose coming over to talk to them put them at ease.

Joe saw his mate as she entered the room, and his jaw dropped as he saw what she was wearing, "WHAT THE ... WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU HAVE ON ANNIE? IS THAT THE DRESS LUC BROUGHT FOR YOU? I'M GOING TO FUCKIN KILL HIM." Frank started to laugh when Joe forgot he had the bond open and projected to Frank, Carlo, Anthony, Carmelo and the boys. The boys looked at each other and started to laugh while they finished eating dinner.

Annie stared into his eyes as she walked up to him before twirling around, causing the skirt to float in the air a little and she said, "You don't like it?"

Joe looked her up and down several times and swallowed loudly before saying, "I didn't say I didn't like it, I love it...but I don't like the thought of other men looking at you. You are mine." He pulled her into his arms scenting her neck deeply as he growled and whispered, "How long do we have to stay here? As much as I like you in this dress, I can't wait to get you out of it."

"Cool down big boy, we'll have a bunch of youngsters to deal with when we get to the house, but maybe if you're a good boy, after everyone is gone I'll take a stroll with you," said Annie with a giggle. Feeling him tighten his hold on her, she whispered in a breathy voice, "I'll even let you howl as loud as you like...as many times as you like." Hearing his sharp intake of breath, she smiled and walked away from him, making sure to sway her hips a bit more than normal.

The next ten minutes were like any cocktail party or social gathering; gossip was exchanged, laughter was heard, men bragged about their youngsters, women talked about their mates and youngsters but Frank, Joe and Carmelo kept a close eye on Amy. They noticed she was drinking more than anyone else, and she wasn't drinking cocktails or wine like the other mates, she was slugging back shots of whiskey, one after the other.

"Dad, Papa Mike and Nana Ellen are here. We finished dinner and we're going in the basement to watch movies," said Vin as he looked around and saw the boys were almost finished cleaning up.

"Okay, let us know what's going on," said Frank as he watched Amy and her mate leave the conference room. Frank motioned for Joe and Carmelo to follow them and they casually wandered out into the hallway.

"Have you found anybody to take the Alpha position at Davis Pack?" asked Frank as he continued to scan the room.

"Yes, Nic Spanos, Holly's brother in law," replied Gabe. "With the amount of men that were arrested, there's only twenty left in the Pack and he was the highest level. I'm going to leave some security personnel there after we're finished to train the Pack, then we'll continually check on them. We still haven't found someone for the Carlsbad or Grant Packs, but I have confidence we'll find someone soon."

"We could hear parts of their conversation when they were in the hall; he was asking her why she was asking those questions and what was wrong with her. She burst into tears then ran into the restroom," Joe said. "He didn't follow her in; he's leaning against the wall with his head thrown back. If that was my mate and she was upset, I would be in there with her, I wouldn't care if it was the ladies room."

"There's nothing that would keep me from my mate if she was upset," Frank said agreeing with him.

Carlo looked at his wristwatch and saw they had ten minutes until they had to move to the other room and he said to Gabe, "I'm glad you decided to have an Official Reception, we haven't had one in a while."

"I'd like to take credit for it, but it wasn't my idea," said Gabe with a shrug. "I was going to send Hank and Michelle because he wants to talk to the local farmers about buying their 'Hearts of Gold' cantaloupes that Boonsboro is famous for. He wants to start producing a melon liquor, similar to Midori. Amy found out and said she wanted to meet Dante and it kind of snowballed from there."

"Wait a minute; this whole thing was her idea?" Carlo asked quietly. "Gabe, didn't you notice anything odd about that or her questions? She was pretty blatant in her questions about the females. We started a background check on her and we found out she has some serious gambling debts, over $2 mil worth. She's hiding something and we're going to find out what it is."

Gabe's head snapped around and he stared at Carlo, "I didn't even realize. My mind is on overload with everything else going on that I don't even notice what is going on right in front of me anymore." He stopped talking and ran his hands through his hair and said, "Carlo, I'm not sure of anything anymore...I'm not even sure I can trust my own judgement right now...But I want you to know I told Helen and my youngsters if anything were to happen to me or if they felt threatened that they are to come to you. You and your Pack are the only ones I can fully trust."

Carlo nodded and said, "We'll take care of them Gabe. When you're on the way to the airport, ask Joe for a phone for Helen too. If they're on the run, they'll need a phone that's not traceable." They were both silent and Carlo filled Frank, Joe and Carmelo on what he found out.

"Aldo didn't sense anything and we didn't think of it, but what if having all of us here is a diversion for them to scope out the territory and the houses?" Frank said in a worried tone. "Briggs and Carter coming with Gabe forced us to have an official reception since they're on the Council Advisory Board. Think of it Carlo, all of the Beta's are here."

"LOCK THE HOUSES DOWN IMMEDIATELY AND WATCH THE MONITORS. KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR ANYTHING SUSPICIOUS," Carlo thundered over the link to all Pack members. None of the members of SMP who were in the room betrayed any emotion on their faces, but the tension ratcheted up and Gabe looked at Carlo questioningly and Carlo subtly shook his head. In homes across the territory families ran to obey their Alpha and the Carlucci's were no exception. As soon as Vin and Dom heard the word 'Lock' they were on their feet running to the emergency button, but Paulo beat them to it by hitting 'star000pound' on his phone, the security guards were sliding into position before they even got close to the button.

"GET THEM TO THE SAFE ROOM," shouted Vin and Victor ran to the secret panel in the wall to punch in the security code to open the door. Paulo shut the computer down and grabbed his laptop as he ran to the basement, remembering to lock and alarm the basement door. Within a minute everyone was in the safe room, the Millers huddled in the corner with Papa Mike and Nana Ellen in front of the girls while Sophia, Maria and the young ones were sitting on the bunks waiting for instructions like they had been taught.

Vin and Dom went to the bank of ten monitors on the wall and powered them up, their eyes scanning the screens as they came to life. Paulo stood behind them and cleared his throat and his cousins moved out of his way as he sat down and within moments the monitor screens split into ten frames each. The boys saw The School House, the training center, each of the Pack owned businesses, and the homes of the Pack members flash on the screens. Paulo's hands flew over the keyboard as the images constantly changed as they scanned them. Sophia motioned to the Millers to sit on the bunks while everyone watched the monitors.

"Papa Mike and Nana Ellen, why don't you come over and watch what we're doing," said Vin without taking his eyes off the monitors. "This way you know what to do next time if you're at your house." The two older Millers walked over and stood to the side and watched the boys.

The silence in the room was shattered by the ringing of Maria's cell phone and she hurriedly got it out of her pocket hitting the answer button but before she could say anything, Alberto was shouting, "ARE YOU OKAY? WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

"Leone, I'm fine. Calm down, we're in the safe room," she whispered in a soothing voice. "Paulo is checking the security cameras and we don't know what is going on, but I'm fine."

"I'm sorry I hollered Gattina, but I was worried," Alberto said in a low voice. "We're almost at the house, we were on our way there when Alpha Carlo put out the alert, so can you have Vin let us in, we're about five minutes away."

Maria looked at Vin and he looked at Paulo who quickly changed three monitors to observe the outside of the house. Seeing nothing out of place Paulo nodded his head and Vin said, "Tell him to stay in the car until the front door opens." Maria quickly relayed the message and hung up, turning her attention to the monitors.

"Sophia, are you safe? Where are you?" asked Anthony in a worried tone as his eyes scanned the conference room.

"I'm in the safe room and the house is locked down. Paulo and the others are looking at the monitors now," said Sophia in a calm voice. "We're fine, concentrate on what you're doing, if I need you I'll let you know."

Maria whispered quietly, "Paulo is trying to see what's going on outside and what caused Alpha Carlo to order us on lock down. Since he handles all the electronic security for the Pack, he's checking the security cameras and well...I'm not quite sure what all he's doing, but he's really good at it." The Millers turned their heads and watched Paulo as he told the boys to keep an eye on the monitors while he dealt with other things on his laptop.

"Keep the link open, and let me know what's going on," instructed Anthony as he talked to Madame Helen about his plans for college.

"Boys, I know you're following procedure and are looking over the territory, is there anything unusual going on?" asked Joe as he talked with Alpha Carter about football.

"Nothing unusual so far, I'll let you know immediately if something happens," said Paulo, his hands in constant motion. Several moments went by and the screens on the monitors focused on the Carlucci home, "The Moretti's are pulling into the driveway, by the time you get to the front door, the guard'll be up, as soon as they're in I'll put it back down." Vin, Dom, Lorenzo, Damian and Sal ran upstairs and as they ran down the hallway, they saw the guard sliding back. "It's clear," said Paulo as he focused his attention on the porch, the front yard and the side yards. Vin hurriedly unlocked the door and as soon as Alberto, Angelo and Gabby saw the door open they ran towards it, one brother on each side of Gabby. When he saw the door shut and Vin lock it, Paulo typed in the code and the guard slid silently into place.

Seeing Sal in the hallway Gabby ran towards him, throwing her arms around his neck shocking him and his arms hung at his sides before slowly coming up and encircling her waist. He buried his nose into her neck and closed his eyes allowing her coconut cream pie scent to inflame his senses. He could feel his wolf sit at attention and throw his head back as if ready to howl but then stop and tilt his head as if unsure of what was going on and what to do. He was concentrating so hard on the beautiful girl in his arms he wasn't quite aware of who was around them, but he felt the movement towards them and he growled in a protective and possessive manner, holding Gabby even closer to him and turning them so she was away from them.

"Relax bro, it's me, we need to get Gabby to the safe room," said Vin softly. Sal reluctantly loosened his hold and turned his head to see the other boys staring at him and he flushed bright red. He turned back to see Gabby looking at him with wide eyes and a smile on her face before blushing even redder than he was. Not quite willing to let go of her, he picked her up throwing her over his shoulder. When he heard her giggle he couldn't help the smile that came over his face.

"I've got you," he whispered as his chest puffed up knowing he was protecting his...well he really wasn't sure what she was. All he knew was his wolf was content with Gabby in his arms and he was proud knowing he was protecting her.

"I know you do," she whispered back watching the play of muscles across his back. Even though he was only two inches taller, he was much broader and stronger than her and she felt safe in his arms. When they reached the safe room, he loosened his hold and she slid down his chest and he inhaled sharply feeling even more possessive of her. Gabby blushed and before she had time to think about it, she kissed him on his cheek whispering, "My protector." She moved quickly out of his arms and as he watched her walk to the bunk to sit with Sophia and Maria he heard the little girls giggling while their brothers pretended to gag. Sal blushed and turned back towards the monitors with a big smile on his face.

Alberto and Angelo were the last to come into the safe room and Alberto immediately went to Maria and picked her up cradling her in his arms as he scented her. "You know I can walk, right? Everybody keeps hauling me around like I'm a sack of potatoes," Maria whispered cuddling into his chest.

"But you're an adorable sack of potatoes Gattina," he whispered and started laughing when she sighed.

"Vinnie, I's needs to do the potty," said Hope with an eager look on her face as she looked around the safe room.

"No you don't, you went before we left your house" said Alec as he scowled at her. "She thinks every time she's in a new place she has to use the terlet."

"Terlet?" asked Vin with a smile on his face.

Alec grinned at him and said, "That's what Daddy and Uncle Jerry calls it when they want to irritate Aunt Christy. She says since Daddy and Uncle Jerry are Beta's now and her and Mommy are working at Triple C that we got to improve ourselves. She wants us to call it 'the facilities', she thinks it sounds better."