South Mountain Pack Ch. 07

Sophia covered Damian with one of the thermal blankets, and then used a shirt to make a sling for Maria's arm. Maria moaned loudly again when Sophia pulled the ends tight, and they could hear Alberto growling again.

"ALBERTO STOP GROWLING. I'M STILL UPSET WITH YOU, DON'T THINK I FORGOT JUST BECAUSE I FELL IN A GINORMOUS HOLE, YOU BIG OAF," hollered Maria. "BUT I'LL LET YOU PAMPER ME UNTIL I'M BETTER."

"Always Gattina, anything you want I will do," said Alberto and every boy there rolled their eyes, even the young ones.

The older boys glanced at Alberto and made whipping motions to him, while Angelo whispered, "Bro, she has you whipped so bad, you'd better watch it or she'll have you taking dance classes next." The boys started cracking up laughing at the look of terror on Alberto's face.

"I heard that Angelo," said Maria as she winked at Sophia and Toni, while Damian was trying not to laugh.

They heard what sounded like thunder as the men came screeching to a halt and shifted immediately. "Oh dear Luna, they're naked," screeched Gabby as all the older girls turned around quickly, pulling all the giggling little girls with them. The men quickly put on the shorts thrown at them from the older boys backpacks.

"I need to get down there," said Doc. Vin and Dom quickly secured the rope to him and the men stepped forward to lower him down, Angelo and Alberto still providing the fulcrum to keep him away from the sides. The girls watched him descend and moved to the side to allow him room. Doc bent to check out Damian first, but he said, "No Doc, check the girls to make sure they're ok. I'm not going anywhere."

Doc quickly checked Toni and found her foot was slightly bruised, the thick sole of the hiking boots preventing any damage. Maria's forearm was broken, but the pulse in her wrist was steady, her fingernails had good blood return and other then some bruises she was fine.

"I'm going to send Toni and Sophia up first. Toni is fine, just bruised," said Doc. Sophia held Toni to her chest and Doc secured them tightly to the rope. With slow, steady pulls they were raised and Toni was quickly pulled into her fathers arms with her brothers and cousins rushing forward to hug her and make sure she was okay.

"Carlo, I need something to wrap Maria's arm more securely. Sophia did a great job with the sling, but it will move too much when she gets pulled up," Doc said. Before Carlo could even respond, Anthony handed him the duct tape saying, "Don't even ask, I'll explain later."

Doc discovered even with taping Maria's arm it was too painful for her to be pulled up, so Lorenzo was lowered to carry his sister and the men took extra care not to jostle them as they pulled them up. As soon as they were clear, Lorenzo handed Maria to Alberto with a nod of his head. Alberto carried her over to a boulder and sat down, deeply scenting her neck, his wolf still agitated at seeing his mate whimpering in pain. Joe kneeled in front of them, his hand gently caressing her cheek as he reassured himself that his little girl was going to be fine.

Doc was still assessing Damian since he had taken all the impact from the fall. He noticed some blood and was worried he had been punctured by the rotten wood from the well cover. Until the leg splint arrived, he didn't want to roll him over afraid it would do more damage to the leg and Damian kept insisting he was fine, but Doc thought he was in mild shock.

Gabby, Emily and Mary had moved all the young ones away and Gabby was telling them stories of her adventures in Italy, she described the museums, fountains and sights she had seen in such vivid detail the young ones were mesmerized.

George and the men soon arrived, the supplies unloaded and lowered down to Doc who realized he would need help. Vincent was lowered down and he talked quietly to Damian as he held his leg while Doc straightened it, noticing Damian's silence he realized he passed out from the pain. After several excruciating minutes Doc was satisfied and the brace was applied and also a pair of shorts. Together, they rolled him onto his side and saw the piece of wood imbedded in his right shoulder with Doc saying he would deal with that at the clinic. Doc got the backboard ready as Vincent gently held Damian, both men realizing there was no way to strap him in with the angle of the backboard and Vincent gently lowered him back on the ground.

"Dad, we can't get him on the backboard, there just isn't enough room," said Vincent, "Damian has passed out and he has a piece of wood embedded in his shoulder so he can't be roped. Do you think you could lift both of us? Between the two of us we're at least 430 or 440 pounds."

"George brought more rope and the weight won't be a problem. Do you think you can hold him that long?" said Frank.

"I can do it, it's my responsibility," replied Vincent, in his eyes as the head of the Clan he ultimately was responsible for everyone.

Frank threw down the ropes and Doc and Vincent tied them securely, then Vincent bent down and gently lifted Damian, being careful not to touch his right shoulder and keeping the brace straight. The men slowly pulled on the ropes and several minutes later, they were clear. As Vincent laid him on the backboard Joe rushed forward to check on him, gently pushing the hair back from his forehead. Doc and the rest of the supplies were brought up and he came over to Damian to make sure his leg had not been jostled.

"We need to get Damian and Maria to the clinic so I can x-ray and set the bones properly before they start healing," said Doc. "We'll strap them to the boards to keep them from moving. I want Toni there too, so I can give her a more thorough check."

As they were strapping Damian onto the backboard he regained consciousness. "I'm sorry Dad, I tried my best to make sure the girls were okay, I'm sorry they were hurt," Damian said looking up at his father. "You did a wonderful job keeping them from serious injury that was a helluva fall," said Joe as he squeezed Damian's hand. "I'm very proud of you son, and so thankful you weren't hurt worse."

Barry Costello came over, still holding his daughter tightly to his chest and said to Damian, "I can't thank you enough for saving my daughter, she told me how you held her and protected her. My family will forever be in your debt." He extended his hand to Damian and shook it, then he shook Joe's hand and said, "Thank you." Barry went to turn away and stopped as Toni whispered something in his ear and he laughed and said to Damian, "Toni wants me to apologize to you. She says she is sorry for hurting your behind." Damian started to laugh too and winked at Toni causing her to blush and duck her head into her fathers neck.

Nine year old Troy Costello waited for his father to move away, then he came over and said to Damian, "I also wanted to say thank you for saving my sister." Damian looked at him with the most serious expression anyone had ever seen on his face and said, "It's what we do, we are Pack, and we take care of each other, no matter what." Troy looked at him, nodded his head and reached out to shake his hand and whispered back, "No matter what."

Troy went back to where the Whitmer, Costello and Poffenberger young ones were sitting. They huddled together while he whispered to them, none of the adults able to hear what he was saying, they noticed all the young ones nodding their heads and then one by one they put a small hand out, one on top of each other and whispered, "No matter what."

Angelo whispered quietly, "I think we witnessed a bond that will never be broken."

"You mean like Voldemort and Snape in Harry Potter?" excitedly asked Jeff Martins ten year old cousin, Danny as he jumped around. The older kids looked at him with questions in their eyes but a hint of a smile on their faces.

"That was an Unbreakable Vow, stupid," said his twin, Danielle with her hands on her hips. "And it was between Snape and Narcissa. As if you would remember, you were too busy shoving popcorn and licorice in your mouth."

"Oh yeah, well at least I wasn't too scared to watch. You hid behind Jeff's back at the theatre and you cried, so there you scaredy cat," said Danny as he grabbed his sisters pigtails. "Jeff, did you see what he did?" Danielle whined to her oldest cousin. "Jeff, make him stop," said Danny imitating his sisters voice as the older kids started laughing.

"You guys see what I put up with? At least all of you are around the same age; I'm eight years older then the wonder twins. They drive me nuts," said Jeff.

Just then Doc hollered Damian and Maria were both ready for transport. It had been decided the men would carry Damian to avoid any extra movement and Maria insisted Alberto and her brothers and cousins carry her.

25 minutes later they reached The Manor House, and Annie, Rose and Diane Costello, Toni's mother, were anxiously waiting. Everyone was quickly loaded into the transport van for the short ride to the clinic, as Doc was worried their bones may have shifted. Alberto accompanied Joe and Annie to the clinic in their SUV and everyone else headed back to Frank's house, the Costello kids joining their Uncle Larry and the Clan since Barry and Diane were going to the clinic also.

When they arrived at Frank's house, everyone was outside and the men had the youngsters playing football, volleyball, horseshoes, playing in the pool and doing anything to keep them occupied. As soon as everyone noticed they were back, they wanted to know what happened and the next half hour was spent retelling the story.

Anthony walked over to where the men were standing and talking. "Dad, Mr. C, you have to see the backpacks the Whitmer kids have. I've never seen anything like it; we would never have been able to get down the well without their supplies. I think it would benefit everyone to incorporate those supplies into our gear."

Before their Alpha could ask, Joel and Jerry summoned their children and told them to bring their backpacks. They came running and the table was quickly cleared so the backpacks could be emptied and displayed for the men to see. As each item was put on the table the men looked at each other amazed at what they were seeing.

"Where did you get these ideas from?" asked Frank. "You have things in here we never even thought of including."

"Ugh, well, we are huge fans of Survivorman with Les Stroud. We started watching it years ago and started making a list of things he used and then added some of our own ideas when the training session was announced," said Joel and Jerry nodded.

Carlo and Frank looked at both of them with narrowed eyes as Carlo said, "You are both fifth level Delta's which means this promotion elevates you to first level Beta status. You will be working directly with Frank and Joe from now on dealing with upper level Pack security." Both Joel and Jerry quickly nodded their heads and thanked their Alpha then looked at Frank who was smiling at them.

Frank said, "Meet Joe and I an hour before the men's training session on Monday evening. There's a lot we have to go over with your increase in responsibilities. Bring everything in the packs, including a list of the items and your reason for including them. Congratulations, you both earned it." He shook their hands and the other men gathered around to offer their congratulations. Both Joel and Jerry wasted no time in telling their mates of their promotion and felt their pride.

Frank and Carlo told the youngsters to gather round, everyone rushed to comply and without being told, the teams reassembled and were quietly whispering to each other. Frank and Carlo went team by team and asked them what had worked and what didn't and wrote it down on the chalkboard. The next hour was spent with the men giving advice to improve things that worked and explaining why things didn't work. They had just finished up when the Carlucci's and Costello's returned.

Damian had a walking cast on his right lower leg, a bandage over his shoulder and was using a cane and Maria's left forearm was in a cast and since she had a deep bruise on her left hip, Alberto was carrying her. X-rays had confirmed Toni had no broken bones and was slightly bruised; she was content to be held in her father's arms. The men brought chaise loungers near the bonfire and when Toni saw Damian and Maria resting on them, she insisted she be put on one too.

"Well it looks like the rest of our plans for tonight have been shot to hell," said Joe as he walked up to Frank and Carlo. "What are we going to do with all of these youngsters for the next couple of hours?"

"They seem to be entertaining themselves pretty well," said Frank as he looked around his yard. There were youngsters everywhere he looked and he noticed they were still with their teams playing games. The older ones were encouraging the young ones and were tempering their own competitive nature not to overrun them on the playing field and sounds of laughter could be heard everywhere. "Well, I think we accomplished some of our goals today, even more then we expected in fact..."

Before he could say more, Carlo's phone rang and Frank and Joe quickly looked at him and motioned the surrounding men to move away. He quickly pulled the phone out of his pocket and said, "Rossi here." The three men moved further away and Carlo put the phone on speaker so they could hear.

"Carlo, Roberts here, I wanted to give a current update. We arrived a little over two hours ago. All three of the Alpha's we were discussing have arrived with their top level Beta's and their men are expected tomorrow afternoon. We have sent three recon teams into the area in question and reports are starting to filter in. The families in question have been observed and do not appear to be in any present danger, but we will monitor the situation and step in immediately if any change occurs. We are preparing the plan as we discussed earlier, time and date have not changed. We want everyone who is on the invitation list to be apprehended."

"Thanks for the update, are you sure we can't be of assistance?" asked Carlo.

"Not at this time, but be prepared to travel when the Tribunal is called. They will be given a trial as mandated by Council before they are sentenced. I'll try to keep you updated as events unfold and remember to keep the line open," said President Roberts right before the line clicked dead.

Carlo looked at his only level five Beta's and said, "Damn, I wish we were there."

The three of them stood there looking at the youngsters laughing and screaming, playing games and chasing each other around the yard and felt a contentment they hadn't felt in a long time. They motioned to the other fathers and soon everyone joined their children playing games they hadn't played in years, though they found out they totally sucked at Duck Duck Goose. It turned out the bonding between teams wasn't the only one that was nurtured that evening.

Hours later after tons of hot dogs and hamburgers had been eaten, marshmallows had been roasted the young ones finally fell asleep, their fathers putting them in the tents and the only ones left were the teens and fathers. Talk centered on training, football, and the girls dance recital which would be held during the Winter Festival.

The Winter Festival was always a highlight for the Pack, and it was held the evening before the Full Moon in December. It was a true Pack effort, the fathers and mothers made the scenery and costumes. The brothers helped with lighting, sound and other issues even helping with some of the dance routines, though they refused to be put in any type of costume.

"Alberto, since you and Maria are now intendeds, does that mean you will be part of her routine in the recital?" asked Carmelo with a smile on his face.

"No way, never going to happen, not in this lifetime," Alberto replied and he missed the look on Maria's face as she raised her eyebrow at him.

"Good, I really don't want to see you in a leotard and tutu," said Joe as everyone started laughing, except for Maria who narrowed her eyes at Alberto.

"How about you Anthony?" asked Carlo with a smile.

Anthony quickly glanced at Sophia before answering, "My answer would be no, unless my intended asked me, then I would do it for her even if it embarrassed me. But I will use my powers of persuasion and try and say no costume."

Alberto looked at Anthony, then Maria and said, "I meant to say what Ant just said."

Everyone started laughing again as Maria looked at him and smiled. Ant looked at him saying, "Good recovery bro." Alberto returned his look with an eye roll.

The next two hours were spent laughing and talking, finally Frank said, "Okay youngsters time to head for the tents, it's almost midnight." There was some grumbling, but they all complied.

Lorenzo and Vin stood at the tent opening monitoring their sisters while they said goodnight to their intendeds. Anthony and Sophia stood on one side while he deeply scented her neck, holding her tight against his side. Alberto held Maria in his arms on the other side since she still had trouble standing and was also deeply scenting her. They heard discreet coughing and then Lorenzo stepped out and stood in front of Alberto with his arms out ready to carry Maria inside the tent.

"You're worse then Daddy," said Maria in a whisper. They heard another cough and Vin stepped out and said to Sophia, "Time's up, tell Sweetie Pie you'll see him in the morning." "Sweetie Pie? I've never called him that," said Sophia indignantly as she swatted at her eldest brothers arm and chased him inside the tent as he laughed.

As Anthony passed tents filled with the sounds of siblings teasing each other he realized how lonely he felt, his thoughts turning to his sister and he wondered how different his life would have been if she had lived. His entire life he had been included in activities with the Clan but he always felt this emptiness inside, a feeling there was something missing and he realized that since he had made his declaration for Sophia it was still there but not as pronounced. Still lost in his thoughts he got ready for bed and ten minutes later was almost asleep.

"Move your ass outta the way," said Lorenzo.

"Damn you take up a lot of room," said Gianni.

"Watch out for my leg dickhead," said Damian.

"Could the three of you be any louder? This is a stealth mission," said Marcus.

As his four best friends made themselves comfortable Anthony started laughing and said, "Stealth mission? The four of you are making enough noise to wake the dead."

"We figured we'd come over and keep you company," said Lorenzo as he started laughing. "It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Sophia and Maria are whispering back and forth how wonderful you and Alberto are."

"Oh, he's so big and strong," said Damian in a falsetto voice. "Did you see how he looked without his shirt, all those ripping muscles, I'm the luckiest girl in the world."

"Who said that?" asked Anthony as he started smiling.

"Does it really matter dude? They say the same thing and then agree with each other, this mating thing is driving us nuts. I'm so sick and tired of hearing how wonderful the two of you are, how big and strong you both are, how cute the two of you are. I could go on and on but I'll stop before I make myself sick," said Gianni as he started to gag, stopping when Lorenzo hit him in the arm.

"Oh, and the topper of them all was from Sophia," said Damian, and then continued in the falsetto voice, "Did you see his ass in those jeans he had on the other day, especially when he bent over?"

"Sophia likes how my ass looks? What else did she say about it, I mean me," said Ant as he blushed, but he really wanted to know what she said as he tried to remember what jeans he had on.

"Enough about your ass, as if ANY of us want to think of your ass no matter what its doing or covered in," said Marcus shaking his head. The boys looked at each other and started cracking up laughing.