South Mountain Pack Ch. 09

Anthony started laughing and said, "Yeah, but it looks like fun, doesn't it?"

Sophia and Lorenzo were still battling for possession of the three balls near the end zone, Vin and Dom were still wrestling even though Vin didn't have a golf ball anymore and the rest of the Carlucci's were busy shoving each other and hollering.

"5-4-3-2-1," shouted Rose as two more golf balls were launched. Rose had angled herself so her golf ball landed close to Enzo so he scooped it up and put it in the bucket quickly before anyone even knew what happened. Annie had angled hers towards Victor who caught it before being promptly tackled by Marcus.

Maria had located the lost ball in the pile and took off running, tripping when Sal grabbed her ankle. He grabbed the ball and started running but Maria jumped on his back and allowed herself to fall wrapping her legs around his knees so he was unable to run and they both fell, their shouts of laughter echoing across the field.

Enzo had pinned Lorenzo on the ground while Sophia was prying his fingers apart to get the golf balls. With a victorious shout she ran to the bucket and deposited all three golf balls waving her hands in the air she shouted, "Screw you Lorenzo." Enzo ran to her picking her up and swung her around both of them laughing.

"5-4-3-2-1," shouted Annie as two more balls were launched. Both women sent their golf balls towards Vin and Dom who were still wrestling. When the balls hit both boys Rose and Annie gave each other high fives and Rose shouted to her oldest set of twins, "Never lose focus, you need to be aware of what is going on around you."

Vin shouted, "Hey guys, are you going to join in sometime? Or are you just going to stand around and watch?" As he finished shouting, Victor tackled him to the ground and grabbed the ball near him running towards the end zone, he was tackled quickly by Gianni and the two started wrestling.

"Oh shit, I forget we were supposed to join in after a couple of balls. I was too busy watching this train wreck of a game," said Angelo with a laugh.

"5-4-3-2-1," shouted Rose as two more balls were hit towards the group. The Carlucci's were still wrestling, shoving and laughing as they positioned themselves as Anthony, Angelo and Alberto joined them.

Paulo caught one of the balls and was tackled by Marcus followed by the rest of the youngsters. As Anthony was getting ready to catch the other Sophia ran her fingers up his arm saying quietly, "I really like how those pants make your backside look."

He threw his head back trying to get his emotions under control as he heard her giggle before she quickly grabbed the ball and ran down field. He felt rooted to the spot watching her run away before his wolf howled in delight realizing his intended wanted him to chase her. He ran after her catching her easily but he didn't want to tackle her so he picked her up cradling her in his arms.

Anthony looked into Sophia's emerald eyes saying huskily, "You should know better then to tease your intended and run away Arachide."

"5-4-3-2-1," shouted Annie as two more balls were launched. Angelo jumped and caught one of the balls and was promptly tackled by Gianni and Gino, while Alberto caught the other one.

Out of the corner of his eye, Alberto saw Maria running towards him intent on tackling him. As soon as he felt her jump on his back, he fell to his knees and onto his stomach making sure she wasn't hurt in the process. When Maria started tickling him, he made no attempt to escape instead he stretched his arms out over his head while his intended tickled his back and sides. His wolf let out a low content growl, their intended was touching them and they could stay like this all day.

"Why? What are you going to do Aletta?" Sophia asked Anthony with a shy smile on her face but her emerald eyes were full of mischief.

"Arachide, you are going to find out one day if you keep teasing me like that," answered Anthony, his eyes turning amber in color. His wolf was content; they had caught their intended and had her cradled in their arms. Before Sophia could respond they heard a whistle blow.

"Foul, foul on Anthony and Maria," hollered Damian: "Unauthorized cuddling of a Carlucci on Anthony and unauthorized tickling of a mate by Maria." Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Damian. Anthony slowly lowered Sophia to the ground but kept his arm around her shoulders. Alberto was still lying on the ground with a big goofy grin on his face while Maria looked at her brother with a guilty expression on her face.

Annie and Rose looked at each other and teed up two more balls. They watched as their shots hit Damian squarely in the back and high-fived each other while everyone started laughing after seeing the shocked look on Damian's face.

"Oww. What the heck Mom?" shouted Damian as he turned to glare at them.

"Damian, you should know better then to interrupt the girls when they are having a moment with their intendeds," hollered Annie.

"Having a moment my behind," Damian hollered back. "Anthony was clearly holding the poor girl against her will and Maria was clearly torturing Alberto. It is my job as one of the only responsible Carlucci's to look after the girl's safety and upbringing."

"Since when have you been responsible for anything other then dragging your brothers and cousins into trouble?" asked Rose trying not to smile at her nephew.

"Aunt Rose, I'm surprised at you listening to vicious gossip about one of your favorite nephews," said Damian as he grinned. "If anything I get them OUT of trouble since absolutely no one would believe that somebody as Angelic as me would do anything wrong. So instead of being guilty by association, they are innocent by association with me. You should be thanking me."

Everyone burst out laughing since Damian was anything but Angelic. Rose couldn't help but laugh at her nephew and said, "See this is why you would be perfect in PR. No matter what you say or do people can't help but be charmed by you, even if you are full of shit."

"Thank you Aunt Rose," said Damian smiling wickedly. "I do try my best."

He blew the whistle for play to resume and Rose and Annie teed up two more balls. Shouts of laughter mixed in with grunts, groans and the sound of the youngsters being tackled while they continued their game of 'Carlucci Golf'.

*****

Frank and Joe pulled up to The School House with ten minutes to spare. They parked in the visitor's parking lot where Carlo, Principal Richards, Aldo and the rest of the school security staff were waiting. Greetings were exchanged and talk centered on the poker game for several minutes before moving onto school security.

"With the additional five security officers we hired, do you think fifteen is going to be enough with the arrival of the Miller girls?" questioned Aldo and then hesitated before continuing, "Do you think we should hire more? I would rather have too many then too few."

Carlo, Frank and Joe looked at each other for a moment before Carlo said, "I think you're right Aldo. Hire five more to bring your total staff up to twenty. Don't put them on payroll as security officers though, hire them as maintenance or grounds keepers and we'll put them in the appropriate uniforms for those jobs. We don't want outsiders to see the large security staff and start to ask questions."

"Yes Alpha. Frank and Joe you still have the files, let me know who to call for interviews and I will set them up," replied Aldo busy writing in his notebook.

"Do you have anything we need to discuss before the Millers get here?" asked Carlo.

"I've already re-done the bunk assignments since the Millers will need to be with their intendeds," said Aldo looking at his notebook. He looked up and smiled as he continued, "When we talked to the youngsters at the training session, Anthony suggested we purchase four Wii gaming systems and a variety of games and update the DVD section. All of that was been done yesterday morning."

"Damian suggested we put in a wet bar and a stripper pole," said Principal Richards as the men started to laugh. "He was really disappointed when I told him no. He argued the stripper pole would be good exercise for the girls and said he could provide me with some news articles that touted the benefits of pole dancing. His last argument was, and I quote, 'Come on Principal Richards, its good exercise and you know it. How many fat strippers have you seen?' I had to walk away from him, he almost had me convinced." The men continued to laugh; Frank and Joe were leaning against the side of Frank's truck holding onto it for support.

"That boy, I can't believe the shit he comes up with," said Joe shaking his head.

Moments later, Aldo looked towards the wrought iron gates and said, "They're here."

The men turned and saw four cars passing through the wrought iron gates and proceed down the three lane asphalt driveway to the visitor's parking lot. Everyone recognized Matt and Phil in the lead car followed by three carloads of Millers. As the Millers exited their vehicles they were silent, glancing around nervously except for Erin who had a big smile on her face.

In front of them was a circular driveway with a two tiered marble fountain in the middle, a statue of a howling wolf resting on the top tier. The inscription on the front of the fountain read 'South Mountain High School, est. 1870'. Even though the fountain was almost ten foot in diameter that wasn't what drew their attention, it was the building behind it.

The Millers stared at the structure with a mixture of excitement, awe and shock. The brick school was built in the Second Empire Architectural Style and was designed to be imposing and impressive and over a hundred years later it still succeeded. A center column jutted ten feet out from the rest of the structure with a portico over the front door before it raised four stories tall. The remaining structure was three stories high with an iron railing that ran along the edge of the slate mansard roof. Two columns of windows were located on both sides of the center column and matching dormer windows were located in the mansard roof.

Carlo came forward and said proudly, "Impressive isn't it? The original School House was destroyed during the Civil War and my Great-Great-Great Grandfather traveled to New York, Philadelphia and Washington and came back with the plans. Construction began in 1867 and finished in 1870 using local building materials."

"Excuse me, Alpha Carlo Sir," said Erin quietly. "During that time period there was a blurring in the lines between Second Empire and Italianate, but I believe this is a perfect example of Second Empire, isn't it Sir?"

"Yes it is Erin. We are unsure of the architect, but we believe it to be H.H. Richardson, Alfred Mullet or John McArthur Jr. or at least heavily influenced by them," stated Carlo with a shrug of his shoulders. "We have the original plans in the archive room if you'd care to look at them. Are you interested in architecture?"

Still blushing, Erin looked at her converse clad feet and said quietly, "I like old houses Sir. Queen Anne Victorians are among my favorites, and my dream has always been to live in one. Daddy and Papa Mike bought me several books on Victorian Architecture and Papa Conall got me a DVD on several of the more famous examples. I've watched it so much, I almost have it memorized. The attention to detail fascinates me and I wish I could study it further."

"Where do you plan on studying? In college?" Joe asked quietly. He felt a fatherly protective bond forming with her and wanted her to continue talking so he could get to know her better. It was nowhere near as strong as the one he had with Maria or Sophia but he could feel it developing, and it intrigued him since it was different then the bond he felt with the other female youngsters.

"I...I... di..didn't mean anything by it Sir. I...I...kn...know we aren't allowed to go to college Sir. Only the boys go to college. I didn't mean to cause trouble," said Erin in a whisper as she grasped Caitlin's hand, both of them taking a step back. The scent of fear radiating off the girls was evident and before anyone could react Brianna moved quickly in front of her younger sisters.

Brianna tilted her head in a submissive pose saying, "Please Sir, we don't know all the rules and she didn't mean to upset you by implying she was worthy of going to college. Please don't discipline her, if anybody should be disciplined it should be me for not stopping her."

Joe looked horrified that the girls would think he was upset with them. He turned to Carlo for help to handle the situation and Carlo motioned for the men to take a step back to relieve some of the fear and anxiety from the girls. Todd and Holly moved to reassure their daughters but Carlo lifted his hand to stop them.

"Girls, please look at me," Alpha Carlo said quietly in a firm but gentle voice. Several moments passed before all ten girls were looking at him, but he noticed each girl had clasped their twins hand tightly. When he had their attention he said, "Will you please follow me over to the fountain, I think we need to have a talk."

The girls looked at their parents and grandparents and after receiving reassuring nods they followed their Alpha. Carlo motioned for the girls to stand in a semi-circle while he took a seat on the edge of the fountain. He didn't want his 6'6" height to intimidate them, so even though it went against his very nature as Alpha he put the girls in a position of power looking down on him. He and his wolf had to put their dominant nature aside to reassure the girls and as Alpha his most important job was to take care of his Pack.

He opened the bond so everyone assembled at The School House could hear them and also included Gina. He cleared his throat and said in a calm voice, "I'm not even sure how to say this, so bear with me. I don't know what you went through in your previous Pack, but you have to understand this is an entirely different Pack. We do things differently here; we treat all Pack members with respect and dignity. It doesn't matter if they are old, young, male, female, gay, straight or a different race."

The Millers continued to stare at him not saying anything so Carlo continued, "Last night I hope you noticed how we treat our females, we honor and cherish them but most importantly we protect them. Each and every one of the males would lay down their life to keep you safe, so you have the whole Pack protecting you, not just your Dad and Papa Mike."

The Miller girls had looks of confusion on their faces so once again Carlo continued, "Your protection detail was formed for that reason, to make sure you stay safe and enjoy being normal teenagers. It wasn't formed to keep you from experiencing life, quite the opposite in fact; we want you to have every opportunity to do those things you mentioned before you were introduced. Matt and Phil told me about the requests you made and the things you want to do. Did you make your lists like they asked you to do?" Carlo wanted them to respond to him and felt the best way to do that was to ask them a question.

"Yes Sir, we each made a list and Nana Ellen suggested we make another list of things we wanted to do as a family," said Morgan with a tentative smile.

"Nana Ellen said with some of us being in school, the younger girls would have time during the day to do individual requests. Like Maeve wanting to go to a grocery store," said Brianna with a smile to her youngest sister.

Carlo looked at Maeve who was blushing and said, "Maeve, why don't you come to my store on Tuesday morning and Madame Gina will give you a complete tour. I would love to do it, but with school starting this week, I always stay the first week to help with the new students and make sure things go smoothly."

Maeve's eye got big and round and she said hesitantly, "Are you sure Sir? I don't want to bother Madame Gina if she is busy."

Carlo smiled at her and said, "She would like to meet at 9 AM on Tuesday and said to bring an appetite as you'll be sampling treats from the deli." Maeve jumped up and down clasping Fiona's hand in excitement.

"Now, back to what we were talking about earlier. As Alpha I have a much stronger bond with my Pack members. I view each and every youngster as if they were my son or daughter and as such every opportunity is given to them. I explained to you we expect you to maintain high grades while you are at South Mountain High, what I may not have expressed clearly enough is I expect each and every one of you to go to college," Carlo stated and the looks of happiness on their faces made him smile.

"Every youngster in our Pack attends University of Maryland. What you choose to study is up to you, but we want to make sure you have every opportunity to do what you want with your life. We will help and guide you and most importantly make sure you stay safe. That will ALWAYS be our top priority, your safety. Nothing else is as important to us and in the coming months you may feel frustrated and smothered but you have to understand and be patient with us," Carlo continued in a firm voice.

The Miller girls once again looked at each other and Brianna said softly, "After hearing what happened to the Pack, we understand the need to protect us, even if it means protecting us from ourselves."

Carlo looked at the Miller girls one by one and said quietly, "I think we understand each other perfectly. We will give you as much freedom as we can as long as you abide by the rules. You will be treated like any other female youngster in the Pack; the only difference is you won't have to put up with overbearing overprotective brothers." As the Miller girls started to laugh Carlo joined in.

"Instead you will be putting up with overbearing overprotective mates," Carlo started laughing harder. "You will learn how over the top the boys get when they find their intendeds. Anthony and Sophia have had so many disagreements; I can't even keep up with them."

The girls continued laughing and Caitlin said, "They are really cute together though, even when they argue."

Now that the girls were laughing and relaxed Carlo asked, "Now is there anything else you want to know about Pack life here? You can ask me anything and if you think of something later, all you have to do is ask. I am always available to members of my Pack."

"Uhmm, Alpha Carlo...what are some of the girls, like Sophia, Maria and Gabby going to study in college?" asked Kelly with a small smile.

"Sophia and Maria are planning on studying Landscape Design and Management and Gabby is planning on studying Education, she wants to teach Art History specializing in the Renaissance and Italian culture," said Carlo, pride evident on his face.

"Alpha Carlo Sir, does that mean we can study whatever we want? And do whatever job we want? In our old Pack the girls had no choice, we were told what we had to do," said Shannon shyly.

"We have females who are lawyers, accountants, office managers, teachers, police officers and housewives. Whatever you wish to do we will help you achieve that goal," Carlo said as he smiled. "Most of the females decide on careers in their families business or their intendeds, but what you ultimately decide to do is your individual choice."

"You mentioned U of MD, that's not in our territory, is it?" questioned Fallon.

"No, it isn't. The Alpha Council appointed one college in each state as neutral territory, enabling the Packs in that state to send their youngsters there. Each Pack owns an apartment building and their youngsters stay there while attending college so we can still provide for your safety," stated Carlo. "The Alpha Council provides security for each campus, but we also have our own security on the premises and on MD's security staff, also our apartment building has security features to ensure your safety. When you are ready to leave for college, we will go over those details."