South Mountain Pack Ch. 11

I would like to thank hcsd1719 for his help in editing and offering encouragement. Again, there are no actual sex scenes, since the main characters are underage. All italics indicate communication through the mental bond.

These are the finalists in the contest to name the Miller's Bakery/Coffee shop, post your choice in the comments and the one chosen will get an advance read of an upcoming chapter. My favorites so far are: Decadent Desserts (submitted by FA_JF); The Sweet Indulgence (submitted by 1301866); The Sweet Life (submitted by MissPrissBliss); Decadent Delights (submitted by Tasha); Sweet but Sassy (submitted by pixie71).

The complete list of Pack members is on the blog, but 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.

*

Frank drove to Joe's house and walked around the garage to the pool house where Joe was waiting, he dropped his duffle inside the door and without saying a word they started running, following a path they had worn down over the last twenty five years. When they were halfway through their ten mile run, Joe said, "I was up most of the night trying to sort things out. I know Charles has to be a part of it, but I feel like there is someone else involved, so who is it?"

"I could feel your agitation and was thinking the same thing. Aldo said something we need to clarify...," Frank was saying as he was interrupted.

"That the feeling was one of revenge and it had been festering for years," finished Joe as he looked at his brother for confirmation.

Frank stopped running and said, "Exactly. I was going over who the Pack has had issues with since Carlo became Alpha and I couldn't come up with anybody. There were some small things, getting contracts for business deals, but in others they got the contracts. Personally, we've had to fire some employees, but they were human. The only Pack I could think we've had a problem with was Matt and Phil's, but is that enough to wage war? I don't think so."

"So the question remains, who hates our Pack enough to wage war against us and try to kidnap our females, and more personally come after our daughters?" asked Joe as his eyes started to turn amber again. "Who would be that fucking stupid?"

Frank looked at the sky and said quietly, "Let's finish our run; we need to be at The School House by 6, and we need to stop by The Diner and pick up breakfast for everyone." The brothers continued their run, lost in their thoughts. Twenty minutes later they were in the shower room and picked up their conversation as if they had never stopped.

"I think the answer lies with the elders. We need to talk to them after the meeting tonight, even though we are taught Pack history, they know the true stories behind the official story," said Joe with a frown on his face.

Frank started laughing and said, "Okay Paul Harvey, we'll talk to the elders. Now hurry or we'll be late." They hurried through their shower and got dressed in light silvery-gray polo shirts with a navy blue embroidered Triple C logo on the left breast and their favorite Lands End Chino shorts in navy. Without speaking they put on construction boots and gray with navy embroidery Triple C baseball hats, as they were putting on their watches Frank looked down and laughed.

"What's so funny?" asked Joe as he grabbed his dirty clothes and threw them in the hamper as Frank put his into the duffle before zipping it closed.

"I realized how often we dress alike. We hated when Mom would dress us alike, now we do it all the time," said Frank as he waited by the door.

"Blame our mates, they buy most of our clothes, and you can't count dressing for work since we work together," said Joe making sure everything was turned off. "And Annie and Rose picked out the work uniforms, including the color and logos."

"It's been two years since we changed the uniforms, and I have to admit it does make us stand out from other construction companies. Having everyone dressed in gray t's with a small logo on the left front and a larger logo on the back, navy cargo shorts or pants, the baseball hats, and the silver trucks with the blue Triple C logo. They did a good job," said Frank with a smile as they walked to his work truck.

"You forgot the windbreakers, winter jackets, hoodies and crew-neck sweatshirts," Joe said as he started laughing. "To think all of that started because we mentioned we were thinking of getting new t-shirts for the work crew."

Frank looked at his brother before pulling out of his driveway and said, "I'm not sure who was more surprised when a week later they called a meeting and handed out the new uniforms, you, me or the work crew."

"One thing for sure, they never do anything little," said Joe with a smile and leaned forward turning up the volume as 'Don't fear the Reaper', one of their favorite songs came on the classic rock station. As soon as the song ended the brothers looked at each other and laughed as Joe said, "Every time I hear that song, it reminds me of the night our parents forced us to take Annie and Rose to the movies. Remember, we'd just gotten our licenses and they said we couldn't use Dad's car the following weekend unless we took the girls to the movies while they went to a Pack meeting."

Frank was laughing so hard he could hardly talk, "And we agreed as long as we could pick the movie. The girls had no idea what 'Halloween' was about and you told them it was a movie about a small town with a really cool Halloween tradition. I can still see them sitting there, with their mouths hanging open, hands covering their eyes and screaming so loud I thought my eardrums would shatter."

"And we knew Carlo was in the parking lot waiting on us after the movie, and you told him to hide to scare the girls, they wouldn't get in the car until we checked the trunk and looked under it to make sure nobody was going to get us, and you told Carlo to sneak under the car, and when you got on your hands and knees to look he pulled you under the car and you screamed 'Run girls run, he's got me', and all they could see was your legs twitching and you kept screaming, then you stopped and Carlo dumped his coke so it looked like a pool of blood coming from under the car," said Joe laughing so hard he was gasping for breath.

Frank took off his Oakley sunglasses and wiped his eyes as he remembered looking from under the car seeing Rose and Annie's feet as they ran through the parking lot screaming as loud as they could. After Joe got him and Carlo out from under the car, the three of them were laughing so hard they had to sit down. "Remember where we found them? They were hiding in the women's bathroom in the Montgomery Wards next to the theater," said Frank laughing. "It took us fifteen minutes to calm them down so they would get in the car, and they didn't talk to us the whole way home."

"They got us back though," said Joe with a smile. "They told their parents and ours we would take them to Longmeadow drive-in the following weekend to see 'Grease' since it wasn't playing in the theaters anymore. Annie was glaring at me saying 'Isn't that right, Giuseppe, since we had such a good time tonight.' She considers 'Grease' our first real date, even though we didn't talk to them the whole night."

"We talked to them," said Frank with a smile. "I distinctly remember telling them to shut up several times when they started singing and when Rose said she was hungry; I said 'Tough luck' and kept eating my popcorn. When Annie said she was thirsty and wanted some of your Big Gulp, you told her 'No', and drank the whole thing and threw the cup on the seat." He glanced at his brother before he continued, "And when Annie said she had to use the restroom, you got the cup off the seat and handed it to her and said, 'Use this'."

"Damn, we were dicks, weren't we? It's a wonder they accepted us when we made our declarations," said Joe with a laugh. "I remember JR came over with his sister and took them to the restroom and I got irritated when he put his hand on Annie's arm when she tripped. I didn't realize it was the start of the mating pull and a little over two years later, I'd want to kill any male that put their hands on her."

They got quiet as they thought of their mates and Frank cleared his throat and said, "By the way, I talked to Sal last night and asked him what's going on with him and Gabby. He said he has no clue but feels protective of her and kinda likes her. I told him to respect her and remember he's only fifteen years old."

"Does he know Gabby's planning on studying in Italy for two years to get her degree?" asked Joe as they pulled into the side parking lot of The Diner and he began to smile. For some reason his brother hated to go in reverse, so he always drove around the parking lot so he could pull through, parking hood out and wouldn't have to reverse out of a spot.

Frank sighed loudly and said, "I didn't mention it. Gabby still has two years of high school, then a year of college before she would leave. If they are mates, and I'm thinking they are, then they're going to have enough trials to get through and I don't want to start worrying Sal from now. I'll be right back; Carlo already called the order in." He opened the door and walked around the truck and stopped next to Joe's window and said, "The question will be will he love her enough to let her go? I don't mean let her go to Italy since that would be her choice. But will he love her enough to put aside his need to be with her so she can fulfill her lifelong dream? Sal would be eighteen when Gabby would leave, and I know at that age my need for Rose was overwhelming...I don't think I could've done it."

Joe watched as his brother walked into The Diner and thought of his own need to be with Annie after he felt the mating pull. He closed his eyes thinking back to that time; how possessive he was, how she would sit for hours on his lap reading a book while he scented her neck, and he remembered several nights when he slept outside her bedroom window because he couldn't stand to be apart from her and he knew without a doubt he wouldn't have been able to let Annie go.

Frank opened the rear door of the truck and placed the box inside before getting behind the wheel of his work truck. As Frank pulled out of the parking lot, Joe said quietly, "I wouldn't have been able to let Annie go either." He glanced once more at his older brother before turning his head to look at the buildings they were passing without really seeing them. He cleared his throat before he murmured, "We need to talk to Anthony and Alberto and tell them we were wrong, we shouldn't have told them the way we did. They're our daughter's mates and we should've respected them enough to tell them in private. If Pop told me he was taking Annie away from me, I would've ripped his fucking head off."

"There for a minute, I thought they were going to, or at least try," said Frank nodding his head as he thought back to Anthony and Alberto's reaction. "I agree with you, we need to apologize. Do you think we should pull them to the side at The School House or maybe take them out to dinner before the meeting tonight?"

"We'll talk to Carlo, I'm not sure what he has planned or what time Dante is getting here and he wants us to go with him to pick them up," said Joe. "Either way, we'll apologize this morning and arrange to go out to dinner with them and talk things through a little more."

Frank got quiet and asked, "Are you having trouble separating little Alberto Moretti who grew up with our sons and the grown Alberto Moretti who is your daughters mate? When I see Anthony with Sophia, I still see the four year old little boy who cried when Carlo told him he couldn't train with the older boys."

"But he proved Carlo wrong, the following week he came to training with Carlo like he usually did and stood up challenging the older boys and when he beat several of them Carlo had to give in and start training him," said Joe with a smile. "He was a determined boy and stood up to his father, just like he did yesterday."

"It surprised me how forceful he was with Carlo, and the power that was coming off of him was almost overwhelming," Frank said in amazement. "Have you really looked at Anthony lately? Damn, the boy is only seventeen, but physically looks years older. I think he's even taller then Vincent and Dominic now, he weighs more and his muscle definition is unreal. The way he picked up Scott and threw him surprised me and Scott weighs like 260."

"Since we're talking about him, I want to bring something up," said Joe as Frank glanced at him. "I think Anthony, Vincent and Dominic should be moved to the men's training classes. They can only practice on each other and I think by keeping them in the boys training class, we're holding them back."

"I was thinking the same thing, but I think we'll test all the boys next week for new placements. We'll have to increase their training anyway and testing them will give us a better look at their strengths and weaknesses. I have a feeling a few of the boys will surprise us," Frank said as he rubbed his neck. "We'll talk it over with Carlo, he has the final say. We're almost there, anything else you want to talk about?"

"Well...yeah...Annie and Rose seemed awfully calm yesterday, almost too calm. Do you think they're planning something?" Joe asked turning to look at his brother.

"I don't think they're planning something, I know they're planning something," said Frank with a laugh. "The problem is, we'll only know about it when they're ready to tell us. Those two are more sneaky, stubborn and hard-headed then any two women I've ever met."

Joe started laughing as he said, "I guess they have to be since they've put up with us for the last twenty-three years, almost twenty-four."

"Speak for yourself baby brother," said Frank as he braked to a stop in front of the gates of The School House. "You may be hard to get along with, but I'm not."

Jeff Mendez, Joel's father, stepped out of the guard house and put on his sunglasses as he walked to the truck, clipboard in hand. He had seen Frank's truck coming down the road a half mile away and decided to have a little fun. He walked to the front of the truck and wrote the license plate on his clipboard and radioed it to the control room. Ignoring Joe as he walked by the passenger side, he continued walking around the truck and saw Frank watching him in the side view mirror as he walked from the rear of the truck.

"Good morning Gentlemen, May I see your identifications and may I ask what your business is today at The School House?" said Jeff in his most professional tone as he stood slightly to the rear of the drivers side window.

"Well, Mr. Mendez," said Frank as he continued to look straight ahead, "If you don't let me through this fucking gate, my business will be in seeing how quickly you can run while you have my foot up your fat ass."

"I see you're as polite as ever, Mr. Carlucci," said Jeff with a laugh. "The two of you are the last on the list; everyone is waiting in the visitor's parking lot."

"Are you joining us?" asked Frank as he turned to smile at Jeff.

"I'll be there as soon as my replacements get here, they're getting final instructions from Aldo," said Jeff scanning the road. "The whole security team is waiting and we've already secured The School House and grounds."

"Good, here comes Duke and Jerome," said Joe as he looked towards the front of The School House. "How are they working out? I know they're young and only Level 4 Delta's, but during training they followed directions well and are good fighters."

Jeff smiled as he looked at the young Bellucci's as they ran down the long driveway. "They're doing a good job, whatever Aldo or I have asked them to do they've done without hesitation. They want to talk to the two of you; they want to see if they can pass the Level 1 Beta test. They've been studying Martial Arts for the last year and both graduated from the Police Academy with honors."

Frank watched as the iron gates slowly slid open and the Bellucci's ran through. Dark brown hair cut in a short military style topped their 6'1" frames; broad shoulders strained their work shirts and their light brown eyes were bright with excitement. "Morning Mr. C, Mr. JC," they said at the same time before heading into the guard house and grabbing headsets and radios. They walked out stopping beside Frank's truck, hurriedly putting the headsets on and clipping the radios to their belts.

"Alpha Carlo said you had sandwiches from The Diner," said Duke scanning the road. "Mom made us breakfast but we didn't eat much, we were too excited."

"Yeah, we only had 20 pancakes and a couple pounds of sausage," said Jerome with a shrug as he adjusted the collar of his brother's polo shirt.

"Well, we wouldn't want you two to starve to death, reach in the back and get four sandwiches each. They're all the same, Diner Specials," said Frank with a smile as Jerome opened the rear door of the truck and got the sandwiches out.

Joe looked at Duke and said, "How are your mates doing?"

"Big, round and cranky," said Duke with a proud smile. "Emory's craving the weirdest shit and gets cranky when she can't have it, like Chinese food at 3 in the morning. She's due in a little over a month so she's having a hard time moving around, but Doc said the little one is healthy and gonna be big, probably around ten pounds by delivery."

"Nauseous," said Jerome with a grimace. "If Cynthia looks at food, smells food, or even thinks of food she's hurling, which makes things difficult because all Emory wants to do is eat. Mom and Doc both say it should go away soon, but she's walking around the house with a trashcan."

"Rossi's sells hard ginger candy; it was the only thing that helped Jody with the morning sickness," said Jeff as he patted Jerome on the shoulder. "Check with Doc first to make sure she won't have any problems, but it's a natural herbal remedy."

Jerome was silent for several moments before saying, "Thanks Jeff, Mom's gonna call Doc this morning. Cyn says if she barfs one more time, I'm cut off forever and I'd better get real familiar with my right hand."

The men started to laugh remembering their mates telling them the same things and Duke said, "Wait a minute, you're left handed."

"I know, but this thing is so big I need to use both," said Jerome with a smirk as he cupped his groin.

"I've seen that pea-shooter you've got and I'm surprised you'd need two fingers, let alone two hands," said Duke rolling his eyes at his younger brother as the men roared with laughter.

"On that note, we're getting out of here. You'd better hop in the truck Jeff, we're gonna be late," said Frank as he continued to laugh.

"Everyone's here for the meeting so there shouldn't be anybody else arriving until the youngsters start arriving at 8:30. I'll be down around 8 or 8:15 to go over last minute instructions and stay until all the youngsters arrive," said Jeff as he opened the rear door of the truck. "If you have any problems, radio it in."

"Yes, sir," Duke responded as Jerome waved before he opened one of the breakfast sandwiches and took a big bite.

As soon as they pulled through the gates, they started to close and Jeff said quietly, "What's going on? Aldo was very quiet yesterday afternoon when he called us back to go over security measures, building plans and re-inventory the food supply in the safe room. When I asked what was going on, he shook his head and frowned."