South Mountain Pack Ch. 15

At exactly 6, Carlo stood, "I call the Pack meeting to order. You have read the emails and files I sent so I am asking you to hold all questions until we are done presenting the information we've discovered this afternoon, Mr. P will go over what the Elders have set in motion and we will finish with our plans."

Carlo nodded to Paulo and the Greek Prophecy was displayed on the screen. Carlo explained how it was discovered and that Dante was going to contact the Alpha of Lykaion Pack. "To remind everyone, the Lykaion Pack is the original Werewolf Pack. Many different versions exist as to their origin... a man cursed by Zeus for feeding him human flesh; a man punished by Hera for refusing her advances and the one we are taught involves Selene or Luna. She had fallen in love with a mortal and spurned Zeus. In his anger he changed the man into a wolf, 'He would roam the nights in beast form for the rest of his unnatural life.' Selene gave her love the ability to change into a man during the day but he reverted to a wolf at dusk, when Zeus found out he stripped her powers so she could no longer take human form. Her love would bay at the moon to let her know how he was doing since they could never be together again. Many years down the road, Luna fell in love with another and she created a female Were so her first love would no longer be lonely and they gave birth to the lycanthrope. Through thousands of years, genetics, mutations, and the ever vigilant presence of Luna to look after the offspring of her first love we have evolved into what we are today. We can shift whenever we want, we appear human all the time but our wolves are always present. We honor Luna and worship her on the Full Moon to give thanks for all she has given us."

Gina turned to Aldo and asked, "Aldo, do you sense anything about Alpha Lykos that Dante needs to know before he meets with him?"

Aldo held his mate's hand and bowed his head as minutes went by, "I sense sincerity and a willingness to help. No deception but he knows more than what he told us... I'm getting split second images of eight people gathered around a fire and staring as if in a trance. It may be the original gathering when the Prophecies were given." He raised his head, "I can try later to focus on their dress to see if that will give us any clue as to where they came from."

Gina nodded, "While most of our Pack is of Italian heritage, we have members from others; English, German, Irish, and Chinese to name a few. If you know of any legends, stories or anything similar please let us know. We have three Prophecies and need to find the other five." The Pack members nodded.

Carlo motioned Mr. P and his father, Elder Arturo to come forward and outline their plans. "The Elders will provide extra security for The School House, the apartment at U of MD and the detail for the girls and our Alpha-heir... after all who would suspect a bunch of old men to be part of a protection detail?" Elder Arturo asked as he glared at Ric, who grinned before he bowed his head. "In one year's time, the Senior Elders will return from Greenland to increase the patrols in the woods and roads around The School House and where they are deemed necessary."

He turned to the Alpha's as the Elders stood, "You believe we should be protected and sent to the safe room... but with all due respect Alpha Carlo and Madame Alpha Gina we disagree. Those deemed necessary to help young Enzo re-establish the Pack will go into the safe room, the rest of us will stay and fight. The same fighting blood that runs through your veins runs through ours and we will not be pushed aside when our Pack is in danger."

Carlo and Gina walked to Elder Arturo's side before looking at The Elders. "Are all of you in agreement with this?" Carlo asked. As one they nodded and Carlo sighed, "We would be honored to have you by our side, but the continuation of the Pack if we fail is of upmost importance. I'd like you to discuss with Gina and young Enzo who is going into the safe room so they can prepare."

"When the hell did I become 'Young Enzo'?" Enzo asked in a whiny voice and quiet laughter filled the room.

Carlo smiled at Enzo before turning to Elder Arturo, "Is there anything else?" He shook his head and the Pinelli's returned to their seats. Carlo motioned for Frank and Joe, "Our Directors of Security will update you about Friday."

"Directors of Security? I should have worn a badge," Frank said with a smile. "Does this mean I get a raise too?"

"Figured I might as well as use your proper titles and your share of the Pack's profits are the largest, beside mine," Carlo retorted as Joe smiled.

"Alpha Carlo received confirmation from Parr Ridge Pack that the football game will be here on Friday so Alpha Parr can meet with Alpha Legrand and Rain. We'll have increased security and schedules will be emailed," Frank said as he looked around the room. "We've discussed the precautions for the pregnant females and young ones and decided since we are trying to maintain as normal an environment as possible it's not necessary for them to be kept away."

"Mr. P will be in charge of those not attending the game, so notify him if he needs to make arrangements," Joe added as the Pack nodded.

Carlo looked into the stands and smiled, "Emory, Doc'll be ready if the little one decides he wants to join us." She buried her head in Duke's neck as the Pack began to laugh. He turned to Carmelo and Rita, "And in six months we'll have another reason to celebrate... Anna and Marco are expecting." The Pack cheered and he waited for it to die down before he continued, "They're not here; understandably Marco is very protective of her and their little one and they'll remain in seclusion at The Cottage for another day or two."

He took a deep breath and said, "Let's take a short break, there are refreshments in the back training room and then we'll get started on our plans."

*****

"What is going on with you two?" Anthony asked as they once again waited for the girls outside the restroom after lunch.

"Erin is driving me fucking nuts," Lorenzo said as he leaned against the wall. "She was showing me pics on her phone and wanted to know which outfits she should bring to the lake since they've never gone on vacation. She's going to have every guy at the lake staring at her, she looked fucking gorgeous."

"Caitlin was doing the same thing. I choked on my meatloaf when she showed me the one of her in her swimsuit, I didn't see it when we were at the mall," Damian said with a frown. "They shouldn't be allowed outside in bathing suits, wearing shorts and a t-shirt should be good enough... with a hoodie over them."

"You two are fucking losing it. It doesn't bother you when Maria and Sophia are in their bathing suits and I'm sure Caitlin and Erin's aren't that different," Alberto said before he smiled. "I know I like seeing Maria in her bathing suit."

"Oh man, Sophia in her bathing suit," Anthony closed his eyes and leaned against the wall as Gianni and Marcus made gagging sounds.

"Dude, both of you are sick," Damian said with a shudder. "I still think it's wrong that you scent my baby sister, I get weirded out every time I see you doing it."

Alberto smiled as the girls came out of the restroom, "Wait eleven months when I'm allowed to kiss her. You're going to need a crowbar to get our lips apart."

Damian fell to his knees grabbing his hair before falling onto his side and curling up in a fetal position, "Call Doc, I think my brain just exploded."

"What's the matter with him?" Caitlin asked as she stared at Damian.

"He's fine, just overjoyed at the thought of me kissing my mate," Alberto said with a smile as Maria blushed and hid her face in his chest.

*****

"We ready?" Sophia asked as she sat at the head table with Enzo and Gino on her right and Paulo and Michael on her left. They nodded and she stood up, "I call this meeting to order." The youngsters stopped talking and sat up straight to listen to their future Madame Alpha. "What we discuss here goes no further than this room; I can't give an Alpha command, but I am asking you to honor this for the love of SMP and our families I know we have. Our continuation as a Pack depends on our ability to keep our plans secret. "

The youngsters bowed their heads and said, "Yes, future Madame Alpha."

She nodded and said, "At the next meeting when The Elders who will be joining us in the safe room have been selected we will talk about where we will go and how we will get there. What we do know is we cannot stay in North America and we cannot go to Italy; we'll talk more about that as we gather more information." She turned to Enzo and motioned for him to stand, "I'm going to turn the meeting over to Enzo; he will be Head of Operations and along with me will make the final decisions. Gino will be Director of procurement; Paulo will be Director of finances and cyber security; and Michael will be Director of security."

"Why are they in charge? Why not some of us? My Dad is Assistant Chief of Police; I should be in charge of security," sixteen year old Ashton Knight said as he stood up and his brother Cooper nodded in agreement.

Enzo began to answer but Sophia responded in a commanding voice, "They are destined to be Level 5's by rite due to paternal and maternal blood lines and there is no one else who has the necessary skills we need for the daunting task before us. That is why Alpha Carlo and Madame Gina put them in charge."

"I still say I should be in charge, my family has been in law enforcement for decades," Ash said as his brother stood up next to him.

Enzo stood to his full height of almost 6'. "Do you know how to obtain passports, driver's licenses, birth certificates, credit cards as well as other forms of identification? Do you know how to set up protection details? Do you know how to set up security cameras and electronic surveillance? Do you know how to provide proper training techniques to the youngsters?"

Ashton shrugged before sighing and said, "No, but I..."

"We'll teach you how to do all that and more, until then... sit your ass down," Enzo said as he raised his eyebrow looking exactly like his father. "I requested this first meeting without The Elders or women so we can get ourselves organized into groups according to our strengths. In addition to the groups Sophia mentioned, there are several others we need to form."

He looked around the room and said, "Gabriella Moretti, please stand." She stood and he said, "We need someone to be in charge of our history. Madame Gina will provide access to the Pack Archives and we need to make a list of items that are necessary for our future generations to know the history of SMP. When the time comes, those items will need to be gathered and placed in a safe area that will be determined later. Will you accept the Keeper of the Archives position?"

Gabby nodded, "I would be honored."

He smiled before looking around the room, "Gary Pinelli, please stand." He stood and Enzo said, "We need someone to be in charge of vehicles to get us from our territory to our destination. They'll need to be maintained in perfect working order, kept full at all times, and cannot be traced back to the Pack or anybody associated with it. Will you accept the Director of Transportation position?"

Gary nodded, "I would be honored."

Enzo nodded and looked around the room, "Kevin Richards, please stand." He stood and Enzo said, "We need someone in charge of continuing our education according to the standards our Alpha's set for us. You will need to obtain the current curriculum, textbooks and any other materials you deem necessary including materials for the young ones. Will you accept the Director of Education position?"

Kevin nodded, "I would be honored."

Enzo searched the room, "Jason and Lila Burns, Cole and Angela Robertson, Harry and Emily Reeder, please stand." They stood and Enzo said, "We need someone to be in charge of the young ones. The women will help as much as possible, but they will be feeling the loss of their mate so we need to do as much as possible to assist them. You need to organize the young ones into groups to practice going through the tunnel so they aren't scared, to quickly get into the vehicles, to listen to instructions and most importantly for them to be as quiet as possible. They will need booster seats and car seats already placed in the get away vehicles; plus items like formula, diapers, baby wipes, soft foods, snacks, and comforting things like stuffed animals. All of this must be in place when we make our escape so we don't waste time. I've picked the six of you, but you need to figure out who the Director of Young Ones is going to be. Do you accept this responsibility?"

All six nodded, "We would be honored."

Enzo paused before saying, "Ashton Knight, please stand." He stood and Enzo stared at him before saying. "We need someone to plan our escape route or routes. You will need to know these roads inside and out; where the turns are, stop signs, stop lights, speed limits and speed traps, the last thing we need if we're escaping is to get stopped for speeding. As I mentioned, you will need a primary route, plus several alternate routes. Do you accept the Director of Logistics position?

Ashton nodded, "I would be honored."

Sophia stood, "As you can see these positions are closely related to each other and we'll need to work together to ensure everything flows smoothly. Our success depends on this and as we move forward in our plans, other positions may become necessary and we'll fill those with the most qualified." She looked at the clock, "We'll take a break to eat and for the Directors to assemble their teams. I want you to pick people who'll be the best at helping you, not just friends and family. For example, Gary I expect you to have Beatrice on your team, she had the highest scores on the auto repair course the girls take. After our break, Paulo will give us a financial accounting, and we'll have an open discussion."

Forty minutes later, Sophia called for the meeting to come to order. The youngsters hurriedly cleaned up and sat in the bleachers. Paulo took a deep breath and stood, "With the money from the Alpha's and Davis Pack we have over $400 million to fund our escape, find a new place to live, and provide for our Pack. This may seem like a lot, but depending on where we go the cost of land and suitable housing will take a lot of it plus we will have to buy vehicles and a thousand other things to start over again." He paused and said, "Not to mention the money some governments will require to allow us to move there." He didn't mention the Rossi family money because that would be used at Anthony's discretion.

"We need to find a country that has a large undeveloped area, that we can buy hundreds, if not thousands of acres so we can establish our compound. It has to be remote enough that we won't be easily detected yet accessible enough that we have access to the supplies we need," Enzo said with a sigh. "We'll have to become more self-sufficient and learn to grow our food, harvest it, and can it so we can have a suitable diet. Depending on where we are, we can either hunt for meat or purchase it. Our way of life is going to totally change and we need to prepare for it."

*****

The airport in Hagerstown was quiet at 7 PM as Dante and the Italians were preparing to fly to London. They had moved up their departure after Dante called his cousin and was told he could meet with him from 11AM to 11:30 precisely, not a minute more. Having grown up with his cousin from the age of thirteen when they started Eton together he knew how rigid he could be, the complete opposite of Carlo but Dante was equally close to both of them.

The three Alpha's stared at each other and Carlo said quietly, "Thank you for coming to assist us Dante. I don't know what I would do without you."

Dante smiled and hugged him whispering in his ear, "It is my greatest hope that we never have to find out." He stepped back and hugged Gina, smiling when he heard Carlo growl, "Take care my cousins, we will be back in three months but if you need us before then, we are only a phone call away."

Ric, Rocco and Luc hugged Frank, Rose, Joe and Annie and Ric said quietly, "If you need us, call. Protect your youngsters my cousins, they are a pain in the ass especially Damian, but they are definitely Carlucci's."

"And Vitti's," Luc added with a smile as Frank and Joe rolled their eyes and their mates glared at them.

"Ten minutes," Dante said and the Italians finished saying goodbye to their families. Their attention was diverted as they heard two vehicles quickly approaching and the men gathered around their Alpha's and mates to protect them.

"What the fuck?" Carlo exclaimed as Amanda got out of the lead vehicle and walked toward them smiling broadly.

"Good evening everyone," she said as several workers got out of the vehicles and opened the van doors revealing styrofoam coolers. "Compliments of the employees of Long John Silver's of the Southeast Region for you to enjoy on your flight home. We have chicken planks, fried fish, clam strips, popcorn shrimp, fries, hush puppies, cole slaw, corn on the cob and for dessert we have pineapple cream cheese pie and chocolate cream pie. We've also taken the liberty of including several 2-liters of A & W Root beer and other Pepsi products."

Dante was ecstatic and almost jumping up and down in excitement, "Thank you so much Amanda, but how did you know we were leaving?"

"Damian Carlucci, several members of his family and Anthony Rossi came in and ordered this for you and told us to include this note. When I realized you were leaving, I contacted my Regional Manager and he wanted to thank you for your patronage of our restaurants and for including us in the reception. We filled the order as specified by Mr. Carlucci, but didn't charge him," she said as the workers smiled as she handed the note to him.

Dante read it before bursting out in laughter, Carlo grabbed it out of his hand and read it out loud, "We thought long and hard of a Thank you/Going away gift and couldn't think of anything you'd like more than another meal of chicken planks and all the fixins. Try not to fight over the last chicken plank or hush puppy when you're at 30,000 feet, even though y'all are old and weak and have nowhere near our skills, I doubt the plane could handle it. The Clan."

"That had to be written by Damian, the little bastard," Ric said with a laugh.

"Who else would thank and insult us at the same time," Rocco said with a laugh as Joe smiled proudly.

"Thank you for this Amanda, we are going to enjoy this," Dante said as he pulled out his wallet. "How many workers did it take to prepare this?"

"Please Sir, that's not necessary. You've done enough and helped some of us more than you know," she said as she shook her head. At his confused look she continued, "With the tips you've given us, you've paid for college tuition and books, car repairs and payments, medicine, rent and given so many other things. Some of my staff work two jobs to make ends meet and this was our thank you."

Dante smiled, "Thank them for me and since you won't take a tip, how about you take your staff out to dinner on me." He handed her a roll of $100 bills and went to each employee and thanked them while they in turn thanked him before they got in their vehicles and left. His Pack members finished loading the plane and Ric pointed at his watch. "I really have to go; I'll see everyone in three months."

Carlo and Dante stared at each other and whispered, "Dobbiamo proteggere la confezione e la famiglia sopra ogni cosa." With one last embrace, Dante turned and walked to the plane without looking back.