South Mountain Pack Ch. 15

Luc took a calming breath, "What did my Madame Alpha say? I hope everyone is well, Nonna didn't say anything was wrong when I spoke to her."

"Everyone is fine, but you know that, don't you?" Gina replied and watched Luc begin to squirm. "She received a call from a specialty shop in Rome, that her special order was ready. She couldn't remember ordering anything but sent someone to get it and was surprised when she opened the package."

Luc chugged the rest of his beer and got another, drinking half of that before he said in a calm controlled voice, "Was it a surprise present Alpha Dante ordered for her birthday? He will be upset if she saw it beforehand."

"No, as a matter of fact it was something Catarina ordered," murmured Gina as she began to smirk. Seeing the perplexed look on his face, she leaned forward, "It was personalized stationary... with the name Catarina Vitti on it." Luc's bottle slammed down onto the counter as he began to choke on the beer he just drank. She smiled broadly, "Relax. She hasn't told Dante... yet."

He let out a deep sigh and looked down at his shoes, "I should be getting back to the room; they will wonder where I am." The sounds of the women's laughter stopped him as he walked down the hallway and he took several deep breaths to compose himself before he walked into Paulo's office.

"Hey Mom, what was all that about?" asked Anthony as the youngsters stopped talking to hear the answer.

"Nothing, just talking to Luc," replied Gina.

"Come on Mom, it sounded like more than that," Anthony said in a wheedling tone as the youngsters started to laugh.

Gina stared at her son and the other boys, "If I was you, I'd be more concerned with the talk you're going to have at the lake."

"Yes, ma'am," the boys said as they quieted down and Lorenzo said quietly, "We are so fucked."

"We're beyond fucked," added Gianni with a sigh.

"If there's a place beyond fucked, that's where we are," Marcus said as he leaned back on the sofa as the boys nodded in agreement.

"We're so far beyond fucked, we're gonna need a homing pigeon because I don't even think the best damn GPS on the market can find a way to save our sorry asses," Damian said with a smirk as the youngsters laughed.

"Watch your language," admonished Annie with a glare at the boys. "I know you've corrupted Sophia and Maria and Luna only knows how you talk to each other over the bond, but be respectful around the Miller girls."

Holly started to laugh quietly and said in a whisper, "I will say your boys have a way with words. I've never heard 'fuck' used in so many ways before."

Rose grimaced, "We don't even pay attention anymore. The only time we notice is when Sophia or Maria drop the F bomb." The women looked at the boys who were arguing which TV cop show was the best. The Millers sat quietly as the argument got louder and louder as Sophia, Maria and Gabby joined in.

"All of you are wrong," Kelly said as she began to blush. The room quieted down as she continued, "It's got to be 'NCIS'."

"I wouldn't mind getting arrested by DiNozzo if it meant he frisked me..." Erin stopped as Lorenzo growled loudly startling her.

He stared at her possessively and snapped, "No one is gonna get close enough to frisk you...EVER." Erin smiled shyly as he continued to growl before pulling her closer to his side and draping his arm over her shoulders.

"It's because it has Mark Harmon in it. He's the best looking man I've ever seen," Caitlin said with a deep sigh as Damian began to growl.

"He's a hundred fifty fuckin years old," muttered Damian with a scowl as the other boys grinned at his obvious jealousy.

"He's timeless," Caitlin answered with another sigh. "He's got the elegance of Cary Grant, the ruggedness of John Wayne, the comedic genius of Bob Hope, a smoldering bad boy vibe like James Dean tempered with a sense of right and wrong like James Stewart. In other words...he's perfect."

"Perfect my fucking ass," muttered Damian as he continued to scowl before saying in an angry voice, "Let's watch a movie." As he put the movie in the DVD player Sal dimmed the lights and the music from 'Jaws' began playing.

"Is it scary?" asked Maeve as she burrowed closer to her twin.

"Kinda, I'm here if you get scared," Enzo answered as he moved to the floor near her feet, Gino moved to sit near Fiona and the two young girls visibly relaxed; taking their cue, the boys moved closer to their charges. Vin and Dom took advantage of the darkened room and pulled Brianna and Morgan in between their outstretched legs, settling them against their chests as they watched the movie.

In Paulo's office, no one had spoken and the tension was mounting minute by minute, finally after ten minutes Dante said, "Was there a problem with RI?"

Luc lowered his eyes, "No Sir, I thought it was business but it was personal." The men began to talk about the game and the Meet 'n Mingle.

Ed shrugged, "Beatrice hasn't found her mate yet and she turned eighteen last month. I'm worried, but she says he'll find her when he's ready."

"I'm sure she's right and his wolf isn't ready but I'll talk to Gina, she's pretty good about these things," Carlo said in a concerned tone. "Dante, I know you're worried Cat hasn't found her mate yet either and I have an idea. Why don't you have a Meet 'n Mingle at The Castle, one Pack at a time? If she doesn't find her mate in an Italian Pack, expand it to Europe."

Luc began flexing his hands as Dante said with a shrug, "I am in no hurry for her to find her mate. She will probably end up with someone who gets on my fucking nerves and is a pain in my ass. You know the type I am talking about, an arrogant little bastard who has shit for brains and no sense of decorum."

Todd nodded, "I know exactly what you're saying. I was worried about my girls finding mates in our old Pack." He turned to Frank and smiled, "Except for the fact Vin and Dom can't stop slobbering on my daughters, I'm happy."

Frank grimaced, "I'm not looking forward to that."

"With Anthony being a blood born Alpha, he'll feel stronger emotions than the other boys and his wolf will want to claim her before anyone else has a chance," Carlo said in a quiet voice. "I remember when I made my declaration for Gina. Those eleven months were the longest eleven months in my life. Anthony has three years to wait and I don't know how he's going to do it."

"The same goes for Alberto," Carmelo said with a sigh. "I had to wait six months for Rita and it drove me insane."

"This is why I do not want my daughter to find her mate. All the problems you are having, I would rather not deal with," Dante said with a shudder. "I am thinking of sending her to Vitorchiano until she turns twenty one." He had to turn away from Luc to hide his smile as he heard the younger man gasp. "The estate is four hours away, extremely remote and the population in the nearby town is less than 4,000. Naturally, I would provide guards with families but I would make sure there was an absence of any hormone fueled male Were around her and will tell her guards not to allow any visitors, even family friends."

Luc visibly paled and Ric coughed to hide his laughter before saying, "I think that's a great idea, you can't be too careful with her. Who knows what any perspective suitor would do to get close to her and of course your business."

"I wouldn't trust any male that said he was her mate," added Rocco with a scowl. "She is extremely beautiful but naïve and could be taken advantage of by someone unscrupulous." Luc began taking deep angry breaths, his hands fisted at his sides and the men put their heads down so he wouldn't notice their smiles.

"Exactly my point," said Dante with a frown that was at odds with the gleam in his eyes. "Screw it, I am going to call Cal and tell her to send Cat tomorrow."

Luc's eyes began to shift to amber and he turned to Dante and said in a snarl, "You are not sending my mate away. SHE IS MINE."

The men stared as Dante said in a hard demanding tone, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. She is mine. You are not taking her away from me," Luc snapped as his eyes continued to flick to amber.

Dante stared at the younger man and Luc didn't back down, after several minutes Dante smiled and said, "It is about time you admitted it, you little bastard. I was wondering when you would make your declaration."

"You... you knew?" Luc asked as he looked around the room and saw the smiles on the men's faces.

"I suspected when you started to act strangely towards each other and it was made worse with your reluctance to join the Meet 'n Mingle," Dante said with a shrug. "But it was the phone call, with my daughter's favorite song as the ringtone that confirmed it... that and listening to your conversation."

"I should have remembered the security system and gone outside," Luc said with a frown. He looked down at the floor and asked quietly, "Are you upset with the mate Luna picked for your daughter?"

Dante closed his eyes as images of Luc's father, Emilio, flashed through his mind and though years had passed and their retribution had been swift, it had done nothing to dull the pain. The images wouldn't stop and Dante closed his eyes even tighter as he savored each and every one of them; he, Ric, Rocco and Emilio, the four of them always together as they grew from little ones to men with families of their own. Opening his eyes he looked at Luc and the resemblance between father and son had unsettled him since Emilio's death but now it put him at ease.

"Your father was one of my best friends and I loved him like he was my brother. He would be as happy as I am for this declaration," Dante said in a choked voice before embracing his future son in law. Leaning back, but not letting go of Luc he said, "We heard what you said about having to prove yourself... you are the son of Emilio and Serafina Vitti but you are your own man. You have more than proven your own worth and I am honored for you to be a member of my family."

The men congratulated him with Ric and Rocco being the last. "Even though Emilio was our Uncle, we were raised as brothers since he was only a year older," Ric said as he began to tear up. "Losing him was like losing a piece of myself."

"We know we've been hard on you, but we treated you the same as our own sons and expected a lot from you. Though we never told you, you've made us proud," Rocco said with a frown. "Now this doesn't mean we'll be easier on you because deep down you're still a little arrogant bastard... but we do love you."

"And if you tell anybody, we'll beat the hell out of you," added Ric with a smile.

Luc smirked and said in an arrogant condescending tone, "It would take the two of you to beat me. You know I am younger and stronger thus I am superior."

"And this is why we argue," said Ric as he began to frown.

Dante stepped between the three men, "Enough. Let us finish sorting these papers so we can get started on the files."

An hour later they finished and Joe said, "After listening to Luc, I have an idea. We should make a weeks worth of recordings of The School House, our homes and businesses. We'd need to sync up the TV, radio and lights too."

Carlo began to smile, "I get it. When Aldo lets us know it's close to the time, we send the youngsters, women and The Elders to the safe room and play the recordings as if they were still doing their normal routines."

"I can set that up using the security systems," Paulo said as he opened a desk drawer pulling out a notebook. "I'll work on that next month. I've got several things going on, the tracking devices which Sal's helping with and Damian's working on the schedule to install the security updates linking the cell phones. I put him in charge because he's good talking to people and he's gonna go with me." He began to laugh, "For most of the installs, we're having dinner or dessert with them."

Joe smiled and shook his head, "That boy is a menace."

"Like father, like son." Joe scowled as Carlo continued, "Let's call the women." Joe handed out paper to write questions or details to be talked about later. Minutes later they were reading over 400 emails, starting with the earliest and Carlo and Gina were the first to get to the most recent ones. "SON OF A BITCH," he roared and shifted into his black wolf throwing his head back howling angrily, the sound reverberating through the house and the 'danger' scent was released into the air. They heard the sound of running and Carlo ran down the hallway followed by the others to see the boys with the girls slung over their shoulders racing down the basement stairs heading to the safe room.

"I've got the door," Victor shouted as the boys never slowed down and as the door to the safe room opened they were running through it. Setting the girls gently on the bunks, Alberto made sure Maria's arm was propped up as Vin locked the house down and Dom powered up the monitors.

"What's going on?" Anthony asked as he made sure all the girls were there. Before anyone could answer, Carlo in wolf form went to each girl, starting with the youngest Millers, scenting them to make sure they were okay and to calm them down. The last one was Sophia and after scenting her he licked her on the forehead in an affectionate gesture a father would do to soothe his young. She laughed and he chuffed in answer before going into the back room to change into clothes he kept there.

"What's going on?" Anthony repeated to the adults.

"We've been reading the emails," Gina answered and saw Dante was still carrying his copies and motioned for him to give them to her. "Last week, an email was sent to 'The MasterMind' confirming a second payment had been sent with delivery within eighteen months. The rest of the email..." She stopped and looked at her son before looking at Sophia and Maria, "states they now want both Carlucci's as well as the rest of the girls and are offering 20 million dollars for their delivery."

The boys immediately formed a protective barrier in front of the girls, the men began to fist their hands and their eyes turned amber as they fought off their shift. Rose and Annie rolled their necks and took deep breaths like their father had taught them to calm down and Holly hugged Nana Ellen.

"The next email from 'The MasterMind' agrees to the terms and promises delivery of the Millers before June, and the rest of the girls by December, 2004," Gina finished quietly as her eyes flickered between her soft brown and amber. She looked at Todd and Holly, "Brianna and Morgan turn eighteen in June."

Carlo walked into the room, "Until we read through and understand the emails, files and whatever the fuck is on that hard-drive, everything's on hold. We'll cancel the boys training tomorrow, and have another Pack meeting." His eyes fell on the girls and he said in a voice full of anger, "They'll never get close to you."

Maeve smiled and said in a low voice filled with confidence, "Remember when we were in the car and I told you I wasn't scared anymore? I'm still not scared because I know you and my Pack will protect me."

"Always," Carlo answered as he smiled back. He looked to the boys and said with a gleam in his eye, "I see whatever happened earlier didn't interfere with your response time in getting the girls to safety."

"No, Sir," the boys responded as they put their heads down, shuffled their feet and furtively glanced at each other.

"What'd I miss?" Paulo asked as he took in the guilty expressions on the younger boys. Lorenzo explained what happened and the girls laughed quietly and the adults stared as Paulo's eyebrows shot up, his mouth fell open and his eyes got wide. "Damn, I'm almost sorry I stayed home."

"Great poker face Doyle Brunson," muttered Damian as he coughed to hide his laughter. "It's a good thing you didn't come, this way you aren't in trouble like us. Congrats on cracking the code, I knew you could do it little brother."

Paulo blushed and shoved his hands in his pockets, "It was a complicated code, but I'm upset with myself it took me so long."

"You cracked it before the IT Department from the Alpha Council," Anthony said with a shrug. "They've had it way longer than you."

"They don't have my little brothers mad skills," said Lorenzo proudly as Carlo told everyone to go back upstairs. Four hours later, the youngsters had fallen asleep in the family room and the adults were still sorting the files and financials. The amount of folders was overwhelming and they soon had to move some out to the kitchen where they covered the countertop and table.

"Alpha Carlo," Paulo said excitedly as the adults gathered around. "We found the source of their income or at least one of them. It's labeled 'Trucking', that's slang for transporting drugs. I'll print everything, but it shows who they bought the drugs from including price and amounts; maps showing the routes they used for transport from the Mexican border through their territory; who they sold the drugs to including price and when it was sold; payment to the Pack members who participated. Hold on." They watched as the deposit record for the bank in the Cayman's appeared on the six right hand screens, "If you notice, there was a corresponding deposit made into the bank several days later."

"President Roberts said there were a number of men that disappeared every Monday and didn't come back until late Tuesday," Carlo said as Paulo confirmed the dates. He turned to Todd, "What's the terrain like?"

"It's a mountainous region, sparsely populated with few major highways," Todd responded as Papa Mike nodded. "It's patrolled by DEA, local and state police due to smuggling and illegal immigration. I can't see them transporting this amount of drugs in a vehicle without getting caught. And why would they need that many men if they had a truck?"

"They wouldn't use trucks, at least not to transport the drugs through their territory," Paulo said in a quiet voice. "The logical thing would be for a couple men to meet the supplier and make the deal then go to a safe house where the rest of the men were waiting. Once there, all the men except one would shift into their wolves and he'd strap the drugs to their back. While they ran he'd be on nearby roads checking for patrols, anything unusual or to provide a distraction if necessary. Once they reached their destination, he'd unstrap the drugs and they'd shift back to get ready for their buyer." The adults were staring at him in astonishment and Paulo shrugged, "If you think about it, it's pretty fuckin brilliant. If the truck gets stopped, the dogs they use would never alert to the drugs because it would be masked by the scent of wolves and it'd scare the hell out of them. Plus, they're looking for vehicles, not wolves. Who in their right mind would think a bunch of Werewolves would be transporting drugs on their back through the mountains?"

Ed quietly said in a tone he used in the interrogation room, "How the hell would you know all of that?"

Paulo had a wicked grin on his face, "I'm a Carlucci, and it's natural for us to look at things from a skewered perspective and think of ways to circumvent them or prevent them." He turned back to his computer while he laughed softly.

"Luna help us all, they're getting more and more like Frank and Joe everyday," muttered Vinnie as he looked at his Godson.

Frank, Joe, Annie and Rose looked at each other with pride in their eyes as Carlo said, "And that is why our Pack is strong and will stay strong. The Rossi's are the brains and brawn, while the Carlucci's are overprotective, paranoid, psychotic and let's be honest... they're just downright fucking scary."

"We'll take that as a compliment," Frank said with a grin. "Ed, see what you can send to the DEA with as little details about Davis Pack as possible. I'm sure they'll be happy at least one supplier has been shutdown."