South Mountain Pack Ch. 16

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

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.

*

"The fucking Security Division?... I...I can't believe that... they've taken oaths to uphold the laws of the Alpha Council," Tristan said as he slowly exhaled as the others stood in stunned silence.

"Gabe did say he felt betrayal around him. We have to wonder though, why didn't they warn the three Packs of the upcoming raids? Is it a play for power and money or something else?" Carlo asked quietly before turning to Paulo. "Can you find who accessed the account?"

"Unfortunately no, all I got was the IP address but it doesn't tell me who was using the computer only the area it originated. The ACSD changes IP addresses randomly so I can't target a specific computer. I can access the video and narrow it down by seeing who was using computers at the time," Paulo said with a sigh. Ten minutes later he said, "The video'll start five minutes before the alert."

"Look at their body language," Savannah said as she sat next to Paulo and stared at the laptop monitor. "You're looking for someone who's trying to hide what they're doing, looking over their shoulder, is tense and displays agitated movements, like running his hands through his hair, deep breathing and rolling his neck." The men turned to stare at her and she shrugged, "I'm a criminal attorney, I see this type of behavior on a daily basis."

"Alpha Carlo, while you're doing this I'd like to take Rain to the roof so he can do his recon," Ed said as he looked at his watch.

"Take Frank, George, Brad, Aldo and Jeff with you," Carlo said as he continued to stare at the screen.

"I've got everything I need," Rain said as he nodded to the x-large duffle bag he had kept at his side the entire day. The men headed to the third floor and went down the hall stopping in front of the door to the center column. "Frank, this is the first time I've been anywhere but the cafeteria and gym. It's freakin amazing."

"Aldo and his men have done a wonderful job maintaining the building and all the updates have been historically accurate while upholding current codes. That's why it's considered one of the more important historical buildings in Maryland," Frank said with pride as Aldo smiled. Jeff walked ten feet down the hallway and removed a piece of baseboard molding revealing a keypad, after he typed in the code the door opened revealing a staircase leading to the tower room.

Aldo removed the third tread on the staircase revealing a keypad, after typing in the code he replaced the tread and proceeded up the stairs opening the trap door and the men followed him into the tower room. The only furnishings in the room were a small table with two chairs and a two door metal cabinet. "We keep tools here, so we don't have to run down to the maintenance shop," Aldo explained with a shrug as he moved to the front wall and removed the window molding. He typed the code in and part of the rear wall swung open on hinges.

"Follow me," Jeff said as he stepped through the door onto the flat roof.

Rain set his bag down and got out a notebook and pen before turning to Aldo, "You have the exact dimensions and plans of the roof?"

Aldo turned to Frank who said, "Get him a copy of the external specs." Jeff nodded and headed to the maintenance department in the basement.

Aldo opened his notebook and followed Rain to the roof's edge where he crouched down to check the decorative iron railing that ran along it. "Doesn't provide much cover does it?" Rain asked to no one in particular. "We're going to need solid planks, like an inch thick of lead."

Aldo asked, "How high and is it to cover the whole roof line?"

"We don't want them to cover the entire surface, we'll need sections open so we can shoot and use them for cover. At the corners, leave a 1' section open on both sides. We don't want them to be visible, so lay them out and when we need them we'll insert them in 'U' brackets," Rain looked at Frank, "We're the two broadest guys, lay next to me and they can measure us to see how wide the planks need to be." After they lay down, Aldo pulled a tape measure out of his pocket and Ed measured them and Aldo wrote it down. Rain got up and looked at the measurements, "They'll need to be 6' long and 2' high. I'll go over the plans with Tristan and we'll send the schematics of where we want them set up."

Rain continued walking around the roof line until he arrived back to where his bag lay. Crouching down he pulled out Steiner binoculars and went to the right side of the tower room. "What are you looking for?" Frank asked as the men moved to stand next to him.

"Several things. I'm trying to figure out which way they're going to come, the front gate is obvious but if they're trying to sneak up on you, they'll come through the woods. You've got cameras and made funnels to direct them, that's good but once they get to the wall, they're going to look for the least resistance while still looking for cover," Rain said as he turned to glance at Frank. "That jump from the top of the wall will be difficult, but it can be done."

"We're installing an iron railing with ornamental spikes in front of the shrubbery and we're also putting spikes inside. Well, I guess it won't be so ornamental if they get speared with them," Frank said with a smile.

"Right before the battle paint them with liquid silver and shake wolfsbane on it when the paint is tacky," Rain said as he moved along the roof, staring and then looking through the binoculars before writing in his notebook.

"Where can we get wolfsbane? I don't know of anybody that has it," Aldo said as he turned to stare at Rain before writing in his notebook.

"There's a store in Leesburg, VA, called Esoterica. It's a new age store and they sell healing crystals, herbs, candles and other similar items. I doubt they carry it but they may know of somebody who grows it. They also carry Moonstone, you may want to buy some of the larger rocks, have Luna bless them on the full moon and place them around the grounds for added protection."

Frank looked at Rain in amazement, "I never would've thought you believed in the power of crystals and rocks."

Rain said in a quiet voice, "When you've been to some of the places I've been and seen some of the things I have... well, you learn to accept and believe in things you don't understand." He turned to Aldo, "When you go, talk to the staff because there are crystals that will help center you when you're meditating and help you focus." Frank passed the information to Carlo knowing Maeve wanted to find somebody to help her understand her gift better.

After he finished his visual inspection of the roof and grounds, he went to his bag and pulled out an olive green plastic carrying case. The men leaned forward anxious to see the weapon inside and Rain flipped the locks revealing an M24 sniper rifle and scope nestled inside foam interior compartments. He assembled it and handed it to Ed, "Joe verified its empty, but before I do anything more I want you to verify it also. I need to lie down at the edge of the roof to get a good feel for things. I'll do it on the back of the building, away from the football field." Ed took the rifle and verified the chamber and magazine were empty. Rain lay down and put a small sandbag under the muzzle and moved until he found the position he wanted, "We won't use the bi-pod stand because we'll have to move around too much, the sandbag will allow us the flexibility to do that. Aldo, here is where we'll be shooting from, so you'll want the planks here." He pointed to an area 8" behind the muzzle.

Jeff went into the tower room and came back with spray paint and sprayed a small line. "I'm not sure how many men Alpha Carlo and Tristan are going to put up here, but we should plan on 40 -- 50, depending on how many are attacking and where they are. To put it simply, the bullets we're going to manufacture are lead-tipped silver with a wolfsbane core. We need to find people to mine the silver from Swift's and then manufacture the bullets according to our specs; obviously we can't do it. Tristan will talk to Alpha Carlo about that when we get more information."

Rain got up, dismantled his rifle and carefully put it into the case and said, "Now I need some pictures." He got out a digital camera and walked around taking pictures of the areas he had noted down. They repeated the process in relocking the tower room and center column before rejoining the others.

"Any luck?" Frank asked as they walked in the cafeteria which had just been finished being cleaned.

Carlo shook his head in disgust, "Every fucking computer was being used and Savvie says they all look guilty of something. Paulo's going to enhance it to see if he can get any more details. We do have something interesting; ten minutes after the account was accessed Charles was served his tray." Paulo cued the video on the large screen and the men watched Charles howl before shifting.

"We're assuming that was his reaction to finding out the money was gone," Tristan said with a smile. "Losing $600 mil will do that to a man."

"The question is... how did he find out? Nobody spoke to him, the metal in the bars prevents the use of the bond, and his cell is away from the others ... so again, how did he find out?" Savannah asked before taking a sip of sweet tea.

"Had to be a note. Look at the guard; when they open the cart doors he pulls out a specific tray and instead of watching the prisoner while he hands it to him, he glances down like he's telling him something. I'm getting a feeling of subservience; but there's something off about it, like he's doing this because he has to, not because he wants to," Aldo said as he stood to the side of the screen.

After watching the video three more times, Carlo said, "You're right Aldo. It's very subtle but it's there. When he sits on his cot that must be when he read it because he howled and shifted almost immediately."

"How'd you spot it?" Savannah asked as she turned to Aldo.

"Twenty years of working here. Even though the families use the bond, they still need to find ways to talk to their friends when they're supposed to be studying," Aldo said with a grin as the others nodded.

Carlo glanced at his watch, "Let's finish." After everyone was seated, Vinnie and Carmelo passed out copies for the next item to be discussed. The first page contained the Key to the Prophecies and was numbered 1 - 8 with Italian, French, and Greek filling the first three spots with the rest empty. Each page contained a Prophecy, the original along with the translation and how they pertained to Anthony and Sophia. He waited until they finished reading and looked around the room, "As you can see, we've located three, and possibly know of a fourth, more on that later." He explained how Dante had revealed the Italian Prophecy and the discovery of the other two. "Do you know of any others?"

They shook their heads and Savannah said, "I'll ask The Elders, they may know something and I'll go through the Alpha journals and the Archives."

Tristan shook his head, "I've already asked everyone and Rain and I went though the rest of the books in the Archives and haven't found anything else."

Carlo nodded, "As for the Prophecies, we've discovered increased powers my son has using the mental bond. Anthony is able to communicate to those he isn't related to by blood or Pack ties; this morning he was able to talk to Alpha Tristan and Rain. He also has a farther than normal range when using it. We haven't tested the range yet, but he was able to talk to a Pack member who was 25 miles away." There were gasps from PR and Tristan and Rain sat back with smirks on their faces.

Tristan looked at Carlo, "We should do more tests; does he have to know them? Be physically near the person? What are the limits?"

Savannah, who had been reading over the Prophecies again, quietly said, "He doesn't know all the members I have with me today since this is the first time some of the younger boys are here. He probably saw them when you visited our Pack, but I don't think he really knows them. Let's see how many he can contact." She stopped and put her pen down, "What other powers does he have?"

"I don't know. I honestly have no idea what he can do or how he does it," Carlo answered with a sigh as his voice trailed off. "What I do know is his strength is off the charts, he's been hiding it from us so I don't think even he knows how strong he is." He was quiet for several minutes before saying, "The first half is almost done. We're ahead 30 -- 6 so Coach is pulling the seniors and Anthony for the second half. He would like to join us."

*****

"Are you going to talk to me? You've been mad at me all week," Bob asked as he moved to run alongside Lorenzo on the way to the locker room. Getting no response other than a growl he continued, "You know you're gonna have to talk to me during the game since you're the QB and I'm a receiver."

Lorenzo stopped running and glared at him, "You went on a fucking date with MY MATE. You were whispering to MY MATE. You put your hands on MY MATE. You scented MY MATE."

Bob grinned and said, "But she wasn't your mate... THEN."

"I'm gonna fucking kill you," Lorenzo growled as Vin, Dom and Damian held him back and Bob began to laugh loudly as his brothers Patrick, Jim, and Ethan moved quickly to his side. Ant grinned and motioned for them to head in the gym and they nodded as grins spread across their faces before they left.

Vin pushed Lorenzo before grabbing him by the facemask and staring into his eyes, "You know he's right; Erin was free to do what she wanted with who she wanted. The person you're really upset with is yourself; you're mad because it wasn't you on that date with her."

"Bob's been your friend since you were in diapers so get over it. If it wasn't him on the date with Erin, then it would've been somebody else," Dom said as he grabbed the other side of the facemask and they lead a growling Lorenzo towards the gym as everyone else followed.

"He's right bro. The past couple of weeks you've been acting like a bear with a sore ass... or is it a sore head? I can never remember that expression and what exactly does it mean anyway? How the hell do they tell if a bear has a sore ass? Or a sore head? And who in the hell would want that job? And what kind of college degree do they have to have? They'd better be getting paid a shitload of money if they have to check some bears ass," Damian rambled while The Clan stopped and stared at him as he continued to walk. He began laughing so hard he stopped walking and put his hands on his knees, "You see what I did there? Shitload and ass. Damn, that was funny; I crack myself up." He stopped to look at the rest of the boys and noticed they were ten feet behind him staring at him, "What?"

"You're seriously disturbed Carlucci," Angelo said as he began to laugh. "I mean seriously. What the hell goes on in your brain to think like that?"

Damian smirked. "Aldo gets feelings and premonitions, Maeve sees auras and I... I have the gift of disambiguation and dissimulation."

"You don't have any special gifts you fucking nitwit," muttered Marcus as he rolled his eyes. "And the only 'dis' you are... is DISturbed."

"Those were this week's vocabulary words in Mrs. G's English class you fucking idiot," Gianni said as he frowned.

"And part of our homework was to use them in a sentence. Which I just did ... so mission accomplished," Damian continued to smirk before he ran towards the gym when Marcus and Gianni began to chase him.

"You need to get ready for the second half. You going to behave?" Vin asked Lorenzo and when he nodded the two oldest Carlucci's let go of his face mask and he quickly caught up to Marcus and Gianni.

"I can't believe they're going to be my brother in laws," Alberto said as he ran his hands over his face. "What the hell did I do to deserve them?"

"I heard that. You should be thanking Luna that my beautiful sister is your mate," Damian said as he turned at the door of the gym. "Having us for brothers in law is the icing on the cake, the cherry on top of the sundae, the extra prize in the Cracker Jack box, a double scoop of vanilla ice cream with apple..." He stopped as he was tackled by Lorenzo, Marcus and Gianni.

The older boys started to laugh as Coach JR shouted, "Get in the locker room now or I'm gonna bench all of you." The boys scrambled to their feet as JR shook his head before he started to grin.

*****

Anthony stood in the hallway and listened as they discussed the Prophecies and his father told everyone about Dante's upcoming meeting with Alpha Lykaion. "Hey Vin, you're with Sophia and Abby, right?"

"They're on the bleachers, sitting with the young'uns," Vin responded as he scanned the bleacher area before he began to smile. "Though I don't know how much attention Sal's paying since he's staring at Gabs and drooling."

"Bite me Vin," Sal retorted as he glared at his oldest brother before he returned his attention to Gabby. She waved and Sal brought his hand up to wave back spilling his tub of popcorn all over Victor.

"I'm not even going to say anything cause I can see you're in enough misery," Victor said quietly as Sal buried his face in his hands and muffled laughter was heard from the boys as the girls smiled.

"I'm ready to go into this meeting but I'll keep the bond open if you need me," Ant replied as he took a deep breath and rolled his neck.

"We believe Dante located the fourth one in England and his cousin Jarrod Coleman, Alpha of Thetford Pack and the Earl of Thetford will be here next week to discuss it," Carlo said and turned to stare down the hallway. "Are you going to come in or stand in the hallway all day?" Seeing Anthony nod, Carlo continued, "After my son comes in, I'd like Dr. Sullivan to discuss a theory of his."

Paulo flushed bright red and began to fidget in his seat, "Dad, can I leave? I don't want to hear about heat cycles and stuff. I'll come back if you need me." Joe nodded and watched Paulo nod to the Alpha's before leaving and smiled when he saw Paulo bump fists with Ant as they passed each other in the doorway.

Anthony entered the room instantly feeling uncomfortable as everyone stared at him. He walked to his father with his head down, shoulders slumped and he was dragging his feet. Seeing this Carlo narrowed his eyes, "You are Anthony Eduardo Rossi, Alpha-heir of South Mountain Pack, a blood born direct descent of over two thousand years of Rossi Alpha's... ACT LIKE IT."

Anthony's head snapped up as he stared at his father. His demeanor changed and a crooked grin came over his face as he strode confidently towards his father with his shoulders back. He nodded to the visiting Alpha's and turned to face the others saying in a firm clear tone, "Let me introduce myself to those that don't know me; I'm Anthony Rossi, Alpha-heir of South Mountain Pack."

Carlo nodded for Doc to start and motioned for his son to join him at the Alpha's table, "Don't ever let me see you behave like that again. Always remember you are a Rossi and belong to one of the oldest lines of Were's. During the time of the Royal Court we were Princes and Dukes..."