South Mountain Pack Ch. 04

"Would you give up football, basketball or baseball if Sophia asked you to? Don't forget that she will be sitting in the stands watching other girls look at you and talk about you. Now personally I don't see your appeal, compared to me you're nothing special," said Gianni.

"So what you've got to do is man up, get your head out of your ass, and be proud of Sophia and support her. Trying to control her is just going to make both of you miserable," said Dominic, "and Dude, you're driving us nuts with all this whining!"

"So, what is your master plan now, since acting like an idiot, a jealous jackass and an overbearing oaf doesn't seem to be working," asked Gino with a laugh.

"I know, I know that I was wrong and I may have overreacted," said Anthony finally looking up at the assembled group of men.

"May have overreacted? Dude, you were off the chart insane," said Victor laughing.

"Was I really that bad?" asked Anthony, and received nods that yes, he was indeed that bad. "Is Sophia okay, she's not crying is she? Mr. C, can you check on her please. I tried talking to her through the bond and she has blocked me."

Frank looked at him and nodded, he used the bond including Joe and Carlo and contacted Michael since he didn't want to disturb Sophia, "Is Sophia okay? I know that if you needed us, you would have called for us, but Anthony wanted me to check."

"The girls are in the magazine aisle, looking at romance books and having a discussion if the male models on the cover are hotter then Anthony or not. Since Paulo and I have no opinion as to Anthony's supposed hotness we haven't been included in the discussion, but they are giggling, so yeah, she's okay," replied Michael. "In fact, as soon as they walked around the corner, both girls started giggling saying, 'he's so cute when he gets jealous', 'did you see the expression on his face when I called him an overbearing Jackass', 'his eyes were blazing fire he was so jealous'. So Uncle Frank, I think everything is fine with Sophia."

Frank replied to Anthony diplomatically, "Sophia is fine, the girls are having a private discussion right now, but she doesn't seem that upset."

Joe and Carlo turned around so that Anthony couldn't see their faces as they looked at each other and started laughing silently. Oh, the drama of teenage love.

"So what do I do now?" questioned Anthony with a pleading look on his face.

"Apologizing is always a good place to start, and flowers. Every sappy romance movie that the girls have made us watch always show the guy bringing flowers. Sophia likes daisies, so give her some tomorrow morning," said Sal.

"You might want to get her a card, though I don't think Hallmark makes, 'I'm sorry that I'm such an overbearing jealous jackass' cards but you might want to look just in case," said Damian laughing.

"I wouldn't call her, just send her a text. She probably won't answer if you call anyway," said Victor.

"Don't tell her you won't do it again, because you know damn well you will. Just tell her you will try to keep your jealousy under control and you are proud of her and want her to keep up her activities," suggested Lorenzo, "Maybe you could find some activities that the two of you could do together. I can just picture you in a pair of tights and a leotard."

"Don't forget the pink skirt thing," added Gianni laughing hysterically.

"Fuck you both," said Anthony laughing for the first time that afternoon.

Carlo, Frank and Joe just stood back letting the boys handle the situation and they seemed to be doing a really good job. Carlo asked them, "Did either of you realize that your boys were so smart, while mine seems to have lost his mind?"

"I think that they are just used to dealing with their sisters Carlo, Anthony hasn't been around girls like our boys have. Being around them for Pack functions and training classes isn't the same, plus he's got the mating pull that he has to deal with too. We'll have to wait and see how our boys act when they feel the pull, they may be worse then Anthony," said Joe to Frank and Carlo.

"Anthony, are you okay now? Do you need to talk anymore?" asked Carlo to his son.

"I'm fine Dad; just let some unfounded jealousy get the better of me again. I do need to get some flowers from the florist to give Sophia in the morning. I'll send her the text now. Could you guys help me with it? Right now, I'd probably say something else that is stupid," asked Anthony.

The boys all huddled around Anthony and composed a text to Sophia that said "Sorry acted like an idiot again. Try better in future. Love to take you to dance class. Forgive me?"

Sophia replied, "Maybe. See you tomorrow morning."

Just then, Frank heard from Rose, "We're all done shopping now, checked out and everything and all of us, including the girls are waiting by the cars. How is everything going with Anthony?"

"He's fine, got some good advice from the boys, will see you in a few moments, Do I want to know how much you spent?" replied Frank.

"No, it was a good thing you weren't at the checkout, but we ended up with four carts full of groceries. The boys eat like bottomless pits," answered Rose

"Alright boys, time to head on out, the rest of the Clan is waiting out by the cars. Anthony, thanks for the entertainment, we all needed a good laugh," said Frank.

All of the boys said their goodbyes using the traditional teenage fist pumps, saying that they would see each other tomorrow at football practice. Anthony left and finished his work in the stock room and Carlo was thankful he wasn't a teenager again feeling the mating pull.

On the way to training Anthony stopped by South Mountain Florist to pick up some daisies for Sophia. Matthew and Phillip were both ecstatic to see him when he came through the door, the news of his declaration already starting to flow through the Pack. Anthony explained that he needed a bouquet of daisies to give Sophia since they had gotten into a slight disagreement, which made both men laugh and they told him that they would open an account for him and he could just call in orders in the future. Anthony figured with his temperament it would be a good idea.

Matthew and Phillip were new to the Pack, only joining two years ago when their old pack asked them to leave upon discovering that they were gay and a couple. Matthew and Phillip both wondered where they would go and what they could do when Matthew had a sudden thought, and made one phone call to Alpha Rossi. Alpha Rossi stated that they would be welcome into the Pack and asked only three questions, 'Are you safe, can you get your belongings out safely and do you need help?' They had been welcomed into the pack, and upon learning of Phillips floral design skill, Alpha Rossi had set up their floral business and the Pack fully supported them, both personally and professionally.

Monday morning went well for Anthony for once. He gave Sophia her bouquet of daisies as soon as he got into Gianni's truck and she accepted them with a smile and a giggle. He felt content to hold her and scent her neck and hair feeling the less he said to her the better, so he just let her talk about cheerleading, dance class and made appropriate noises. Meanwhile his thoughts were in turmoil with the thought of all of those people looking at his girl when she was cheerleading on the sidelines; maybe he could have the Pack Doctor give him a valium or something to calm him down the day of the game, but since he played right after the Junior Varsity, it probably wouldn't be a good idea, maybe if he just stared at Sophia ignoring everybody else it wouldn't bother him. Yeah, that's what he would do, stare at Sophia, he wouldn't mind that.

As soon as all the football players and cheerleaders were assembled for the mandatory policy meeting, Anthony asked the Coach if he could say something quickly.

Anthony said, "I want to make the announcement personally to everybody that Sophia and I are intended mates, as we felt the mating pull the evening of Sophia and Sal's birthday party. While this doesn't excuse my behavior Scott, I want to apologize for acting towards you the way that I did. I had wanted to make my declaration after I spoke with my parents, Sophia and her parents, but unfortunately circumstances happened that made me turn into a raging nutcase. I hope that you accept my apology and we can move past it."

Scott said, "Dude, all that you had to do was tell me and I would have backed off, I wouldn't come between two people like others would."

After the meeting was over, the cheerleaders came running over to Sophia, the boys couldn't understand a thing that was said, all that they heard was giggling and squeals. They assumed that they were happy, but with girls, they couldn't be sure.

During lunch Alpha Rossi and Madame Alpha Gina came by and dropped off Anthony's new truck. After practice Anthony went to the Carlucci's for dinner then dance class with Sophia, Gianni and Marcus. Maria showed up shortly with Lorenzo and Damian, all five boys sat together talking quietly. Anthony was mesmerized watching Sophia dance, he couldn't believe how beautiful and graceful she was and he was thankful she was his. Glancing around the observation room, he noticed Scott watching Sophia several times, but when Anthony would catch his eye, he would glance away. He mentioned this to the Carlucci's through the bond; they said they would keep an eye on the situation and for Anthony to take a deep breath, calm down that he didn't want to upset Sophia again which Anthony agreed with.

One of their discussions centered on the start of the school year at South Mountain High School, specifically the football team and how they would do against other Pack teams, also the regular schools in their conference. Out of a ten-game schedule, eight were against fellow Pack high schools in the surrounding territories in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Unlike most high schools, their Junior Varsity and Varsity football games were held back to back on Saturday's due to the travel involved.

Each Pack high school adhered to the curriculums put forth by the State in which they were chartered. They were regulated by the County and State Boards of Education and the representatives were scheduled to come out at the end of the week to perform their final inspections giving the certification for the upcoming school year. Carlo wanted to make sure that they received the 'Triple A' rating that they had received for the last several years. They had received new guidelines for updates and over the summer, Carlucci Construction had updated the kitchen and sprinkler systems. Both had already received final approval from the building inspectors and Aldo, head of security and maintenance had all the accompanying paperwork. Carlucci Construction also performed the security updates that would never be seen by the County and State representatives and Carlo wanted to check these out before the start of the school year, since nothing was more important to him then Pack safety, especially where the children were concerned.

On Wednesday afternoon, Carlo met Frank and Joe at South Mountain High School to meet with the security detail assigned to the school. They looked at all of the updates that Carlucci Construction had done to the school and Carlo was amazed that you could not tell looking at the building that the windows had been retro-fitted with bullet-proof glass and all the doors were now solid steel painted to look like wood. The windows also had steel doors that would drop over them from a hidden recess if the alarm was sounded. They checked over the electrical, telephone, air and water systems, all of which had been upgraded which the main operating systems were located behind two solid steel doors with a ten-digit computerized locking mechanism. The next thing they checked was the safe room, which would protect the children in case of an emergency.

The safe room was located behind the old boiler in the basement; as soon as the alarm was pulled the boiler would swing out of the way exposing the solid steel door that was fronted by brickwork. The door separated at the mortar seams and when it was closed, you could not see where the seams started or finished. After passing through this doorway you were faced with a solid steel door that ran from floor to ceiling and slid into a pocket with the access panel hidden into the brick work in the wall which was also a ten-digit computerized locking mechanism. The safe room was actually multiple rooms; the main rec room, a kitchen and dining area, and two sleeping quarters. The sleeping quarters also had solid steel doors in case the outer door had been breached. The main rec room was filled with couches, chairs, desks, tables and several TV's with gaming systems and there were several large shelving units filled with games and books. Once they verified that all the doors were functioning properly, all the supplies were checked to make sure that there was enough food and water for all 160 student plus teachers. A note was made to increase the amount of supplies from a two week to a three week supply, just in case.

"On the first day of school, I want to make sure that a safety drill is performed. We need to make sure every student and teacher is in this room in less than two minutes," stated Carlo, "We will keep performing the drill daily until the time objective is reached. I will be here the first week of classes to make sure that the new students are getting used to the school environment, since all of our youngsters are home schooled until they reach high school age. Questions?"

"No Alpha, we will make sure all the teachers inform the students and give them proper protocols as soon as they arrive in the classrooms, Monday morning," replied Aldo, the head of school security.

"Have the bunk assignments been made yet? Remember they need to be done so that when the students come into the safe room they go straight to their assigned bunk so an accurate head count can be done. Also remember we decided last year the sleeping quarters would not be divided by sex. We found separating the brothers from their sisters caused the boys extreme stress since they could not be near their sisters to protect them if needed. Also, the announcement will be made later, but Anthony has felt the mating pull for Sophia, Frank's daughter, so he will need to be put near her and her family. I haven't heard of any other declarations, but with the new school year starting, we may have more. Once that happens, we will adjust the bunk assignments accordingly. You will give out the new assignment then. Any questions Aldo?" asked Alpha Rossi. Aldo was furiously writing in his notebook and shook his head no.

"Have you had any problems that we need to be made aware of, any security issues with the new updates?" Joe asked.

"As I mentioned to you before, we had an issue with the steel doors coming down over the windows if the power had been turned off. We followed your directive to re-route the power needed to a dedicated generator and that solved the problem," said Aldo, "the generator, like all the generators that we use, is not gas-powered, but powered by battery, and we ordered the extra batteries as you requested Frank." Carlo, Frank and Joe all nodded their approval.

"You currently have a staff of ten, correct Aldo?" questioned Frank. "We will need to increase your staff by at least five; the reasoning will be explained later, but start getting some candidates ready for Joe and me to interview. Remember only mated males, if the candidates are unmated females, that is fine."

"Yes sir, I have a list of applications in my office that have all passed the initial screenings, I will email the files to you," replied Aldo.

"Thanks Aldo, you and your staff have done a good job. Are there any issues or concerns any of you want to bring up? If not, Frank, Joe and I are going to leave, we have other issues to discuss," said Alpha Carlo and patted Aldo on the back and shook hands with the rest of the security detail.

The three friends walked down to the stadium area to watch the remaining two hours of football practice, noting the number of other fathers already there. Nodding their hellos, they proceeded to the far end of the bleachers to have some privacy.

"First, I want to say how pleased I am with all the updates you did at the school. Frank, it must be your paranoid personality that makes you think of things nobody else does, and Joe it must be your psychopathic personality that helps and encourages him. I remember my father telling me when I took over as Alpha that the two of you would be perfect as my top security people since you were both psychotic. I think you have both proven him right," said Carlo with a laugh.

"I think we both will take that as a compliment Carlo," Frank said laughing at his friend. "I'm glad that you approve of all the updates that were done. I wanted to ask if we could list the update project with before and after pictures on our website. Paulo can add them if it is okay with you."

"Go right ahead, you should be proud of your work. Damn, did you see the hit that Anthony just plowed Scott with? I thought they got that little business straightened out," said Carlo.

"According to our boys, Anthony apologized in front of the kids and Scott accepted, but our boys think there is more going on with Scott. Anthony noticed him looking at Sophia at dance class, and mentioned it to the boys, they have also noticed Scott is being a bit more attentive to Sophia then he should be," said Joe. "Vincent said if it continues he would have a talk with him, as the oldest boy. He wants Anthony to stay away from Scott as much as possible, especially in front of Sophia."

"Good idea, I know that Anthony could take care of the issue, but having Vincent talk to Scott lets him know that the Clan is also keeping an eye on the situation. Plus, with my sons hot temper lately, he doesn't need Sophia mad at him again, though I'm not sure if she was mad or not," Carlo said as all three men laughed.

"Now on to the Millers, have you come up with suitable protectors for their girls? You may want to include paired mates that either haven't had children yet, or ones whose children are already grown. I still cannot believe they have ten daughters. I don't know how you all do it with your large families. I only have one son, and he has apparently lost his mind. Did I tell you after you all left the store on Sunday he went back to the stock room and unpacked five boxes of diapers and put them in the freezer units? Then he unpacked cartons of canned vegetables and put them on the shelves in the refrigerator unit? I ended up having one of the stock boys follow him around and basically undo everything he had done," said Carlo looking at Frank and Joe as all three broke out into laughter.

"Anyway, back to the Millers. I talked with Todd and he said his daughters had no protection other than each other. They have an old-fashioned Pack apparently, though the land is split up into different registered owners, they all still live in one house, so there was never an issue except when they left Pack land, which they hardly did since they just didn't have enough men available for protection. The children also didn't attend an outside high school; their local Board of Education had approved home schooling for all the children. So, the girls will really be subject to a lot of changes when they relocate here," said Carlo.

"Apparently the situation is even worse then what was said at the meeting. Todd made sure when we spoke he was on a public phone away from his Pack, he is worried about the safety of the Pack as the Alpha is aging and there is no firm Heir Apparent. He said in the last few months a new family has moved in from a neighboring pack and he doesn't feel comfortable with some of the comments they have made or the behavior that has been exhibited. Apparently it is a large family with six sons and he said the sons have gone over the line in words and actions. But nothing they could be penalized by, just suggestive behaviors," said Carlo with a shake of his head.