South Mountain Pack Ch. 10

As he walked into the kitchen he saw her sitting at the table staring out the back windows lost in thought. He walked up to her quietly and sat next to her pulling her into his side saying quietly, "It's done, they'll be here tomorrow. Dante is bringing fifteen men with him and they'll be staying with us for a week or two."

"I'll get the rooms ready tomorrow," said Gina as she continued to stare out the window. "He didn't accept the marker did he?"

"No, he didn't. He said family always protects their own," said Carlo with a smile.

"I didn't think he would, and he is right...We protect our own. Now, let's get going, everything is ready and is in your truck," said Gina as she got up.

*****

The Millers followed Matt and Phil into South Mountain Florist and Gifts and their eyes lit up with excitement. The girls because of the twenty foot wall section of hair bows, ribbons and shoelaces. Holly and Nana Ellen because of the section of gourmet Maryland and Virginia foods and Todd and Papa Mike because of the section of replica sports stadiums and sports figurines.

"We found the plaid fabric at one of the fabric stores and realized it was the perfect color of the school uniforms," said Phil as he smiled. "So we bought all they had and made the padded headbands, barrettes and bows for the girls and ties for the boys to wear when they travel away to games. We also had a local weaver follow the pattern and in the cooler months we sell scarves and beanies. As Were's we really don't need them to keep warm unless it's brutally cold, but appearances must be kept."

"These stadium replicas are fantastic," said Todd with a grin.

Matt moved over to talk to Todd and Papa Mike while Phil talked to Holly and Nana Ellen about the gourmet food items. The girls stood in front of the wall not exactly sure what to do since they had lost their parents and grandparents attention.

"Daddy, are you going to tell us what we can have?" asked Brianna as her sisters continued to look at the wall.

"Oh, sorry sweetie. Why don't you start with ten pairs each of the laces. You can also get two headbands, two barrettes and one of the matching bows and then one of the ribbon things they wear to the football games, okay?" he questioned and the girls nodded their heads as they moved forward to select their shoe laces.

Brianna and Morgan counted off the amounts allowed by their father and brought them to the counter. They made ten separate piles, one for each of the girls before going to select their shoelaces.

Todd, Papa Mike and Matt continued to talk about the stadium replicas for several minutes when they heard Maeve shout in excitement, "Daddy, come here quick."

Todd hurried over, wondering what his youngest daughter had found when she pointed and shouted, "Oh Daddy, can I get these? I really want them, oh Daddy, please please please can I get them?"

"Sure cupcake, whatever you want," Todd replied without even looking at what his daughter wanted or was pointing at.

"This is why he shouldn't be in charge of buying the girls anything," said Holly with a smile. "He doesn't even know what she wants or how much it costs."

"And his father is just as bad," murmured Nana Ellen as they watched Papa Mike scurry over to see what his youngest Granddaughter wanted so badly.

Matt, Todd, Holly and Nana Ellen watched as Maeve picked a pair of shoelaces and hair bow off the wall and started laughing when they saw they were imprinted with the Dallas Cowboys name and star logo.

"Okay, the agreement has changed," said Todd with a smile. "In addition to what we agreed earlier, everyone gets one of the Cowboys shoe laces and hair bows. You can wear them on game days."

"Thank you, Daddy," said Maeve as she jumped up and down excitedly.

"Anything for you cupcake, especially when it has the Cowboys logo on it," said Todd with a grin as Maeve hugged him. The adults watched as Brianna and Morgan got ten of each and placed one of each on the individual piles on the counter.

"Are they always like that?" whispered Phil, nodding towards Brianna and Morgan.

"Yes, they're very protective of their sisters, especially of Fiona and Maeve," Holly whispered back. "When they were born, both suffered from aspiration pneumonia. Fiona responded well to treatment, but Maeve had a much harder time of it, being the smaller twin. We almost lost her several times before she finally started to show improvement, the Doctor said if she was human and didn't have Were healing abilities she would have died. It severely compromised her system for several years and when she was little she was prone to get bronchitis a lot, but in the last couple of years that has stopped."

"The girls were very careful when she was little," added Nana Ellen. "She would get winded easily and cough if she ran around too much. Now she is as active as the rest of them, but the older ones still look out for her."

"Make sure Doc knows her history anyway," Phil whispered back. "Winters here are hard, sometimes the air gets bitterly cold and people who have respiratory problems will sometimes have trouble. When we moved from South Carolina it was a shock to our systems the first year, now we're used to it."

"We're bringing them in for their school physicals Monday afternoon after school lets out," said Holly. "They should've had them already, but Doc said as long as they were done Monday there shouldn't be a problem."

"Mommy, we're done," said Morgan with a smile as the girls walked to the counter with their shoe laces.

Matt moved behind the counter and rang up each pile separately, putting them in individual bags with the girls names on them. Holly and Nana Ellen put several food items on the counter, Todd walked up with a box containing a replica of Cowboys Stadium and Papa Mike placed five boxes on the counter as Todd looked at him and started laughing.

"What are those?" asked Nana Ellen as she picked one of the boxes up.

"Tom Landry, Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin collectible figurines," answered Papa Mike grabbing the box and placing it back on the counter.

"You're buying dolls?" asked Nana Ellen as the girls started giggling.

"They are not dolls, they are signed limited edition highly collectible figurines, prized among discriminating collectors," said Papa Mike as he narrowed his eyes.

"You can say whatever you want, but they're still dolls," said Nana Ellen as she began to laugh.

"Collectible sports figurines," he growled back to her, narrowing his eyes.

"Okay, they're collectible sports figurines. But if I catch you on the floor playing with them, I'll call them dolls," said Nana Ellen with a smirk. Papa Mike threw his hands in the air and walked away as everybody started to laugh.

"Your total after the discount comes to $787.54," said Matt with a smile.

Todd looked at his daughters and said, "I think that's enough shopping for today. I don't even want to see how much it's going to cost when we go clothes shopping during the week."

"Todd, most of that was for your stadium replica and Papa Mike's figurines," said Holly with a laugh. "You can't blame the girls for that." Todd shrugged his shoulders and looked at his daughters and winked as they smiled back at him.

Matt looked at Phil who was getting the arrangement he made earlier in the day for Rose out of the refrigeration unit, it was filled with her favorite flowers; delicate pink and white roses, white carnations and pink Asiatic lilies.

"Fill these out and give them to us when you're done," said Matt quietly as he handed some papers to Todd and Papa Mike without being seen by everyone else. "It lists your mates favorite flowers, her birthday, your mating anniversary, your youngsters birthdays and any other important dates. We'll put it on the computer and send you a reminder so you don't forget."

Matt looked back to Phil who was talking to Holly, Nana Ellen and the girls showing them the other arrangements kept in the refrigeration unit. "The men have found it useful to be sent a reminder for birthdays and anniversaries. Don't worry; the women don't know we send them out." Todd and Papa Mike smiled and put the papers in the bottom of their bags.

"Holly, you mentioned we needed to stop by your house so you and Nana Ellen could frost the cakes for dinner tonight and since we finished up early we have plenty of time," said Phil with a smile. "While the two of you do that, we'll help carry the boxes and bags inside for the girls."

The Millers and Phil went out front while Matt closed the register down and locked up the shop. "This is one of the shops that's vacant," said Phil as he pointed to the building next to them. "Dom's Deli was here and they moved to their new location down the street when they outgrew the building. The nice thing is there is a partial kitchen in the back, three empty rooms upstairs, two public restrooms and it has all the security upgrades. There is parking around back and there is a deck area on the side that can accommodate patio tables."

Holly and Nana Ellen peeked in the windows and Todd and the girls walked around the building while Papa Mike was busy looking at his collectible figurines.

Several minutes later they returned and Todd said, "The deck runs the length of the building and seems sturdy and there's a door leading onto it from the front room so it's easy access for customers. I couldn't see into the kitchen area, there's paper over the back windows, but the parking lot will hold at least twenty cars, plus you have street parking. What do you think? It wouldn't hurt to take a look."

Matt joined them out front as Nana Ellen asked, "Do you know who owns the building? I'd like to call them and tell them we'd like to see the inside."

"Well, technically we all own the building," said Phil with a smile. "It's owned by SMI, South Mountain Industries, which is the Pack. So, you need to talk to Carlo."

"What do you think Mike?" asked Nana Ellen as she continued to peer in the windows. "Phil said the upstairs is empty so we could do the baking up there to keep the first floor cool and just have a smaller kitchen on the first floor for final preps. It'll be a lot of work to install the kitchen, you'd probably have to rewire the whole building and we'd definitely have to upgrade the plumbing. We'd probably need to install an elevator too, as well as paint and sand the wood floors but it has a good location and its right next to the boys."

"What? Sounds wonderful, move in condition, make an appointment as soon as you find out who the owner is," he replied, as everyone started laughing he looked up and hurriedly put the box back into his bag.

"You haven't heard a darn thing any of us said, have you?" asked Nana Ellen as she whacked him on the arm. "If you don't start paying attention, I'm going to take your little collectible action figurines away until you start to behave."

"Whatever you think is best, just tell me when I have to be there," said Papa Mike once again glancing in his bag.

"We've lost him again," whispered Holly as the girls started to giggle.

Papa Mike looked up to see everyone staring at him with smiles on their faces and he said, "Come on, let's go back to the house, we have unpacking to do." With that he turned around and hurried to his vehicle, opening the back and carefully placing his bag inside.

"Come on girls," Nana Ellen said to Fiona and Maeve as she moved them quickly to the vehicle. "He's liable to leave us here so he can go home and play with his dolls." Fiona and Maeve started giggling as they climbed into the vehicle and Papa Mike pulled away leaving everyone else on the sidewalk.

"Does he even know where he's going?" asked Matt as he started to laugh.

They watched as the SUV braked abruptly and Papa Mike got out and said, "What is everyone waiting on? We've got unpacking to do."

Aislin said, "He really wants to get home to play with those dolls, doesn't he?"

*****

As they continued to play Carlucci golf, Anthony stopped and tilted his head sniffing the air, followed by Frank, Joe and Alberto as they stared towards the garage.

"My parents are here," said Anthony as Frank and Joe nodded their heads.

"We'll be right back," said Frank as he and Joe jogged towards the garage to meet Carlo and Gina.

"How did you hear them or scent them?" asked Vincent as he looked at Anthony and Alberto. "I didn't notice anything, just us shouting."

Anthony shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, since I'm the Alpha-heir and have Alpha blood, my hearing and sight are better then average which is why I noticed it first, plus my intended is here and I'm always cautious when she is near. Your fathers noticed because their youngsters are here and Alberto because his intended is here. If Brianna or Morgan were here, your wolf would've been more alert and you'd have noticed it too."

Alberto smiled at Vincent and Dominic and said, "It's something you get used to. I was always alert when Gabby was around, but when I'm around Maria my wolf is constantly pacing back and forth and pays attention to everything around us." Everyone got quiet as they watched Alpha Carlo, Frank and Joe come around the corner of the garage carrying coolers and Madame Gina carried several bags.

"Gattina, that means I know you're trying to get that ball," said Alberto with a laugh as Maria stopped in her tracks and smiled at him. She grabbed the ball and took off running, her cousins in hot pursuit, while Sophia grabbed the other ball out of Anthony's hand and took off in the opposite direction followed by her cousins.

"They're a bloodthirsty lot, aren't they?" remarked Anthony as he watched both girls get tackled and fight with their cousins. "Damn, she pinched his ass," he said as he watched Sophia attack Michael, then get up and rip the ball out of his hands and take off running. He smiled as she did a victory dance after placing the ball in the bucket.

"That's nothing, Maria kneed Vincent in the balls," said Alberto as he bent over laughing as Lorenzo swung her in his arms after she scored. "No wonder Vin told us to watch out for the girls, I never realized how vicious they were, I guess with the brothers and cousins they have, they need to be."

Rose and Annie looked at each other and smiled as they aimed their golf balls, seconds later Anthony and Alberto shouted as they were hit in the back as Rose and Annie laughed. As they bent over to retrieve the balls, they were tackled to the ground as the youngsters battled for the balls.

Carlo, Frank and Joe placed the coolers on the patio and Gina put the bread on the table before they walked over to join Rose and Annie. The adults stood there and watched the youngsters for several moments before Carlo cleared his throat and looked at Gina who nodded her head.

"We need to talk," said Carlo as his eyes scanned the tree line and he scented the air for anything unusual. His wolf was on edge and wanted assurance the youngsters were safe.

"Hold on a second," said Rose as her and Annie grabbed a handful of balls and threw them at the youngsters and they watched as they scrambled after them. "That'll keep them occupied for a while."

"There is no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to come out and say it," Carlo took a deep breath and said, "I found out today there is going to be an attack on the Pack within the next twelve to eighteen months. They're going to be coming after the females again but we believe their primary targets will be your daughters and the Millers." Frank and Joe swung their heads to stare at him, low feral growls escaping their throats, their hands extending into claws and their eyes turned amber as they fought their wolves from taking over. Rose and Annie were shaking with rage and growls escaped from them as Gina grabbed their hands to calm them down.

Feeling the charge of danger in the air, Anthony and Alberto immediately halted their steps, seconds later the others felt it and Anthony shouted "PROTEGGERE." As the boys ran to the girls they threw their helmets on the ground and ripped off their gloves with their extended canines.

Carlo, Frank and Joe turned to look at the youngsters as the boys ran towards the girls. Sensing the youngsters fear and anxiety to get the girls to safety, their wolves couldn't be contained any longer. Ripping sounds could be heard as their clothes shredded around them as they shifted and moments later three large wolves stood there, one solid black and two chocolate. They were snarling and emitting primal growls as they reacted to the threat to the Pack and their family.

Seeing their fathers shift into their wolves made the boys run even faster and Anthony and Alberto threw their intendeds over their shoulders and moved into the middle of the protective formation as the boys ran to the house. Since Anthony and Alberto had made their declarations, the protective formation around the girls had been changed. The front line now consisted of Marcus, Victor and Dom, the left flank was Gianni, Enzo and Gino, the right flank was Lorenzo, Paulo and Michael and the rear flank was Vincent, Sal and Damian. Knowing Damian shouldn't run, Angelo threw him over his shoulder and joined Vincent and Sal on the back line. The Clan continually scanned the surrounding area for a threat, and even though they didn't see any they weren't taking any chances.

Seeing their mothers standing there and not moving towards the house, Anthony said, "Get our mothers." Marcus, Victor and Dom lowered their shoulders as they approached the women and threw them over their shoulders without breaking stride. Seeing the boys take the women towards the house the three large wolves immediately turned and followed them scanning the surrounding area.

As the boys reached the house Anthony asked his father opening the bond to include everyone, "Do they need to go to the safe room?"

"No, make sure the house is safe before they go inside," Carlo responded and then the three wolves started pacing back and forth on the patio as they continued to growl and snarl throwing their heads back as they continued to sniff the air.

Damian went into the kitchen, checking the alarm was still on for the rest of the house and sniffing the air to make sure no one else was present before he quickly checked the rest of the house. As soon as he gave the all clear, the women were lowered to the ground and went into the house, Rose, Annie and Gina shaking with suppressed rage as Sophia and Maria stared at each other wide-eyed since they had no idea what was going on.

Sophia's voice trembled as she said, "Momma, what's going on? Do we need to go to the safe room?" She glanced out on the patio and saw the three wolves pacing back and forth as the boys were ripping the tape from around their cleats, so they would be ready to shift if needed.

Rose sighed as she said, "There is no threat right now little ones but after the men calm down we need to have another talk. Go downstairs and get some clothes for them out of the laundry room while we get them something to drink. I think they're going to need something stronger then beer."

"After you're done getting the clothes for the men, go upstairs and get ready for dinner," said Annie with a smile, both girls nodded their heads and went to do as instructed.

Knowing their intendeds were safe in the house, Anthony and Alberto concentrated on what was going on outside. Anthony was taking deep breaths to calm down but his voice was still filled with anger as he said, "Dad, what's going on? Where is the threat? Are you sure they don't need to be in the safe room? I'm not taking any chances with my mate, if there is any danger I want her in the safe room."

Carlo snarled and threw his head back as he roared, "IF THERE WAS DANGER, DO YOU THINK I WOULD RISK MY MATE OR ANY MEMBER OF MY PACK? RIGHT NOW THERE IS NO THREAT AND WE ARE SAFE, BUT YOU MUST KEEP YOUR FOCUS ON WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND YOU AT ALL TIMES. REMEMBER YOUR LESSONS ANTHONY, AS THE ALPHA-HEIR YOU MUST THINK OF THE WHOLE PACK, NOT JUST YOUR MATE."