I would like to thank everyone for their patience in waiting for this chapter while I was recuperating. Your kind emails and words of encouragement really made me smile when I needed it the most. To my editor, hcsd1710 there are no words to thank you for your help and encouragement not only for the story but being there for me when I needed someone to talk to.
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 a '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.
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"Carlo, Roberts here," said President Roberts. "It's finished, but we have a problem...With the arrest of Davis, Charles, the top Beta's and more then half the men, there is no one here to lead the Pack. The remaining Pack members want the Millers to come back and Todd to become Alpha. Are any of the Miller's there?" At Todd's look of surprise, Carlo raised his eyebrows to him and motioned with his head for everyone to follow him into the Carlucci's cabin.
"Yes sir, Holly, my father and I are here," said Todd.
"Holly's family is safe. The code word helped immensely, we got Conall alone earlier in the evening and told him our plans. He told those he trusted and when we surrounded the Grounds hollering the code word, they fell to the ground. When the males saw our numbers they surrendered without incident except for Charles who broke his leg trying to escape. The young ones were sitting in the dungeons waiting on us and the little ones had notes in their pockets with the names of their parents. Give Holly our thanks, though I suspect some of the other Packs wish they had put up a fight," said President Roberts as he laughed.
"President Roberts, this is Holly. I want to thank you for rescuing my family; can you please give them our number so I can speak to them? I know they are fine, but I'd like to talk to them," asked Holly with a tremor in her voice as Todd hugged her.
"Already done, but they won't call until Noon at the earliest. We've got a lot to do making sure we have all the guilty apprehended and we need everyone's input," said President Roberts.
"To continue, after we finished with Davis Pack, we raided the Carlsbad and Grant Packs. We arrested the Alpha's, Beta's and...well basically we took every male over the age of 16. We didn't have time to figure out who was guilty and who wasn't, that will be done at Council headquarters. Which leads me to my next point, those Alpha's are guilty even if they didn't physically touch any female, they knew about it and did nothing to protect the innocent. Those two Packs need strong leadership and as you know Frank and Joe are at the top of the candidates list." Frank and Joe's eyebrows shot up at this and Carlo looked at both of them with a smile on his face and shrugged his shoulders.
"My SD is in charge of transport back to Council headquarters; we've chartered three 747's since we have over six hundred prisoners. I'll stay here and oversee the three Packs and I've called the top Council advisors to come help with this clusterfuck. Speaking of which, I've got to get off the phone and deal with a thousand things, not to mention the fact I'm exhausted. Frank, Joe and Todd you have two weeks to decide, I want the new Alpha's initiated at the next Full Moon Ceremony. One last thing, Carlo make yourself available Monday afternoon for a teleconference and have your level Four and level Five Beta's there as well," President Roberts finished the conversation and hung up.
There was silence for several moments after the phone call, and then Carlo looked at Frank, Joe and Todd saying, "It seems like the three of you have a lot to discuss with your mates and families in the next couple of weeks."
"What was he talking about us being at the top of the candidates list?" asked Frank with a puzzled look on his face.
"For the last year, the Council has been putting together a program called 'Continuity of Pack Existence' or COPE for short. It's loosely based on the Continuity of Operations which ensures the Government is able to function even when faced with war, terrorism or unforeseen disaster," said Carlo as he looked around the room. "Each Pack has their own hierarchy, but what happens if the Alpha and his or her top people are killed or deemed unfit to rule a Pack? What if there isn't anybody left within the Pack capable of being an Alpha? What happens to the Pack?"
Everyone continued to stare at Carlo, and then Papa Mike got up and let Nana Ellen in. "I didn't think you'd mind if I asked Ellen to join us, she asked Matt and Phil to watch over the girls while they sleep," said Papa Mike.
Carlo nodded his head and said, "Good morning, I assume Papa Mike told you everything?" At her nod, he continued, "The first thing we did was put together a list of candidates powerful enough to lead a Pack. We looked at overall strength, training skills, family dynamics, ability to work with others and overall leadership skills. To be blunt, Frank and Joe in any other Pack would be Alpha's. Rose and Annie would make excellent Madame Alpha's; they are kind but firm, compassionate, able to lead the females and youngsters." Frank and Joe were standing behind their mates and without looking at each other they both reached out and placed their hands on their mates' shoulders.
Seeing this Carlo said, "The only concern was that you two are too close, closer then identical twins almost clones. Look at how the two of you are standing; everything is identical, right down to the scowl on your faces." Carlo watched as Frank and Joe studied each other, as Frank went to push his hair back with his right hand, Joe was making an identical move with his left hand without realizing it.
"The concern was in your need to be close to each other you would unite the two Packs, basically making them one large Pack with two Co-Alphas. Now that the position of the two Alpha's in New Mexico has opened, I know those concerns will be brought up, especially since they border each other," said Carlo as he continued to stare at his top level Beta's. "If you do take the Alpha positions, will you be able to keep your Packs separate? Can you function without seeing each other or will your wolves suffer from it? Can you leave your Pack behind? Another solution would be for one of you to become Alpha, and the other his top Beta, but which one of you?"
"What I am going to ask you to do may sound odd, but starting at 5 PM on Friday and finishing at the start of the football game on Saturday, I don't want your families to have any contact with each other. No cookouts, no talking through the bond, no movies, no phone calls, no excursions out for the boys, no trips to the Mall. Nothing... The two New Mexico packs are far enough apart that your bond wouldn't work anyway, so this will give you a chance to see what it feels like. More specifically for your wolves to feel like being separated from each other," stated Carlo.
"We have a lot to think about in the next two weeks little brother," said Frank. "We need to talk things over with our mates and youngsters. I know Sophia and Maria won't want to leave Anthony and Alberto. What happens with Brianna, Morgan, Vincent and Dominic? What happens with our employees and our business?"
Joe slowly nodded his head as he said, "We also have to think about school. Do those Packs have schools and sports? What about college? My head is spinning thinking of everything involved."
Todd looked at Holly and seeing her nod, he said, "Uhmm guys, I don't want to add to your burden, but...Caitlin and Erin hinted that two more of your sons are their mates. We have no idea who, they said they weren't ready yet but they would be soon." Rose and Annie had big smiles on their faces as they grabbed Holly's and Nana Ellen's hands.
Looking out the front door Rose saw the youngsters starting to stir and said, "The ravenous beasts are awakening, I hope Mitchell's crew made a lot of food."
Gina walked to the door and looked out saying, "The new kitchen is working out well, and I wish we had put it in years ago. Mitchell was raving about it earlier and he said it was much easier for his staff not having to leave in the middle of the night to cook the food and bring it back."