I couldn’t be around unmated males because it felt awkward and they wanted to comfort me or wanted to touch me in some way. My wolf wanted to tear into them when they tried to touch me. So, I steered clear of unmated males if I could until she calmed down.
When I went to the pack house with my father to perform duties, it was kind of hard to see mated pairs together. It was still raw that I would not get a chance to experience the joy or love of a mate because mine rejected me without a second thought. We only get one fated mate. We have heard of second-chance mates, but it is not very common.
Would I be worthy enough to be given a second chance mate? Only time will tell. For now, I am hardening my heart. I am preparing the armor around it to protect it against future attacks.
Getting back to normal after having your heart broken is no easy feat. I cry myself to sleep almost every night because my wolf and I are mourning the loss of our mate. I wake up each morning believing I have no choice but to live for my pack and my family. There is simply no other choice available to me so I continue to do what I was trained to do, train to protect the pack, prepare to become the pack’s Delta, and work at my family’s Security Firm. I take pride in my attention to detail and skill of a fighter, both of which will serve me well in the pack and at work.
Dad walked into my office Wednesday afternoon with a folder he said I needed to view immediately. I stopped what I was working on so I could give it my undivided attention.
The contents of the file were of a government surveillance operation that he wanted my feedback on. When I read what the surveillance operation details, I raised an eyebrow as if to say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
“Dad, does the U. S. Government really want us to surveil this ‘family’ for them? All of them?” I inquired of my father.
“Yes, they do. They don’t care how we do it either,” he stated with a straight face.
“Okay, this sounds like an easy surveillance job. Why are you asking me to take a look at it first? I’m the one who usually reads the After Action Reports. What am I missing here Dad?” I wondered out loud more to myself than to my Dad.
“Well, this particular surveillance job requires us to send some people undercover. They will have to get jobs where they work, the whole nine yards,” Dad explained.
“I know what it means to go undercover Dad. Why is this job so unique? Just spell it out already Dad,” I uttered in frustration.
“We’re going to have to use a team that is mixed-human and werewolf. We’ve done it before but it is not without its risks. I wanted to get your take on the plan before we proceeded,” announced Dad.
“Okay. The group that’s going to work together, have they worked together before? Are they familiar with each other? Is there any bad blood between members?” I inquired looking at the list of names provided.
“Well, that’s the kicker, yes and no,” answered my Dad with a slight hesitation.
“What does that mean, yes and no?” I demanded.
“Some of them have worked together before and the outcome wasn’t good. There’s still some bad blood between them. Then, the others on the list haven’t worked with the rest of them before,” answered my Dad truthfully.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. We’re sending in a team of people like that-No! Nuh-uh! No Way! I won’t allow it, Dad! That is a disaster waiting to happen. People could get … NO! We cannot allow this team to go in as it stands now. What is the alternative?” I demanded of my father.
“The alternative is to send in a family to get close to this family. Then, have a team keep a line of sight surveillance on them when they are out of the ‘families’ direct contact,” replied my father.
“Okay, that sounds much better. Who would you send in to pose as the family? This family doesn’t look like they pose much of a threat, but they actually do. Do we have anyone who could go undercover as a family unit?” I questioned my dad.
“Well, this is where we would have to get creative,” my Dad told me point blank.
“Okay, meaning what Dad?” I asked him.
“Meaning, we don’t have any operatives that are children. So, the entire family will have to be adults. The storylines for the family will be a little trickier than most,” explained Dad.
Okay, And?” I waited for him to finish because I knew he wasn’t telling me the whole story yet.
“I want you to personally monitor this operation from start to finish. From the inception meeting to the actual debriefing meeting. This operation is that important,” declared Dad to me with a serious look on his face.
“Okay, I can do that. When is the inception meeting?” I inquired of him.
“We have a meeting on this operation in twenty minutes. Anderson and Noah will be taking us. I’ve already told Allison that you would be out of the office for the rest of the day,” advised my Dad.
“Okay, thank you, Dad. I appreciate it.” I thanked him.
“Get your things, we need to leave and travel. Are you ready Mellie?” Dad asked me as I stood up from my desk.
“Yes sir, I am. ” I replied to my dad.
As soon as we walked out of the office, Anderson and Noah appeared out of nowhere to take my computer bag off my shoulder and escort me out of the building.
We exited the building to be ushered into the waiting SUV. Anderson and Noah got into the front seats. Anderson already knew where we were going. He drove off to our destination.
We pulled up to a building that could only be described as a broken-down airplane hangar out in the middle of nowhere. Anderson pulled the SUV alongside the other vehicles. He exited the vehicle and opened my door for me. I waited for my Dad before I walked into the building for the meeting, after all, this was his show, not mine.
The building was massive in size, but a shell of a building really. It didn’t appear to have but one wall of rooms or offices. We were ushered to a set of stairs on the left, so we started our ascension up the stairs.
We reached the second floor and entered the second door from the stairwell. I was surprised at how big the room was because it didn’t appear to be big at all from the outside.
So far, there were fifteen people seated in the room when we arrived. One person got up to greet my father when we walked in.
“Ah, Delta Troy, it is so good to see you again. It’s been a long time. Is this Melanie? It can’t be, she was just a little girl of eight years the last time I saw her,” declared the man.
“Alpha Trevor, it is very good to see you as well. Yes, this is Melanie, all grown up,” my Dad carried on.
“You have certainly grown up to be a beautiful young lady. It’s a pleasure to see you again Melanie,” declared Alpha Trevor.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well Alpha Trevor. I don’t seem to remember meeting you though. I’m sorry,” I explained to him and my Dad.
“No worries. Growing up I imagine you met a lot of people and you probably didn’t remember their names,” noted Alpha Trevor.
“Why don’t we go and have a seat and wait for the rest of our participants to arrive? Shall we?” Dad announced to everyone in the room.
‘Dad, who are all these people in here? Not all of them are wolves. Are the humans our employees or government employees?’ I asked him through our link.
‘Yes, they are-both our employees and government employees. The government employees are here to explain the contract. Our employees are here so that we can plan once the government leaves,’ explained Dad.
‘Okay, thanks for explaining everything to me Dad. Why isn’t Danny here? Shouldn’t he be here?’ I asked my Dad.
‘He knows of the meeting, but he couldn’t make it. We will update him later at dinner tonight. Don’t worry, it will be all right,’ Dad declared as we heard more people arriving.
To my surprise, Alpha King Matthew and his Beta Walsh walked into the room followed by two more individuals. We all stood up and bowed until he nodded at us.
“Delta Troy, a pleasure as always. Melanie what a surprise to see you here today. How are you doing? If you need anything, just let me or Walsh know,” declared Alpha King Matthew.
“Alpha King Matthew, it’s a pleasure to see you again. I’m doing better thank you for asking. I will do so, again thank you,” I replied to him with a blush covering my cheeks.
“Good afternoon Alpha Trevor and Gamma Charles of the Cold Springs Pack it is good to see you both again,” greeted Alpha King Matthew.
“Pleasure to see you as well Alpha King Matthew,” replied Alpha Trevor.
“Delta Troy, who is hosting this meeting? Shall we get started?” questioned Alpha King Matthew.
“That would be me Alpha King Matthew. Thank you everyone for coming today. We are gathered here to discuss the Government Surveillance Operation-Code Name: Family Reunion,” explained my father to everyone in the room.
“Mr. Jansen will you please explain the purpose of the operation,” commanded my father.
“Yes, Mr. Miller. The purpose of this operation is to keep the Stewart Family under surveillance. Their family is under suspicion of terroristic activities against the U. S. Government. However, due to political B. S. and red tape, we are outsourcing this operation to the Hunter Security Firm. We need proof of their deeds. We need the paper trail or hopefully have them recruit a new person or persons into their little circle of terrorists,” explained Mr. Jansen.
“Thank you Mr. Jansen for paraphrasing the operation. For more information, please read the file prepared for you. Now, we will start with who will be going undercover and who will be the background players,” my Dad announced to everyone.
Dad paused to let everything sink in. I knew what he was about to ask.
“Does anyone have any questions so far?” inquired my dad.