Upon Entering the pack house, we went into the office we shared with Gamma Jacob. He was already there attending to some duties.
“Good morning, Gamma Jacob,” I politely stated as I bowed to him when I entered the office.
“Good morning, Melanie, Delta Troy. It’s a pleasure to see you this morning Melanie. I understand we are having a meeting shortly. How are you today?” Inquired Gamma Jacob.
“I am doing well thank you for asking. And you? How are you doing today?” I replied as I took a chair across from my father’s desk.
“Today is a good day for me as well. Thank you for asking. Troy, what’s the meeting about?” Gamma Jacob asked him.
“Well, Melanie wants to submit a proposal to the ranked body concerning security measures,” Dad answered him truthfully sitting down at his desk.
“Does she now? Hmm. Interesting. Well, I’ll be interested in seeing what she has in mind for our pack. I can’t wait for the meeting then,” smirked Gamma Jacob.
My father chuckled at his response. All I could do was simply shake my head and chuckle right along with my Dad. We met Alpha Richard, Beta Micah, and Gamma Jacob in Alpha Richard’s office to discuss my proposal. We gave everyone a folder so they could look it over and read it before we discussed it in detail.
I noticed everyone made notes in the margin here and there. After ten minutes of silent reading. Alpha Richard asked everyone if they were ready to discuss the proposal. Everyone shook their head ‘yes.’
“All right, now first of all Melanie this proposal to retool our security is impressive. It is well thought out and detailed. Second of all, you left off the amount it would cost the pack to retool the security system. Why did you do that?” inquired Alpha Richard.
“Well Alpha Richard, when I spoke about this with my father, Delta Troy, we decided it would be my gift to the pack. Meaning the pack would pay zero dollars for this upgrade,” I revealed to everyone in the room.
“Nothing? Zero dollars? Really?” exclaimed Beta Micah as if he couldn’t believe we would pay for everything.
“Yes, really. Melanie wants this to be her gift to the pack when she becomes Delta,” explained my father.
“Okay, so when do you want us to start installing the Infrared Cameras and the Thermal Imaging Cameras? What about the new patrol board that will show our entire territory like a command center on some CIA/FBI TV show?” inquired Gamma Jacob with a look of incredulity.
“Well that all depends on you all. Suppose you all want these additions to our security and say yes. Then, we can start installing them as soon as next week or wait until after I take the Oath of Delta. Your choice. Are there any questions? Do you want to add anything?” I hesitated when I asked that question as I looked around the room.
“Well now that you mention it, yes I do have a question or two. What made you want to add thermal imaging cameras to our security?” questioned Alpha Richard.
“Simple, a heat signature is a heat signature. We are warm-blooded creatures. The only enemy we have that is not warm-blooded is the vampire and they haven’t attacked us in over -what- a hundred years. So, the heat signature will give us a heads-up if someone encroaches upon our territory that doesn’t belong. It will allow us time to react and defend our territory,” I contended with certainty in my voice.
I looked around the room. The expression on my father’s face was nothing of pride. You could tell that he was proud of me-I’m not sure if it was of my answer or of my proposal. I’ll have to ask him later.
“Well, I for one think that this proposal of having Thermal Imaging Cameras and Infrared Cameras around our territory is a great idea. I also like the idea of having a better command center to monitor it all. I like how you have detailed the board and how it will be monitored. We already have a good security system in place, all we need to do is upgrade in some areas,” recapped Alpha Richard.
“Yes, Alpha that is correct. The only thing that will be difficult is that we need to have tech-savvy individuals working in the security hub. When a piece of equipment goes down or malfunctions, they need to be able to troubleshoot it. So, we need to make sure they can handle the job. Thus, we need to make sure they are trained. That’s where our Firm comes in. We can have one of our employees help with that, with your approval of course,” I added for good measure.
“Of course. You already have several of our pack members working for your company. Correct?” inquired Alpha Richard.
“Yes Alpha, we do. Several already who can perform this task in fact,” my father replied. “Melanie have you already talked to them about this assignment?”
“No sir I have not. Mainly because it has not been given the green light. Also, because I didn’t know if it would be given the green light,” I noted with a slight frown on my face.
“Well, I don’t know why you would be worried, this is an excellent proposal. I vote we go ahead and proceed with it. Where would we put the security command center? Would it be a room in the pack house or would it be a stand-alone building outside the pack house?” asked Alpha Richard.
“Um, the security command center could go wherever you wanted it to go. I was going to leave it to your discretion. I can create a stand-alone building for it if you want me to do so,” I replied to Alpha Richard.
“I guess we need to vote. All in favor of going forward now with the proposal of adding the Thermal Imaging Cameras raise your hand,” commanded Alpha Richard. To my surprise, everyone raised their hands.
“Okay, now the next question. All in favor of having a Security Command Center as a stand-alone building-meaning it is not a part of the pack house, raise your hand,” commanded Alpha Richard. Again, to my surprise, everyone raised their hands.
“Congratulations Melanie, it looks like you are getting your Thermal and Infrared Cameras as well as your Security Command Center as a stand-alone building,” praised Alpha Richard.
“Thank you, Alpha Richard, everyone. I do have a question. Where would you like for me to put the Security Command Center? Any suggestions?” I asked out of curiosity.
“Now that you mention it, I do have a recommendation. We have a building that is located by the training facility that isn’t being used, why don’t we use it as our Security Command Center? Why don’t we all take a little walk to check it out? Hmm?” declared Alpha Richard to everyone in the room.
“Yes Alpha,” we all chorused together.
We all walked out of the pack house together and took the path that led to the training grounds. The building next to the training grounds was a two-story structure painted a light yellow. At first glance, it looks like a small cottage but as you get closer you can tell it’s not a house to live in.
Beta Micah unlocked the door and we all went in. It was a large expansive foyer that led to a series of offices on the first floor. I was curious as to what this building was used for before.
“This was used as a school, then used as offices to teach our pack members skills in order to get jobs in the human community-accounting, bookkeeping, administrative assistance, office workers, etc. Then, for whatever reason, we just stopped using this space. Do you think you can use this space for your purpose Melanie?” supposed Alpha Richard.
“Yes Alpha, I believe we can use this space especially if you don’t mind us knocking a few of these walls down and reorganizing the space,” I observed as I reimaged the space I was looking at. I saw a different vision as I was looking around. I knew my Father understood what I meant because he saw the look on my face.
“No Melanie, we wouldn’t mind that at all. Reorganize the space however you need to,” chuckled Alpha Richard as he caught my faraway stare on my face.
Alpha Richard handed my Father the keys to the building as we were walking out. I was excited to get started on this project. I was giddy. This was going to be my baby. My pride and joy so to speak and I couldn’t wait to present it to the pack.
Now comes the hard part. My Father and I met in my office at work to begin going over the logistics of who we wanted to monitor the Command Center and then who we wanted to install the cameras. We also had to hire a company to restructure the Command Center the way I wanted it to be.
The only question I had for my Father was, “Do you think we will have this done by the time I take the Oath of Delta?”
“I sure hope so. It would make for a spectacular gift at your Oath ceremony,” replied my dad.
I can’t wait to begin working on the Command Center. That begins tomorrow. Our pack is going to be one they will talk about for a long time to come. I will make sure of it.