Doctor are you here?

Chapter Six

Drew POV

Zoren entered the office. He flicked his eyes over to Oliver, Jamie, and the boys. He kept his face passive and showed no reaction to who was in the room, or any worry about why he was there. There was a hint of fear, but that would be expected, he could be walking into his death. New alphas often get rid of the top players in a pack, but I had no one to replace them, so I had to hope they would learn to trust me quickly. I needed the pack to support me. I got to prove to my dad that I could do this and not have him storming back here and causing problems I don’t need, and he would if he thought I was not doing well. Dad just can’t leave things alone.

‘Zoren, take a seat.’ I ordered and nodded my head to an empty chair. Zoren was quick to sit, not taking his eyes away from me.

‘You are the head trainer?’ I asked, though I already knew the answer.

‘Yes sir.’ He answered with a strong voice, he was good and confident in himself, I need that if he is going to make the changes I need.

‘Can I have the schedules and reports on the warriors?’ I asked. I had noticed he had a folder, so I was hoping he was prepared. If he is half as good as I had heard from Oliver earlier, it seems the weak pack was the alpha’s doing, not wanting to do the work, to get the pack stronger. I think his mate had a bit to do with it. If what I am hearing is correct, she did not like the girls' training, so she had the alpha agree, and also did not want her sons out there training too early, she made things harder for the alpha.

He handed me the folder and I flipped through it, grunting and humming and haring as I went. This was okay, a nice number of men at a reasonable skill level, the boys not so good, they looked uncoordinated and this was part of the problem waiting for the wolf. The wolf wants to take over, and they are not yet used to the wolf to stop it from sometimes taking over. Whereas, if they trained earlier in life, they have the skill already and that helps with the ability to stop the wolf. Well, that is what I believe.

‘No women training?’ I was not surprised; I had already been told by Oliver and Toby that the alpha did not push women to do anything but have pups.

‘No sir, our former alpha was against it.’ He sighed as he said this. I get that he has pushed this issue several times with the former alpha.

‘How do you feel about it?’ thought I had better make sure I was right with my gut feeling.

‘Can I be honest here sir?’ he looked like he was wanting to say things, but not sure how he could word them right, and not have me growl at him.

‘Please, I am open to discussion, I need to know what I need to fix or change.’ I encouraged him to speak his mind.

‘I have often asked for women and girls to be included in training. The girls at the age of twelve. I don’t think ladies before that have the strength to take on proper training, they lack drive, if we leave it too late, and they are lazy if we do it too early. They burn out, so eleven or twelve is when most things in girls start to change, and with that change, the training would assist them in other ways, but I might be wrong. Also, I have asked for the boys to start at an earlier age and not wait for the wolf. If they can get muscle memory working before the wolf arrives, it can help speed up their learning. At the moment, it is like they have to learn to double the amount. I have some obstacle courses I would like to put together, different levels, for when they grow, the girls can do them too, and I have more things I would like to put in the gym to get some flexibility in some of the men. They get slow and reflexes need working on again.’ He sounded all excited and I caught up in it, he was saying exactly what I wanted to hear.

‘Sounds good, get on to it. What age do you want the boys to start?' I probed, I was interested to hear if he was on the same page as me.

‘No later than ten, they have enough muscle growth and can learn as they sprout. I had thought of it earlier, but before ten, the children’s bones were still strengthening. The doctor said, that before ten, you could cause more damage than good with hand-to-hand combat. With that in mind, it still gives them a good two years of hand-to-hand, before the wolf comes, much better than waiting for the wolf. However, if you do take younger boys, it can be strength exercise not hand-to-hand. That way, they may gain balance and coordination as they mature and can get the young ones, like six or seven, in to do the gym mat work, like wrestling style. You are not putting the same pressure on you. I have talked to the doctor several times and, as long as we are not doing blows to the head, he is okay with the younger ones in the gym, even if you have them doing rope climbing and other fun stuff, they don’t know it is doing them good, as long as it is fun they are eager to do it.’

‘Do it, let’s get these girls in at twelve, and boys in at ten, make it mandatory for at least three times a week, in the beginning, and up it as they get older, sound good? Or do you think we should start right now with boys at six to ten in the gym, ten to twelve, hand to hand?’ I was a little conflicted now he mentioned bringing the doctor into this.

‘Yes sir, think if we do it right from the start, six-year-old boys and twelve for the girls, no good starting higher and then changing it, get them into it right now while you are changing things, they will get over it.’ Wow, he is getting into this.

‘Now the patrols, I would like to do a perimeter run and put my scent out there, also look for blind spots and change the timing of the patrols, sort of mixed them up a bit, my dad was able to find holes. I want it so if he tries to surprise us with a visit, we are ready for him, what do you suggest?’ I thought if I asked him to give his input, he would be more inclined to get things done, than just ordering him to do things. He sounds like he had ideas and I want to hear all of them.

‘Yeah, your dad sounds like the type of bastard that would do that, no offense sir.’ I chuckled and so did Oliver, when the two boys looked shocked and Toby was trying not to laugh.

‘I have suggested four groups of perimeter runs, groups of twenty, send out five lots of four, five minutes apart, by the time the twenty are halfway around the perimeter, the next set can start, and we can change the timing of the first set each day, so it is different each day. But the biggest gap would be five minutes. We have the manpower to do it, sir, and we can raise the men on the gates and the back trails.’

‘I will meet you tomorrow at five for the training session. Do you have others that can help you with that? If so, I would like you to run with me doing the perimeter and we can discuss what I find as we go around.’

‘Yes sir, I have others that are my helpers, that can take the training sessions. I have two I am trying to train to take over from me. I am not getting any younger sir.’ He was grinning when he said this, he looked strong and not near retirement age. I bet he could beat most of the men out there.