Anna arrived home and, after asking the cook and Jenna to take care of dinner, locked herself in her bedroom. She caught a glimpse of Adam in his study, wielding a gun while loading it with bullets. She didn't want to think about what he would do. She knew he was a killer, he never hid it from her, but if she thought about it, she would feel dirty just for loving him, even though she knew she had no choice. She couldn't run away from him. And she didn't want to.
Jenna came to tell her that dinner was ready and that the men were waiting for her.
Anna went downstairs and to her surprise, Adam wasn't there, but Sarah and Kate were.
"Where's Adam, Jenna?" Anna asked as she sat down.
The silence drew Anna's attention and she immediately noticed that everyone was looking at each other and that it wasn't just Adam who wasn't at the table, but also Caricature and at least three other men.
"Can someone tell me what's going on?"
"The boss was..." Sarah started to say, with fear and hatred, but Kate interrupted her.
"He may not come back, Anna. And I need to talk to you about inheritance matters."
"Why wouldn't he come back?"
"Because Ryan will kill him." Kate said as if it were obvious.
"He can't do that. Adam is strong. He told me it's not easy to kill an Alpha."
"It's not easy, you idiot, but it's not impossible." Sarah said as if it were Anna's fault.
"Adam has many men and monsters to protect him and..."
"He's not going to summon the werewolves to fight, Anna. Ryan is a Sigma and he challenged the Alpha to show the other werewolves that Adam is weak."
"I don't understand why, yet."
"They're going to fight to the death. If Adam loses, Ryan takes the lead. The werewolves could claim to be Sigmas, because a weak Alpha is a reason for them to rebel." Sarah's voice exuded joy.
"Are you happy for them to fight to the death?" Anna asked angrily. Each time, she hated Sarah even more.
"They're not going to kill each other. They're cousins and they love each other, and the thought of a negative outcome for Adam is not something I dislike." Sarah said with a dreamy look on her face.
Kate looked at Sarah angrily too.
"Have you gone mad?"
"No, Kate. Remember what will happen if Adam loses... What will happen to Anna."
Kate turned to Anna and smiled.
"You'd move into the green house."
Anna looked at them both with disgust. How could they think of revenge when the man they all loved was in danger? She turned to the door and one of the men was standing there, listening to everything with an expression of displeasure.
"Did he leave any instructions before he left?"
"He said that only you are allowed in his office to answer the phone and... That we must all obey you. Until he comes back."
Anna became thoughtful.
"If I send you to help him with his cousin...?"
"We will." He said with a frown.
"And when they get there, Ryan will kill them to provoke Adam. There's nothing they can do. Not today. Ryan's strong because of the full moon."
"Don't all werewolves get strong at full moon?" Anna asked, trying to remember where she had heard that before.
"Yes. But an angry Sigma from the Gamma tribe can concentrate more energy than omegas. "
Anna looked at Sarah with disgust and then turned to the werewolf.
"I'm not going to send you to your deaths. I want you to let me know immediately if Adam sends any signals into your minds..."
The man merely nodded in agreement.
Anna looked at Sarah again.
"You and Kate find your own place. I don't want anyone under this roof who wishes Adam harm, no matter what reason you have for it."
"You can't kick us out." Kate said, crossing her arms.
"The men will obey me if I order them to remove the two of you by force."
Kate smiled.
"You're such a coward, Anna. Why don't you remove us yourself?"
"Because she doesn't have to get her delicate little hands dirty."
They looked back. Genevieve was leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed next to the werewolf who had talked to Anna.
Sarah glared at her.
"You've been left in the lurch because of Anna too! Why are you defending her now?"
"The boss ordered me back to help Anna. She's young and inexperienced. However, he hasn't said anything to me about protecting her and I'm not inclined to do that. You can kill yourselves and I don't care, but I agree with her that it's a very immoral thing for you to take advantage of someone's hospitality and wish them harm."
Genevieve's voice didn't lose its sensual tone, but it was just as threatening.
"We don't wish him harm. But if Ryan becomes the leader of the werewolves..."
"Don't be an idiot, Sarah. There's no such possibility. An Alpha always maintains control over the werewolves and even a Sigma, but Adam was kind enough to accept the duel because he believes Ryan needs it to forgive him."
"Maybe Adam's kindness extends and he lets Ryan rise to leadership..." Kate said wryly.
"I hope not." Genevieve said and approached Kate. "He said you were old and withered, doesn't that hurt your ego?" Genevieve said and turned to Sarah. "What do you think would happen if there was a possibility of a werewolf taking on Adam in a fight and winning? What do you think he would do?"
"He'd hide. He's too proud to ever let anyone who knows him see his face again."
"Yes. But first... He'd take someone with him."
"Anna." Sarah concluded.
Genevieve smiled.
"Now that you've understood the pointlessness of rooting for our boss to be defeated, how will you want to get out of this house? The easy way, or the hard way?"