Adam arrived in the empty dining room. With Anna, there were always a lot of people around, and although he had believed he liked his privacy, he missed the carefree chatter of his men during the meal and made his way to the kitchen.
"Did Anna leave any orders for dinner?"
The cooks were startled by the chef's sudden entrance.
"Yes, Mr. Lens."
"Um... Go ahead with everything as she planned... Are the men no longer eating with us?"
"Yes, boss. They didn't want to eat without Mrs. Lens present."
Adam nodded and left the kitchen. He went out into the garden, and Kate was staring into nothingness, hugging herself as if she felt cold. Adam approached her.
"Is something wrong?"
"Adam, I have a proposal for you."
"I think so, but I'm not going to do business with you, not right now."
She looked at Adam.
"You're different, Adam."
"I'm still the same." He said and frowned. "Perhaps a little more creative, but I think Genevieve would like to talk about it with you in person."
"You became someone else after... Married Anna."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Adam, maybe you'll never admit it, but I think you're in love."
Adam smiled.
"If you believe that I can love someone, you're even more naive than Anna."
"I'm sorry for the way I treated you... I thought that if I studied and became someone with an interesting career, you'd look at me as your likely wife."
"You're my brother's age. Why haven't you tried to win him over? He's the opposite of me."
"Maybe I didn't want the opposite."
"You're not a very bright lawyer, are you? I'm already married. You don't even have to be a werewolf for me to read your thoughts. You're so transparent, like the waters..." Adam interrupted himself. "I can't get in touch with the werewolves in this house anymore... it's so strange! And I think Genevieve knows the reason for this phenomenon."
"Good. You put a witch's daughter in your house, you shouldn't be surprised, but... It's a good thing they invented the cell phone. What an opportune moment, don't you think?" Kate said and hugged Adam, standing on her tiptoes and kissing his lips. "You don't have to read my thoughts, Adam. I'll talk about them all with you." She said sensually.
Adam pushed her away from him.
"I don't want you, Kate. Not now. But later, come to my room..."
Kate smiled happily.
"You're in the room with Anna. Are you going to send her to sleep somewhere else?"
"No, Kate. The bed's big." He said and walked back to the house.
Kate didn't care. She would do anything for Adam to stay with her.
...
Jenna crossed her arms at Anna's insistent stare. She felt guilty, even though it wasn't her fault at all that the girl was going through this embarrassing situation.
"You're looking at me like I'm from another planet, Jenna." Anna said quietly and amused.
"I thought you'd be upset with Adam."
"I have reason to be, but I'm not."
Jenna uncrossed her arms.
"I'll get you something to eat."
"Aren't you going to give me that medicine in your hand?"
Jenna looked at the vial, then turned to Anna.
"You don't need it."
Anna's eyes shone with the light of understanding.
"I recovered on my own, right?"
Jenna frowned.
"Aren't you scared of that?"
Anna laughed.
"Maybe Adam turned me into a... Thing just like you."
Jenna shook her head.
"No, Anna. You're not a werewolf." Jenna said and went to the window to see Adam approaching Kate.
Anna knew that the child inside her was making sure that her development into the world wasn't interrupted. But she couldn't tell Jenna that, no matter how much she loved her. If she knew her secret, Adam would kill her, too.
"Can you get me something to eat?" Anna asked.
Jenna climbed out of the window.
"Sure. I'll get it." She said and left.
Anna waited to hear her footsteps coming down the stairs and ran to the safe. She vaguely remembered Adam telling her about a password, and even if it wasn't on that safe, she hoped he had been careless and put the same password on all of them.
She typed in the date of her birthday and the door opened.
"Who's the naive girl now, Adam?" She whispered to herself.
Anna smiled. She took out five wads of hundred-dollar bills and counted them. There was a thousand dollars in each bundle. She hid it inside her sock drawer. She would need to sew inside pockets into some of her clothes, so that she could take advantage of the first opportunity she had to escape. She closed the safe door, convincing herself, with difficulty, that she couldn't take any more money, or there would be no way to hide it, and ran, and lay down on the bed.
She wasn't angry with Adam. He wasn't human, and he had always been encouraged to hurt people. She recognized that he was trying to be a better person for her, but his upbringing and his essence would never allow him to be any different.
...
Adam entered the kitchen and found Jenna preparing soup.
"Is she all right?" He asked as he filled a glass with water.
"Yes. But I think if you don't stop, you'll kill her."
"Did the medicine work?"
Jenna frowned. She couldn't tell Adam about her impression of the girl. He'd be careful if he believed she wouldn't recover quickly.
"Yes... I hope you have a lot more of that medicine. What is it?"
"It's water."
His simple answer made Jenna turn red and afraid. She quickly turned to him.
"What did you say?"
"It's water. From a mine found in DreamStone."
"But... Only werewolves live there..."
"I know. They don't need it. But they studied the effects of this water, because they realized that the life of the birds and animals in the area where this mine is, lived longer than the others of the same species."