Anna jumped on the bed, hugged All and hid her face in his arms.
"You don't have the right to stop me from doing whatever I want!" It was Suzy's voice.
"I didn't stop you!" Adam's cold voice sounded like thunder.
"The man who works here said that you don't allow Anna to leave!"
"Yes. She can't! You can leave whenever you want!"
"You want to have power over everyone around you, and that can't be! Your father is still alive!"
"Not for long!"
Anna heard the slap and felt All shudder. She couldn't believe that it was Adam who had slapped his mother and Suzy could have been in danger if she had dared. Her doubts were soon answered by Adam's cold, cutting voice.
"Don't you ever do that again, woman!"
"Are you threatening me?"
"That would be very peculiar, wouldn't it? I cause pain before I threaten!"
"You can't order me around!"
"Yes, I can!"
"Do you think you're better than anyone else here? I'm going to invite your brother here! He's older than you! The inheritance is rightfully his! And the command of our regions also belongs to him."
"My regions! Don't forget who I am, mother. Your eldest son will get whatever I want to give him, and don't you ever dare question my rights, because if you're forgetting who I am, I can forget who you are, too!"
"You've already forgotten who I am!"
"You're still standing in front of me, yelling at me, aren't you?"
Suzy seemed to calm down, but she didn't back down from her provocations.
"Your brother has your blood in his veins, and no matter what you two do, you can't change that! The inheritance of the property your father built is his. You've already received everything you're entitled to. You Alpha asshole!"
"He's a pompous, spoiled man with eccentric and dubious tastes, and all he wants out of life is to sit behind a desk judging other people's lives. People he often knows are wrong, but he judges them innocent anyway."
"He does it to defend his interests! You're ridiculous! You behave so immorally with the maid and then you want to dictate rules to other people. Rules you don't follow! Your brother judges people, but what do you do? You spend your free time using your creativity to learn new torture techniques! You are judge and executioner!"
"Don't challenge me, woman! My brother has only one interest, and like everyone else, he recognizes my authority. Don't talk to me about this ever again! Go away and behave yourself, Mama, because I can cut the entire budget for your luxuries!"
"You're not my son anymore. I don't recognize you!"
A heavy silence followed those words and then Adam's voice hissed.
"That being the case, you have no reason to continue being supported by my money. I'll give you enough to pay for a plane ticket to wherever you want to go. I don't want to smell you anywhere on my property."
"I'm the boss's wife, Adam. He won't allow me to be destitute!"
"What else could he do? He's already signed documents himself, where he passed on everything he had to me."
"He would never do that!"
"But he did. All the assets he earned before he gave birth to Alfa are mine now."
"Is he going to leave me and your brother with nothing?"
"Maybe you'll convince his eldest son to sell me his secret. And then I'll let you have a roof over your head and your fancy dresses."
"Because your brother... He's never fought for his position in this family..."
"He recognizes my authority."
Adam said and All and Anna listened as he walked away.
Suzy arrived in the bedroom doorway.
"All, what have you done?" she asked and approached him with watery eyes, sat down on the chair by the headboard and took his hand. She was trembling.
Allister let Suzy calm down first, as the only solution to the situation would not be well received by his wife.
"You'll be fine. Our other son will take you in."
"You... Why did you do that? And why did you let him know? Adam is the worst man I've ever met! You don't hand over that much power to someone like him... He's already acting like a dictator. He was born with power, All. You know that."
Allister smiled.
"The more he feels comfortable with this situation now, the better the outcome will be. Believe my intuition, Suzy. He's our son, and I'm responsible for what he's become. I wasn't a good example of a man, and I always encouraged the cruelest side of him to also be the most superficial, for everyone to see and fear. I can't die without making sure he has a chance to be different. To be a son who will make us both proud."
"Adam... He's far too comfortable in this position of master of the world that you've allowed him to achieve. Wasn't it enough that he was born Alpha? To have the power to manipulate us all? I can't be optimistic. He'll never give up the power and the reputation he has. He's bad, and he likes everyone to know it. But now you've given him what was missing. Dominion over men. An incalculable fortune!"
"We've changed, Suzy. You were the cruelest of women and now you're not. He can be different too, if he has the right inspiration. As for the money... Suzy... You always knew that it should be passed on to the Alphas... A considerable fortune already belonged to him."
"What are you talking about? Why do you say that your son is an Alpha? Why do you refer to yourselves as wolves?" Anna didn't want to interrupt them, but she couldn't contain her curiosity.
Allister and Suzy looked at Anna in surprise. For a minute they forgot that they weren't alone. That she still didn't know anything. Allister wondered if there was still a reason for Anna not to know their reality, since it was inevitable. Perhaps, if she found out from him one day, she would forgive him for what he had done to her whole family. But he couldn't do that. Not yet.