Anna took a deep breath. Allister didn't know what she was saying, or she was so tired that she was imagining things. Had All just said that Adam would fall in love with her? It was easier for the sun's rays to dry up the sea.
"Your son is a murdering psychopath who has feelings for me? Wow! How flattering! I should throw myself out of that bedroom window right now and spare him..."
"Don't talk like that, Anna. I need you to promise not to attempt your own life."
"After you're gone, any promise I've made won't make any difference, because you won't be here to see if I kept it."
Allister turned pale and Anna immediately regretted the harsh way she had spoken to him and took his hand again.
"I'm sorry. Tonight hasn't been easy."
"You didn't tell me about dinner."
Anna lay down next to him and talked about Ryan and the woman who looked like a snake. Allister was amused by the way Anna deliberately told and described things as she saw them.
Anna didn't even notice when she fell asleep. Nor did she see Adam's cold, yellow eyes watching the two of them enjoying themselves, as they made fun of him, his cousin and Genevieve. When they finally fell asleep, he approached the bed.
The nurse woke up startled, but when she saw him with his yellow gaze, she cowered in a corner. He manifested his werewolf side every time he was ready to kill.
He stopped beside Anna and raised his hand, his claws emerging, and put it around her neck, longing to squeeze it, imagining what it would be like to see the glow of those beautiful green eyes fading as he slowly choked her. Delighting in the sound of a broken neck that he would hear...
Adam took his hand out and put it in his pocket, as if he could resist his impulses, and turned to the nurse who seemed frozen in her chair.
"When he dies, she'll suffer. She'll cry and be inconsolable. I don't mind, but we'll have visits from men and werewolves who used to work for him, and who now work for me. They are important. Pay attention to what I'm going to tell you now. On the day he dies, you're going to give her a sedative so that she sleeps, and doesn't realize she's being transported from here, do you understand?"
"She won't take it, boss!"
"Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
He turned again to look at the sleeping Anna.
"Offer water, use your imagination or..." He said and assessed the nurse. "I'll take you in her place." He said and left.
The nurse got up, ran to the bathroom and threw up. That was the worst threat he could make to a woman, and she was sorry she was working for him, but she had no choice. That poor girl, Anna, didn't have much time.
She was human and all humans who discovered the family secret, that they were werewolves, could never leave their service alive. The problem was that only twenty percent of the employees didn't find out, even though they became suspicious. When All ran the business without his son's help, no one suspected anything, but four years ago, when Adam started running his father's business, it became clear that there were supernatural things going on. Adam was Alpha and had the power to manipulate each werewolf to do his bidding. He could also manipulate some human emotions, and paralyze people, but he wasn't attracted to anything that concerned humans and never used his gifts with them. Now, he had threatened her. And she knew that his threats were never in vain. Without her realizing it, he must have seen something in her that the rest of the heirs would approve of as a 'product. She looked at Anna once more, pensive. Her time was up.
...
Anna woke up hungry. Last night she hadn't eaten anything, and now she was feeling the effects of her stubbornness. It was over, everything had only served to humiliate her. She hadn't discovered anything relevant to Allister, and she was feeling useless.
In the shower that morning, she thought of something she hadn't realized. Allister was delusional. Some of the things he said didn't make sense, and he didn't ask anything personal about the people at the dinner. Did he just want her to go, to be humiliated? Did he really love her? Did he really? She had her doubts. It didn't seem like Suzy had been through anything like this. Everyone respected her. Anna could understand, Suzy displayed the natural arrogance of someone born to be a queen. It was hard to be around her and not feel... Nothing.
Anna left the bathroom and changed. She chose a pink dress that she had bought the day before with Suzy and left with the intention of going to All's room, but Adam was waiting for her outside, and barred her passage without touching her. His hands in his pockets seemed an efficient strategy so that he wouldn't have to explain himself.
"Be ready for lunch at 12 o'clock." He said and went into his office.
Anna mimicked his orders and rolled her eyes. Couldn't he give her a decent invitation / she went to Allister's room and found him in a good mood, sitting down to breakfast.
"Good morning." She greeted happily.
"Come and have breakfast with me." Allister called out, pointing to the side of the bed, and Anna went over to him.
They talked about amenities, and at a certain point in the conversation, Anna became distracted.
"Is something worrying you?" Allister asked nonchalantly, but Anna knew he was paying attention.
"I don't know... Your son wants me to go to lunch with him..."
"Yes. He was here and told me about his plans." Allister said with a shadow of amusement on his face.
Anna noticed and looked at him suspiciously, but reassured that Allister wasn't having fun with something that would harm her.
"What did he say?"
"He's a person who fights his own feelings with great conviction, a very amusing obsession, because I know he's going to lose that war."