They remained thoughtful and silent, as if they didn't know what else to say to each other.
"I'm going to try and get some sleep." Kate said, knowing that her presence was not wanted, and left.
As soon as she was out of sight, Anna turned to Lory.
"What's going on?"
"What do you mean?"
"I can see how sad you are, and Alexander too, is not well."
Anna saw Lory's eyes fill with tears, and then they streamed down her face. She bent down and spoke to the boy who had approached them curiously to go and play with the other children. This aroused Anna's suspicion. It must have been a little werewolf that Adam had sent to keep a close eye on them.
"Lory, come in with me. Come and see my room." She said, and took her hand and led her up the stairs and down the corridor to her room.
As soon as Lory sat down on her bed, Anna sat down next to her and took her hand.
"You can tell me, Lory. I'll do whatever it takes to help you."
"There's nothing more to be done." She said tearfully.
"Don't underestimate me. What is there that can't be changed?"
"Alexander. The boss sentenced him to death."
Anna almost jumped with fright. She thought of various things, such as a fight between her and Alexander over infidelity, or over his werewolf wife, but she would never have imagined it.
"Why would he do that?"
"Something about a toast that Alexander refused to make..." Lory said between sobs.
"Adam would kill him just for that?"
"Yes. He handed down the sentence as soon as he saw us in the pool."
"Do the other men know?"
"Yes. The boss spoke in everyone's mind. They were sorry, and said goodbye to him, and went to jump in the pool. They agree with the boss. They also believe that this was an act of betrayal."
"I won't let that happen, Lory. Let's go downstairs so you can drink some water, calm down and calm your heart. I'm not going to let Adam kill one of the most loyal men he has because of some nonsense like that."
"It will be tonight." Lory said, still sobbing, and stood up with Anna. "As much power as you have over the boss, because he loves you, I don't think you can get him to back down. If I could, it would be for the first time." Lory said fateful, as they walked down the corridor, and then down the stairs.
Anna took Lory to the kitchen and asked Judith to pour her something to drink, while she remembered Sarah's punishment. She would have to put it off for another hour while she sorted out Adam's injustice. She asked Lory to stay there, but she refused.
"I can't. These are my Alexander's last moments, and I don't want to be away from him. I wanted you to take a picture of him with his hand on my belly so I could show my daughter that her father loved her before she was even born..."
They heard the crash of breaking glass and looked at Judith at the same time. Anna put her hand to her forehead. What was wrong with her? Judith was Alexander's lover and shouldn't have known about his death sentence yet!
"Judith... Go serve juice to the children in the pool. Let me clean up the mess."
Judith, with tears streaming from her eyes, prepared the tray in silence and left.
Anna began to clean up the shards of glass.
"Stop it, Lory. You're driving me crazy. He's not going to die..."
"Anna... I appreciate your concern, but I tried everything. I cried, I begged, I got down on my knees, but the boss wouldn't budge from his decision. I told him that there was no way I could raise my children without Alexandre, and he said that my son would take his father's place and bring my livelihood home. I even argued that it was the second time he'd left me a widow, but he didn't care..."
"I didn't want to talk about it, but it's necessary. Does Alexandre's first wife know what's going on?"
"Of course she knows! She's a werewolf. And she agrees with the Alpha."
"Then go and stay with your husband, Lory. It's good for him to know how much you love him and to appreciate the great woman he has even more. But he's not going to die. Not today. And not because of Adam's execution."
Lory was thoughtful.
"I understand their way of thinking. The boss hasn't used his persuasion to keep his werewolves loyal for long. He doesn't need to. There are too many of them and all the werewolves are subject to his orders. He doesn't need to keep insisting. Anyone who doesn't want to be completely loyal to the Alpha must die. Worst of all, you can't pretend to be loyal just because you fear the boss. He has access to your thoughts and feelings. Alfa gets stronger every year. Experience strengthens the boss."
Anna threw the shards of glass in the garbage can and turned to Lory.
"Disagreeing with an opinion, or an attitude, is not betrayal, Lory. Adam may be the Alpha and the boss, but he has no right to demand that everyone agrees with him. Now go."
Lory left sniffling, and Anna became pensive.
"You shouldn't have given the woman hope. The Alpha really isn't going to back down." Ryan said, amused by Anna's startled jump.
"You should stop underestimating me."
"I don't underestimate you, you bitch! I'm just waiting for the right moment. Adam will put you in the green house, and then we'll both settle our differences..."
"Adam has no intention of putting me in the green house."
Ryan raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure about that? Because after that ritual, you can't move away from here anymore, and now that he knows you can't leave, quite the opposite, that you'll beg to stay, Adam won't worry too much about what makes you happy, Anna."
"What do you mean?"
"You shouldn't use compromising words from an unknown language, Anna. You gave up your children's lives for a promise not to leave. You've ceased to be a challenge for Adam and your charm has been broken."