Anna looked at Ryan with a cutting gaze.
"Adam would never abuse my trust like that." Anna said and hurried off.
She arrived at the edge of the pool and crossed her arms as she stared at Adam enjoying some joke between them. She stared at him with such penetrating fury that he seemed to notice and intuitively turned to her. He was wearing sunglasses, but his smile was debauched.
"Throw yourself over here, Anna." He invited, raising his arms.
"I need to talk to you. Now!"
Adam turned to the men, and they all started laughing.
"What's the punishment for a woman who talks like that to her superior?" Adam asked them.
"None! She's Ian's mother." Caricature said, before the other werewolves started giving her embarrassing ideas.
Adam turned quietly to Anna.
"Didn't you have an appointment, now?"
"I'm not leaving until I talk to you."
Adam swam to the ladder and emerged dripping from the pool, grabbed one of the towels that were folded nearby and dried himself off.
Anna tried to look away, but she couldn't help admiring his beautiful body in just his swimming trunks. He approached her.
"Do I have to put on another outfit to have this conversation?"
"That's up to you."
"I think I'd better change, then. I won't be able to keep my hands off you if you keep looking at me with all this desire. Wait for me in the office." He said and left.
Anna glared at him and saw that the men were whispering and laughing. Then she looked at Alexander and Lory, and she was hugging him tearfully, while he had no fear in his eyes. Anna took the opportunity to see what her son was doing, and looking for him, she discovered him coming out of the changing area, along with other children older than him, including Lory's son.
She took a deep breath and went into the office to wait for Adam, and sat down in one of the armchairs.
She didn't have to wait long. He came back perfumed and unshaven. She could smell his perfume, and he had certainly showered too. He wore jeans and a T-shirt, and looked more handsome than she had ever seen him before. He walked in and grabbed a beer from the minibar. Then he sat down opposite her.
"Well?" He asked sarcastically.
"What's this about sentencing Alexander to death?"
"Well... He knew the consequences of his rebellion when he left the table. I think he had been seeking death for some time." Adam spoke so naturally that Anna felt like slapping him.
"Do you really think he wanted to die, without even knowing his daughter was going to be born?"
"He should have thought of that before."
"What if he really wants to die? You should talk to him. Maybe he has some problem that he thinks is unsolvable and..."
"Yes. He has an unsolvable problem, but it's not my problem."
"Adam... He's one of your most loyal men."
"You're wrong. He's not one of my most loyal men. He's the most loyal."
"Then take that sentence away from him!"
"I can't. It would set an example for men to disrespect me and think they can get away with it."
"Are you really going to have the courage to raise a gun and shoot him in the head?"
"If I had to, I would, no problem, no hesitation. But the men will draw straws to see who will... Do the job."
"Adam... Stop it. If not for him, for me, and for your son."
Adam stared at her with shining eyes, but she didn't recognize what they were telling her.
"Ian agreed to his death."
Anna stared at him in disbelief.
"You involved my son in this?"
"Our son." Adam corrected. "He heard everything." Adam pointed to his own head, and Anna understood that all the werewolves had heard the sentence. "And Ian didn't object."
Anna felt her eyes water. Ladye couldn't grow up without a father. She stood up and knelt in front of Adam.
"I'm begging you, Adam. Don't do this."
He stared at her debauchedly. His eyes suddenly turning yellow.
"What would you give me in exchange for Alexander's life?"
"Do you need a better reward than continuing to live with and have the most reliable man by your side supporting you?"
"Alexander has nothing to offer me for his life. I have loyalty from other men too. It's not something I'm going to need."
"And what do you want from me?"
"Well, I want you to pay for his life. Isn't that what you're negotiating?"
Anna stood up and went back to her chair.
"Why are your eyes yellow? What are you doing now?"
"I'm the Alpha King, Anna. I am a werewolf, and I receive important messages at different times and opportunities. The werewolves are... celebrating their ritual... This won't affect our conversation."
"All right. How much do you want for Alexander's life?"
"How much are you willing to pay?"
"As much as you wish. I have money now, Adam. I'm no longer the poor sixteen-year-old girl, who didn't even have a place to drop dead, that you knew."
"I don't want your money. I already have it, and I earn far more than I could ever spend in my entire life."
"You implied that I could pay for Alexander's life."
"Yes. You have something I want."
"So, what do you want?"
Adam drank from the neck of the beer bottle and stared at her defiantly.
"I want you to lie with me until you get pregnant again."
Anna didn't have time to stop her reaction. Tears were streaming down her face and Adam was staring at her indifferently, but waiting for an answer.
Anna immediately thought of Max and their children. She thought of the love she had for them. How could she have one more child with Adam, and then leave him behind? It was the hardest choice she would ever make, and she didn't have time to stop and think about what she had to do. Either she would be left without the triplets, or she would be left without the new baby. She would ask her father to help her get away from him as soon as she became pregnant, because he would promise to give her a child, but he wouldn't say anything about leaving the child with him. And she knew there was a risk that Max wouldn't take her back, but she couldn't let Alexander die. Anna hated Adam. Bonnie had done something much worse, and he hadn't sentenced her to death. She decided to throw it in his face before accepting the proposal.