Ann leaned back in her chair with a satisfied sigh as Adam chuckled at her docile expression.
"Did that hit the spot?" He asked, quirking his eyebrow upwards.
"Oh Goddess yes," she replied with a slow smile, "I hate to admit it, but Maeve was right. I needed that more than I thought I did."
She reached forward for her drink and turned to Coral with an expectant smile.
"Now, what was it that you wanted to discuss with me that you felt I needed a full belly to hear it?"
Coral glanced towards Adam nervously and took a deep breath as she opened up a document on her email and slid the handheld device over to Ann.
"I got the email this morning. Apparently the Lycan King sent a delegation to the Crystal pack. They arrived shortly before Lexi, Allen and Greyson and…well, it seems that Greyson and the delegation are brothers."
Coral licked her lips nervously and all of a sudden she felt as though she didn't even know where to begin.
"Coral?" Ann prompted her.
"Ah, well, I don't know if you knew this, but..well…Greyson is apparently one of the heirs to the Lycan Kingdom." Coral rushed out quickly, clasping her hands tightly together under the table in an effort to reduce her anxiety.
She had spent enough time in the enclave to know that the relations between the Lycans and shifters of all kinds had always been pretty touch and go, so the fact that a Lycan prince had possibly infiltrated their ranks and achieved a highly ranked position within its defense forces would surely ruffle more than a few feathers.
Ann's eyebrows knitted together and the expression on Adam's face mirrored hers except the dark cloud that had descended over his face was a little more terrifying.
"Do you think that he told them he was being sent there?" Adam growled.
"No. Don't be ridiculous. Bartholomew vouched for Greyson and I trust his judgment. The Lycan's aren't known for their subterfuge., they're more likely to launch a bloody attack than to bother collecting information beforehand."
"But if he was working with them..what if all of this is just to get a hold of someone close to the Queen?" Adam snarled, his wolf's irises flashing in his own as his anger rose.
"Adam, I said no. It simply isn't possible." Ann reaffirmed sternly, despite the way her stomach flipped nauseatingly.
She glanced down at the electronic diary without really seeing the words before taking a deep breath to collect herself and looking back at Coral.
"Do we know anything else? Or just of their arrival?" She pressed gently.
"Only that the relationship between Greyson and his brothers does not seem to be one that's amicable, my Queen. When they bumped into each other, Alpha Brad was taken aback by the animosity between them. By all accounts it was quite a tense encounter. It's all in the email if you would care to read it, your highness."
Ann nodded slowly as she dropped her eyes to skim over the words in front of her, feeling relief wash over her as the email seemed to confirm her gut feeling about Greyson.
'...it was definitely a strange sight to see the Lycan princes and Lexi's mates facing off in the entrance hall of my home. Clearly Greyson wanted nothing to do with his brothers and he was furious about their appearance. It didn't devolve into an all out brawl though but it definitely wasn't resolved. I expect there will be more of these encounters for the duration of their stay. I have asked both parties to keep out of each other's way where possible and not to cause conflict on neutral grounds…'
"Was there any reason given for their sudden appearance?" Adam asked as he leaned across to read over Ann's shoulder and Coral sighed.
"There's a little bit on there about the Lycan King requesting an alliance with Brad's pack but…"
"You can't just ally yourself with an individual pack! The Crystal pack is under this Kingdom's protection, of the Royal Veritas Line! What the fuck is he thinking?! He cannot accept for us all or forge his own alliances!" Adam exploded furiously, knocking his drink over on the table as he stood abruptly and began to pace.
"Calm down Adam, anyone would think you're pregnant too with you blowing up like that." Ann sighed and patted his seat, "Come and sit down. Brad hasn't accepted the terms…here…" She continued as she passed him the diary and he took his seat again.
The tension in his shoulders dissipated slightly as he read, but the dark scowl on his face remained firmly in place.
'...and they have offered an alliance of sorts with the Lycan Kingdom. I have already advised them that I cannot accept on behalf of a kingdom. They said that they did not wish to ally themselves with a whole kingdom, just the neighboring packs but again I have told them that it is not possible to work an alliance this way any more, perhaps in my grandfather's time as alpha, but not now. I will meet with them again when they have spoken with their father and discussed their terms. I have, however, promised that I will pass the terms on to you for you to consider and you will, of course, respond with alterations to the terms or a direct answer. We could..'
Adam snorted as he slid the device back to Coral a little aggressively.
"He still speaks as though you two are close." Adam spat, with jealousy flaring in his soul.
"Really, Adam?" Ann snorted as she shook her head, "Out of all of that you think he's being overly familiar with me? By reporting something that could actually be important?"
Adam glowered at the diary darkly as Coral retrieved it from the table as carefully as she could.
He looked as though he wanted to destroy the device that had caused this offense in the first place and Coral really didn't want him to do that. All of her work and schedules was on this device and she hadn't yet had a chance to back it up.
She hadn't even set her office up yet because she had been so focused on getting everything right for Ann.
Ann sighed heavily as her eyes flickered shut and she massaged her temples.
"Okay, I understand why you wanted me well fed for this." She laughed bitterly as she sat up straighter in her chair and leaned across the table towards Coral, fixing her with a serious look.
"Coral, I'm a little rusty on the history and customs of the Lycan Kingdom. They've been so reclusive over the past century or so we haven't really devoted a lot of study to their kind other than their origins and monarchy as they weren't deemed of interest under my father. I want to know about their people, their customs, how their packs run now, that kind of thing."
"Yes my Queen," Coral nodded as she tapped on her screen furiously taking down Ann's requests.
"I think we should also reach out to Bartholomew as well. Perhaps he'll be visiting sooner than we expected." Ann added thoughtfully.
"I'll reach out to the Darkmoon for our intelligence officers to pull what they have as well." Adam grunted moodily.
"Wait, you have intel on the Lycan's?" Ann asked in surprise as a slow smirk spread across his lips and his eyes seemed to light up.
"Of course I do. I have intel on everyone in this kingdom and outside of it too.I like to know who my enemies are and what makes them tick," he murmured darkly as he leaned towards Ann and fixed her with a smoldering gaze.
His tone and demeanor succeeded in sending a shiver of anticipation down Ann's spine and caused Maeve to shudder with delight as he allowed his possessive aura to wash over her.
"And now that you're carrying our pups? Well, my Queen, it's even more important that I know who needs eliminating and who I need to keep an eye on."
Ann swallowed a little heatedly as she pressed her thighs together to try and hide the fact that his protective and ruthless mentality when it came to protecting her and her pups, was one of the biggest turn ons at this moment in time.
But judging by the look on his face, and the way his eyes dropped to the area between her legs, she was too late.
He knew.