Adam stalked over to where Ann sat pouting up at him and placed a small tray down that contained a smoothie and a sandwich, holding her gaze as he did so.
"You weren't supposed to hear that until I had thought how I was going to tell you in a way that wouldn't have you climbing the walls angrily."
Adam snorted lightly as he pushed his hands into his pocket and stared at her levelly.
"I'm not an ogre Ann." He said softly, "You know that I just want you and the babies to be safe. It's not too much to ask for."
"No, it's not, but it's insulting that you think I would put them at risk."
"I promise it's not meant that way," he sighed, "It's just that you don't always see the possibilities for danger around you. You're too trusting and you have a soft heart. Both of those are reasons that I love you, and also reasons that I worry about you. If Maeve was able to help then I would be less concerned, but..well, we've already been over this."
"Yes, you're right, we have and you know full well how irritating it is. Look, I'm going to go into work tomorrow whether you like it or not and I'm going to see Eva. Bartholomew is coming in a few days and I would like to keep myself active until then."
"You managed to get hold of him?" He asked in surprise and Ann nodded curtly.
"I did. He'll bring what he has on the Lycans and he is also happy to tell us what he knows about Greyson in more detail. He didn't want to do it over the phone because apparently the walls still have ears."
Adam nodded slowly.
"Okay. Well, I have my teams working on bringing the intelligence that we have on the Lycans here. They'll be here in the morning." He paused briefly and a guilty expression settled over his face, making Ann frown deeply.
"What aren't you telling me?" she asked suspiciously as Adam sighed and tipped his head backward in frustration.
"I need to go back to Dark Moon and see about facilitating the move here. I need the current population count, current business count, current inventory…you know, that sort of thing. I would have asked Allen to arrange all this but he isn't here. I really don't want to leave you alone for any period of time."
Ann chewed her lip thoughtfully as she considered possible options.
"How about asking your Elder Council to step in and take stock."
"No," He said, shaking his head, "There will be too many questions, too much outrage…"
"Then do you have any high ranking guards that you trust to access everything?"
Adam sighed and sat heavily on the chair opposite her, running his hand over his face.
"Not really, only the intelligence team and they're stretched thin at the moment because of training."
"Adam, there's no rush to move them here, you know? Things can wait until I've had a chance to draw up the plans for the development of the land around the palace. We still have the majority of the layout to plan anyway, plus schools, colleges..."
"So you came around to having an integrated school within the pack then?" Adam teased lightly, remembering their discussion when they first met, "You were adamant that our packs should mix with the humans and hybrids and receive a normal schooling to help them integrate."
Ann sighed heavily and twisted her lips as she thought.
"I still think that mixing with the humans and hybrids within thor cities is a good thing, but you did raise some very valid points when we discussed it previously and if I think it's becoming an issue, we can always see about proposing mandatory exchange visits,"
Adam nodded thoughtfully.
"We'll have to restructure the curriculum anyway to include Lexi's lectures regarding Daemons if she still wishes to do that...we can talk about this later though." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand as he fixed her with that intense stare that always made her melt, "What I really want to know is whether or not you have figured out the security detail for your visit tomorrow."
Ann's face lit up suddenly as she grinned widely at Adam.
"So I can go? You aren't going to fight me on it?" She squealed excitedly.
"Look, whether I want you to go or not, you're going to do as you please so I thought that for once I would try not to bite back. If you haven't figured your security team out though, I'll send the team that's on their way already with details of the Lycans."
"Yeah I'm sure they'll really appreciate babysitting duty," Maeve snorted.
Ann forced a smile, knowing that she would have to compromise if she wanted a little bit of freedom. He was coming from a good place and she couldn't fault him for wanting to protect both her and the pups.
"Okay, fine." She said finally with only the barest hint of a grimace, "I appreciate the thought and effort that you're putting into being a good father already...as much as it pains me to lose my autonomy and freedom."
"I think both of us lost that when you became the Alpha Queen," Adam chuckled, "I'm just trying to do what's best for all of us. Now, it's your turn to do what's right and get that food and drink inside of you."
Ann sighed as she reached for the smoothie and glared at Adam as she did as she was asked.
"Only a few more months of this…I can cope with a few more months." She sighed internally as Adam's face relaxed into a satisfied smile as he watched her adoringly.