The next morning as Ann got ready to leave and Coral fussed over whether or not she had packed enough food options for while they were out and Adam watched resolutely in the background, to say that she was excited was an understatement.
By the time they were making their way to the waiting cars and Adam had finished barking orders at his security team, Ann could have skipped to the waiting cars if she was physically able to. As it was, the most that she could manage was a slightly quicker waddle much to her annoyance.
As she was about to slide into the backseat, Adam called out to her and she turned just in time to see him rush over to her, the blind panic written all over his face.
Her heart tugged painfully at the sight. She knew he worried about her incessantly and she had no idea how to make it right, but she couldn't stay holed up inside the palace forever. At some point or another she would have to leave and the sooner he got used to the idea and saw that nothing untoward would happen, the better for both of them.
"I hope he has steak ready for us when we return…what a welcome home that would be." Maeve sighed dreamily as Ann fought the urge to roll her eyes.
"I hope that he forgets all about plying us with food when we get back. I have other appetites that would quite like being sated," Ann snorted back as Adam's hands landed on her shoulders, pulling her into a hug,
"I hate this." He murmured just before he pulled away, "I hate being apart from you at all. I have things I need to see to today but I swear these men are as good as I am when it comes to protecting you."
Ann smiled up at him and touched a hand to his cheek tenderly.
"I know. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll be in the office the majority of the day so it won't be anything too crazy." she chuckled, "Do you want me to message you or call if I find anything?"
"I will leave that to you my Queen," Adam smiled, "I don't mind whichever way you decide. All I want is for you…"
"To be safe. Yes, I know." Ann sighed, "I'll be back this evening, don't worry."
"I'll be waiting," He replied, planting a tender kiss on her forehead just before she slid into the back seat of the car.
She suppressed a laugh at Coral as she slid in next to her with some difficulty, armed with a picnic basket full of goddess only knew what and she offered Ann a sheepish smile.
"He wouldn't take no for an answer." She shrugged helplessly as Ann laughed.
"It's fine, I'm sure Eva will be grateful for snacks too while we're there. We have a long day ahead of us."
The journey to the headquarters went relatively quickly with no incidents along the way. Ann and Coral used this time to consolidate the goals for today's visit.
When they pulled up in front of the building, the press were already waiting outside and Ann sighed heavily at the thought of having to face them but before she could even open the car door, Eva had appeared at the main entrance with a veritable army of security, who lined up in front of the press as Eva hurried to open the door for her.
"Still the same old media circus I see?" Ann chuckled lightly as Eva grimaced.
"We didn't expect this many honestly. I suppose it's big news though. The Alpha Queen herself back at work after cleaning up the Enclave, securing our borders, thwarting an uprising of the dark witches and battling off an invading Daemon Lord."
"I didn't do any of that Eva, that was all thanks to our army and…"
"But you're the face behind it all," Eva answered with a dismissive wave of her hand and a conspiratorial grin, "Whether you like it or not, anything newsworthy that happens will be attributed to you."
Ann allowed herself a small smile as she stood for a moment for the cameras, with Eva and Coral flanking her sides and after giving the reporters what they wanted, ignoring the shouted questions, they turned and made their way into the building, the staff inside greeting her warmly as she passed.
"SUCH a difference to when your father was CEO," Eva snorted, "Everyone went out of their way to avoid him, whereas people want to be seen by you and want you to like them."
"My father did a lot to ruin our family's image. It is my job to restore that image. Our people should have faith in the royal line, and that of the nobles but that's another problem for another day. Today I need to find out as much as I can about the Lycan's."
Eva grinned excitedly as she glanced back at Coral.
"Actually, I already found a couple of projects that we worked on with Lycan's." She said quietly as Ann stopped in her tracks and turned to look at her.
"Seriously?!"
"Yes, but not the Royals. Although, there is one project that is sealed and only your father had access to it so I guess you'll be able to access it as well."
"But why would it be sealed? I could understand if it was to outsiders as that's common practice, but to internal staff?" Ann mused as Eva smirked knowingly.
"Right? It also has the Enclave seal on it so whatever it is, both your father and the Enclave had a hand in both constructing and designing, as well as sealing. I've been going crazy trying to think of what might be inside"
"You have it somewhere safe?" Ann asked, a frown appearing on her face. It would be just her luck for the file to somehow mysteriously disappear.
"Of course, it's encoded on a hard drive," She said tapping her pocket lightly, "Don't you know me by now?"
Ann laughed as she met Eva's grin with a bright one of her own.
"It appears I had forgotten. Come on, let's get that opened up and see what's inside it." She said as they moved as quickly as she could waddle to her new office.