"Ann?" Coral's voice came softly, "I know I said I was going to let you rest but we have a call coming from the base camp."
Ann groaned as she blearily opened her eyes.
"What time is it?" she mumbled as she rubbed her eyes hastily and tried to sit up a little straighter in bed.
"Almost sunset." Coral said softly as her eyes flicked to the doorway briefly and then back to her.
"Is everything okay though?" Ann asked as her brain began to start functioning a little more normally.
"Yeah, nothing to worry about, we …erm..have a visitor as well." Coral offered almost apologetically as Ann frowned.
"So much for banning visitors." Ann grumbled as she swung her legs out of bed., but Coral stopped her quickly.
"There's no need for you to get out of bed, We're just going to take the call on the tablet." She explained as she efficiently gathered Ann's legs up and had her back in bed and tucked up with the duvet before Ann could realise what was going on.
"Since when…" Ann began but Coral cut her off absentmindedly as she continued to talk.
"And as for banning visitors. Well..it's a little difficult to ban your husband from the palace." She giggled nervously as she stepped back from the bed.
"What?!" Ann yelped in panic as she turned to the doorway, but thankfully, there was no one there.
Her shoulders sagged in relief before her eyes narrowed and she rounded on Coral, glaring at her accusingly.
"Did you tell on me?" She asked in a dangerous whisper as Coral held her hands up and shook her head insistently.
"No! Of course not!" she gulped, "But he's talking to the midwives as we speak so…you know…"
The sentence trailed off as Ann sank back in her pillows with a groan.
"Insufferable Alpha incoming!" Maeve yelled and then giggled delightedly, as if he was some sort of explosive device, although even Ann had to admit that she wasn't wrong..
As soon as Eva entered with a tablet with a larger screen, Ann sat up straighter in bed. She glared at the wall opposite her as Coral fussed around her and was propped against enough pillows to make her look like she was sitting on a throne made of fabric, but she still hated being confined to her own room.
"The call is live," Eva announced.
Ann pushed the blanket off her stomach with a huff and waved her hand towards Eva.
"Put them through."
Coral tapped the screen and Lord Brarthroroz appeared immediately, filling the entire display because he was once again standing too close to the camera.
"This little thing is blinking at me," Brarthroroz muttered picking at the corner of what must be the camera and Ann rubbed her forehead.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it, it's probably just the light that lets you know the connection is active."
Lord Brarthroroz shifted the screen back until only half his face filled it instead of all of it looking at it with distaste before he continued.
"The Lycan King's territory is now secured. All pockets of resistance outside the castle have been erased. Bella and her children have cleared the outer walls. Nothing is moving down there."
Ann exhaled, relieved.
"Good. That takes the pressure off the wounded."
Then Lexi appeared on screen suddenly, shoving Brarthroroz aside and taking over the screen.
"Sup bestie?" She grinned brightly, "I can't believe you got him using modern technology, he hates it, so I thought I'd spare you the drama of his ignorance." she continued, rolling her eyes.
"I heard that," Brarthroroz said from somewhere off screen.
"Yeah, you were supposed to." Lexi smirked before turning back to Ann, "So. We've cleared everything except inside the castle itself. The King is inside with Sebastian, or trying to pretend that he isn't but he's already been seen on the ramparts. They think they're safe in there, but they won't be for long."
Ann smiled a little.
"How bad is resistance inside the courtyards beyond the wall?"
"Gone," Lexi said, satisfied. "Bella fried everything in there. The only thing left to crack open is the actual fortress. So we can take a small pause here."
Behind her, Bella's children swooped through the air in tight formation. Their wings beat fast, leaving quick flashes of motion behind them.
"Are you having any issues staying airborne with…Bella is it?" Ann asked.
"Naaaah no issues at all, " Lexi said. "I have Bella holding the highest point for surveillance as well, and the kiddos are patrolling the roof level. No one is leaving the castle without us seeing it. Not even a mouse."
"Or a cowardly prince and his insane father." Lord Brarthroroz's voice rumbled from the side,
"Exactly." Lexi grinned
Ann adjusted herself against her pillows.
"Where's Greyson? How's he holding up?" She asked, understanding the multitude of emotions that he must be going through right now.
Lexi angled the device until the screen caught him pacing a few meters away and he looked tense. His jaw was set firmly and his shoulders were squared. They watched as he glanced towards the castle roofline again, even though he already knew that no one had appeared.
Next to him, Allen sat on a broken stone block with his arms crossed. He spoke calmly and was obviously completely unfazed by Greyson's restlessness.
Lexi zoomed in toward them.
"Just look at these motherfuckers." she snorted.
"Greyson," Allen soothed, "You know that if you go in there angry, you're more likely to fall into whatever trap they've set up and you'll probably die. And then I will have to explain it to Lexi, and Adam, and Ann, and that is too many people for me to deal with because you decided to have no patience.. I am not doing that. Did you not learn anything from our little escapade to rescue Lexi?"
Greyson turned and glared at him.
"That was just bad luck and you're wrong."
"How am I wrong?" Allen frowned.
"Because I'm not angry."
"You are angry," Allen said. "You're doing the jaw thing."
"I don't even have a jaw thing and whatever it is, I'm definitely not doing it." Greyson snapped.
"Yeah you do. Your jaw is clenched tighter than a nun's coochie." Allen replied as Lexi barked a laugh loudly..
"No, it isn't."
"It one hundred percent is!" Lexi laughed gleefully from behind the camera and Greyson shot her a betrayed look.
Allen shrugged.
"Look, we can see it with our own eyes and I think that I've spent enough time in close proximity to you recently to know when you're irritated."
"Not by choice," Greyson muttered, "I'm just preparing."
"Now you're just being salty." Allen grimaced.
"You really are." Lexi cackled.
Ann shook her head as she watched the bickering.
"He needs to use this time to take a break and rest. You've all been on such high alert while you've been there. Did you even have a chance to take any down time after…well…you know."
"No, but we can catch up on rest after all this shit is done. There'll be plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead and gone." Lexi smirked, "And as for Greyson, if you can get this overgrown pooch to let go of anything once he's got his mind set on it, then you can keep him because he's stubborn to the point of driving me insane."
"Birds of a feather flock together," Allen commented dryly as Lexi's head snapped towards him and her eyes narrowed dangerously in his direction.
"Say that again furball," she hissed and he held his hands up defensively as she turned back to the camera and rolled her eyes.
"As I was saying, don't worry about him, Allen and I will keep him from doing anything stupid until Adam returns...unless I kill him myself first."
Then from somewhere behind them, the sound of raised voices gradually became more and more noticeable. Lexi frowned as she turned to see what the issue was and she took the camera with her.