Anna stood in the doorway for a while, not wanting them to notice her, then she hissed, and when they looked at her, she lowered her eyes.
"Can I stay here with you? I don't seem to be welcome in Ian's room and I don't want to be alone. I... I'm scared."
Kate and Judith exchanged a look.
"Of course you can, Anna. You can stay wherever you want in this house, officially, you're Mrs. Lens, the owner of the house." Kate said debauchedly and Judith made a quick drink and handed it to her.
"Aren't I welcome here too?" Anna asked, accepting the glass from Judith's hand.
"Yes. You're welcome, Anna." Kate said sincerely. "Why don't you sit with us?" She asked.
Anna accepted the invitation, and the three women talked about their childhood.
Kate spoke of the time she fell in love with Adam, but would accept Maxwell as a consolation prize.
"Maxwell never told me anything more in-depth about you, even though you're the same age as him, I always thought you lavished more affection on Adam."
"Anna, make no mistake. Adam and Maxwell have always shared everything. Even you."
"I don't think either of them intends to continue that tradition. Age has made them selfish." Anna replied, already feeling the effect of the drink. She felt lighter.
"They might vote that way, Anna."
Anna looked at Kate. She had detected a warning in the woman's voice.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because today, you have the love of two wonderful, irreplaceable men. They'll be loving, understanding and companions, but when they realize that you're always planning something to deceive them.... Well... Everyone gets tired one day, right? Everything in life comes to an end, Anna. I hope your luck doesn't run out until you die, because otherwise, if one or both of them gets tired of your plans, they won't be kind to you. They've dedicated a lot of their lives to making you happy and everything, literally everything, for the Lens family, has a price."
Anna shook her shoulders.
"I'm not planning to cheat them."
Kate raised an eyebrow and stared at Anna, as if she knew all the plans in her heart, but remained silent.
"I don't understand why Genevieve follows Ian's orders so faithfully, he's just a child." Judith said suddenly, frowning.
Anna stared at her in awe. Suddenly, she was sober again.
"What are you talking about?"
"Genevieve went off to war. Ian sent her to protect his uncle with her life."
Anna turned to Kate, and she shrugged. Kate didn't need to say the words, "I told you so", because they were there in her eyes.
Anna took a deep breath. This was not yet the time for other concerns and she turned to Judith.
"What about you and Alexandre? Are you still..."
Judith turned red and lowered her eyes. Kate let out an amused laugh.
"Judith is going to be Alexander's third wife." Kate said laughing.
"I didn't know werewolves could have a harem." Anna said disgustedly.
"Yes. They can." Kate said and stood up. "Lucky you, Anna. Adam only wants you." She said and left.
Evening came and Anna didn't allow them to put dinner on the table until Adam was through the door and well. Ian settled for some bananas and apples and went back to his room. Kate stayed at the table with Anna.
"Why do you want to fast for Adam? If he dies, all your problems are over." Kate asked Anna, teasing her, but she understood.
"I love Adam, Kate. Just as you love him. And he's not the real reason for my problems. Those problems were caused by a woman, who is having to make do with cookies... But from tomorrow, her diet will change."
"Spare me the details, Anna." Kate asked, gesturing that she didn't want to talk about it. "I love Caricature too much. I've been thinking... He's been treating me differently. He doesn't want to have orgies anymore, he doesn't allow the other werewolves to touch me, or verbally assault me, but he treats me the way I like, in bed, and he satisfies me... I think that if he asked, I would marry him. But I know he'll never do that. He must be ashamed that some of his friends shared me with him..." She confided ruefully.
"You should go and tell him that you didn't imagine that only one man could satisfy you, but that you discovered with him that you could be happy with just one man. One day he'll give up his feelings for you. He's probably afraid to say it out loud and you'll mock him. But when he realizes he's wrong, he'll declare himself..."
"Do you think he likes me?"
"No. Not just like. He loves you, Kate."
"I can't believe that, or I'll get my hopes up about him."
Anna looked at the camera that had been installed in the dining room, and thought that this was a good thing, because Caricature would be able to know how she really felt.
"Would you be able to start a family with him? Give him children..."
"Oh... I can even imagine... brown eyes running around this house... Miniatures of him..."
"Then stop avoiding pregnancy."
"Never. I have two reasons not to stop protecting myself against pregnancy... firstly, I can't get pregnant by a man unless he wants me to, either. If it's not with Caricature, I don't want anyone else's children, and if I get pregnant without his consent, I run the risk of him abandoning me, and then, yes, I'll be a frustrated woman for the rest of my days."
"I like your responsible way of thinking..."
"You've never prevented yourself." Kate said, staring at her accusingly. All your children are surprises."
Anna reflected on those words.
"Because I believed that Adam was my husband. And that he was protecting us from it, after all, he's more experienced and I don't know a medicine that can prevent a werewolf pregnancy... And then I met Max, and I realized that Adam was just a bridge for us to get to know each other and love each other the way we do, and it really was a surprise, my children, but we were expecting them before I got pregnant, we just didn't know it would happen so quickly."