Page 23 of Alpha's Sunflower Smiles

“I’m Professor Gatwick, pleased to meet you. Now, how are you going to fix your mess?”

“What mess?”

“You told Wilfred that you don’t want him. Well, I don’t believe it. Wilfred’s great. Youshouldwant him.”

The verbal attack was so sudden and strange that I didn’t have time to prepare myself for it and I found myself declaring, with vehement defensiveness, “Idowant him.”

That was the first time I’d told anybody that.

For just the second after my declaration, I felt the silence, waited for some kind of mockery or for him to tell me that alphas were meant to like omegas.

Instead, the professor gave a decisive nod. “Good. That’s that sorted, then. You can go and apologise.”

“For what?”

“For telling him that you wanted somebody else.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Are you calling Wilfred a liar?”

“No.” I blinked at him again, wondering if this was a surreal dream. “Wait, are you saying that’s what Wilfred thinks?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m trying to tell you! Why are alphas so useless? You’ve gone and hurt him and you don’t even know how you did it. Go and ravish him. And make sure you apologise!”

With that, he left, disappearing out onto the street and storming away. I stared at the space where he’d stood and then I put my hand to my head to check for lumps. If I’d fallen and hit my head, that would explain why I had no idea what had just happened.

Since I couldn’t find any sign of concussion, and since my office door was open, I was forced to conclude that a mad man had indeed just burst into my office to tell me to go and ravish Wilfred.

To be clear, I wasn’t opposed to doing that. It was just that it was usual to court a man first.

And I hadn’t been doing very well at that.

Slowly, I sank down into my chair and stared at that empty space by the door. Wilfred thought I didn’t want him?

If that were true, it meant he hadn’t actually rejected me.

I needed to go and ask him out properly.

It was just I was scared. If he said no, I would have ruined our friendship.

If he said yes, though….

That would be everything I ever wanted.

Sitting here wasn’t getting me any closer to my perfect boyfriend, was it? I needed to act. The possible-hallucination-omega was right. I needed to go and sort this out. The idea that I’d hurt Wilfred cut into me like a knife and I stood, grabbing my keys so I could lock up behind me.

In under a minute, I was walking into Sunflower Smiles and the cheerful chime sounded over the door. Wilfred looked up, already smiling.

His expression froze when he saw me.

“Oh, hello. Did you come back for another gift?”

Damn, I hadn’t planned what I was going to say. I opened my mouth but no words came out and I had to lick my lips and try again.

“Yes,” I said. Like a genius.

“What would you like?”

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