Page 9 of Alpha's Sunflower Smiles

“But already today you’ve given away two things to two special people.”

He looked flustered, but he stood his ground. “I gave away the test product yesterday, and only to a special person. How’s the tea?”

I didn’t know whether he was trying to change the subject to divert us from talking about him giving things away or from me probing deeper into who else he considered special. I’d seen him deep in conversation for hours with what appeared to be random customers, but by the time they’d got to know Wilfred, they were firm friends and they always came back to the shop eventually. I nearly asked how special those customers were, so I could get an idea of where I was in that hierarchy.

Instead, I took a sip of my tea.

“Actually, it’s delicious.”

Wilfred nodded with satisfaction.

“Hopefully it’ll ease your headache a bit.”

I took another sip and we sat there in silence for several moments. Most people would rush to fill the silence and I’d expected Wilfred to chatter away. Instead, he sat beside me and looked content. It made me feel content, too.

Our moment of peace was ruined by the door chiming as someone entered the shop. Wilfred stood. “Excuse me, I have to go and help that customer. I think it’s Mrs. O’Malley come to collect her vase.”

With that, he left me in the workshop while he went out the front.

I was surprised that he’d just left me there alone. He really didn’t know me that well and he shouldn’t trust me around all of his personal things. I took a deep breath, enjoying the fact that my head had stopped pounding.

I stood and walked around a bit. I told myself that I was just browsing, taking a look at the interesting things that Wilfred had out here but somewhere deep inside I knew it wasn’t that. My instincts were all over the place where Wilfred was concerned and something inside me was squirming uneasily.

An alpha’s instincts could get difficult to control – difficult but not impossible, and any alpha who claimed otherwise was an asshole making excuses. Normally, I channelled my instincts in a healthy way. I took note of them, realised what they were urging me to do, and then found a healthy, consensual way to act on them.

My instinct to protect my papa, for instance, was sated by making sure his house was safe. I fixed his gate and had the whole place rewired when it started sparking, to make sure Papa was secure and not in danger.

This time, however, I wasn’t sure what my instincts were telling me to do.

I prowled round the area, trying to work out what was wrong. What had made my alpha instincts rise at this time and this place?

Nothing seemed out of place, nothing jarred me or stood out. Nothing had been moved recently. Everything was clean-ish in the way that a craft workshop was, in that it had been swept and dusted and wiped down, but there were still splodges of paint and varnish on everything. Nothing was too dirty. Nothing was too clean. I couldn’t get any information from the room that explained why my protective instincts had surged up in me.

Behind me, I heard a surprised, “What are you doing in here?”

I spun round to see Richard behind me. I asked, “How did you get in?”

He gave me a sassy look. “Through the door.”

Behind him was the door to the back of the building and it was closed now. I hadn’t heard it open or close.

“Did you unlock it?” I asked.

“Why?”

“Humour me.”

“No, Wilfred unlocks it in the mornings. I just came in.”

My instincts roared inside me. Okay, at least I’d finally established what was making them play up. This place was a security nightmare.

“I didn’t hear you come in,” I explained to Richard, who was giving me some serious side-eye as he hung his coat up on the peg behind the desk and turned on the computer.

What was worse was that Wilfred definitely wouldn’t hear anyone come in, not from out in the shop. Which meant somebody could sneak in, if they wanted to, and…

And what? I didn’t want to think about the possibility that they’d hurt Wilfred. It was unlikely.

But there was a whole load of expensive, specialised equipment out here.

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