Page 61 of They Love Me Knot (Starsfalls Omegaverse #2)

Ciro

I push through the crowd, apologizing as I go, but still barreling through as fast as I can without injuring anyone. I relax as I reach the stage and hear the award they’re reading out.

The ceremony was well underway by the time I made it back to the fair, but if they’re following the same routine, there are still a few more categories to go before they get to Queen of Hearts.

The awardees pass by in a blur while I wait impatiently for my omega to appear, the mayor reading out the honors and congratulating the winners.

I’m trying to pay more attention to my instincts now instead of suppressing them, but since my alpha is urging me to punch the mayor so I can call Daphne up to the stage and carry her off, I still need to be discerning in what impulses I follow.

I keep myself in check until finally it’s time.

“Next, we have one of the most prominent awards of the Flowerfalls Festival. The award for the best, the greatest, florist in town. Regardless of the fact that there’s only one in Starsfalls.

” The mayor pauses for people to chuckle at his joke, his smug, stupidly handsome face the only thing keeping me from my princess as he slowly works up to announcing her award.

“Queen of Hearts has long supported the town with their lovely flowers for every occasion, celebrating all stages and ages of life with us. This year, their creative flower arrangement was designed by Queen of Hearts’ newest staff member, Daphne,” he says, holding his arm out for Daphne to join him on stage while the audience claps.

I hold my breath as she floats across the stage like the princess she is, my lush flower goddess. I’m so enthralled all I can do is stare. The way she moves, her kind eyes, and shy, nervous smile on a sweet mouth that I know isn’t afraid to talk back when I’m being an asshole.

Daphne makes it partway across the stage before she notices me, stopping in her tracks to stare, plush little mouth open in surprise.

In hindsight, I should’ve planned a less public reunion after avoiding her for weeks.

At the very least, I should probably look more contrite, but I can’t help myself. I grin at her, so happy to see her get the recognition she deserves. This is so much better than stalking Daphne from the shadows, my alpha smug that she noticed us so quickly in the crowd.

I nod encouragingly at her, urging her on to the mayor, who’s waiting with her award. Daphne jolts and resumes her walk across the stage. He hands her the trophy and congratulates her, but she keeps glancing at me as she accepts it.

I smile proudly, hoping she’s basking in her moment and that I haven’t ruined this too.

She eventually registers the cheers and smiles at the audience, giving us a small wave. That renews their applause, and there are even some wolf whistles.

I whip my head around, looking for the source of the whistles, unsure if someone’s trying to hit on her. I don’t see anyone staring lustfully, so I wrangle my alpha and turn back in time to watch Daphne thank everyone for her award.

She’s quick to wrap up her acceptance speech and hurries off the stage so fast that I’m not prepared for it. I couldn’t tell if she was happy to see me, so I don’t know if she’ll stick around for me to talk to her.

I push through the audience again, trying to catch up.

I bump into someone just as I make it out of the crowd, and I’m about to run off after apologizing when I realize who it is.

“Why are you in such a hurry?” Feliks asks.

“I…need to talk to that florist, and didn’t want to lose track of her,” I say.

I don’t think now is the time to introduce my packmates, there’s too much I need to tell Daphne first.

I edge away from Feliks, but he doesn’t leave. “I was just coming to talk to her too. To congratulate her. Daphne, I mean.” He rubs the back of his neck and looks away.

I forget about Feliks and his odd behavior when I hear Daphne’s laugh, and I leave him to follow me or not. I stride past the stage and find her talking with Alister and Anicka.

I slow, not wanting to interrupt, but Daphne turns and locks eyes with me immediately. I can’t stop smiling, pleased she’s just as aware of my presence as I am of hers.

Since Alister is here, I assume I was right that he got us a second chance.

Daphne looks behind me and grins. I look too and find Feliks smiling back adoringly .

I glance back and forth, and they’re definitely looking at each other. I didn’t realize Alister had introduced Feliks to Daphne.

“I’ll leave you to your pack. I can wrap up at the booth, so go celebrate however you see fit,” Anicka tells Daphne with a wink.

“Oh, we’re not technically—that is, we—” Daphne stutters, but Anicka is already walking off, waving goodbye.

Now that we’re alone, I barrel ahead before anything else can get in my way. “Congratulations on your win, princess, you deserve it. Your arrangement is perfect, the best blend of scents.”

Daphne is surprised but says, “Thank you, I thought it was a good arrangement. At least, I worked hard on it, I don’t know that it’s all that impressive. We are the only florist in Starsfalls, so the award was a given, apparently. I didn’t realize that was the category for my flowers.”

“It is impressive, you earned it. Even if there were a hundred florists in Starsfalls, you still would have won,” I say, resisting the urge to tilt her face up to mine and make sure she really hears me.

Daphne blushes and looks away.

Alister bumps his shoulder against mine, and I realize that I’m standing as close to her as I can without actually touching her. I let him push me back a step to give her room.

Daphne always draws me in, and now that I’ve accepted our connection, I need to make sure I don’t overwhelm her.

I can feel Alister and Feliks watching me warily, but Daphne is the one who matters right now. I’ll apologize to them for my past behavior when we’re not at risk of losing our omega .

“Can we go somewhere more private and talk for a few minutes? We could get a snack and sit in the shade,” I say, ignoring my packmates’ suspicious looks.

“We can talk, but I’m not hungry,” she says, touching her stomach.

She really must not be feeling well. I’ve never seen Daphne turn down food in all the time I’ve been watching her. Nor should she, my princess deserves all the snacks.

I lead Daphne away from the crowd, Alister and Feliks following along silently. After I apologize, I hope Alister will take her home to rest.

I pick a secluded table and get Daphne settled in before dropping to my knees in front of her.

“I’m sorry I’ve been an asshole since our date—no, since we met. I lectured you about being more careful instead of acting like a normal person and apologizing for running into you. Although I am concerned about your safety so I do want you to be careful…but that’s not the point.”

I pause and shake my head. This is why I wrote things down. It’s hard to keep track of everything, and I don’t want to put my foot in my mouth more than I already have.

I set down the duffle bag I had slung over my shoulder and unzip it.

Before I can get my letter out, Daphne asks, “Is that my sweater?”

I drop the folder and pull out her sweater instead.

“I found it at Flower Gully after you came to pick up the flowers, and I kept it. I’m sorry I didn’t give it back to you before, but I couldn’t help myself.

It smelled like you, and I took it home to smell it and pretend we were together.

I missed you. I’ve even been following you from a distance because I wanted to be with you and couldn’t stay away.

I need to explain why I’ve been acting like an asshole,” I ramble.

“You stole her sweater?” Alister growls.

“You’ve been stalking her?” Feliks asks at the same time, both of them glaring at me.

“Well, stalking seems like a strong word—” I say.

“You kept my sweater to smell it?” Daphne interrupts.

I can’t tell if she’s mad. She’s staring at me expressionlessly, maybe in shock.

I guess I did admit to stalking her.

“Yes, I wanted to be with you, even though I wouldn’t admit it to you or myself.

I know I’ve behaved poorly since we met.

I had a bad breakup years ago, but that’s no excuse for treating you the way I have.

I’ve been cold to every potential mate, and when I met you, I tried to act the same way, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you.

The more we ran into each other, princess, the more obsessed I became.

I’ve never felt this way before. I shut myself off from love and tried to deny my feelings, so I kept your sweater and followed you around instead of acting like a normal alpha and taking you out on a date. I’m sorry,” I say.

“It’s actually kind of sweet you kept it,” Daphne says, flustered.

I look at my packmates, and they stop looming menacingly over me now that we know she’s not upset.

“If Daphne is okay with it, then I guess it’s fine. I kept her underwear, so I understand the urge,” Feliks says.

“What! You stole my underwear?” Daphne yelps.

We’re mostly secluded, but a few people on the street look around for the source of the underwear yell.

“What underwear? When?” she asks in a more normal volume .

Feliks actually looks like he’s blushing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him blush.

His admission is good for me since I only stole Daphne’s sweater. It makes me seem slightly less unhinged.

“It was after our first time, the underwear I tore off. You couldn’t wear them anymore, so I didn’t think you would mind. I’m sorry,” Feliks says, kissing the top of her head.

“I went crazy looking for those. I was afraid Anicka or Poppy found them,” Daphne says, pouting, but she leans into Feliks’s hug.

“Why would they have found your underwear, baby girl?” Alister asks.

Daphne looks down and mutters, “Because we did it in one of the storage rooms at Queen of Hearts.”

Alister gives Feliks a stern look, and he winces.

As long as he doesn’t get Daphne in trouble, I don’t care where they do it.