Chapter 19

Ally's pov
　　It was a weekday, and there weren't too many people inside the flower store.
　　The owner of the flower store was busy pruning the flowers. It seemed that he was the only one who was busy in this huge flower store.
　　"This is it, right?" Tyler and I were standing under a tree not far from the flower store, and I looked at the owner of the flower store through the glass.
　　He wasn't exactly tall for a male, and he was even a bit obese. But his face is always full of infectious smile.
　　Although he was the only one who took care of the flower store, he was also very efficient.
　　"He doesn't look like a bad guy." I felt a little surprised, but the suspicious thoughts in my heart did not disappear easily.
　　Because I know that flowers that are poisonous often have the most common appearance.
　　"We can try to ask." Tyler and I headed inside the flower store.
　　The owner was tending to a bouquet of pink roses in front of the florist, and he was watering the flowers.
　　The florist saw Tyler and I arrive, and his face crinkled with a smile like tree bark.
　　The florist put down the work in his hands and he looked up at me.
　　A frozen expression was evident on his face. Then, he could barely take his eyes off my face.
　　"Good morning! Beautiful lady!"
　　"You are simply the most beautiful woman I have ever seen! Please believe me, I'm a man who never lies!"
　　He tapped his chest hard as if to justify what he said.
　　"Good morning, sir." I smiled and nodded to him.
　　"Oh! Your honorable lady, you can just address me as Batty."
　　I bite my lip, honestly not liking to address a stranger so intimately.
　　Batty had a constant smile on his face, and I wondered if I was mistaken.
　　I saw a hint of greed on his face, like a wild animal on the hunt.
　　Tyler stepped unobtrusively between me and Batty, and I knew that he was always so possessive.
　　"Tyler, hey! Don't be so petty. You're blocking me from communicating with Mr. Batty." I said quietly to Tyler.
　　Tyler's face was full of reluctance, "I thought you were going to let me come and interact with the boss. Don't forget what we're here for!"
　　"I don't like him staring at you!" Tyler emphasized.
　　"It's not up to me." I whispered to Tyler.
　　"Damn, Ally you never seem to know how attractive you look!"
　　Tyler cooed, his tone filled with jealousy.
　　Batty burst out laughing as he pointed at me and said to Tyler, "She's your girlfriend?"
　　Before Tyler could answer, I snapped back, "I'm not his girlfriend! I'm a very rebellious person!"
　　Tyler cocked his head and looked at me with an odd smile on his lips.
　　"She's not, I'm just his assistant." Tyler didn't contradict my comment, but a sour emotion appeared in my heart.
　" This is so weird." I thought darkly, but I pretended nothing had happened and returned to my normal mood.
　　"This gentleman, you can't show such a strong possessiveness towards girls. You should only treat them gently."
　　Batty touched his nose as he smiled awkwardly at Tyler. But he never took his eyes off my face.
　　Batty suddenly turned around and went rummaging around for something. He bent down and searched the back of the flower pot.
　　"Found it!" Batty exclaimed.
　　Batty held a bunch of daisies in front of me and said, "Can you smell it, does it have some chocolate aroma?"
　　I took it and smelled it and made a surprised sound. "They sure do have a faint cocoa smell! This is incredible!"
　　Batty agreed, "This is a cocoa daisy that took me a long time to find. wind pack doesn't have this particular flower."
　　I caught the point sharply and asked Batty, "Did you find this somewhere other than Wind Pack?"
　　"Sure. I go to a lot of places every week, looking for all kinds of special, rare flowers and seeds."
　　Batty looks proud, "That's why my flower store is Wind Pack's most popular."
　　Tyler and I exchanged a look and Tyler's face sank , his expression turned serious.
　　"We wanted to buy a special bouquet, but we shopped all the florists and couldn't find one." Tyler pretended to look sorry and said to Batty.
　Batty smiled smugly, "I have so you can find and can say the name of the flower here."
　　"That's fantastic!" I clapped my hands happily.
　　Although perhaps Batty was jokingly exaggerating, the fact that he was confident enough to say this meant that he might know the flower we were asking about.
　　"A blue, scented everlasting flower."
　　Tyler said.
　　Batty's face sank in the flesh, but he hid it well, clenching his fist and coughing twice over his mouth.
　　Batty's expression quickly changed back to his old self.
　　"Blue eternal flowers? Let's see..." Batty turned around and mumbled something I couldn't hear clearly.
　　"I'll look for it? Blue perpetual flowers aren't exactly common."
　　Batty's eyes were dodging at me, and he lowered his head to hide his scowl. Instead, I found some panic in his black pupils.
　　"I'm so sorry, I don't have any blue perpetual flowers here." Batty looked up from behind a pile of wooden boxes and he shook his head to Tyler.
　　But I clearly saw that he seemed to hide something wrapped in kraft paper among the trash behind him.
　"But I have a very rare bouquet of Margolite daisies here!"
　　Batty's face came alive as he held up a bouquet of fuchsia flowers and smiled at me.
　　I took the bouquet and buried my nose in it and inhaled hard twice.
　　"They smell so good!" I complimented them, which caused the smile on Batty's face to grow even deeper.
　　"Good flowers should be given to attractive women. I want to give it to you!" Batty stiffly shoved the bouquet of Margarete daisies into my arms.
　　I wanted to pay for the bouquet, "Sir, I can't..."
　　But Batty waved his hand and refused to do so, and Batty interrupted me.
　　"No, no, no, I don't want to take money. It's my pleasure that you like this bouquet of Margarete daisies."
　　 Tyler took the bouquet of marguerites from my arms.
　　"Thank you, I'll take it for you."
　　Then Tyler took me by the shoulders and left the flower store.
　　As Tyler and I walked slowly down the street, I slowly recalled Batty's subtle expression.
　　"He must be trying to hide something! Those are things he doesn't want us to know about."
　　I leaned against a tree, squinting and polishing my dagger.
　　"I think we should find a chance to go through this florist we can. I'm sure we might find something useful."
　　"You mean, sneak in?" Tyler said, not quite sure.
　　"That's right!" I nodded.
　　"But the flower arrangements in the florist's warehouse are a total mess, and we won't be able to find any of those blue perpetual flowers."
　　Tyler shook his head, then sighed.
　　The atmosphere between Tyler and I started to get weird, as if we were both trapped in this moment.
　　Tyler shrugged, and I took the bouquet of marigold daisies from him.
　　He tapped the back of my hand, but I didn't let go of the bouquet of marigolds.
　　"What's wrong, Tyler?"
　　Tyler took my wrist in his hand, "I don't know why, but I hate this bouquet of marigolds."
　　Tyler frowned at the flowers in my hand.
　　I pulled my wrist back from Tyler's grip, "You're hurting me." I whined.
　　"I'm sorry, Ally," Tyler's face appeared somehow apologetic.
　Tyler's POV
　　Late at night, as soon as Ally got home, she said she felt so tired. She had had a very early day off.
　　"Good night, Tyler," Ally yawned loudly and fell asleep with her head buried in the pillow.
　　I was surprised at how much earlier than usual Ally slept today, "Well, go to sleep. Honey."
　　My wolf and I said, "Ronald, there is a message from my father's wolf. A highly placed gamma of the Black Night wolf pack has been killed . His body was divided into three parts and put on the bed."
　　"What?" I couldn't believe it. "Because the high ranking gamma have extremely capable guards guarding their safety."
　　"The news is indeed true!"
　　"What else did Father say?"
　　"He told you to stop all activities in Wind Pack for now and return to Blackout Pack as soon as possible."
　　"Well, tell father for me, I'll leave back tomorrow morning."
　　Early the next morning, Ally was still asleep. I shook her shoulder gently and she frowned, dazedly reaching out to rub her eyes.
　　"What's wrong?"
　　"Ally, I need to leave you for some time." I said with an apology.