Page 64 of Knot Her Reality

“Well said, Evangeline. Well said.” Instead of the usual plastic smile he wears for the cameras, he’s beaming at me. “Now, we must move on to the purpose of the ceremony. Tonight, we’ll be announcing the suitors in a previously decided random order. It’ll be just as much of a surprise for you as it will be for Evangeline. Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I tell him with a grin.

“Then, let me welcome to the stage unbonded betas, Skylar Garrison and Cora Cassidy.”

I don’t have to pretend to smile as I wait for the two of them to join us on the stage. I enjoyed the date with them and the other day-one suitors.

Skylar steps onto the stage, her face tense. Cora holds her hand, looking as relaxed as can be as she smiles. They both wear similar dresses in shades of blue, looking beautiful.

“Skylar. Cora. Thank you for joining me. I had a wonderful time on our date with Jagger and Koda. I enjoyed getting to know both of you, and I want to get to know you better.” Reaching behind me, I snag two yellow roses. “There are only so many dates I can go on in one week, so this week, I won’t be inviting the two of you on a date.”

“That’s okay, Evangeline,” Cora says, still smiling as brightly as she had been when she joined me on stage. “We’re just glad to be here, getting to know you and the other suitors.”

A smile slides across Skylar’s lips, a touch reserved and timid but still there as she takes the rose from me. “Thank you. We’re looking forward to getting to know you as well.”

With that, the two of them head off the stage to rejoin the suitors.

“Next up,” Reginald says, his TV smile back in place, “is Evander Nelson. Why don’t you join us on stage, Evander?”

It’s not long before Evander is joining us, his long hair pulled back in a bun and looking sexy as hell. Ugh, I definitely need to keep my shit together.

“Evander, our date didn’t go exactly as planned, did it?” The two of us laugh together. “I think once it got started, it was a lot of fun, and I hope you did too. I had so much fun that I’d like to invite you to join me on a group date later this week. I’m planning three of them but haven’t decided who will be in which group.”

“I’d love to go on a group date with you, Evangeline.” Evander takes the rose from me, our fingers brushing together as he leans in to kiss my cheek. “I look forward to it.”

I release my hold on the rose, blinking as I watch him walk away. There are just some suitors that seem to throw me off my game, and it seems that Evander just might be one of them. I shake my head as Reginald announces the next name, wanting to have my sole focus on the suitors as they come onto the stage.

Pack Reyes look just as put together as they did that very first date, only this time, Paisley is smiling. Thank goodness.

“Pack Reyes, I know we got off to a bit of a rough start, but I really enjoyed our date.” Reaching behind me, I grab four yellow roses and offer them to the pack before me. “Since any date I’d invite you on this week would be a group date, I won’t be offering the four of you a date. We’ll still have plenty of time to get to know one another, but I want to try some different combinations for the groups this week.”

Paisley is the first one to take her rose as she nods. “That’s completely understandable. Thank you for allowing us another chance after the way I acted the day we met.”

“It’s my pleasure. I would’ve been missing out if I hadn’t.” I watch them walk away as Reginald calls the next suitor up.

From there, things go fairly smoothly as I work my way through the suitors. Jagger is offered a peach rose and an individual date, as is Lillian. Alejandro, Gavin, Conrad, Ronan, and Natalie are all offered lavender roses, meaning they’ll be joining the group dates, while Viktor, Dustin, and Bradley are given yellow roses with promises to still spend time with them, just not on dates.

The only remaining suitors are Tessa, Koda, and Sterling. I really hope they’re not leaving Sterling for last… Or maybe they should leave him for last. Honestly, I just want to get this over with and make sure he’s long gone.

“Next up, we have Sterling Palmer joining us on stage.” I can practically taste the irritation in Reginald’s voice, surprising me. After all, he’s an actor, so he should be able to hide what he’s feeling pretty well. Unless he’s not trying to hide it.

Sterling takes his sweet time making his way onto the stage, swaggering across it until he stands in front of me. “Just give me the black rose. We all know I’m going home.”

“Absolutely not.” I snort. “You’re my captive audience, and there are a few more things I want to say to you before I kick you to the curb. I’m not sure if you’re really looking for an omega or if you came on the show for some other reason, but this isn’t how you win over an omega. Not even a soft, pliable omega that you might prefer. An omega is the center of the pack, and those that he or she chooses to become part of that pack should want to make them happy—even if it means sucking up their pride and doing stuff they don’t want to.

“The reason I chose the activities that I did was because I wanted to weed out anyone who wasn’t at least willing to try something new. I’m an adventurous person, and I love trying new things. I want my pack to want to do those things with me. Maybe not all of them because there are some things they won’t enjoy, but they should at least try. You didn’t even try. You saw what you were requested to wear and balked at the idea, worried that it might make you look stupid or whatever. While you’re on your journey to find your omega, do better. Be better. Be the kind of alpha an omega would be proud to call their own. You’re old enough to know better.”

I grab the black rose, thrusting it across the stage to him. “Now, you can go.”

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Sterling knocks the rose from my hand and takes a step toward me. I don’t step away from him, letting him invade my personal space. “Who are you to think you can talk like that to me?”

I snicker, a smile on my lips as I shake my head. “I’m Evangeline Deveraux, world famous designer, but more importantly, I’m the omega who is here to find her pack. You don’t have to listen to my advice, but you do have to leave. If you think acting like this is going to make me scared and make me cower, you’re wrong. I’m not afraid of alphas who think they’re so much better than everyone else. They have a word for that, it’s alphahole. There’s the good kind of alphaholes and the bad kind. I’m sure you can guess which one you are.”

“You’re an uppity bitch who doesn’t know her place,” Sterling growls, spit flying as he gets in my face. He doesn’t get a chance to say anything else before he’s yanked backward, Lucas and Mike wrenching his arms behind his back.

“And you’re an alpha who just showed his ass on national television. I wonder who’s the one who will look bad to the viewers.” With a scoff, I turn my back on him as he’s dragged off the stage.

Reginald lays a hand on my lower back. “Are you alright?”

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