Page 4 of Knot His Reality

I wave off his concern. “Don’t apologize. I was on my way to a full-blown panic attack, and that wouldn’t have been good for any of us. In fact, thank you.”

Running a hand over my face, I sigh. “Sorry, Bree. Tessa. I told you I was more trouble than I was worth.”

“Shut your mouth right now, Remy.” Bree puts her hands on her hips as she glares up at me. I might not be as tall as Lucas, but I’m still five foot eleven, and I tower over my fellow omega. “There’s nothing for you to apologize for. You did nothing wrong. We knew when we signed you on that you dealt with anxiety. We’re prepared for this.”

Tessa hums her agreement. “If Lucas hadn’t been here, I would’ve barked at you eventually. I’m just not a fan of using mine if I don’t have to. Before we continue, do you need to chat with Finn before starting the interview? We can delay your first suitors if we need to.”

“No, I’m fine.” I snort at the look of disbelief on the faces around me. “Okay, I’m freaking out, but I’ll be fine. If we delay the interview, I’m just going to keep pushing it off, and I’ll never meet my suitors. That’ll mean you don’t have a season four.”

Tessa considers me for a moment. “Fine, but I’m going to have someone get Finn, so he’s on standby. If you freak out again, you’ll speak with him before we try again. Agreed?”

What am I going to do? Tell her no? Unlikely.

“Sounds perfect. Reginald?”

“I’m ready, Remy. Let’s do this.” He steps away from the others, and I quickly follow him onto the gazebo. I sit in the chair he gestures to, trying to smile as he sits across from me. “Stop freaking out, Remy. We’ll do the interview as many times as we need to. The suitors wait nearby and don’t leave until we tell the drivers to head over. If it runs a little late, it runs a little late. We’re fine, I promise.”

Nodding, I take another deep breath and remind myself to keep breathing. That’s essential not only for keeping me alive but for me to speak—which I kind of need to do during an interview.

“Are you ready?”

Not trusting myself to speak, I nod, and he smiles at me.

Fuck, he’s hot when he smiles.

It’s no wonder he’s a sought-after actor. He’s fucking gorgeous.

And he already has a pack with an omega, I remind myself.

The smile doesn’t falter as his attention moves to the camera over my shoulder. “Hello, I’m Reginald Williams, and welcome to the fourth season ofHeated.

“As always, we’re glad to have each of you with us—whether you’re a new viewer or a seasoned pro. As with the first three seasons, there’s an omega eight weeks away from their heat. Although, there are a few things special about this season’s omega. The first being he’s our first male omega seeking out his pack. What’s the second thing? He’s a seasoned pro when it comes toHeated. He’s been watching since the first season, and in his own words, he’s obsessed.

“Tonight, he’ll be meeting the first four of twenty suitors. Over the next five days, he’ll meet all twenty of them and spend the following weeks getting to know them until he chooses his pack. Sounds like a dream, right? At least for an omega—not so much for me—but I already have a pack. Now, none of you are here to listen to me talk about myself, so I’d like to welcome this season’s omega, Remington Montgomery.”

As he’s been speaking, his focus has moved from camera to camera, but he’s facing me now. “Welcome, Remington. We’re so glad to have you as our first male non-suitor omega. Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?”

For a moment, all I can do is blink at him, and I’m afraid this is it. This is going to be where I fall apart and they all realize I’m not the omega for this season.

But Reginald just keeps smiling at me, waiting patiently for me. Somehow, that gives me the courage to speak.

“I’m so happy to be here—although being on camera is hard for me. I’m about as introverted as one can be and putting myself out here like this is scary.” I laugh. “But I’m doing it. As Reginald said, my name is Remington. It’s a mouthful, I know. I tend to go by Remy—even with my family—but I was named after one of my dads’ grandfather. I’m thirty-three and work as a physician-scientist. I can already hear you asking what the heck that means, so let me explain it.”

Making it as simple as possible—because no one wants to hear all the big words or science behind what I do. I know from personal experience—most people’s eyes glaze over real quick. It’s not that people don’t want to hear what I do, they just want it in the simplest words—something I can completely understand.

“So, do you only work with omegas?” Reginald asks, leaning forward slightly.

I shake my head. “No. While my primary focus is on omega fertility, I have to get the complete picture. It’s not just omegas who are dealing with infertility issues—it’s betas and alphas too. Because it’s not only a problem for them, I have to research the overall issue before finding the solution for omegas. I’m hoping that we’ll find something to help every woman on the planet who wants to get pregnant, but only time will tell.”

“It really is an important issue to so many of us.” Reginald snorts. “Okay, to all of us. With the number of pregnancies and births declining each year, our population is shrinking.”

“While that’s true, we’re not nearly to the point of having to worry about it. Currently, the biggest concern is the decreased number of alphas, and especially omegas, presenting each year. If it continues decreasing as it has been year by year, we’re talking about a hundred years—maybe two hundred, if we’re lucky—before omegas are extinct. Alphas would be just behind them because without omegas, there’s no reason for alphas, is there?”

Reginald stares at me, shocked. “Only a hundred years? That’s so soon. What would become of society, of our culture, if that happened?”

“We’d go back to the world that existed before he Event. Essentially, those who lived back then were betas. Yes, there are some differences between the two, but when you boil it down to the basics, we’d go back to a society of betas.” I lean toward Reginald. “That’s why my work, and the work of others like me, are so important. We have time to figure out what’s causing the problem and to find a solution. I promise you, we’re doing everything we can to fix this.”

Reginald nods. “I knew what your job was, but I didn’t realize just how much of an impact what you do can have on our world—on our society. Thank you for explaining it to us in a way I was completely able to follow. I’ve always been terrible when it comes to science, but you made it so easy to understand. It won’t be long until your first suitor arrives, so if there’s anything else you’d like to share with us about yourself, now’s the time.”

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