Page 63 of Knot Our Reality

Sasha, Dalton, and Maverick each receive lavender roses.

I decided to only do one solo date this week. I beam at Ian as he joins us. “I know I’ve said this a lot, but talking with you was so easy. Betas are meant to be soothing for omegas, and you’ve definitely been that. I’m not going to lie—a few sniffs of your scent are almost as good as any of the anxiety meds I’ve ever tried. With that being said, I want to invite you on a solo date with me so we can get to know each other better.”

Ian’s smile lights up his face when he accepts the peach rose from me. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to get to have some one-on-one time with you,” he tells me.

As he heads off stage, I know I went safe with giving him the only solo date, but I do really like him. He’s a good man, and I can see him being a part of the pack I’m building. Just as I can with several others, but him being a beta was definitely the deciding factor.

When my first pack was forming, it was Ryan who convinced me to give them a chance. It was always easiest with him. I think it’s because they don’t have any additional hormones affecting their decisions, like alphas and omegas do. It’s easier for them to remain level-headed. Plus, most of them are amazing at calming both alphas and omegas.

Really, no one can fault me for starting with the betas—even if it’s just one of them.

The rest of the rose ceremony is a blur as I hand out rose after rose, my body growing more and more tired with each moment that passes.

Dylan, Gavin, and Paxton each receive a yellow rose, leaving Camden, Wilder, Evander, Alexei, and Nikolai to receive lavender roses. I have no intention of informing them who will be grouped together for the group dates, but I’m saving Camden and Wilder for Friday. I know Finnegan says I need to give him a chance, and I plan to, but that doesn’t mean I can’t put it off until the last possible moment.

What can I say? It’s really fucking scary, the connection already forming between us. I intend to speak to Remington about it tomorrow. I’m fairly certain he’ll know how we can find out if we’re an omega pair or not.

I don’t know if I’m ready to know, but I deal with things better when I have all the facts.

“And that’s the end of our first rose ceremony of the season,” Reginald says as he rejoins me. “Emilia has handed out roses to our remaining fifteen suitors. Although I know it’s been mentioned, I wanted to mention it once more. We had twenty suitors ready and willing to become part of Emilia’s pack. About two weeks ago, we received a phone call from Pack Astor letting us know they’d found their omega pair. With two omegas, there was no reason for them to come back onHeated.

“There just wasn’t enough time to see if anyone else was available for Emilia’s season. I’m sure there are some tongues wagging, talkingabout how we couldn’t find enough suitors for her to choose from, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. There was a lot of interest from suitors wanting to appear on this season, but these kinds of things take time.”

I flush at Reginald’s words, almost ducking my head before I remember the cameras. I keep my eyes forward and hope my face doesn’t turn too red.

“Now, that brings us to the end of today’s episode. We’d love to hear how excited you are about some of our returning suitors. Make sure to tag us on social media so we know what you’re thinking! For now, this is Reginald Williams signing off. We’ll see you next week.”

I continue smiling until someone calls out that we’re clear. Only then do I turn to glare at Reginald. “Was that really necessary?”

“What?” He frowns.

“That comment about not having enough suitors that made me sound pathetic as hell.”

“Uh uh.” Reginald shakes his head. “That’s not at all what I said. We had plenty of interest in your season, as I stated. Bree and Tessa wanted me to reiterate why you only have sixteen suitors. If you have a problem with that, then talk to the boss ladies.”

My shoulders slump as I shake my head. “No. I’m overreacting. That took a lot more out of me than I thought it would.”

“Then I suggest you head to bed,” Tessa says as she and Bree join us. “There’s no reason to push yourself any harder than you already have.”

I roll my eyes. “You know, when you say it like that, I want to do the opposite, right?”

She lets out an exasperated sigh, muttering under her breath about bratty omegas while I grin at her.

I cover my mouth when I let out a big yawn. “But in this particular case, I think you might be right. I’ll just say good night to everyone first. Unless there was something you wanted to talk about.”

“Nothing overly important.” Bree waves me off. “Just come down to your brother’s cabin when you wake up. I know you’re excited aboutspending time with him and your boys, but we also need to make time for Sophia to catch us up on your case.”

“Of course. Of course. The boys will be excited to see me for an hour or two, and then they’ll want to play.” I wave at them before leaving the stage and joining my suitors.

They’re all a little disappointed that I’m heading to bed, but not a single one of them complains.

I don’t know how I managed to get fifteen amazing suitors, but I’m a damn lucky omega.

Chapter Seventeen

Emilia

Iend up sleeping in even though I went to bed at like ten last night, but it’s nearly nine when I make the trek to Remington’s cabin.

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