Page 68 of Knot Their Reality

Sophia takes a deep breath. "The peach, lavender, and white roses may be handed out to you outside of the rose ceremony. The others will only be given out during the ceremony, which will happen every Saturday unless I ask for another to be scheduled. Tomorrow, we'll all be spending time together as a group, so I won't be handing out any date roses. For tonight's ceremony, we'll be going in the order you arrived."

"And that's my cue," Reginald says with a grin as he moves to stand next to the stairs. "First up, we have Jackson Browning. Alpha. Age thirty-eight."

A red-haired man steps forward, and he's handsome enough but not nearly as hot as my men. He makes his way up to the stage, coming to a stop before me and Sophia.

"Omegas," he says as he inclines his head first to me and then Sophia.

"Jackson, it's been a few days." Sophia laughs.

He laughs alongside her. "It has. And it seems you've been busy."

There's a bit more small talk between them before Sophia offers him a yellow rose.

Then come two more men that receive a yellow rose and a bit of small talk: Jace, an attractive older alpha, and Ezra, an odd beta. When the next name is called, Alejandro, there's a bit of tension in the air. I'm curious about it but know it's not the time or place to ask Sophia about it. I'm not sure why she asked me to stay on the stage with her, but it's certainly not so I can pester her with questions.

Alejandro is an alpha and a few years younger than me. He's also hot as hell. He gives me a small smile before turning his full attention to Sophia.

"We didn't get off to a great start, did we, Alejandro?"

He snorts. "We certainly did not."

"But then I received a handwritten letter the day after our date. I was surprised when Brooks handed it to me, and I was even more surprised by the contents of the letter. Did you mean what you said?"

"Every word," he says with a nod.

Sophia's smile lights up her face. "That's what I was hoping you'd say, which is why you'll also be receiving a yellow rose tonight."

Tears fill the alpha's eyes as he pulls Sophia into his arms. I'm definitely going to need to ask her about that later. As he walks back to stand amongst the other suitors, he clings to the yellow rose as if it's the only thing that matters in his life. Interesting.

"Next we have Pack Duval. Ramsey, age forty-six, alpha. Zayd, age twenty-three, alpha. Silas, age twenty-four, beta."

Sophia's shoulders straighten as she lifts her chin, watching as the pack approaches. Once they arrive on the stage, they remain solemn except the beta, Silas, who shoots Sophia a small smile. She returns the gesture before sighing.

"We all know what's happening now. I want to thank you three for remaining until today's ceremony even though you already knew you'd be leaving. I'm sorry that I'm not the omega for the three of you. I wish the three of you the best of luck in finding your omega, and thank you for not being assholes about all of this."

Zayd snorts, though he attempts to hide it. He glances at Ramsey who gives him a small smile and a nod. "You weren't around for the part where we were assholes. But we were quickly set straight. I don't need to know why this isn't the relationship for you, but I'm sorry that meeting us was triggering to you."

Sophia reaches out to squeeze his hand before doing the same to the other two men. "I may not have gotten to know the three of you well, but the three of you seem like good men. Keep looking for your omega. Don't give up. There might not be as many of us born any longer, but we're still out there, and we're looking for our packs."

She reaches behind her and plucks three roses from the vase, handing one to each of them. "This might be the end of your journey on this season of Heated, but I'll keep my fingers crossed that you find your omega one day soon."

The three men wish Sophia luck before heading back off the stage, and I wonder what the hell else we missed not being able to meet the other suitors. Sophia hasn't mentioned much about them, and I had no idea that a pack had triggered her or even why. I need this damn ceremony to end so I can catch up on what's going on. How am I supposed to support her if I don't know what's going on with her?

As if she can hear my thoughts, she reaches out and squeezes my hand. When I lift my head, her smile is soft, and it's easy to return it. I'd do anything for this woman—which is insane, but I'm glad we have an idea of why I feel this way now.

The next man that's called is a hot as hell alpha that has me licking my lips. Sophia laughs, but I can see the lust in her eyes as well. She's got it bad for this alpha, making him competition for my pack. I shake away those thoughts because I know it's not actually a competition. He also receives a yellow rose.

In fact, as we lead up to my pack, everyone receives a yellow rose. There's the beta from season one, Brody—who's adorable, but I know he's one hundred percent straight—followed by three celebrity alphas: Quinn, Malik, and Paxton. My eyes grow wider with each one who walks across the stage. After them there's an alpha firefighter, Dylan, who is both gorgeous and smells divine. A pair of unbonded alphas, Ulf and Gage, and then a hot wall of muscle who's surprisingly a beta, Foster.

"Last, but not least, we have Pack Lewitt. Asher, alpha, age forty-nine; Liam, alpha, age thirty-eight; Carson, beta, age thirty-two; and Chase, omega, age twenty-seven."

As soon as the other three make their way on stage, I move to stand beside them. Sophia looks between us and smiles. "I never thought I'd see the four of you again, and I'm not going to lie, that hurt. What makes it worse is that it was all because of a misunderstanding on my part. I'm so thankful that the four of you decided to take the chance to come on Heated. I know, now, that I would never have felt complete without Chase by my side.

"But it's not just Chase that I'm glad is here. I had a connection with each of you two years ago, and I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you better. We're kind of like fish out of water here with this unique situation we find ourselves in, but I think we'll find a way to navigate it together." She bites her lip as she reaches for three yellow roses and hands them out to my pack mates. "I never thought I'd be handing different roses out to a pack at the first ceremony, but it's different with Chase and I, isn't it?"

She grabs a red rose and makes her way to stand in front of me. "We're meant to be, you and I, which is insane. But I don't want to fight it—fight this. I know you're a part of a pack and I don't expect you to give them up for me, but I'm hoping that for this one night, you'll be willing to spend it with just me."

"Yes," I blurt out even though it seems like she had more to say. "I want that too."

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