Page 17 of Knot Our Reality (Heated #5)

Dalton

A fter leaving Emilia in her suite, the four of us headed upstairs to take a shower and relax for a little bit. Maverick and I have one of the pack suites, so we’re on the second floor, while Dylan and Ian have rooms on the third floor.

A knock on the door has me glancing at the clock and realizing it’s later than I thought.

“I’ve got it,” Maverick calls from the sitting room, and I climb off the pack bed I’d been napping in.

Did I really need a nap? Probably not, but I needed some space to think, and it led to me falling asleep.

I step out of the bedroom, shirtless and dressed in a pair of gray sweatpants. “Hey, guys.”

“Hey, Dalton.” Ian flops onto the couch, and Dylan follows suit. “These suites are awesome.”

“And way too much for the two of us.” Maverick shakes his head. “I don’t know why they didn’t just put us in one of the regular rooms.”

Dylan chuckles. “Because you’re a pack—even if you’re not bonded. I’m assuming that’s because at least one of you isn’t into guys?”

“Neither of us,” I tell him. “We’re a rare breed on the show.”

“In the world at large, you mean?” Ian laughs. “I think the number of straight men in the entire world is somewhere between ten and fifteen percent.”

Maverick makes a face. “Why do you know that? ”

He shrugs. “I like to read, and I was curious.”

“Are you planning to do the interview without a shirt?” Maverick asks me with a chuckle, and I flip him off.

“Of course not. Although it would probably be good for ratings.” I flex my arms and chest until my pack mate shoves me away from him. “I’ll go get changed. I’m excited to see Sasha.”

Dylan frowns. “How do you know he’s here?”

I chuckle as I stand. “Emilia let it slip. I don’t know who else is here.”

“Is it bad that I hope there’s no one from my season?” Dylan sighs as his head drops onto the back of the couch. “Either way, I’m going to have to explain what happened, but it’ll be worse if they were there for it.”

Not sure what to say, I head back into the bedroom and pick out a fitted black tank top. I should probably put on something besides sweats, but I want to be comfortable since we’ll be confined to the top two floors for the rest of the night.

“It would certainly be easier for you if there weren’t anyone else from your season,” Ian reasons.

“But I don’t think it’ll make much of a difference.

There will be some who won’t be able to get past what happened, while the rest will accept why it happened.

I don’t think it’ll matter as much as you think it will, whether or not they were there. ”

Dylan hums as I rejoin them, his eyes shut. “I guess you’re right. I knew it would be hard to come back, but I needed to. I needed to have a real chance on the show, you know?”

“Also understandable,” I tell him. “Better prepare yourself to tell the story, though. We need to head out for the interview.”

“That’s not much better than being shirtless,” Maverick tells me with a chuckle.

I shrug. “I have a shirt on. You’re lucky I didn’t change into my basketball shorts. I was considering it.”

Knowing that Maverick is just giving me shit, I head for the door and hold it open as the other three step out. The living room where the interview is being held is ten steps from our room.

“Maverick!” I’d recognize Sasha’s Russian accent anywhere as my pack mate steps into the room. “I am so happy you are here. Dalton?”

I wave as I join them. “Right here, Sasha.”

Sasha hugs both of us before stepping back. “Come. Come. I introduce you to the other day one suitors, and you can introduce us to the other day two suitors.”

I recognize all three of the men Sasha walks us over to, but I don’t recall their names. Maverick and I watched the three seasons after ours. It’s not nearly as daunting when you’re a viewer versus a suitor, but clearly, I don’t mind it much as I came back a second time.

“I am Sasha from first season. This is Malik from season two.” My eyes fly to Dylan as Sasha introduces us. He’s trying to hide behind Maverick, but as big as Maverick and I are, Dylan’s still bigger. “Bradley is from season three. Lee from last season.”

“It’s nice to meet all of you,” I tell them, hesitating when Malik tenses up.

He’s obviously seen Dylan then. “Malik, if you wouldn’t mind waiting just a few minutes before lashing out?

You don’t know the entire story, but I promise Dylan will explain.

That goes for any of you who might know what happened during his season. ”

Maverick’s eyes roam over the day one suitors before nodding. “I’m Maverick, and this is my pack mate Dalton. With us, we have Dylan from season two and Ian from last season.”

“Good to see you, Ian.” Lee offers him an easy smile. “Now, what’s this about Dylan needing to explain something?”

A glance over my shoulder tells me Bree and the camera crew are still setting up. “Bree’s going to bring it up in the interview, Dylan, so if you want to wait until then, you can.”

He seems unsure until Bree joins us. “We’re just about ready if you want to come have a seat.”

Once we’re all seated, she smiles. “I see you all had a chance to introduce yourselves. Bradley, it seems you’re the odd duck out as the only one who wasn’t on with one of the day two suitors.”

“I’m not finding that I mind all that much,” he admits, glancing between Dylan and Malik. “Considering the tension between the two of them. ”

“Ahhh, yes. Dylan, you’ve shared your story with Emilia and the other day two suitors. Why don’t we start with that?”

Dylan nods, diving right into his diagnosis before going into what happened on the show. Malik relaxes slowly, each piece of information seeming to set him at ease, which I’m glad to see.

I still feel bad about how we reacted to him, but I remind myself that we didn’t know the entire story. Of course we freaked out. It’s why I understand Malik’s reaction.

When Dylan finishes, the other suitors have a few questions for him before Bree smiles.

“Once we knew Dylan was going to be one of the suitors, Tessa and I had to reconsider who we would bring on in the other nineteen spots. We couldn’t know for sure how everyone would react, but we were hopeful that by choosing the ones we did that there would be less conflict between you.

” Bree glances from face-to-face. “So far, it seems we made good choices. Let’s just hope the rest of them react as we think they will. ”

She claps her hands. “Okay, enough about that. Let’s talk about why we’re really here—Emilia.”

“She’s amazing,” I immediately respond. “But this is definitely a struggle for her.”

It’s something that we all agree on, and we end up delving into the topic for a while before Bree ends the interview.

Bree chuckles. “This definitely seems like a conversation for you all to continue, but I need to get down there before the first suitor arrives.”

Then she’s gone, leaving the eight of us alone. Now that we’ve been interrupted, I don’t know that I want to continue talking about Emilia.

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely want to talk about her all the time, but I’m almost afraid we revealed too much about what she talked about with us.

“Anyone up for some video games? I need to veg for a while.”

Dylan rises beside me. “I don’t know about video games, but there’s plenty to do in the game room. Plus, we’ll need to have food brought up soon. Might as well head up there. ”

Maverick stops me before I can follow the others, so I wait for them to leave. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to check in. We were all focused on how Emilia was dealing with all of this.” He shrugs, acting as if it’s no big deal. “I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay. I know this has to hit a little close to home.”

I love Mav. This is why he’s going to be an amazing head alpha one day.

“Because of Becca? I’m okay, Mav. I promise.

We talked about this before we agreed to be on the show.

Yes, my sister was assaulted. Yes, she ended up pregnant.

But that’s where the similarities end. Becca is a beta, which isn’t to say that what happened to her wasn’t as bad as it was for Emilia.

But Becca has a pack who helped her through every step along the way.

Being with Emilia isn’t a way to fix what happened to my sister. ”

Maverick holds his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t say any of that. I just wanted to make sure you are doing okay.”

“I appreciate you. I always do. You’re a good friend.” I throw my arm around his shoulder and drag him to the stairs.

I never mind talking about my sister and what happened to her because it just proves how fucking strong she is—just like Emilia.

My nephew just turned two, so we’ve all had more than enough time to process everything and accept it.

My sister and her pack don’t treat him any differently than they do my niece, who’s ten.

They never thought they’d have another child, and they welcomed Sebastian into their hearts.

Does it suck that it happened to her? Hell yes, it does. And it still pisses me off, but unlike Simon, my sister’s attackers didn’t get a short sentence. They’ll be in jail for a long time, and when they do get out, I’ll make sure they know to stay the hell away from Becca and Sebastian.

“Yeah, whatever, man.” Maverick shoves me away from him and hurries up the stairs, leaving me to trail behind him.

Sure, my sister’s and Emilia’s situations are similar, but it’s definitely not about righting a wrong.

There’s nothing to right in this situation.

The worst has already happened to Emilia—twice over.

All I want to do is get to know her and maybe help her move on with her life.

Would I like it to be with me and Maverick as part of her pack?

Obviously, but only time will tell if we’re the right fit for what she’s trying to build.