Page 32 of Knot Our Reality (Heated #5)

Emilia

“ S top messing with it.” Evangeline slaps my hand away from the velvet of my dress. “It’s lying perfectly right now.”

I shake my head. “Do you really think it’s just going to stay in place when I start moving?”

She wrinkles her nose. “No, I guess not. Either way, you look spectacular.”

“Thank you, Evangeline.”

“Evie,” she reminds me. “All my besties call me Evie.”

“Right. Evie. Eventually, I might remember, but with this pregnancy brain, who knows?” I laugh, running my hand over the rose-colored velvet. It feels amazing under my fingers, and I can’t stop touching it.

Which is apparently driving Evangeline crazy.

If she didn’t want me touching the dress, then she should’ve put me in a different material.

“Are you ready for this?”

“For what? The rose ceremony?” At her nod, I wave her off. “I’m not worried about that. It’s not like I’m sending anyone home, and I’ve already decided who I want to give which roses to. It’s not like I’m going to be flying from the seat of my pants.”

A knock cuts me off, and we both head to the door. Bree and Tessa stand on the other side .

“Evangeline, you need to head back to the cabin. Thank you for your help.” Tessa kisses Evangeline before steering her toward the front door, while Bree leads me over to the ballroom beside the dining room.

We join Reginald outside the closed door. “Before we head inside, do you have any questions or concerns?”

I shake my head. “Nope. All good.”

“Well, in that case, allow me to escort you inside, Emilia.” Reginald offers me his arm, and I smile up at him as I slide mine into it.

Lucas nods as he opens the door, allowing us to step inside. I’ve seen a few of the rose ceremonies while watching with Remington, and it looks much the same.

There’s a raised stage in the middle of the room with the suitors lined up in front of it. The lights have been dimmed so they don’t feel harsh against my eyes. The curtains are all open, allowing moonlight to filter inside. Fairy lights and LED candles give the room a warm glow.

Not that there aren’t bright lights on the cameras that nearly blind me as they turn our way. I stumble, but Reginald keeps me upright, and I don’t think anyone will notice the tumble I almost took.

He leads me to the stairs beside the stage, helping me up them and walking us toward center stage. A table is set up beneath a spotlight that holds six bouquets of roses.

When we reach the table, he releases me and turns to the cameras and suitors.

“Welcome back to Heated , viewers. We’ve gathered for this season’s first rose ceremony.

Emilia has met her sixteen suitors—fifteen from seasons past and one new face.

Now, it’s time for her to make her first decision about what comes next for each of the suitors.

Emilia, will you begin by explaining the significance of each rose on the table?

This might be old news for most of the suitors and some of our viewers, but for those of you who are new to the show, this will be good information for you to have. ”

Reginald steps back, leaving me front and center. I knew this was something that would be expected of me. I pluck a black rose from the vase and smile .

“The black rose is the one no suitor wants to receive because it means their time on the show is over. Just to set everyone at ease, I won’t be handing any of these out today.

Due to Daniel’s behavior, he was sent home prior to the rose ceremony.

Otherwise, he would’ve received this exact rose tonight.

” I set it aside and pick up the red rose next.

“The red rose means I want you to be a part of my pack. I also won’t be handing any of these roses today.

I’ve enjoyed my time with the suitors, but I don’t know any of them well enough to invite them to be a part of the pack I’m building just yet. ”

Next, I grab the white rose. “The white rose is an invitation to my suite. These and the following three roses can be handed out at any time, but I’m more of a planner.

While I may hand out a white rose between ceremonies, I intend to hand out the others only during the rose ceremony.

If I hand out a yellow rose, it means I want you to remain on the show, but I won’t be inviting you on a date this week.

This doesn’t mean I’m not interested, it just means there are only so many hours in a day and days in a week.

“As for the peach and lavender roses,” I say, plucking them from their vases and holding them up, “they mean I want to invite you on a date in the coming week. Peach roses are for individual dates, while lavender is for group dates. Now, as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, this season is different from the prior seasons.

That I’m different from the previous omegas.

Because of this, there will be some alterations made to the schedule.

Saturdays will remain the days we hold the rose ceremonies, and we’ll likely hang out as a group beforehand if we’re feeling up to it.

“Sundays are family days for me. My sons, Hawk and Jasper, are staying with my brother, Remington, who you’ll remember as last season’s omega.

I will spend the day with them, not just because I hate being away from them, but because growing boys need their moms. Yes, this means one less day with my suitors—at least for now.

There will come a time when I will introduce suitors to my boys, but not until I get to know them a little better.

This will leave Mondays for us to hang out as a group, with dates happening Tuesday through Friday .

“Seeing how the suitors interact with each other is an important part of my decision-making process. A pack isn’t just about its omega.

It’s about all the pieces that make up the whole.

Each member brings something to the table, and if there is animosity between any pack members, it will affect everyone.

I plan to build a cohesive unit when choosing my mates.

I’ve seen what it’s like to have a well-functioning pack, and I refuse to not have my next pack be the same. ”

Reginald waits for my nod before stepping up beside me again.

“Suitors, tonight you’ll be called up in the order you arrived.

Emilia will give each of you a rose, and she may or may not have something to say to you along with it.

With that being said, why don’t we get started?

That means our first suitor will be Malik Bakir.

Malik, if you’ll please join us on stage. ”

I shoot Malik a smile as he stops a few feet away from me. “I couldn’t have asked for a better first suitor, Malik. You were kind and easy to talk to. You completely set me at ease. As I said before, there are only so many days in a week, so this week, I’m offering you a yellow rose.”

“Thank you,” he says softly, bowing slightly as he takes it. “I will gladly wait my turn to be able to go on a date with you.”

Then he’s gone, and it becomes a virtual train of suitors as I hand out rose after rose.

Bradley and Lee both graciously take their yellow roses. I can see a bit of disappointment in Lee’s eyes, but he just offers me a smile before leaving the stage.

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 on Heated .

“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, talking about 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 about spending 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.