Page 34 of Knot Our Reality (Heated #5)

Ian

M onday morning finds me and the other suitors in the dining room, waiting for Emilia to join us. We’ve already eaten, but there’s been no peep from her.

“She deserves to sleep in if that’s what she needs,” Maverick says, drawing my attention. “We’re all grown adults who know how to keep ourselves entertained.”

Paxton shrugs. “I know that, but I thought the point of today was to hang out with her.”

“And we will—when she wakes up.” Camden pushes up from the table. “We don’t get to make demands of her time.”

I watch the omega stalk out of the room, more than a little confused about his reaction. He’s not wrong, but I’m not sure why he stormed out.

“I won’t apologize for Camden because he’s right.

We can’t make demands of her. She has so much going on, and we’re meant to be making this easier on her—not harder.

” Wilder shakes his head. “But you should all be aware of why he’s acting the way he is right now.

His heat is supposed to be in December, but since we’re on the show, he obviously can’t go through it.

He also can’t take suppressants, so Remington devised a formula of hormones to prevent his heat. ”

I nod, understanding hitting me. “So he has foreign hormones flying around in his body, fighting against his own. Damn, that’s rough. Is there anything we can do to help him out? ”

Wilder shakes his head. “Just be patient with him. He doesn’t like the way he’s feeling right now, and that makes him lash out.”

“Why would he do that to himself?”

We all look up at the sound of Emilia’s voice. She’s looking over her shoulder with a frown.

“Because we wanted to be here. We want a chance to be part of your pack.” Wilder’s smile is soft. “If he didn’t have issues with suppressors, he’d be fine. He will be fine.”

Emilia doesn’t look convinced. “I think I should go talk to him—”

“You need food.” Nikolai grabs the tablet and walks over to Emilia, tugging her toward her seat. “You will eat. Then you talk.”

She rolls her eyes. “Seriously, Nikolai? I can talk to him before I eat.”

He shakes his head. “No. You eat now.”

This isn’t an argument I want to be part of, so I push to my feet. “I’m going to go for a walk. What’s the plan for the day?”

“Oh, umm…” Emilia glances around the room. “Originally, I was going to suggest we hang out by the pool, but after yesterday, I don’t feel like it.”

“We can always hang out in the game room,” Gavin offers. “Bree said they added a ton of board games.”

Emilia immediately relaxes. “Oh, that sounds like fun. Yes, let’s do that. We can always do something else later if we feel up to it.”

“Good. I’ll head up there after my walk.” I shoot her a smile. “I hope you had a good time with your family yesterday.”

“I really did. It was much needed. Thank you, Ian.”

I excuse myself and head out the front door. My mind is going in a million different directions, but it keeps going back to Camden.

Remington basically sent him into a hormonal imbalance. It’s easy to fix, but it can be hell on the body. It’s the only thing that’s proven effective to prevent heats when an omega cannot use suppressors. There has to be a better way.

I find myself angling toward the crew’s cabins. Technically, we’re not supposed to be back here, but it’s not like I set out to come here.

“Ian? What are you doing back here?”

I look up to find Remington watching me with a confused look. When I open my mouth to apologize for invading his space, I’m hit with a possible solution to Camden’s problem.

“I need to talk to you. I think I might know a better way to handle Camden needing to not have a heat,” I blurt out, hurrying over to him.

His face lights up. “Oh, good. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

An hour later, Remington and I step into the mansion to find Bree waiting there.

“And what have you gentlemen been up to?” she asks, hands on her hips.

I flush. “I’m sorry. I went for a walk, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how unfair it is that Camden had to be sent into a hormonal imbalance in order to prevent his heat. I ran into Remy, and then it hit me.”

“I’m listening.”

So we explain it to her, and even though it’s clear some of it goes over her head, she tells us she’s willing to allow Camden to try it—but only if he and his alpha both agree.

When I step into the game room with the two of them at my back, Emilia perks up. “There you are. I was beginning to think you got lost.”

“Nope. Nothing like that. Can I borrow Wilder and Camden for a moment?”

She looks confused but nods. They’re not sitting with the others, so I walk over to where they’re sitting on one of the couches, snuggling beneath a throw blanket.

“Ian?” It’s Wilder who notices us first, Camden snuggling deeper into his chest.

“Hey. Do you mind if I sit for a minute to talk to you?”

Wilder gestures to the empty seat beside Camden. “Of course. What can we do for you?”

Instead of sitting beside Camden, I sit on the coffee table in front of them.

“Camden, as a beta, I cannot even begin to imagine what your body is going through right now, but knowing you’re unsettled doesn’t sit right with me.

I went for a walk and ran into Remington when I realized there might be something I can do about it. ”

Camden’s head pops up, his eyes wide with desperation. “You can?”

“I wasn’t sure at first, but Remington and I were able to work it out.” I hesitate. “We can’t be a hundred percent sure it’ll work or what the side effects might be, but thanks to Remy’s connections, we were able to get everything we needed for me to make some pills for you.”

Wilder’s eyes narrow. “You want to give my omega experimental drugs?”

“Not so much experimental. Just not used for this purpose before now.” I go on to explain the process behind creating these pills, combining medications to trick the omega’s body into thinking it doesn’t need to have a heat.

“Basically, it mimics the hormones of a pregnant omega. As a male, you obviously can’t get pregnant, but there are no differences in male and female omegas hormones when they’re in heat. This should work.”

“Are you sure it’s safe?” We all look up to see Emilia standing there, her eyes locked on Camden. “I don’t want you hurting yourself any more than you already are.”

He manages a grin. “It’s worth it to be here with you. I promise.”

She’s still frowning, her arms crossing over her chest. “Hmph. I don’t like it.”

“I’m going to be honest, Emilia. My body isn’t handling the hormonal imbalance.

I don’t feel like myself, and I hate it.

Anger keeps threatening to overwhelm me.

I want to rage over the smallest of things—like how this blanket isn’t soft enough.

” Camden shakes his head. “I want nothing more than to destroy everything in this room because it’s not soft enough. ”

“Oh.” She hurries past the others to drop beside him on the couch, snuggling into his side. “I’m so sorry, Camden.”

Wilder sighs, resting his head against the back of the couch. “Walk us through what the worst outcome could be. ”

We spend another twenty minutes going over everything while Camden and Emilia cling to one another. The longer they sit together, the calmer Camden grows.

I grin, surer than ever that this will work.

“What’s the smile for?” Remington asks.

“Look at them.” I nod toward the omegas. “Emilia is using her scent to calm him. Her pregnant scent. I thought this would work before, but now? I’m sure of it.”

Wilder glances at the pair of omegas before sighing.

“Is this what you want to do, Camden? As I told you when we bonded, I will never take away your choice from you, so you’re the one to decide what you want to do.

After weighing everything Ian and Remington have explained, I think this might be the best choice. ”

“I do. I really do. Unless I can spend the next week with Emilia attached to me.” He grins.

Emilia giggles. “As much as we’d both enjoy that, I think it might cause some issues. But I’d do it if you needed me to.”

“If there was no other choice, I’d totally take you up on that.” Camden kisses the top of her head before returning his gaze to me and Remington. “Let’s do this.”

Fishing the bottle of pills out of my pocket, I hand them to him. “You’ll need to take one of these every four hours. When you go to bed, you’ll take two. You need to let me, Wilder, Bree, or Tessa know immediately if you encounter any side effects.”

He pops open the bottle and tosses one of the pills into his mouth, dry swallowing it and making me wince.

“We can get you a drink if you want one,” Bree offers, but Camden shakes his head.

“I’m good.” He sighs as he buries his face in Emilia’s neck. “How long until they kick in?”

“They should kick in within an hour. It might take a few doses for you to begin to feel like yourself again.” I offer him a smile .

“Thank you, Ian.” Emilia leans forward to pull me into a hug. “I already thought you were amazing, but now I’m sure of it. You didn’t have to do this for him, but you did. You’re a good man.”

When her lips brush against mine, I’m so shocked, I’m not able to respond. She’s grinning when she leans back, snuggling into Camden once more. “You’ve definitely earned that solo date now.”

Camden chuckles. “More than. You’ll have to thank him properly later—especially if this works.”

I flush, clearing my throat as I stand. “I just did what anyone would do.”

“We both know that’s not true.” Wilder holds his hand out, and I shake it. “Thank you. Even if it doesn’t work, thank you for trying.”

“Of course.” I’m usually not this awkward, but right now, I can’t seem to think about anything beyond the brush of Emilia’s lips against mine. Of how right she looks curled up with Camden. About what it would be like to be pressed between the two of them, and my cock pulses in my pants.

Yup, it’s time for me to get out of here.

I definitely don’t need to flash them all my erection.

“I think I’m going to grab a drink.” I hurry away, letting out a sigh of relief. I don’t think any of them noticed, and if they did, they didn’t draw attention to it.

Thank the fates.

Now, I just need a cold drink and a little bit of time away from the omegas, and I’ll be right as rain.