Page 32 of Knot Our Reality

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 arehere. 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.”

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