Erin Xavier covered Zoe Pierce’s eyes.

One look into those eyes, shimmering like spring water, was enough to make a person lose control and want to do... something else.

Not that the current situation was any better. The pheromones lingering in the air were enough to make his adrenaline surge. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

With the simplest, most direct method, she had completely overwhelmed him.

It made him want to taste that scent.

Erin Xavier’s grip suddenly tightened. The pressure made Zoe Pierce let out a pained grunt, her brow furrowing. She still had no idea what kind of situation she was in.

An Omega, whose glands were seemingly in heat, was now extending a silent invitation to an Alpha.

’Come on, mark me.’

’Let me take on your scent. Let me belong to you.’

If you play with fire, you’re going to get burned. An Earthling who didn’t realize she was an Omega would ultimately pay the price for her ignorance.

The Alpha clearly couldn’t withstand this trial. He slowly lowered his head.

The young Alpha’s body was tense as he nervously and gently lowered his lips for a kiss, brushing against hers as softly as a feather.

The warm touch felt scorching against his lips, and the breath from her nose washed over his face.

The scent of freesia was sweet and cloying. His canines ached with a tightening itch, and his muscular chest was so tense he could barely breathe.

Erin Xavier’s brown eyes were now flushed red. His hands gripped her waist tightly as he pressed his head down again, kissing Zoe Pierce so hard her body arched backward. But the next second, his hand cradled the back of her head, preventing her from falling any further.

The clumsy Alpha didn’t know how to kiss. Normally arrogant and wild, he now only knew how to foolishly rub his lips against hers again and again.

He felt unfulfilled. It wasn’t enough, but he couldn’t figure out the right way forward.

Zoe Pierce even felt a sting on her lips. Uncomfortable, she pushed away this block of ice who had suddenly become so unpleasant.

Erin Xavier’s breath hitched.

He watched as Zoe Pierce turned around and pulled his hand to her gland, rubbing it against the spot.

This was the hottest place. The burning heat throughout her body was spreading from here. She just needed the discomfort in this spot to be resolved. Even if it hurt a little, she could bear it.

Erin Xavier’s breathing became heavy enough to be clearly audible. In the cramped, enclosed space, his own orange scent began to spread unconsciously.

’Wrong.’

’This is wrong.’

’Zoe Pierce has no idea what’s happening.’

’I’m completely taking advantage of her situation. She’s already being controlled by her glands, and I just made a mistake...’

Erin Xavier abruptly covered his mouth, his eyelashes fluttering wildly over his brown eyes.

’What am I doing to Zoe Pierce?’

’I kissed Zoe Pierce?’

’I’m going insane.’

Erin Xavier’s mind was a complete mess, yet he was now painfully aware of what he had just done.

What was worse, Zoe Pierce was now sitting on his lap with her back to him, half-leaning forward, pulling at him with her slender arms, guiding his hand to hold her neck.

Even with his fingers covering his mouth, he couldn’t control the desire to bite down.

This was the connection between an Alpha and an Omega, etched deep into their very genes.

His back was ramrod straight. As if bewitched by a devil, his fingertips lightly touched the slightly raised gland on the nape of her neck. It was as soft as tofu.

When a person is tense, they can even hear the sound of their own blood flowing through their veins, as if every sound around them has been infinitely amplified.

He leaned down, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and holding her in a tight embrace.

This time, his brown eyes were fixed on her gland. His warm tongue instinctively licked it, like a puppy. His canines scraped against her skin. He gave Zoe Pierce no chance to resist as his teeth pierced down forcefully.

"Ngh—"

Zoe Pierce’s head was bowed low. She felt the searing heat being filled by a new, cool scent. The feverish feeling throughout her body slowly faded with the flow of pheromones.

She lay limp, her mind a complete haze.

But Erin Xavier had gotten a taste and wanted more. A temporary mark wasn’t enough. He wanted more. He wanted to take something more from this Omega.

Before he could figure out what it was he wanted, he suddenly heard the BEEP BEEP of a channel request from Zoe Pierce’s mecha.

His sanity returned in an instant. His canines pulled away abruptly, without even completing the temporary mark.

Cold sweat immediately broke out on Erin Xavier’s back as he realized what he had done. The temporary mark was incomplete. Zoe Pierce looked around blankly, murmuring unconsciously.

Erin Xavier’s hands were trembling, his eyes so red they looked bloodshot. With shaking fingers, he took an inhibitor from his Space Button and jabbed it violently into his own arm.

The sharp sting didn’t make him more tense; instead, it cleared his head even further.

He first chopped the back of Zoe Pierce’s neck with the side of his hand, then immediately opened her Space Button.

"This isn’t it..."

"This is wrong, too..."

After finding the suppression patch Zoe Pierce kept in her Space Button, he frantically stuck it onto her gland.

Only then did the captivating freesia scent lose its haunting quality.

And Zoe Pierce lay completely unconscious before him.

Erin Xavier gasped for air like a fish out of water. The mecha’s comms channel was still blaring, but he couldn’t bring himself to open it.

Sanity returned with a belated, dawning horror. Not even when fighting Xenobeasts or being slandered by that woman had he ever been in such a pathetic state.

’What the hell was I doing?’

’How am I going to explain this to Zoe Pierce?’

The scent of their two intermingled pheromones filled the entire mecha. The moment she opened her eyes, she would know exactly what had just happened.

The mecha’s ventilation system was better than nothing. With a low hum, it began to rapidly filter out Erin Xavier’s and Zoe Pierce’s pheromones.

He sat miserably in the mecha’s pilot seat, the relentless BEEPING of the comms echoing in his ears.

After a long moment, he finally calmed down.

He let out a long, heavy breath, his gaze unconsciously drifting toward Zoe Pierce. In this moment, he could no longer deceive himself.

’Zoe Pierce is different.’

’She isn’t like those Omegas from the past whose faces he couldn’t even remember.’

’His feelings for her had been different for a long time, but he hadn’t realized it until this very moment...’

He’d become like a sewer rat, failing to do the right thing from the very beginning. Instead, he had given in to an Omega controlled by her pheromones and tried to mark her.

If it weren’t for that sudden BEEPING, he couldn’t imagine how much further he would have gone.

An Omega who had lost her senses and an Alpha who had equally lost his...

What would have happened was self-evident.

Once again, after a pause of less than three seconds, the BEEPING resumed, like a rein pulling him back from the edge of a cliff.

Erin Xavier’s hand tapped open the screen, and he saw who was calling.

It was Miles Sherman.

’He’s looking for them...’

Erin Xavier answered the channel. The voice on the other end was frantic. "Zoe! Where are you guys?"

Erin Xavier cleared his throat. "Miles, it’s me."

Miles paused. "Where’s Zoe?"

A detail he had never noticed before suddenly became clear.

’Since when had Miles stopped using Zoe Pierce’s last name?’