The mecha was now kneeling on one knee on the ground. There were no scratches on its body; everything seemed normal.

Chase Shaw finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, he shouted into the group channel, "Erin Xavier, what happened?"

He looked around but didn’t see Erin Xavier’s mecha. It was obviously Erin’s that had the problem. He figured Erin must have gone into Zoe Pierce’s mecha.

But he still didn’t quite understand why Zoe Pierce wasn’t responding.

Erin Xavier explained Zoe Pierce’s situation to Chase Shaw, just as he had to Miles Sherman.

When they heard that this was why Zoe Pierce had fainted, Nathan Lockwood and Chase Shaw were momentarily at a loss for words.

Unexpected, but it made sense.

This kind of thing also happened on the battlefield—stress-induced PTSD. Returning to such an environment could trigger a spontaneous physical reaction.

Nathan Lockwood jumped out of his mecha and stood in front of Zoe Pierce’s.

"Bring Zoe Pierce out. I need to see her." Nathan Lockwood wanted to check on Zoe’s condition and see if anything was wrong.

It was a perfectly normal thing to say; even Miles Sherman and Chase Shaw didn’t think twice about it.

But the one who had just been explaining things suddenly went silent.

It was as if his voice had been abruptly cut off.

Nathan Lockwood looked up at the cockpit again and said, "Erin Xavier, open the hatch. I need to confirm Zoe Pierce’s condition."

’He didn’t even know if she needed a sedative.’

After a moment of silence, Erin Xavier said, "She... probably doesn’t need one. I knocked her out..."

He was being evasive, offering a result without explaining the real cause.

He obscured the cause of the incident and only explained the outcome.

Nathan Lockwood, Chase Shaw, and Miles Sherman all frowned at the same time. How should they put it? That move was just so... Erin Xavier.

Only Erin Xavier would treat an Omega that way.

Nathan Lockwood couldn’t help but rub his throbbing temples. "Even so, let me see her. You’re an Alpha and she’s an Omega—it’s different!"

He assumed Erin Xavier wasn’t opening the hatch because he felt guilty facing them.

But he could understand Erin’s choice. After all, in a situation like this, there was probably no better way to keep Zoe Pierce from hurting herself.

He thought that would be enough to get Erin Xavier to open the hatch, but unexpectedly, it wasn’t.

Erin Xavier still didn’t open the hatch. He just remained silent.

Nathan’s brows knitted together tightly, and his expression turned cold. His aloof, almond-shaped eyes, now sharp and piercing, stared at the mecha before him. He growled in a low voice, "Erin Xavier! Open the hatch!"

Chase Shaw jumped down from his mecha too. "Relax, we’re not going to blame you."

But he couldn’t help feeling a sudden sense of worry, wondering if Erin had been too rough and was now too scared to let them see Zoe Pierce.

But their words didn’t seem to sway Erin Xavier’s decision.

Miles Sherman’s voice came over the channel. "Erin, what’s going on?"

Erin Xavier was never this stubborn with them.

Inside the cockpit, Erin Xavier leaned back completely against his seat. The cockpit’s ventilation system had already filtered out most of the chaotic, tangled pheromones.

But the scent of bitter orange—Erin Xavier’s scent—still clung to Zoe Pierce.

And her scent—freesia—hadn’t faded from him either.

They were entangled in a way that was both special and commonplace.

Just like the intertwining of any Alpha and Omega.

Anyone would be able to smell it the moment the hatch opened.

Outside, the others were all waiting for him to open the hatch.

"Erin, did you hit her hard?" Miles Sherman didn’t believe Erin could be so reckless. As rough as he might be, there was a limit to how he’d treat an Omega; he would never handle an Omega the way he would an Alpha.

But Erin Xavier’s silence dragged on for too long—so long that everyone began to wonder just how badly he had hurt Zoe Pierce. He still wouldn’t open the hatch, even after their repeated demands.

The expressions on their faces grew more and more grim.

Then, after a long, hesitant pause, Erin Xavier seemed to finally make up his mind and abruptly opened the hatch.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, including Julian Chambers, who had been listening to the entire exchange from behind the group.

’God, these Alphas are insane.’

Keeping up with these kids, Julian Chambers felt like he hadn’t been nearly rebellious enough in his own youth.

First, they’d violently torn down the gate to the Beta base, and now they were embroiled in what looked like a case of Omega abuse. His heart had been pounding ever since he’d started this investigation with them; it hadn’t had a moment’s peace.

It was like walking a tightrope.

Erin Xavier jumped down from the cockpit, carrying Zoe Pierce in his arms.

He was holding the unconscious Zoe Pierce in a princess carry. Nathan Lockwood and Chase Shaw’s expressions softened for a moment, but their faces changed dramatically as a scent wafted toward them on the air.

Chase Shaw’s pupils contracted violently.

The next second, he lunged at Erin Xavier, slammed his hands on Erin’s shoulders, and shoved him violently against the mecha’s hard exterior.

"Erin Xavier!"

Nathan Lockwood’s expression was just as icy. He wasn’t as impulsive as Chase Shaw, but he walked over step by step, his voice as frigid as a tomb. "What did you do to her?"

The scents on both of them were so strong.

"You marked Zoe Pierce?" Nathan Lockwood stopped in front of Chase Shaw and Erin Xavier, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on Erin.

Erin Xavier looked disheveled. His shoulder had been slammed hard against the mecha, and a sharp pain shot up his spine.

He could have dodged when Chase Shaw charged, but he hadn’t.

Because he knew he had done something wrong.

’When you do something wrong, you have to accept the punishment.’

He grunted, his gaze lowered. "There was... an accident..."

Miles Sherman, who had been in his mecha, now emerged from his cockpit. His usually serious expression was gone, replaced by a look of sheer disbelief as he took in the scene. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Nathan Lockwood almost laughed in fury.

’Another accident.’

Miles Sherman’s previous marking was an accident, and now Erin Xavier’s marking was an accident too.

"I didn’t give her a temporary mark." If the temporary mark had been incomplete, Miles and the others would have been able to see it.

Nathan Lockwood’s gaze fell on Zoe Pierce. He immediately noticed that the patch on the back of her neck was no longer a barrier patch, but a suppression patch.

He looked at Erin Xavier. "Let her go."

Erin Xavier looked up. "No."

Under their collective gaze, he lowered his eyes again. "You want me to just put her on the ground? That’s not right."

A man who had never cared whether an Omega lived or died was suddenly worried about whether it was right to put someone on the ground.

Nathan Lockwood’s lips twitched into a smirk. He was always the most perceptive of the group, and he had already keenly sensed the most unexpected part of this whole shocking turn of events.

It was Erin Xavier. He had changed.