The reason they gave was a little ridiculous, yet completely believable.

Especially since the two of them, faces bruised, were both scowling.

’So what if they have a little pride!?’

Zoe Pierce couldn’t help but let her lips curl into a smile. ’Setting aside the reason for their fight, they really look like kids right now.’

It reminded her of a theory from Earth.

’The psychology of men is the psychology of children. Sometimes, you have to admit there are quite a few similarities.’

’They’re both obsessed with saving face, and they’re both a little immature.’

But she was overlooking one thing: when a man who had never revealed this immature side to outsiders showed it only to her, it meant his feelings for her had long since changed.

It was just that the person at the center of it all had yet to realize it.

Once they arrived at the Psionic Training Room, Nathan Lockwood was the first to spar with Zoe Pierce.

He immediately felt the difference. Zoe Pierce used Erin Xavier’s acceleration with practiced ease, and her speed was in no way inferior to his.

Watching from the sidelines, even Erin Xavier couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow and narrow his eyes.

Nathan Lockwood pushed his Perception to its absolute limit, but Zoe Pierce’s was not far behind. For a moment, the only things visible in the entire Psionic Training Room were Zoe’s afterimages and Nathan’s vigilant, composed face.

Zoe Pierce was searching for an opening in Nathan Lockwood’s defense. But fighting an Alpha whose Perception was her equal, he always seemed to anticipate her intentions and change his movements accordingly, making it impossible for her to find a breakthrough.

Finally, Zoe Pierce saw an opening, a momentary lag in Nathan Lockwood’s movements.

Her eyes lit up. She shot forward, swinging her arm, only to realize a second later— ’Crap, it’s a trap.’

Nathan Lockwood’s hands shot out and grabbed her wrists. She was moving too fast to stop her momentum and came crashing down on top of him.

A loud THUD echoed through the training room.

Nathan Lockwood was flat on his back, and Zoe Pierce had landed on her knees, straddling him.

Her wrists were pinned above his head, and her face was directly over Nathan’s.

’So close.’

’So close she could see her own reflection in his pupils.’

’So close that their breaths were mingling.’

Zoe Pierce’s heart skipped a beat, then began to pound, wild and uncontrolled.

The accident was so sudden that by the time Erin Xavier and the others reacted, Zoe and Nathan had already been frozen in that position for several seconds.

Snapping out of it as if from a dream, everyone immediately started walking over.

Zoe Pierce’s face instantly flushed red. She nervously licked her rosy, dry lips and tried to pull her hands free from Nathan Lockwood’s grasp.

She tugged, but was surprised to find that Nathan hadn’t loosened his grip on her wrists.

Stunned, she looked at Nathan, only to find his gaze seemed to be fixed on her lips.

’Was she imagining it?’

The moment Miles Sherman and the others drew near, the grip on her wrists loosened. Zoe’s hands moved from above his head to brace against his chest.

’Neither position was great, now that she thought about it.’

Zoe Pierce scrambled off of Nathan Lockwood, flustered and clumsy. As she got up, she apologized, "I’m sorry, Nathan Lockwood, I... uh, I didn’t mean to."

Nathan Lockwood slowly sat up, propping himself on one arm. He looked at her. "I was the one who didn’t think it through."

He had intentionally left the opening, that was true, but he’d never imagined she would end up straddling him in this position.

The Omega’s normally pale face was now flushed a deep crimson, and her clear eyes glistened as if brimming with water.

He stood up and shot a look at Chase Shaw, whose brows were now tightly furrowed. Nathan’s eyes carried a heavy warning.

Nathan Lockwood paid him no mind, simply saying, "I left that opening for you on purpose to make you take the bait. When you can’t break through an opponent’s defense, they are very likely to use a feint." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Zoe Pierce’s face was still burning, and she couldn’t stop it even as Nathan was explaining this to her.

’It was too intimate.’

’The position was so intimate that Zoe couldn’t think of any other scenario where it would happen, aside from certain... activities in bed.’

She was twisting her fingers together anxiously.

And in front of Miles Sherman and the others, no less. She felt like she could barely face Nathan anymore.

The moment Nathan finished analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of her attack, Zoe couldn’t take it anymore and blurted out, "I’m going to go wash my face before we continue."

With that, she left the training room, her haste only making her embarrassment more obvious.

"Did you do that on purpose?" Chase Shaw asked coldly.

Nathan Lockwood lifted his gaze to Miles Sherman. "Miles, go with her. Tell her not to overthink it. In the future, she’ll be facing Alphas and Xenobeasts, so she needs to be prepared for this kind of thing."

Seeing Erin Xavier about to follow as well, Nathan called out sharply, "Erin Xavier, you stay here."

Erin Xavier let out a laugh of disbelief. "And why should I?"

Nathan looked at him calmly. "With that mouth of yours, you won’t say anything helpful. Don’t make things worse."

Only after dealing with Erin and Miles did Nathan finally turn to Chase Shaw. "Think whatever you want."

’It was a stupid question. Anyone could tell from the way it happened that it wasn’t on purpose.’

’Zoe’s speed had reached a point where Nathan could no longer control the pace of the fight; otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to intentionally reveal an opening like that.’

’It was just like how Nathan couldn’t control Erin’s tempo, and now Zoe had clearly caught up to that level.’

Erin figured Chase couldn’t have missed that fact. He was probably just lashing out because he couldn’t stand the sight of what happened. ’Honestly, who wouldn’t feel a pang of jealousy seeing that?’ But since it was obvious Nathan hadn’t used some underhanded trick, Chase had managed to rein in his anger.

Pursing his lips, Erin suddenly had another thought. ’Why am I even listening to Nathan? He tells me not to go, and I just... don’t go?’

’Since when does he get to order me around? Didn’t we just have a major falling out?’

’It was just force of habit from being ordered around by him so much.’

Nathan casually pulled a clean towel from his Space Button, wiped the sweat from his hair, and draped it over his head. His eyes were hidden beneath the towel, unreadable to anyone.

’Today’s events... the slip-up in his move wasn’t the only accident.’

’The conclusion he’d reached was also unexpected.’

He yanked the towel off, tossed it aside, and leaned against the specially treated metal wall.

’So, Zoe Pierce... she’s not totally oblivious to the opposite sex after all.’

’In her eyes, I must have at least a little bit of an Alpha’s charm, right?’

’If no one else had been here... maybe he really would have recklessly pulled her down for a kiss.’

’Zoe Pierce...’

His hand came to rest on his own arm, his fingertips digging into his skin, taut with force, as if only by gripping himself could he suppress the violent tremor running through him. Yet his cool eyes only grew brighter, like a cold moon in the night sky emitting a faint, haunting glow.

’So, it is possible for you to only have eyes for me, isn’t it?’

’What do I have to do to make you only ever look at me?’

’I’m getting a little...’

’...close to losing control.’