Milo Dawson’s people looked furious, while Aaron Xavier appeared particularly aggressive.

When Milo Dawson’s teammates saw Miles Sherman and Nathan Lockwood come out as well, their brows furrowed even tighter.

Milo Dawson pushed away the hand of the person trying to support him. He stood up straight, looked at Aaron Xavier, and then at Zoe Pierce. "I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble."

"I just wanted to get to know you slowly." His words sounded completely sincere.

But this sincerity only made Aaron Xavier even more furious.

Zoe Pierce held Aaron Xavier back with all her might, trying to stop him from losing his mind.

Then she looked at Milo Dawson apologetically and said, "I’m sorry, Aaron is too impulsive. Are you okay? Do you need a Treatment Device?"

The flesh of his cheek had already swollen into a dark bruise, looking rather frightening.

The corner of his mouth was also split and bleeding.

Milo Dawson lightly touched the spot, his brow twitching. "I’m fine."

Hearing Milo Dawson’s reply, Zoe Pierce added, "Thank you for liking me, but I’m not thinking about things like that right now. I’m sorry."

’A polite rejection is definitely the most devastating.’

’It proves the other person doesn’t care about you at all, which is why they can say something like that so calmly.’

Milo Dawson’s lips tightened into a line as he lowered his gaze.

Aaron Xavier sneered from the side. "You hear that? Now get the hell out of here."

Zoe Pierce shot Aaron Xavier a harsh glare.

Even a saint has a temper, let alone someone who’s just been punched.

After hearing Aaron’s words, Milo Dawson worked the muscles on the unbruised side of his face. His voice turned cold. "I had the guts to say it. Do you?"

The scene fell deathly silent.

Milo Dawson seemed to know he’d struck a nerve. He looked back at Zoe Pierce. "As teammates, don’t you think their concern for you crosses a line?"

"Even a suitor shouldn’t act like this." He wasn’t just taking a shot at Aaron Xavier; he was mowing everyone down with a machine gun.

Milo Dawson figured Zoe Pierce was completely oblivious to the excessive interference from Miles Sherman and the others.

If there were an Omega on his team who could pilot a Mecha, Milo Dawson was certain he’d pay them extra attention.

But he would never take it this far, surrounding Zoe Pierce so tightly it felt like they were trying to cut her off from everyone else.

It was clearly not normal.

He knew, of course, that they had a long-standing bond as teammates. Their synergy probably surpassed that of most squads.

But the emotions of Aaron Xavier and the others were clearly excessive, so much so that they’d fly off the handle the moment another Alpha appeared before her.

And it was obvious this wasn’t just one person’s concern.

Chase Shaw’s, Miles Sherman’s, Nathan Lockwood’s...

’Four Alphas, all in love with their own squad’s Omega at the same time.’

He exhaled, glancing at his own teammate who was giving him a look that said, *You’ve got some nerve.* "I won’t bother you again," he said. "Sorry."

With that, he lightly patted his teammate’s arm and headed down the path they had planned to take.

The previously raucous clearing suddenly fell silent.

The only sound was the crunch of fallen leaves and dry twigs under the feet of the departing group.

As for those who remained, their expressions were all a little strange.

Aaron Xavier could no longer sense Milo Dawson’s presence. He cursed under his breath, "Ah, fuck..."

’I have to admit, that move from Milo... If this had happened before they’d all established their relationship, it would have been absolutely vicious.’

’It was a classic case of pulling the rug out from under them—the epitome of "if I can’t have it, no one can."’

Zoe Pierce finally let go of him and looked down at the only victim of the confrontation: the fire she had just fed with a pile of twigs.

Now, it was nothing but glowing red embers and ash.

’Hmm...’

’She didn’t know what to say.’

’Hearing someone, an outsider, say something like that for her sake... even if he had ulterior motives, it just proved how increasingly obvious her teammates’ feelings had become.’

’By contrast, did Milo’s warning imply that she was the one completely hiding her feelings for them?’

Zoe Pierce cleared her throat. "Should we... go back to sleep?"

After all that commotion, any sleepiness she’d felt was long gone.

Aaron Xavier sat down on a log stump. "I can’t sleep now."

’He even had the urge to rip off Zoe’s neatly applied suppression patch and throw it in Milo Dawson’s face, just to let him see.’

He leaned back on his hands, tilting his head up before looking at Zoe Pierce again. "I love you, Zoe Pierce."

’He wasn’t like that idiot.’

’He could tell Zoe Pierce a thousand, ten thousand times.’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Zoe Pierce licked her lips. After sensing no one else was around, she simply hummed in acknowledgment.

’No one knew better than her. Their love for her was a surging tide, more tempestuous than a spirit sea, and it was sweeping her away.’

Zoe Pierce brushed off her clothes and stood up. "I’m going to find some more twigs."

She had to get the fire going again.

To find some fallen leaves and fine twigs, light them, and slowly, from the ash, a new little flame would be born.

In the end, of course, it was Chase Shaw who went with her to gather twigs and leaves.

He was the most experienced of them all; Chase was almost always the one to start the fire on their missions.

As Zoe was crouching down, she saw Chase squat down beside her.

She immediately turned to him and said, "I know, okay? Don’t you all start acting like Aaron."

’She knew each one of them was bolder than the last.’

Chase Shaw’s mood had already improved considerably, especially after hearing Milo Dawson’s final parting shot. While it was strange, a secret pleasure had been swirling in his chest ever since.

Zoe’s expression was one of feigned anger, and her complaint lacked any real bite.

But Chase listened anyway.

He even added, "And I know I’m in your heart, too."

Zoe practically fled in defeat.

After the small fire was rekindled, only Miles Sherman and Nathan Lockwood went back to sleep. Aaron Xavier and Chase Shaw sat with Zoe Pierce.

Aaron was in such a good mood that he even started humming a little tune.

’He felt it was a really good thing that they themselves had been the ones to break the ice and define their relationship.’

’No need to worry about others getting in the way.’

’They had already claimed all of Zoe’s affection, leaving no room for her to even consider anyone else.’

"You think that Milo Dawson guy will look back on this and think he succeeded in driving a wedge between us?"

After all, back when all four of them first realized they liked Zoe, it would be a lie to say it wasn’t painful.

They were all brothers, yet they had all fallen for the same person.

It had come so close to them not even being able to be brothers anymore, so close to the squad completely falling apart.

After all, none of them could have tolerated seeing her being intimate with just one of them.

"Do you think he did it on purpose? That he actually wanted to poach Zoe for another squad?" Aaron was off on another conspiracy theory.

But Zoe was just thinking about that possibility they had discussed before.

’The possibility of what would happen if she fell for an outsider, whether they would approve or not. Thinking about it now, even though the result was different from what she’d imagined, it had strangely brought that question to a close.’