Zoe Pierce scraped her lower teeth against her upper lip, momentarily at a loss for words.

A bold idea began to form in her mind, and she could no longer deceive herself into thinking it was just a misunderstanding. Chase Shaw’s unusual behavior just now seemed to deepen her suspicions.

"Zoe Pierce, we’re teammates. It’s only right that we take care of you." Chase Shaw suddenly laughed, abruptly cutting off Zoe Pierce’s bold speculation.

"Ah—" she began, caught off guard, then nodded.

Chase looked down. "So it’s completely normal for us to be good to you. Whether it’s Miles Sherman or Nathan Lockwood, you should just accept it."

’Since she doesn’t have any ideas in that direction right now, it’s better if she stays oblivious.’

"You have a safety net now; you don’t have to be so tense all the time." Chase Shaw placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her slightly toward him. "You’re still an Omega. It’s only right for us to be good to you."

"Don’t overthink it." A dark glint flashed in Chase Shaw’s eyes. "We don’t mean anything else by it."

’After so many years as brothers, he knew everyone on the team all too well.’

’They would never be able to directly confess their feelings for Zoe Pierce.’

’Or maybe they didn’t even feel that way. He was just taking precautions.’

Chase Shaw had laid it on so thick that Zoe Pierce felt it would be wrong of her to misunderstand any further.

She silently chided herself for overthinking things. ’It’s just pure, platonic team camaraderie. How could I think it was anything more?’

She cried "mea culpa" in her heart. The burden finally lifted. She looked up, her lips curving into a smile. "Got it."

Chase looked down, releasing the hand on her shoulder. "Knowing is one thing. Now you have to do it."

Zoe Pierce nodded repeatedly, showing that she truly understood.

The atmosphere between the two of them was finally not as terrible as it had been at the beginning.

Just then, Miles Sherman returned, carrying some of Siren Star’s specialty barbecue.

Chase still didn’t treat Miles normally. He had no intention of helping him carry the barbecue, either. ’If an Alpha doesn’t even have that much strength, there’s no point in being an Alpha.’

The matter at hand had been resolved. Miles and Chase walked Zoe Pierce back to her dorm together.

Naturally, a separate portion of the barbecue in his hands was for Zoe Pierce. After seeing her go inside, Chase turned and walked off on his own.

Miles was in no position to explain, so he followed behind him. One after the other, they entered Erin Xavier’s room.

Nathan Lockwood was already sitting off to one side, his Intelligent Brain projecting a pile of data tables. Hearing the movement, he slowly raised his eyes.

Almost instinctively, he sensed that the atmosphere between Miles and Chase was off.

After they sat down, even Erin Xavier noticed something was wrong with Chase.

How should one put it? Although Chase was never a man of many words, his gaze wasn’t usually like this. It was normally lazy and indifferent.

But now, it was like he was completely ignoring Miles.

His gaze didn’t even drift toward Miles.

Erin Xavier suddenly clamped a hand on the back of Chase’s neck, leaning on him from behind. "Chase, come on. Has your personality been getting weirder lately?"

"First you clash with Nathan, now you’re clashing with Miles?"

Nathan Lockwood’s eyes paused, shifting from the Intelligent Brain to Miles Sherman.

"It can’t be that serious, can it? What’s it about this time?" Erin hated these kinds of unspoken conflicts. Whenever they had a problem before, they always resolved it on the spot and never let it drag on overnight.

Erin took it upon himself to be the team’s "understanding little brother" and resolve the conflict.

Chase raised his eyes and pushed Erin off him. "We already solved it."

’Solved it and you’re still making that sour face.’

Erin sized up Miles and Chase, half-believing, half-doubting.

But he had a better chance of getting Chase to talk than Miles. Miles was the most tight-lipped person there was; if he really didn’t want to say something, no one could pry a single word out of him.

He drew out his words. "Is that so, Miles?"

Miles finished arranging the barbecue skewers on the table and grunted in affirmation.

’Fine, fine. I’m just wasting my charm on a brick wall here.’ Erin rolled his eyes. ’Looks like I’m not cut out to be the "understanding little brother" after all.’

He couldn’t be bothered with those two anymore. He sat down in front of the barbecue and picked up a skewer for himself.

’It really is delicious.’

Erin looked up and called to Nathan Lockwood. "Nathan, let’s ignore these two. Come have some."

Nathan Lockwood put down his Intelligent Brain, sat down next to Erin, and picked up a skewer.

His preference for food was nowhere near as strong as Erin’s. Even though the food in his mouth tasted good, it didn’t particularly entice him.

Erin was halfway through his skewer when he suddenly remembered something. He swallowed the meat in his mouth and said, "Shouldn’t we send some to Zoe Pierce? She’s probably never had this before."

Chase shot him a glance. "Already sent."

Erin looked at him in surprise. "Is that why you went out just now?"

Chase picked up a skewer and took a bite. "No."

Seeing that Erin was about to ask another question, he said with some annoyance, "Can’t even stuffing your face shut you up?"

’Oh, for fuck’s sake.’

Erin said, "Chase, what’s with you? Did you eat a cannonball? Taking shots at everyone?"

’Can’t I even ask a couple of questions?’

Chase ignored Erin, picking up another skewer without even raising his eyes.

Only Nathan Lockwood, with his sharp perception, understood that this probably had something to do with Zoe Pierce again. Otherwise, Chase wouldn’t be reacting like this.

’So, what did Miles and Zoe do this time?’

He could see that neither Chase nor Miles wanted to bring things into the open. Both of them seemed to be extremely evasive about the matter.

"Nathan, what are you thinking about? You’re not eating." During this barbecue, Erin had realized he was the only one actually eating. The other three were all preoccupied, lost in their own thoughts.

Nathan Lockwood methodically finished the skewer in his hand. "Just worry about yourself."

Erin didn’t want to talk to them anymore. Saying another word would just be like talking to a brick wall.

So he decided to just pig out. He’d ignore them and enjoy the food himself.

They ate late into the night before the late-night snack, which had a different atmosphere than usual, finally ended. After cleaning up the mess in the room, Miles and the others left. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Everything seemed to melt into the dark of the night, as if nothing had happened at all.

A few moments after entering his room, there was a knock on Miles Sherman’s door.

Miles looked through the peephole and saw it was Nathan Lockwood. He opened the door and let him in.

"What happened tonight?" For this matter, Nathan’s intuition told him it was better to ask today than to let it sit overnight.

Miles looked at Nathan. "It’s nothing."

’Just as I thought, he doesn’t want to talk.’ Nathan continued, "It’s about Zoe Pierce. Talk."

Miles knew he couldn’t hide this from Nathan Lockwood, but...

"It concerns her privacy. Sorry." Miles still had no intention of talking.

Nathan’s eyes bored deep into Miles, whose own dark eyes didn’t back down.

"Fine," Nathan said. He didn’t waste any more time, opening the door and walking straight out of Miles’s room.