Chapter 253: The Temporary Mark Ends

Aaron Xavier and his friends were popular, but they also had a reputation for being ill-tempered.

The group never gave those Omegas the time of day, which was why no one had ever swarmed them like this before.

Apparently, these Alphas thought Zoe Pierce had a good temper, which was why they had crowded around her like madmen.

The two of them stood by the side of the road, waiting for Nathan Lockwood.

"I don’t think we can go to this class anymore," Aaron Xavier said, kicking a pebble on the ground.

After the spectacle of Zoe Pierce attending class today, it would definitely cause an even bigger commotion in the future.

He had said from the beginning that she should have taken private classes.

Zoe Pierce didn’t deny or confirm it. She hadn’t expected this to happen, either. You could also say that Aaron Xavier had pulled her out of there so quickly that she was still in a surreal daze.

"Let’s just wait and see," she said.

Nathan Lockwood was late, and he wasn’t walking very fast.

Aaron Xavier stood up straight and complained as he waited for him, "What took you so long?"

The walk should have taken twenty minutes at most, but they had been waiting for almost forty.

Nathan Lockwood walked alongside Zoe Pierce and Aaron Xavier. "I warned them."

"We’ll see if they actually listen next time."

After Aaron Xavier had dragged Zoe Pierce away, the entire classroom was still in a state of confusion.

It took the Alphas a few seconds to realize that Aaron Xavier had run off with Zoe Pierce.

They wanted to chase after them but couldn’t match Aaron Xavier’s speed.

Or rather, any who had just started to get the idea were stopped in their tracks by Nathan Lockwood’s words.

"I thought since you’re all A-level Alphas, you’d have some decency."

Everyone in the classroom felt a little awkward. His words were clearly pointed.

"We’re all going to be classmates for a long time. I hope we can all keep some distance from each other and not cause trouble for our fellow students."

He didn’t name names, but his gaze fell upon the few Alphas who had been crowded around the tightest.

He let out a cold smirk, then walked away with a frosty expression.

To be fair, Nathan Lockwood also felt that Zoe Pierce could enjoy the experience of attending class with Alphas, as long as they didn’t go crazy like they had today.

Aaron Xavier figured the truth was probably a lot harsher than the version Nathan Lockwood had told them.

With a mouth like Nathan Lockwood’s, he either said nothing at all or said things that could make someone with any self-respect die of shame and anger.

But as it turned out, being upper-year Alphas who were good enough to get into the Federal Military Academy, they did, after all, have a strong sense of shame.

Aside from the commotion during that first class, everyone restrained themselves quite a bit after that.

At least, that kind of situation never happened again.

Miles Sherman also came back from home to attend class with them, but as for Chase Shaw, he was still nowhere to be seen.

Nathan Lockwood’s plan to live off-campus never materialized in the end.

They did get a house, though. Zoe Pierce went with them to see it, complete with all sorts of reinforcements and protective measures.

It was a house that looked ordinary on the outside, but was filled with high-tech from the outside in.

Nanoscale defenses, and a domestic robot that doubled as a combat model.

Zoe Pierce had no idea where Nathan Lockwood and the others had gotten all this stuff; some of it even required special approval to obtain.

Even Director Quinn and Ryan Jacobs thought it was a bit of an exaggeration when they came to visit.

Ryan Jacobs even told Zoe Pierce, "With this level of defense, it would take a Mecha a few minutes to break through."

It was more than enough to protect an ordinary person, let alone an Omega like Zoe Pierce.

A little over a month passed. It wasn’t a long time, but it wasn’t short, either.

During the latter half of the month, Zoe Pierce gradually felt the scent Nathan Lockwood had left on her gland growing fainter.

The temporary mark was slowly fading.

She could feel that in another ten days or so, the scent of white tea would completely disappear from her body.

Of course, as long as she didn’t remove her suppression patch, no one would ever find out.

Nathan Lockwood noticed it too. On nights when he slept with her, he saw that she had deliberately left off her suppression patch, and he could smell it.

His own scent was dissipating.

Not only did it mean the temporary mark was about to end, but it also meant that the time Zoe Pierce had left with him was running out.

Several times during the night, Zoe Pierce felt Nathan Lockwood’s canines press against her gland.

He didn’t bite down.

He just held her tighter.

Even the frequency of Nathan Lockwood’s kisses had increased.

This wasn’t like when Aaron’s temporary mark ended, or when Miles’s did.

His reaction was much stronger.

Zoe Pierce didn’t know why she was suddenly making comparisons.

In the dormitory building, there was nothing the two of them could do.

The walls weren’t very soundproof, and the pheromone blocking wasn’t as good as at home.

There were just more kisses.

In the final few days before the temporary mark was set to expire, the off-campus house they had prepared was finally ready to be moved into.

But in the end, Nathan Lockwood didn’t take Zoe Pierce to live there.

Because if they moved in, he wouldn’t be able to bear leaving, and it might trigger nesting behavior.

If it had been like this from the beginning of the temporary mark, it would have been fine.

But with the temporary mark about to end now, Nathan Lockwood was afraid he might break their agreement at any moment.

In the last few days, Zoe Pierce didn’t see Nathan Lockwood at all.

The temporary mark wore off completely.

But perhaps because of the lingering effects of Nathan Lockwood’s pheromones, Zoe Pierce didn’t feel her heat coming on right away.

Instead, she found herself in a state where she needed neither inhibitors nor pheromones.

Zoe Pierce moved into the new house by herself first.

Chase Shaw arrived later.

He arrived one afternoon while Zoe Pierce was reviewing the day’s class material.

The moment he knocked, Zoe Pierce noticed something abnormal about Chase Shaw’s spirit sea.

She immediately grabbed his arm and extended her spiritual power to probe it.

’What’s going on? His spirit sea feels as if his spiritual power has been overexerted.’

But Chase Shaw’s eyes were bright, and he held a Space Button with a name engraved on it.

"The Mecha... it’s finished," he said, handing over the Mecha’s Space Button.

After soothing his chaotic spirit sea, Zoe Pierce finally looked at the Mecha’s Space Button in his hand.

This time, it was even more direct.

Zoe Pierce saw her own initials, and next to them, Chase Shaw’s.

The other three men were engraved along the outermost edge.

’He made this for her, and her alone. It wouldn’t have been out of place even if he hadn’t included the others’ names at all.’

But Chase Shaw still said, "It will protect you just like we protect you."

Zoe Pierce accepted the Space Button.

Subconsciously, she looked outside. The last time, Chase Shaw had taken her to test a Mecha.

But not this time.

She even felt that his skin was warmer than usual.

The instant she let go of his hand, the man grabbed it back and slumped against her shoulder. "Zoe, I feel awful."

It took Zoe Pierce a moment to react, but she finally figured it out from his continuously agitated spiritual power and abnormally high body temperature.

’Chase Shaw... seems to have entered his sensitive period.’

An Alpha who has entered their sensitive period has more volatile spiritual power and reacts more strongly to an Omega’s pheromones.

"Zoe, I didn’t take my inhibitor," Chase Shaw said, tilting his head up and nibbling her earlobe.