The car ride home from the dinner party is suffocatingly silent. The tension in the air is thick enough to cut with a knife, each of us trapped in our own thoughts beneath the leather seats of the luxury vehicle. Chen Pinming rode separately after giving us a final warning about maintaining professionalism with the sponsors.

I steal glances at the three Omegas sharing the backseat with me. Eliot has been glued to my side since we left the ballroom, his Orchid scent cloying and sweet with barely contained jealousy. His thigh presses against mine, and his fingers occasionally brush my hand as if needing constant reassurance of my presence.

Across from us, Ocean sits rigid with tension, his usual hyper energy completely vanished. His Iris scent is sharp and frantic, like a storm gathering on the horizon. He keeps staring out the window, but his foot taps a rapid, nervous rhythm against the floor mat.

Seeky sits beside him, the very picture of calm control - or so he wants me to believe. His face is impassive, but his Sage scent has a cold, cutting edge I've rarely smelled before. His eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror, and there's something calculating in his gaze that sends an unexpected shiver down my spine.

The apartment door barely closes before Eliot is on me, pressing his face into my chest and inhaling deeply. "I hate her smell on you," he mumbles, his voice childlike and petulant. "I want to wash it off."

Ocean paces suddenly, the silence shattering as he explodes with barely contained rage. "That bitch thinks she can just waltz in and take you? She doesn't know anything about us! About what we've built!"

Seeky moves to the window, pulling the curtains closed with deliberate slowness. When he turns, his expression is unreadable. "She represents a significant threat, both professionally and personally," he says calmly, though his words carry the weight of a storm warning. "We need to discuss how to neutralize this situation permanently."

I feel like I'm suffocating, caught between their intensity. "Guys, it's not a big deal," I say, trying to sound reassuring despite the tightness in my chest. "I rejected her, didn't I? It's fine."

"Fine?" Ocean laughs bitterly, his eyes blazing with a intensity I've never seen directed at me before. "She had her hands on you, qiuqiu! In front of everyone! Like you belonged to her!"

Eliot whimpers against my chest, his arms tightening around my waist like a vice. "Don't leave us," he pleads quietly. "Please don't choose her over us."

Seeky takes a step toward me, his movements deliberate and predatory. "What Ocean and Eliot are trying to say," he begins, his voice low and dangerous, "is that this changes things. We can't continue... pretending. Not while she's circling."

Pretending? What are they talking about? A sense of unease washes over me as I realize that everything I thought I knew about my relationships with my bandmates might be about to change forever.