In the heart of a dense jungle, under the glare of three blazing suns, shafts of golden light filtered down through the lush canopy, dancing over Elena Shaw's pale cheeks.
Years of going hungry had left her thin and fragile, curled up in her sleep like someone always bracing for danger. Her bony arms wrapped tightly around herself, a subconscious shield. Not far from her, a fierce-looking tiger lay sprawled out, its massive frame curled protectively around her, like a furry guardian on high alert.
A little farther off, a huge wolf pack stood watch. The alpha was closest, its sharp vertical pupils trained steadily on Elena—eyes that should’ve been cold and wild but somehow glinted with a strange gentleness.
Behind cover, a couple of sleek leopards prowled silently, eyes scanning the perimeter, muscles tense and ready for a fight if anything got too close. Nothing was getting near their girl while she rested.
Then all hell broke loose—
A thunderous roar tore through the sky as something massive descended overhead, sending birds squawking and creatures bolting in all directions. But those near Elena didn't budge. They were rattled, sure, snarling and baring teeth, but they stood their ground.
A huge airship touched down with a deep thud. The hatch clicked open, and a full battalion of soldiers stepped out, armored to the teeth, moving in perfect formation. They were there for the long haul—routine extraction of minerals from a planet now under Imperial control. Nothing out of the ordinary, or so they thought.
"Wait... is that a pack of predators?"
"Tigers, wolves, leopards? You gotta be kidding me. What kind of crossover episode is this?"
A bunch of apex predators hanging out like old buddies—it didn’t make sense. In the wild, these beasts ruled separate territories. They weren’t exactly into playdates.
“Hold up, they’re circling something. What is that? Could be rare ore or some freaky plant?”
The team squinted, trying to see what was at the center of all that muscle and fang. Everything was blocked off. They couldn’t get a clear look.
When they edged closer, the animals got twitchier, letting out low, threatening growls that sent shivers down spines. Then one soldier finally caught sight of her.
“Holy crap. That’s a female!”
“No way. You’re telling me that’s a living, breathing female down there?!”
“This feels like a fever dream. Who drops a female on a planet like this?”
“Don’t spook them—keep it calm. We can’t risk hurting her.”
They held back, avoiding any firepower. The wildlife seemed to pick up on that, on the fact that these weird two-legged visitors didn’t blow stuff up right away. Sharing some unspoken signal, the beasts took one last look at Elena, reluctant but resigned, and then slipped back into the foliage.
It clicked, finally.
“They were protecting her…”
“This... this is unreal.”
“Are we sure those are just ordinary wildlife? Maybe we need to run a full reassessment.”
But first things first: get the female out safely. The mining mission could wait.
They flew straight back to base. Word spread fast—an actual female saved from a wild planet? That was major news. General Xander Lane didn’t waste a second; he came to check on her himself and sent a report up the chain.
"Her condition's rough," said Luke Reed, the base’s chief medical officer, eyes locked on the screen as he flipped through scans of Elena's body. “Bone scan shows around twenty years old, but she’s severely malnourished. Old injuries all over her… likely from long-term abuse or neglect.” His brow stayed furrowed as he kept scrolling, clearly troubled by what he saw."I’m pretty sure this is one hell of a serious abuse case," Luke Reed said coldly.
"The soldiers found her on a resource planet that’s supposed to be uninhabited. They said she was surrounded by wild animals."
"This isn’t just abuse. It’s abandonment. It’s basically an attempt to kill off a rare female!" Xander Lane was furious.
He looked at the girl sleeping peacefully inside the medical pod.
Her face was palm-sized, with a soft pink hue at the tip of her sharp chin. She was so small and delicate, like a flower bud on a trembling branch—one touch and she might just break.
So fragile yet so beautiful, the kind of girl countless men would fight tooth and nail to protect.
The male-to-female ratio in the Empire had already hit a crazy 1 to 79, and it was still dropping. In times like this, someone actually ditched a female? That was beyond messed up.
Inside the pod, Elena Shaw’s eyelashes trembled a little before she slowly opened her eyes.
Her head was spinning.
Nothing new—chronic malnourishment did that. Her blood sugar was always low, and she passed out all the time.
She vaguely recalled the moment before she fainted—getting dragged home by her grandmother from work, only to be told she had to marry some middle-aged, greasy divorced guy. Her family had already taken 400K from the guy.
Of course she didn’t want to. But it was too late. They locked her up—no food, no way out. A whole week of that. When she still refused to register the marriage, they planned to just send her straight to the man’s place and let "nature take its course."
On the way there, she got a chance and ran. But she hadn’t eaten in days and passed out not long after.
So… where was she now? Caught and brought back? Was this that creep’s house?
She looked around. The room was sterile and cold, definitely not a regular home—more like a hospital. There were all kinds of machines she couldn’t identify. She herself was inside one of them.
Two men were talking not far away. They noticed she’d woken up…
!!
The guy in the lab coat hurried over and opened the pod, his voice full of concern. "You’re finally awake. Do you feel unwell anywhere?"
Even though he looked hotter than any actor she’d seen on TV, Elena flinched on instinct. He was a stranger, after all.
Noticing her reaction, the man looked a little guilty. He quickly lowered his head and gentled his tone. "Please don’t be scared. You’re safe now. This is White Tiger Army’s 286th Division. I’m Dr. Luke Reed, the chief medical officer. You’ve been rescued—no one’s going to hurt you anymore."
Elena: "…"
Wait. An arranged marriage situation could get the army involved?
But then it clicked—something wasn’t right.
She had never heard of any group called the White Tiger Army.
Plus, the way this doctor guy was treating her—so careful, almost respectful—it was just too much.
She was just a regular girl. Scratch that, worse than regular, given how messed-up her family was. Why would someone like him act so deferential?
She shifted her eyes to the other man in the room.
Whoa. He was tall. Like, seriously tall. At least 6’3", built like a tank in spotless uniform and military cap. Golden hair, amber eyes, sharp features—he looked like a damn lion walking upright.
That lion of a man lowered his head slightly toward her too. "I’m the commanding officer here, Major General Xander Lane. May I know your name?"
That did it. Elena finally came to her senses.
She might’ve… crossed into another world.
