Perhaps this was the ultimate fate awaiting every Sentinel, but he still couldn’t bring himself to accept it.
Not a death this humiliating.
Yet Bunny had reached his side before the Grim Reaper could claim him.
Liam lowered his eyes, his thick lashes casting deep shadows across the woman’s delicate face. He began studying every detail of her features with painstaking attention—her eyes, the line of her nose, the soft curve of her lips. His gaze lingered with an unsettling, dark intensity, touched by a trace of possessive obsession.
Then, like a pet craving warmth, he lowered his head and gently nuzzled her hair and the curve of her neck.
The unconscious woman wore nothing but a simple silk nightdress. She was soft and fragrant, her skin pale and smooth, her frame delicate and fine. She looked like an exquisite doll displayed behind glass.
Liam was happy.
The more he breathed in her scent, the more intoxicated he became.
He pulled Bunny tightly into his chest, using his larger frame like a shield, holding her from behind in a deeply protective embrace. Unable to free himself from the cell’s restraints, he simply blinked his golden eyes and quietly watched over her as sleep overtook them both.
Outside, the sky darkened completely, plunging the wasteland into night.
On the high-altitude landing pad of Level 99, a hawk-shaped supersonic aircraft descended from the clouds, blue plasma roaring from its thrusters.
The squad had returned.
The heavy bay doors hissed open. One pair after another of black military boots stepped onto the platform, immediately filling the air with the sharp reek of blood, ozone, and spent gunpowder. They had clearly just survived a brutal engagement.
The moment Cyrus stepped into the main living quarters, his heightened senses picked up a faint, lingering fragrance—the sweet, delicate scent of Guide pheromones.
The corners of his sharp eyes lifted slightly.
The Federation’s high command had never mentioned sending a Guide. It had been over thirty years since this outpost had housed one, and naturally, none of them had expected Bunny’s arrival.
Before anyone could speak, Sunny came rolling toward them in a frantic spin.
"Something terrible happened! The new Guide broke into the containment cell to soothe Liam! They both passed out!"
A Guide.
A containment cell.
Soothing.
Passed out.
How those words had ended up in the same sentence was beyond comprehension—it was a revelation on the scale of a nuclear detonation.
The towering Sentinels exchanged glances, subtle shifts in their expressions silently questioning whether the caretaker robot had finally lost its mind.
The first to react was Brandon. Darting forward, he scooped Sunny up by its chassis. The young man’s handsome, roguish face twisted into a look of sheer disdain.
He gave a cold snort. "This bucket of bolts short-circuited again."
When Bunny opened her eyes, she was lying on a soft, comfortable bed.
Given the extreme temperature drop on Terra at night, the central heating system was humming softly, circulating warm air throughout the room. Her head still throbbed with a dull ache, and she instinctively reached up to rub her eyes.
"Awake?"
A deep, magnetic voice reached her ears—smooth and resonant, like fingers brushing over the strings of a cello.
Bunny’s eyes snapped open in alarm.
She realized her bedside was occupied. In fact, the entire room was packed with imposing Sentinels.
Some sat in chairs, while others stood with arms crossed; a few leaned casually against the furniture, hands tucked into their pockets. A couple had even taken seats directly on the edge of her mattress without an ounce of hesitation.
Every single one of them was staring at her.
Multiple pairs of deep, unreadable eyes bore down on her at once, creating a pressure so heavy she could barely breathe.
Curiosity. Appraisal. Amusement. Scrutiny.
It felt as though she had walked straight into a den of apex predators. The sheer physical presence of so many dominant men filled the space, their heavy, masculine pheromones pressing in from every corner.
Bunny instinctively pulled the blanket higher, her gaze wary as she tracked their movements.
"Don’t be afraid," one of them murmured, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "We’re not going to eat you. Not yet."