Sohut's Protection: A Sci-fi Alien Romance (Riv's Sanctuary Book 2), A.G. Wilde [13 ebook reader TXT] 📗

It’d take him some time to do so—her cave wasn’t the easiest to spot—but she couldn’t stay in her little hidey-hole for weeks on end.

She’d starve to death, but realistically, she’d probably die of thirst first.

Biting her bottom lip, she looked out into the jungle.

If the alien came close, she’d have to get rid of him.

There was no other choice.

Well, there was another choice but that one involved her getting eaten—and not in the way that would make her scream in pleasure.

Cleo’s shoulders slumped as she let out a huge breath.

She couldn’t sit and wait.

She had to go out.

If he was coming for her, the least she could do was try to defend herself.

Creeping through the jungle was difficult when trying to be completely silent.

The dried leaves and branches she stepped on screamed like she weighed a ton.

Still, she mostly managed to be quiet.

And with Wawa on her shoulder, it was easy to not get caught.

She knew he’d become alert if they came too close to anything dangerous to them—blue guy included.

Hurrying through the bushes, she clutched the bones she’d gathered to her chest.

They were the bones of a large animal, she was sure.

Months ago when she’d first come upon them, Wawa had seemed disturbed and a plan had hatched in her mind immediately.

She’d use the bones if she ever had to defend her territory.

Because this was her territory now.

It was her and Wawa’s home.

She wasn’t going to let those green orcs take it away from her.

Taking a wide arc, she dropped the bones in random places, partially covering some with dirt and fallen leaves so it looked natural and not like she’d just put them there.

On her shoulder, Wawa watched her with interest, but he didn’t seem alert to any danger.

Still, she hurried.

If this plan didn’t work…if the alien didn’t see the bones and assume some dangerous beast lived on the mountain, then she’d have to get rid of him somehow while he rested.

Cleo gulped.

She really hoped it didn’t get to that.

She wasn’t sure she could kill someone and live with her conscience.

As she set down the last bone, she didn’t dare to even wait to catch a breath.

Hurrying back to where she had even more bones stashed, she grabbed what was left and began distributing them.

She was almost done when, suddenly, Wawa had stiffened on her shoulder, his gaze focused on the bushes ahead of them.

A cold chill went down Cleo’s spine.

She didn’t question it; she just moved in the opposite direction, heading for a foliage-covered ledge that overlooked this section of jungle.

That ledge was the one spot before the intruder came too close to her home and she prayed he’d turn back before then.

Running as quickly as her legs could take her, she dashed through the undergrowth.

Her bare feet moved over the uneven ground with ease, having had many months for the soles of her feet to harden. She didn’t pause to take a breath before she climbed atop the ledge, crawling on her belly as she settled herself.

And she was glad she didn’t falter because her gaze soon caught blue.

The frickin’ alien was heading her way.

4

The scent of the creature was growing stronger and Sohut stopped to inhale deeply.

Now that the scent was stronger, he could definitely say it wasn’t anything he’d ever smelled before.

Pausing, his ears perked as he scanned the area again.

Something white against the mud-orange earth caught his eyes and his gaze zoomed to the piece of bone protruding from the ground.

Moving over to the animal’s remains, he crouched and ran a finger against the whitened bone.

It was old and judging from the part of skull he could see, it was the bone of a great tym.

This tym died a long, long time ago.

But that wasn’t the problem.

The problem was that the only thing that could kill a tym in this jungle was a spined creature.

Pulling on the bone, it dislodged from the earth easily, a little too easily, and he turned it over in his hands.

The tell-tale teeth indentations left by when the spined creature buried its maw into the tym’s head were still there.

Frowning, Sohut paused to study the bushes around him.

He hadn’t scented any spined creatures. At least, not since he’d crossed that invisible barrier days ago.

If there was one, it had to be higher up on the mountain.

Setting the bone down, he stood, his tail swishing low on the ground behind him.

This was the point when many trackers would turn around and leave.

A spined creature wasn’t something to play around with and he would gladly live his life without ever encountering one.

Still…

Taking a deep breath, he sniffed the air again.

The alien creature’s scent was still there.

How could something frail coexist on the mountain with a spined creature close by?

He felt like continuing if only he could answer that question alone.

Readjusting his satchel, his ears perked as he continued on his way.

He was walking for a few more meters when he spotted another bone.

This one looked like a thigh bone and it was cracked in several places.

Possibly, it was another victim of the spined creature or the same one. He wasn’t sure.

Frowning down at the bone, he touched the earth beside it.

It was soft. Soft enough to make him believe the bone had been buried and that made him frown.

Tuli sometimes buried animal bones, so he didn’t know why this occurrence particularly struck him as strange.

Still frowning, his gaze searched the canopy above.

He was either walking into a spined creature’s territory or something else was amiss.

For a few moments, he considered turning back.

He could tell the Gori they’d lost their creature. He could even bring one of the tym bones as proof; they wouldn’t know the difference.

If it was any other hunter, that’s what they would do.

But…he wasn’t any other hunter…and that was the difference.

There was a thrill building inside him, a sort of dangerous excitement, and the farther he walked, the more it grew.

He was either going to discover something big