Page 104 of Sohut's Protection

Then she heard it, another snarl, one that obviously came from the throat of a man, a huge dangerous man, but a man nonetheless.

The relief she felt was almost staggering, but she had no time to decipher it as she rushed closer.

For a second, she saw blue and then black.

They were wrestling and she didn’t know who was winning.

Sharp black teeth glinted in the light as they were aimed at Sohut’s throat, but he managed to hold them off, grabbing both jaws of the beast with his two hands.

The beast reared, flicking its tail in a semicircle that connected with Sohut’s legs, bringing both of them down into the bushes.

It had its two front paws on Sohut now, pressing him into the ground below as its tail lashed behind it.

Dislodging her piece of shrapnel from the edge of her dress, Cleo gripped it in her hand.

She knew she had to do something.

There was a tree just behind them. If she could get there…

Her feet were moving before she could finish the thought.

Moving as fast as she could, she gripped the trunk of the tree, finding a low-hanging branch that would give her some leverage. Finding a foothold, up she went, slowly at first then her muscles remembered what they needed to do.

It was just like the time her father had left her alone in the wild, when she’d had to climb a tree at night after she’d been too afraid to sleep alone on the ground.

She could do this.

Soon, she was high enough above them to see.

There was a branch that jutted out, close to where they were and she headed for that one, hugging the branch with her legs as she moved slowly forward.

The branch was rough, and her thighs were going to hate her for this later.

But she didn’t care.

The only thing in her mind was that Sohut was in danger.

He needed her help.

Sohut was on the ground, his teeth grit, his face twisted into a ferocious snarl as he wrestled to get the animal off him.

His sole focus was the beast and it seemed neither he nor the beast realized she was there for when Sohut’s gaze caught movement above them and his eyes settled on her, the look in his eyes moved swiftly from ferocity to horror.

That one second of hesitation and the beast pressed into him harder, its sharp teeth moving even closer to Sohut’s neck.

Cleo breathed hard.

She didn’t have a plan.

She didn’t have a frickin’ plan!

Just then, the beast did something she didn’t expect.

Its dark spines flattened against its back as its tail lashed menacingly, and she knew then exactly what she was going to do.

Gripping the piece of metal, she didn’t think twice.

She let go of the branch.

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