Page 111 of Sohut's Protection

“Stay here.” His gaze moved from her then to Wawa. “Stay here. I’ll scout the area. We could rest there this dark cycle.”

Glancing upward, she realized what she could see of the sky was slowly turning purple. Night was coming.

She hadn’t realized they’d walked for that long.

“Okay,” she nodded. “Hurry.”

Sohut pulled her into him and planted a kiss on her head. “I will.”

He disappeared in the bushes in the next second and Cleo stood, her eyes searching the bushes around her.

Wawa was relaxed on her shoulder so she took that as a good indication that she was safe.

In no time, the bushes rustled again and Cleo gripped her piece of metal.

When Sohut appeared, her shoulders sagged a little.

“It’s safe,” he said. “Come.”

* * *

It was a small stream nestled in the middle of the undergrowth and Sohut took the time to fill his water bottle before passing it to her.

“I think we sleep here tonight,” he said, looking around them. “We could continue pushing forward but,” he glanced at her, “you should rest.”

Cleo frowned.

If he was stopping because of her…

“I don’t need sleep.”

Her eyes fell on Wawa as he approached the stream, his tail brushing against Sohut’s leg as he took a sip.

“You do.” His gaze fell on Wawa too. “I’m sure he agrees.”

As if Wawa understood them, he turned to blink at her before he began drinking once more.

Fine.

Looking upward, she realized there were no tall trees nearby.

He must have read her mind because Sohut stood suddenly and began pulling some vines together.

“We’ll rest here.” He glanced around again. “If anything comes near, I’ll smell them before they can get close.”

Swallowing the water, Cleo cast her gaze around at the darkening jungle.

She trusted Sohut.

What she didn’t trust was the potential danger chasing them.

26

Cleo’s eyes fluttered open and it took a few moments to focus.

She felt warm, protected…safe…and she realized the reason why immediately.

Somehow while they slept, Sohut had draped his body around hers completely.

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