Page 150 of Sohut's Protection

Cleo blinked.

Now that his brother was so close, she couldn’t help but stare.

They looked like twins. The resemblance was uncanny.

When her gaze drifted to the side and met the human female’s, her eyes widened a little.

The woman was smiling at her but not approaching, as if knowing this was all a bit to take in and she was giving her time for it all to settle.

When she glanced back in Sohut’s direction, two sets of green eyes were now on her—his and his brother’s.

Only, Riv was staring at her with a mixture of fear, disgust, and anger. “What the phek is that?!”

The female beside him moved closer, her hand at the back of his arm in a way that gave Cleo the impression she was pinching the large blue male.

She smiled at Cleo. “Hi, I’m Lauren and don’t mind Riv. He can be a lot more hospitable.”

Sohut grunted.

But Riv was still looking her way with the same expression and it took her a moment to realize his gaze wasn’t pointed at hers but at her neck.

Looking down, she realized Wawa’s face was visible from underneath the hood of the robe.

“That’s not a slizz, is it?” Riv was still staring at Wawa, his blaster rising in the air again.

Sohut touched the weapon, pushing it back down.

“It’s fine. He’s her pet.”

This time, Riv’s eyes did meet hers and she couldn’t read them.

Sohut moved to her side. “This is Cleo. My gnora.” The pride in his voice was so unmistakable, she had to glance at him.

“Your gnora?” Riv moved to stand beside his brother, his face expressionless.

Sohut nodded.

For a few beats, neither of them said a word and Cleo could cut the tension in the air with a knife.

Out of the blue, Riv hugged his brother, patting him on the shoulder as he did.

“Brother,” Riv finally said. “I am happy for you.” He turned his attention to her. “Clee-yo, my brother’s gnora, welcome to the Sanctuary. Any gnora of my brother is a sister to me.”

Riv turned to look at the female beside him. “This is my gnora, La-rehn.”

Sohut almost choked on air. “What?”

Lauren chuckled. “There’s a lot that happened since you left.”

Sohut glanced at her, his eyes twinkling. “Tell me about it.”

* * *

It turns out the Sanctuary was exactly as she’d pictured it to be.

As they brought the hover car in, Cleo saw several enclosures with animals she’d never seen before in her life.

There were fat hippo-like animals they called oogas and tall giraffe-dinosaur-looking things called tilgrans.

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