Page 23 of Sohut's Protection

Who would willingly walk farther into a place that was littered with bones?

She knew she sure as hell wouldn’t, but maybe this idiot was a psycho and she’d judged him wrong.

Goddamnit.

Shit.

She was running out of options.

On her shoulder, Wawa stiffened, his eyes on the spots of blue peeking out from behind the leaves as the alien moved through the undergrowth.

To her horror, Wawa began moving forward.

Jerking him back, she stared at Wawa in dismay, shaking her head as viciously as she could manage without rustling the bushes.

It was a silent “what-the-fuck-are-you-thinking-sit-yo-ass-down” sort of look.

Wawa paused and blinked at her before settling against her again.

It seemed he understood ‘wide-eye speak’ and Cleo released the breath she’d been holding as smoothly as she could.

Turning her gaze back to the trees below, she looked for the alien again.

For a few seconds, her heart stopped beating when she couldn’t see any blue.

Fuck.

She’d lost him.

Biting her lip, she searched the undergrowth below with frantic movements of her eyes and when she finally spotted the alien male, a lump formed in her throat.

He was closer now.

She could mostly see the top of his dark head as he moved, and she soon realized he was heading in the direction of a particularly dangerous tree.

And she called it dangerous for one reason.

There was a feisty bird that lived in that tree and she only knew because she’d made the mistake of venturing near one too many times.

It was a huge yellow thing that reminded her of Big Bird from Sesame Street. Only, it wasn’t as nice.

It was more of a bitch bird than Big Bird.

The first time she’d made the mistake of going near its tree, the bird had shit on her head. And it wasn’t like normal bird poop. This bird had the ass of a grown man.

It had taken her weeks to get the scent out of her hair.

The second time she’d walked too close, the bird had chased her. And it was HUGE. It almost clawed off her scalp as she ran away.

There hadn’t been a third time.

She’d gotten the point and made sure she never walked close to its home ever again.

Now, the alien neared it and she lost sight of him again, just when he reached near the tree.

Perking her ears, she stopped breathing completely as she listened.

Then she heard a loud screech as the entire tree shook.

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