Sohut's Protection: A Sci-fi Alien Romance (Riv's Sanctuary Book 2) A.G. Wilde (best way to read an ebook TXT) 📖

huge farm they were approaching to the man beside her.

Her spine stiffened a little. “What is it? Aren’t you happy to be home?”

“Delighted.” Sohut glanced at her and his green gaze softened a little. “It’s just that…my brother is a bit…” He trailed off. “Riv doesn’t like strangers.”

Oh.

She didn’t know what to say about that. She wasn’t planning to stay in his brother’s way anyway.

She turned her gaze back to the Sanctuary.

It looked…beautiful. Serene and beautiful.

There were huge trees on the property and she could make out several different fenced areas that held animals, but something, or rather someone, caught her gaze.

Cleo squinted.

Now that they were getting closer, she could make out the form of the person standing on the grounds.

It was a male, no doubt Sohut’s brother judging from the blue skin.

He was shirtless and she watched as he lifted his head, undoubtedly having caught the sound of the approaching vehicle.

“That’s Riv. He’s seen us,” she heard Sohut say but she couldn’t pull her eyes away.

Sohut’s family.

For some reason, there was anxiety building within her and she realized she really wanted this Riv to like her.

Sohut was obviously close to his brother. If Riv didn’t like her, it would definitely strain their relationship.

Even as she watched, she saw Riv reach down and lift a massive weapon that was no doubt a gun from Mad Max judging from the size of it.

Riv lifted the weapon, pointing it their way.

“Sohut?” She glanced at her man. “What’s he doing?”

Sohut squeezed his eyes shut for a second. “I think he thinks we’re Geblit.”

“Wha—”

Her words were cut off as something bright flew through the air above the hover vehicle.

Her mouth fell open.

“He’s shooting at us!”

To her horror, Sohut chuckled. “Don’t worry. He has great aim. He’s just letting us, well, Geblit, know he doesn’t want him to come closer.”

Cleo pressed her mouth into a thin line and Sohut chuckled again.

“He’s sane. I promise.” He paused. “I wonder what Geblit did to make him react this way though.”

As she turned to stare at Sohut’s possibly insane brother, the hover car stopped at what appeared to be an energy barrier that surrounded the property.

On the other side, a female, a human female was rushing toward Riv. Cleo could only watch, her eyes wide as the female smacked Riv on the arm holding the blaster, pointing their way as she did.

She could feel the guy’s frown even from where she was.

Sohut stood in the hover car and shouted something that didn’t translate and his brother’s head turned from the indignant female beside him.

In the next moment, Riv and the female were both rushing to the barrier.

“Sohut?” Riv said as the barrier stopped zinging. “Phek. I thought you were that excrement pipe, Geblit.”

Sohut chuckled before hopping from the vehicle and touching his brother on the shoulder. Riv pulled him in and they touched foreheads.

“I thought…” Riv trailed off and Sohut chuckled.

She knew what he’d been thinking. His unspoken words were ones she’d forced away while she’d waited in that terrarium.

“You can’t get rid of me so easily,” Sohut said.

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.

There were umus that looked like little balls of fluff and a field filled with hairy fruit that she and Lauren joked about not chopping down lest the Lorax appear.

Needless to say, neither Sohut nor Riv caught that joke.

As she was being given a tour by Lauren, Cleo took her time looking around.

This was where she was going to live now.

She’d never lived on a farm before and this one reminded her of a lovely