Page 20 of Castaway Heat
Shiloh snatched it, undid the cap, and guzzled half of it down before handing it to Ronin to share.
“Drink the rest. I had one on the way back to get you.”
“You found help?” Shiloh asked, excitedly scrambling to his feet.
“Notthatgood, but almost as good,” Ronin replied. “We need to hurry before it gets much darker.”
Shiloh cringed. “We’re going into the forest where the snakes are?”
“I didn’t see a single snake in there. I know that doesn’t mean there aren’t any, but it’s definitely not infested,” Ronin said.
Shiloh hedged.
“Youdorealize that snakes could be on the beach, too, right?”
Shiloh looked around him, panicked. “Don’t say that!”
Ronin swept him off his feet. Shiloh knew he should tell his alpha to put him down, but his irrational fear was just that bad.
“I only meant that the forest isn’t any more dangerous than the beach. There’s no point to avoid it.” He marched inland. “But I’ll carry you, so you don’t have to worry about one slithering over a foot.”
“You’re going to give me a panic attack.”
Ronin chuckled under his breath. “I’ll protect you, pet.”
Shiloh sighed, realizing how silly they looked. Plus, his alpha was just as exhausted as he was, if not more. “Put me down.”
Ronin shook his head. “Nope. I’ve got to protect my omega.”
Shiloh was too tired to argue. He rested his head against his alpha’s shoulders, knowing Ronin would do as promised. Protect him. Exhaustion took hold and he’d give anything for a bed to slip into. Too bad they wouldn’t get one of those that night.
Ronin marched through the trees. A few feet in, Shiloh noticed a noticeable path peeking out from under the overgrowth here and there when he looked behind them. He turned to face Ronin.“Whereare we going?”
“I found us somewhere safe to sleep tonight.”
After a few minutes, the trees gave way to a small clearing. In the middle of it was a house, the façade slightly overgrown with vines. More poked out of a corner of the roof, but the rest of the house looked relatively intact from the outside. All of the windows were dark. Ronin lowered him just outside the screened porch.
“Have you been inside?”
“I have. It appears abandoned but hasn’t been long since someone’s lived here. There’s plenty of water and a ton of canned food, most of it appears expired but not all that long out of date.”
“Canned is probably fine if it’s a bit expired,” Shiloh said. “As long as it’s not ancient and the can’s not swollen.”
Ronin nodded. “Exactly. So, we can eat tonight.”
Shiloh sighed with relief. His stomach was knotted with hunger.
“There are also solar panels out back. The battery cells weren’t on, though, so they haven’t been charging in some time. I flipped them on before I came to get you but there wasn’t much daylight for them to collect. There might be a tiny bit of power left. Maybe enough to give us a single, small light for the night. If not, we’ll eat under the moonlight, sleep on the porch, and investigate more in the morning.”
“I hope there’s a bed in there,” Shiloh said, leaning against Ronin. “I feel like I could sleep for three days straight.”
“I didn’t get that far. Once I found the food and water, I came to get you. I figured we could check out the rest when we gotback.” He pressed as kiss to Shiloh’s head. “Let’s go see what we’re having for dinner.”
Shiloh smiled, allowing Ronin to lead him into the house.
4
Three weeks later…
