Page 17 of The VaDorok’s Unexpected Mate (The Mate Index: Dorok #1)

Katie fidgeted with the hem of her wrap-style shirt as she headed down the hall.

Another day, another breakfast with Kull before resigning herself to a day of boredom.

The morning and evenings had somehow quickly become her favorite parts of the day.

She discovered that she actually enjoyed sitting at the low table while Kull was crouched by the fire cooking or lounging together in the evening while he quietly busied himself with one task or another.

Aside from a growing feeling of uselessness, she had no real complaints.

It was the long days when he left her to do as she liked while he hunted throughout much of the afternoon that she could have done with less of if she were to be honest with herself.

For the last couple of weeks, that had become their routine.

While giving the pretense of being an attentive mate in many ways when he was home for Ren’s benefit, she was allowed to enjoy her relative solitude, outside of Ren moping around the den while he was gone.

The younger male, for the most part, had recently taken to outright ignoring her, as if he thought that would actually bother her.

After so many months of being under constant scrutiny, she didn’t mind in the least if she was ignored, though there were still times that the fire dwindled dangerously low that the resulting chill that swept through the den was unpleasant enough to often send her crawling beneath the furs, At least until Ren remembered to build the fire back up and the place began to warm up again.

She sighed heavily, anticipating another afternoon where she would be huddled in her room to ward off the cold.

At least Kull always filled her up with a warm meal before he left for the day.

Though, now that she thought about it, it seemed like lately he was out hunting longer every day.

Was it because of what happened in bed the other night?

Or was it her imagination? She would ask him over breakfast. It was possible that he had felt taken advantage of while he slept.

If that were the case, she would apologize.

She knew all too well how that felt. But first.. . breakfast! She was starving.

Unfortunately, as Katie walked toward the living room, she didn’t smell anything cooking.

It appeared that she would be foraging for more than one meal then.

That was disappointing. She certainly didn’t trust her nonexistent ability when it came to cooking over an open flame, and she didn’t even know what was safe to eat just from looking at it.

A city kid to the core, her family had never been the camping sort.

Better safe than sorry. In any case, it was possible that Kull just woke up early and didn’t have time to cook anything.

That was fair—she could live without a hot meal for one morning.

Maybe she could coax him into making a quick mash or something before he headed out.

She frowned a little, however, when she stepped into the living room and found it empty except for the young male sitting once again on the rug in front of the fire, idly playing with something he held between his hands.

Whatever Ren held, his attention seemed to be absorbed with it since he didn’t so much as glance up at her when she entered the room.

She knew that he had heard her. She’d even seen his ear turn toward her.

It appeared that he was starting his ignoring game with her earlier in the day than usual.

He at least kept up appearances while his elder brother was home.

“Where is Kull,” she asked curiously, her head turning as she peered around the room.

Ren shrugged, unconcerned, and scratched at one of his small horn-spikes.

“Hunting. He said that we will need more furs and meat since we are going through supplies quicker with you here as part of our family for the time being,” he added sourly.

He glanced over at her, then, his lips curving with a smile that instantly made her suspicious.

“He said that I should take good care of you, though, so I made you a gift.”

“A gift?” she echoed.

Ren nodded and handed her a small woven ball.

She held it up, examining it curiously. It was very neatly made, though it had a surprising weight to it.

Her brows beetled at him, and she glanced back down at the ball, slowly rotating it in her hands.

She could see where a small opening on one side was latched into place with twisted fibers.

It wasn’t a ball but some sort of spherical basket.

It was even slightly flat on one side so that it would be stable when set on another surface.

She could see that now that she was looking at it more closely.

She continued to turn it slowly as she studied it, but nothing appeared to shift inside.

Strange. Perhaps it was just the plant materials that were used that had a bit more unexpected weight to them.

Although she had nothing to put in it yet, she had to admit that it was thoughtful even though she still wasn’t entirely convinced that it wasn’t some sort of trick.

“Thank you. I don’t really have any possessions, but I’m sure this will be very useful. Did you make it yourself?”

He shook his head and laughed. “I did, but the gift is inside . Open it. I searched all morning while you slept for the perfect gift. Something special just for you,” he added.

Yeah, right. She was pretty sure that whatever this gift was, it was one that she wasn’t going to particularly like. It seemed that he had shifted his tactics when it came to his pranks.

She pasted a smile on her face. “Thank you, Ren. That is very thoughtful of you.”

“Hurry and open it,” he urged, barely able to contain his eagerness.

Katie smirked to herself, her fingers going to the twisted latch.

She undid it and slowly lifted the top. Her brows beetled slightly as something along the side of the wall shifted.

The interior was so heavily shadowed by the firelight that she couldn’t make it out, however.

Shifting it slightly to get it at a better angle with the light, she nearly dropped it in shock when something the size of her hand and closely resembling an enormous ball of incredibly fluffy white fur popped out at her.

It landed on her hand and promptly scurried up her forearm.

She immediately froze and stared down at it as its little pink eyes stared back at her through the dense fringe of fur falling over its face.

Now that it was still, she could see that it had a long, fluffy tail, prominent, round ears that dwarfed its nearly invisible head beneath all the fur, and a narrow snout that a hedgehog would be envious of.

It was adorable. And with her luck, something so cute would be the deadliest thing on all of Dorok. Just casually sitting on her arm.

“What is wrong, Katie? Do you not like it?” Ren asked with a snicker. “It is just a harmless little durwa.”

Somehow, she managed to smile politely at the laughing beast mocking her. “She is cute... what exactly is a durwa?”

His smile slowly fell to be replaced with a look of annoyance. “They are flesh-eaters.”

Katie’s eyebrows rose. Flesh-eater, huh?

She squinted down at it speculatively. Ren didn’t say predator, so she didn’t think she had to worry about it trying to gnaw off her hand or anything.

He didn’t say anything about it being venomous either.

A carrion eater, perhaps? Like a vulture?

She pressed her lips together to refrain from giggling.

“So, it eats dead animals?” she clarified.

“Yes.” He squinted at her. “Why are you not afraid of it? Females dislike durwa. Even Kull says that they are filthy little creatures that I am to exterminate on sight if I see one in the den.”

Katie’s brows rose. She could understand that perspective if a mouse or roach got into the house, but the durwa was too much like the guinea pig that her childhood best friend had.

.. except cuter and even more ridiculously fluffy.

It opened its little mouth then and yawned, displaying a mouth far larger than the narrow end of its snout indicated and an impressive number of sharp little teeth.

No, not a guinea pig. It was more like a fizzwig from the movie The Dark Crystal, but smaller and cuter.

She loved that movie! Who knew she would grow up and acquire her own little fizzwig.

“What, this little thing?” she queried, gesturing to the critter on her arm.

Smiling down at the little durwa. She extended her fingers toward the fluffball.

It didn’t so much as move in response. It just continued to watch her with its bright pink eyes as she stroked two fingers over its fur.

Its entire body began to vibrate as its eyes slid shut, and a loud purr rattled from it.

It was like having a mini floofy version of Kull. Precious!

His frown progressed to a scowl. “Yes. I better get rid of it now,” he muttered as he rose to his feet. When he moved to take it, however, she danced out of reach and smiled back at the look of dismay that crossed his face.

“Sorry, I can’t let you do that.”

“You cannot seriously intend to keep it,” Ren replied, his dismay shifting rapidly to horror.

Katie shrugged, and she was surprised to see that the movement didn’t even jostle the little creature that seemed to be stuck to her arm like Velcro.

That at least explained the mystery of why it didn’t roll around in the basket.

“Why not? You did give it to me, after all. That means the durwa is mine. She will be an excellent companion. Thank you, Ren.”

The male shook his head rapidly. “No, Kull will kill me if he returns and sees you with that thing. I swear I will give you something else... anything.”

She almost felt bad for the kid, but not bad enough to let him kill something she’d already fallen in love with. The durwa was hers, and she wanted to keep her new pet. It was obviously quite intelligent and sweet as far as she could tell.

Giving him an apologetic smile, she shook her head.

Without another word, she headed to the cushions that formed the sitting area just behind the short table and lowered herself onto them.

She crossed her legs and sat there as she continued to pet the durwa, who in turn seemed uninclined to leave her arm.

Ren hovered over her for several minutes, as if half-convinced that she was just joking with him, before finally drifting away with a look of disgust only to return moments later to unceremoniously drop a bowl of dried fruit and meat in front of her.

She smirked as she nibbled on the food and entertained herself by petting her little companion.

He could stomp off and look disgusted about it all he wanted, but beneath it she could see his growing anxiety and the way he fidgeted worriedly throughout the day.

This wasn’t going to earn his friendship quickly, but she didn’t care.

Neither would giving in to him. It was his respect that she wanted, even if that put them at odds with each other.

She hoped that the experience would teach him a valuable lesson about trying to screw with her, but she doubted it would be that easy.

So, she didn’t let it bother her. Instead, she focused on playing with the durwa throughout the morning.

It eventually released her arm enough to crawl curiously up and down her body and explore the space just in front of her crossed legs with its tiny paws.

Although it refused the bits of dried fruit, it accepted the bits of meat she fed it, its purrs becoming trills of delight.

Even its purrs grew more enthusiastic. She chuckled, charmed by its little sounds and its shuffling little scamper, but she was even more delighted when the critter eventually scampered trustingly into her lap and curled up there to sleep while she petted it.

Apparently, its heart was most definitely through its stomach.

It was also obviously smart enough to know that she was its safe place, just as she understood Kull to be hers.

It certainly didn’t wander far from her when Ren was nearby and shooting dark looks at it.

Eventually, Ren moved on to do something else to keep himself occupied, ignoring her altogether.

Even so, he remained in the same room with her as silent company rather than outright leaving her completely alone as he could have done.

He worked on the pile of furs and leather at his small table and at times stopped to play some kind of game by himself that involved several colorful stones that he rolled from a pot and scooped back to roll again.

It reminded her a little of playing dice.

She wanted to ask him how it was played and if there was a value system attached to the colored stones, but she refrained.

He didn’t appear to be in the mood to even acknowledge her existence at the moment.

She sighed to herself. Well, at least the durwa loved her, even if it was for her dried meat snacks. Hopefully, Kull wouldn’t hit the roof too hard when he saw her new pet.