Page 25 of The VaDorok’s Unexpected Mate (The Mate Index: Dorok #1)

Katie looked askance at Ren as the male stared back at her from where they faced each other across the low living room table.

Kull had crawled into bed beside her very late at night with an incomprehensive grumble and then had been up again and gone long before she had awoken.

It seemed that he was still a little angry if he had abandoned the plan to teach her and left her with Ren while he went out hunting far away from both of them.

As Ren appeared to have taken to moping around the den, that didn’t seem to be lost on him, either.

But at least he was no longer taking potshots at her.

Still, the silence stretching on between them was about to make her go insane, even if it didn’t appear to bother him.

Instead, he appeared to be very focused on the long leather string that he was idly playing with as if it were some sort of low-tech fidget-toy.

Maybe she could try to strike up a conversation since neither of them really had anything better to do.

But what the hell did one talk to moody teens about?

“So,” she drawled, stretching the word out, “this is nice. Just sitting here, warm, hanging out together.”

Ren grunted in agreement without even looking up at her as he twisted the bit of leather into a complicated knot.

Strike one.

“That’s a really nice knot,” she tried again. “What’s it used for? I bet it works well. Why don’t you show—"

With a tug, the knot fell apart, and he began to loop the string casually through his fingers instead, as if playing cat’s cradle.

It was like she’d never even spoken. She stared at him; her eyes drifting down to the string and then back to his face again.

What the hell? Was this kid trying to test her?

First it was pranks; but now she was getting the silent treatment? How was that fair?

Strike two.

“Do you have a favorite—” she began but was cut off yet again, this time by the male sighing very loudly as he shrugged and continued to study the twisting string.

Strike three. Batter’s out.

Maybe she should just give up and go hide in the bedroom until Kull returned. If she was going to be sitting in the midst of an oasis of silence, she might as well do it while sprawled on the bed. What the hell did she know about kids, anyway?

She leaned forward, resting an arm on her knee as she regarded him. Okay then. Her lips pursed with frustration as she mentally chanted a mantra not to kill the child. “Look, I get this isn’t your idea of fun having to stay here with me, but this isn’t a picnic for me either,” she grumbled.

Miraculously, the string stopped twisting and his eyes lifted to her face. “What is a picnic?”

“Well... an enjoyable outing,” she explained, a bit caught off guard by the question. It was so weird explaining something that she had always taken as common knowledge. “You pack up food and take it out somewhere outside to sit and eat—”

“And you do this for fun?” he interrupted incredulously, his nose wrinkling. She couldn’t tell if the expression was distaste or disbelief.

“Of course... well, maybe not here,” she conceded with a mutter. “Who wants to have a picnic on a block of ice if you’re not a penguin?” Her eyes shot at him before he could ask the obvious question. “That’s an animal that lives in a part of my world that is frozen most of the year.”

He nodded as if that made perfect sense. “The only time we eat outside is if we are hunting and do not have much choice. Rations work well for this, but a fresh kill is also suitable.”

“I see,” she mumbled. “I guess right now you would have been out hunting with Kull if it weren’t for me being here.”

To her surprise, Ren shrugged. “Not always. Sometimes there are other things that need to be done.”

“Well, what would you normally be doing right now?”

Ren paused and then scratched the base of one of his horn-spikes as he thought about it. “I guess I would be digging for roots.”

Back outside. Lovely. Katie hid her grimace, however, and nodded. That sounded perfectly reasonable. “Okay. We can go do that. Just show me what we need.”

The male gaped before vigorously shaking his head. “I cannot. Kull will skin me alive if I take you back outside so soon.”

So dramatic. It wasn’t like she was on her deathbed.

It was just digging for roots. How bad could it possibly be?

She doubted that Kull would even notice if no one blabbed and she was inside and all toasty again before he returned.

That was probably a bit subversive on her part, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone, least of all him.

Her lips twitched despite her best intentions, however, and Ren lifted a finger accusingly at her. “You find that humorous.”

She blinked at him in surprise. What? “I do not,” she denied.

“You do! You wish to see me made into a pair of boots for your ridiculously small feet!”

Boots? That time she did giggle. “Don’t you think that’s a bit of an exaggeration?

First, I’ve learned my lesson and am not eager to repeat it.

Second, I doubt he would punish you for trying to keep me entertained.

Besides which, I wouldn’t want boots made from your hide—you would probably go out of your way to trip me. ”

His brow lowered into a scowl as he studied her for a long moment, but she caught the reluctant twitch at the corners of his mouth.

“I would not trip you,” he mumbled as his gaze returned to the string. “Playing a joke to make you mad and want to leave and cease disturbing my brother is different. I wouldn’t want to actually hurt you.”

Cease disturbing his brother—ah, right. The whole pretense of being...

She squinted at him. “Are you still trying to scare me off?”

He smirked at her in response, and she rolled her eyes. Of course. He was going easy on her because she nearly turned into a human popsicle. He wasn’t ending his little campaign against her that easily.

For fuck’s sake, were all teens such persistent little terrors?

“So, you’re going easy on me for today,” she said casually, which he neither confirmed nor denied.

He merely continued to play with his leather string.

She sighed and stroked Gremlin’s large ear.

It appeared so. Great. Oh well. Although she didn’t enjoy his attitude, she would take his practical jokes any day of the week compared to her current situation.

“Don’t do me any favors,” she added in a mutter.

Hie eyes flew up to her in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that this is kind of boring. No offense.”

He squinted at her suspiciously. “You want me to disturb you?”

“As long as you can take as good as you give, I’m game,” she replied cheerfully. “Either way, it’s better than just sitting here in silence, so go ahead—give me your best shot.”

Ren stared at her, but reluctantly the corners of his mouth turned up and he quietly chuckled. Despite that, he shook his head. “Not today. Kull was very specific with his instructions.”

Katie groaned as she flopped back onto the couch. “Did he have any orders about what to do if there is an onset of death by boredom?”

That time Ren snickered, his eyes brightened suddenly as he studied her. “We... we could play a game?” he suggested.

Her eyebrows raised, intrigued. “A game?”

He nodded eagerly, but his head swung away with a look of embarrassment. “It is really a game for younglings but... but I like it. Kull used to play it with me.”

Okay, so it was something she wouldn’t struggle too hard with, and it would occupy her time. It sounded like a potential win.

“Sure, show me what you’ve got.”

The male grinned as he scampered quickly to his feet and disappeared down the hall and into his room.

When he returned, it was with a handful of brightly painted sticks.

Crouching in front of her, he opened his hand and let the sticks fall.

The sound startled Gremlin from her lap, but the little durwa parked herself a short distance away and rose on her hind legs like an elongated poof.

Gremlin nervously stared at the sticks lying on the table as if expecting one to leap out at her.

Katie stifled a laugh at the durwa’s reaction, and her attention returned to the sticks lying in front of her.

“Now pick up one, but you can’t move any of the others,” he cautioned. “If you do, then your turn is over.”

A slow smile spread across Katie’s face as she leaned forward to select her stick. It seemed that Pick Up Sticks was universal.

With the air of competition thick between them, they played throughout the afternoon. The sounds of falling sticks became nothing more than a soft punctuation of sound among their raised voices as they jeered and taunted each other as they took turns throwing and picking up the sticks.

“What’s the score?” she asked Ren.

He looked at the board of tallying beads and smirked. “I am ahead by fifty points.”

“Just watch me make you eat those points,” she challenged with a grin, drawing a snicker from her opponent.

She gathered the sticks into her hand for a good toss when the door suddenly opened and Kull entered, bringing more than a little snow in with him.

It fell from his fur as he trekked inside and headed for the fire.

He didn’t look her way or even acknowledge her.

Well, he didn’t acknowledge Ren, either, but the younger male seemed accustomed to the routine since he went directly for the large leather sack looped over Kull’s shoulder and relieved him of his burden.

Katie cleared her throat awkwardly as his back continued to face her. “How was hunting? Did you catch something good?”

Kull merely grunted in reply as he crouched by the fire.

Oh, my fucking god. Not this again.

“Right,” she muttered.

Kull’s head turned to peer back at her. His eyes then dropped as he glanced at the sticks lying at the table, and his brows raised. “You were playing Falling Sticks?”

His voice was steady and deep, with a faint rasp to it from not being used all day, but without a trace of being affected by the cold. It was his words, however, that surprised her.

Is that what they were seriously called? Well, it was no worse than being called Pick Up Sticks. Neither name was particularly creative.

Katie studied him and smiled. “I’ve been kicking Ren’s butt all day,” she outright lied, drawing a chortle of amusement from the younger male. “You want to give it a go?”

Gaze drifting thoughtfully over her and then to Ren, Kull nodded, the corner of his mouth hitching. “Let me get the meat spitted and cooking, and then I will show you how it is really done.”

And so, it was with the smell of cooking food filling the den that they played.

And then they stuffed themselves silly with food and played some more.

And they continued to play well into the night by the light of the fire.

And for the first time in many weeks, Katie caught herself genuinely laughing and smiling freely.

And it made her want to cry all at the same time because for a long time she hadn’t believed that she could ever truly do that again and truly feel it.