Page 69 of Catching the Kot'oll Driver

The door opens to Mother preparing the table. She looks over and grins when her gaze lands on Kendra. “Welcome! I’m so happy to meet you.”

Kendra gives a smile. The tension in her spikes. My heart races when I don’t know what to say. Do they not like each other?

Kendra says, “Nice to meet you, I’m Kendra.”

I gesture to my mother even though it should be obvious. “This is my mother, and my father is inside the kitchen, or somewhere.” The scent of tasty roasted meat is in the air, so my guess won’t be far off.

Mother spreads her arms and gives Kendra a hug. “Grihul should have told us about you long ago.”

Kendra chuckles. “Maybe he’s shy.”

“He sure is. He has been like that since he was a kid.”

I roll my eyes. “Mom...”

Mother pats my shoulder, her grin is so wide that I almost can’t see her eyes. “Okay, okay. Why don’t you show her your room and stuff while we get ready for dinner?”

Oh...

Mother heads to the kitchen, on the way, she says, “Kendra, I hope you’ll enjoy the food. There will be more days we can spend together.”

My heart skips a beat. I haven’t told Mother that Kendra doesn’t live on this planet. But Mother is already in the kitchen, so...

Kendra nudges me with her elbow. “Are we going to stand here like a statue until dinner is ready?”

“I...” I’m not ready to be in my room. “So, you see... I don’t come here a lot, so there’s nothing very special in my room.”

“Your mother said you should show me around.” She smirks. She’s not going to stop until she gets things her way.

I shrug. “Fine, come with me.”

At the stairs, she says, “It’s not that bad.”

Is she referring to the small talk with Mother? “Mother’s the nice one.”

“I hope your father isn’t that tough.”

“He’s... I don’t know about that.”

“You don’t seem to like your father a lot.”

“Well... He’s an interesting male. Just don’t take what he says seriously and you’ll be fine.”

“That doesn’t sound too interesting.”

“That sounds like it is what it is.”

“Okay...”

We are at the second floor when one of the doors opens. Out comes Vatok. I thought he was at work. He nods at me, then turns his gaze onto Kendra. “Hi...”

I say, “This is Vatok, my brother. This is Kendra, my mate.”

Vatok says, “I see. Nice to meet you.” He shakes Kendra’s hand. “Hopefully, there won’t be too many arms for you at the dinner table.”

Kendra chuckles. “I hope dinner isn’t a free fight, otherwise, I won’t get any food.”

I say, “I’ll give you food if that’s the case, but lucky you, we are well-civilized ones.”

---