Page 34 of The VaDorok's Unexpected Mate
He paused in the midst of grabbing yet another fur and peered at her skeptically. She wiggled her arms at him to demonstrate and raised her eyebrows.
“See?”
To her relief, the tension on his face eased slightly, and he cracked a faint smile in response as he fussed with the outermost layer a bit. After what happened last time, she understood why he was worried, but this was nothing that they couldn’t meet head on and conquer. She was certain of that.
Setting a hand on his arm, she gave him an encouraging smile. “It’s going to be okay. We’ve got this. And look, if I start feeling too cold, I will let you know. Okay?”
A long, heavy sigh escaped the male, but he dipped his head in agreement. “Very well. I will put a couple of extra furs on the sled,” he muttered but then met her eyes sternly. “If you start feeling the least bit uncomfortable, youwilltell me.”
Katie nodded and gave him her best Girl Scout salute. “Promise.”
His eyes dropped to her fingers and he peered at them with a perplexed stare. She curled them meekly and offered him an embarrassed smile. Right. As if he even knew what that was. Way to make herself look silly. To her surprise, the corner of his mouth hitched in a small smile in response, and he nudged her gently with his arm as he picked up his lance with his other hand.
“Come on. We should not waste daylight.”
“Don’t I get something stabby?” she asked, eyeing the weapon hopefully.
Kull regarded her for a long moment and nodded. He did not, however, fetch her another lance. Instead, he removed a thick belt that held a singular large knife sheathed on it. She gave it a critical look. That was all? That didn’t have any reach at all. She gave it a disappointed look but froze when he suddenly leaned in close, his body curling intimately around her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and secured the belt in place.
“There,” he rumbled, straightening.
She poked the leather sheath with one finger and frowned. “What am I supposed to hunt with this?”
“You do not. For now, you are assisting me. All you need is a cutting tool.”
“Only assisting?” She gave her knife a morose look. “I thought you were taking me out to hunt.”
“I am,” he replied flatly. “But this is where you begin. You start by watching and assisting in the butchering and dispatching of the animals caught within the traps. Basic skills first. You need to understand how to kindly end an animal’s suffering, how to clean and butcher the meat, and many other skills long before you can begin to learn how to bring an animal down.”
Katie made a face, but she supposed that it made sense. Although her first hunting trip out with Kull had been highlyinstructive in terms of tracking, she had to admit that there was probably more to it than aiming a weapon at her meal on four legs.
“Oh, alright,” she muttered, and she gave the knife a small pat. At least it was something.
Kull’s gaze swept over in a final inspection before he finally nodded as if satisfied. He didn’t say anything. He merely walked out the door, his tail sweeping from side to side fluidly with his every step, with the expectation that she would follow him. Her gaze fastened on his white tail. It was long and strong, and the tuft of fur at its end was not only voluminous but also looked incredibly soft to the touch. It was as tempting to her as swinging a string of yarn in front of a cat. Even without the promise of another opportunity to learn how to hunt, that twitching tail was alluring enough. So much so that she caught herself following gamely after it before she even realized what she was doing.
Gleeful excitement bubbled within her as she jogged in little hops after him, her gaze tracking the swish of that delightful little tuft. She knew that she was hardly the image of a strong and capable hunter but at that moment she didn’t particularly care. She was just so damned... well... happy.
She paused for a moment as that realization settled within her. She was actually happy. Not merely content with existing, nor gritting her teeth and working hard in anticipation of a better future. She was ridiculously happy for no other reason than the fact that she was going out with Kull and that the sun was shining, making the snow sparkle all around them. Granted, they were also going out to hunt small fur-bearing critters, but that just meant ending the day with a full stomach, so she couldn’t complain.
This was her world now. There was no corner market, but there was safety, wide open spaces, and there was Kull.
Kull glanced back at her over his shoulder, his steps slowing. “Is everything well, Katie?” he asked with a genuine note of concern in his voice.
She had no doubt that if she said “no” that he would turn their little hunting party of two right around and head directly back into the den. He was so fiercely protective that way, and those thoughts were blatantly evident on his face as his eyes narrowed at her. Despite his grumpy demeanor, his protectiveness gave her a soft, warm, fuzzy feeling inside.
“Everything is fine,” she assured him.
He gave her a skeptical look but nodded before trudging off ahead of her once more, this time, however, at a slower pace so that she could far more easily keep up. Biting back a smile, she gripped the hilt of her blade and jogged over to his side. She probably resembled a small, excitable, yappy breed of dog the way she was practically bouncing beside him, but surprisingly Kull didn’t seem to mind. The longer her antics continued, the more often he glanced over at her and the softer his expression became as the corner of his mouth begrudgingly lifted.
“So, what is first?” she asked brightly.
Kull grunted and nodded toward a cluster of trees up ahead. “Last time you learned something about how we track our prey. I have set traps not too far from here. What has passed through this part of the forest?”
Crap. No one told her that there was going to be a pop quiz. She peered down at the snow, noting the small marks left by the passage of various wildlife. She located one that appeared to be shuffling in the direction Kull indicated, and she pointed at it.
“That one there. It’s too large to be from a burrah, and it appears to have a wider spacing of its legs, which suggests longer legs, but it is definitely heading in the direction of the trap.”
A smile of approval curled the corners of his lips, sending a thread of heat dipping low through her. “Very good.It is an eschar. They stand about knee-high on an adult VaDorok,” he explained, gesturing, “and possess slender legs and delicately formed bodies from hoof to the nest of horns framing their heads, and very good eating. They inhabit these woods, migrating throughout the seasons. Although the print is distorted by the thick fur around its hooves, the tracks that they leave are quite distinctive.”
