Mommy Wolf: Raise A Cub, Claimed By His Beast Daddy-Chapter 23: A Wounded Tiger (II)
"Don’t leave," the tiger beastman said weakly. "I promised to follow you after you saved my life. I want to repay you for saving my life."
"Oh, that... no need to do that." Sisi smiled reluctantly. She would never trust a promise coming from a predator’s mouth. This tiger had just escaped death, and he might go hungry at any time. It would be ironic if she became his next meal after saving him. "I’m just helping you because you seem to have a mission that forces you to stay alive. But it would be great if you don’t eat me if we ever meet again."
"I will never eat my savior..." the tiger beastman replied. He was still imposing, even in his heavily wounded state, but his eyes were honest. He looked at Sisi with an earnest gaze, as if he had already considered her as his own.
Yet Sisi continued to stay on guard.
"Then that’s great. You should rest for now. Don’t move around until the leaves on your wound have dried." Sisi hurriedly picked up her pouch, but the tiger beastman didn’t let her leave.
He grabbed her wrist this time, staring at her as he said, "I don’t know if there might be danger around here. Can you wait for me until I can get up?"
’No time,’ Sisi told herself. She knew Jojo had been waiting for her. She quickly stuffed the hare meat she had washed into his palm and said, "Eat this once you can move. I know you must be hungry. But I can’t stay with you. I have a son that I need to take care of."
"A son?" The tiger beastman frowned, but he finally let go of her wrist. His gaze sharpened for a few seconds as he examined Sisi from head to toe, then his expression eased.
"Can I at least have your name? You are my savior, after all."
"Sisi," she replied curtly.
"Sisi..." the tiger beastman repeated, committing the name to memory. "I am Marik, a tiger beastman, as you can see."
"I see. Marik, I hope you don’t have a taste for human meat, because I don’t want to be your meal." Sisi chuckled before getting up and hurrying away. "Goodbye, I hope you’re still alive if we ever meet again."
Marik stared at Sisi’s back for a long time until her figure disappeared into the fog. He looked up at the tall trees around him, then grabbed the hare meat.
He didn’t particularly like hare meat, it was too small to fill his belly. But after slowly dying for four days, anything edible was a blessing if it meant he could prolong his life.
Yes, he had to prolong his life. He still needed to kill that cursed bastard and his equally cursed son before they destroyed Roc Forest.
It was a lifelong task. As long as he could draw breath, his mission was not over.
His gaze darkened. Anger and malice flashed in his eyes, emotions he had carefully hidden from that human girl slowly leaked out.
"Sisi..." Marik muttered the name again, warmth spreading through his body. It was such a simple name, fitting for a simple girl. After all, she had been foolish enough to treat a beast like him. If he hadn’t been wounded, she might have become his meal instead.
But Marik never broke his promises. Since he had vowed to follow and protect her, he would, at least until he saved her from danger once, as to repay his life debt.
’She said she has a son... strange,’ Marik thought.
His nose was sharp enough to identify enemies and prey. He had smelled the scent of a wolf pup lingering on Sisi’s body, meaning she had spent considerable time with one. But he assumed the pup was her pet.
It wasn’t uncommon for humans to keep dogs as pets. He had even seen wolf pups raised by hunters—rare, but possible.
Still, it was the first time Marik had seen a fragile girl with a wolf pup as a companion.
’But that pup is actually her son? Did she mate with a wolf beastman?’ Marik scowled upon thinking of that idea. He had seen humans mate with beastmen before, but he always thought it was a foolish choice.
Beastmen were naturally stronger than humans. Diluting one’s lineage with human blood only weakened future offspring.
Nevertheless, Marik found himself intrigued by the human girl. She must have possessed hidden abilities to survive this deep in Roc Forest. Even master hunters wouldn’t travel this far without a team of warriors or guard dogs.
On top of that, this human girl actually possessed the knowledge of a great beastman healer. He was just taking a gamble when he begged her to save him, because he was truly drawing his few remaining breaths when they met just now.
But maybe the Goddess of the Moon still took pity on him, so instead of death, he accidentally met a skilful healer.
"Sisi..." Marik repeated as he finished all the meat she gave him. Once he felt slightly better, he slowly stood up, ignoring the pain ripping through his body. He stared in the direction Sisi had gone, and his lips curled slightly.
Now that he had killed that cursed bastard, all that remained was to kill his equally cursed son. He recalled the wolf flinging his son down the hill, but Marik never saw the boy’s appearance, as the wolf father had shielded him with his body.
But he knew the Dusk Star and Dawn Star both bore a mark on their backs in their beastman forms. If he found the child and saw the mark, he would kill him without hesitation.
It would be difficult without the father nearby. But Marik had to find the boy, or at least the corpse, so he could be certain he had completed his mission to avenge his family and protect Roc Forest. With their deaths, he could finally retire and live a more peaceful life. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
Since tracking the Dawn Star was not possible right now, he could use this ample time to follow Sisi around while recuperating from his injury.
"Hah, doesn’t matter. I’ve killed his father. Unless that boy was saved by someone, his chance of living is close to zero," Marik muttered before gathering the Acate leaves and fruits Sisi had given him and heading toward the direction she left.
