Mommy Wolf: Raise A Cub, Claimed By His Beast Daddy-Chapter 24: Sobbing Pup
Jojo finished his meal rather quickly. He hadn’t eaten such fresh meat in a long time, so he made sure to savor every bit of it. He even nibbled on the bones!
Once he was done, he sat on a damp log, waiting patiently for Sisi to return from the river.
But as time passed, the fog grew denser, and Sisi was nowhere to be found.
Jojo’s heart grew restless. It was common for Roc Forest to be engulfed in thick fog after a long rain. He had witnessed it many times and wasn’t scared of it at all.
But this was Sisi’s first time entering Roc Forest. She might get lost in the fog.
After waiting far too long, Jojo finally hopped off the log and began sniffing around, trying to find Sisi’s location.
But he realized she was too far away, so he began yelling instead.
"SISI! SISI, WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Jojo walked around, shouting at the top of his lungs. Though he was used to the fog, he was still scared of his surroundings. He was all alone now, not knowing what had happened to Sisi.
’What if she got eaten by a crocodile? No, no—maybe a bear? A tiger?!’
Jojo panicked as his overactive imagination conjured vivid images of Sisi being gored by various animals. His chest tightened, and he was on the verge of crying, so he began yelling even louder than before.
"SISI! SISI! I’M HERE!"
He tried to howl, but he was too young that his howl was short and almost silent, which exasperated the little wolf even more.
He wandered around in a frenzy. He had already lost his father and had promised to protect Sisi with all his strength. Now he regretted not going with her.
What was the point of eating good meat if Sisi wasn’t here? Would he be alone again?
"No... Sisi... where are you..." Jojo muttered as he began to sob. "Sisi, I’m so scared. Please come back..."
He sat down, crying as he repeatedly called Sisi’s name in a low, dispirited voice, like a child who had been abandoned.
"Daddy, Sisi... I don’t want to be alone. It’s so scary here," Jojo mumbled.
He wanted to cry loudly, but his father had told him never to make too much noise when he felt weak. He felt really weak and vulnerable now, so he tried to muffle his sobs.
"What are you crying for, Jojo?"
Jojo felt Sisi picking him up by the scruff before hugging him tightly. The moment he felt her warmth, he leaned against Sisi’s shoulder and sobbed.
"I thought you got eaten by a bear, a crocodile, and a tiger! Wuwuwu, Sisi, don’t die!"
Sisi curled her lips. She smoothed his back and asked, "So many? Do they have to share my meat?"
Jojo began wailing even louder at the thought.
Sisi patted his butt and said, "Stop imagining things, Jojo. I was just washing the hare meat and refilling our water. We weren’t that far apart."
"But you took too long!"
Sisi’s smile stiffened.
Yes, she had taken too long. She was busy treating the wounded tiger beastman. She had been so focused she didn’t realize how much time had passed, but judging from Jojo’s puffy eyes, he must have been crying for a long time.
She felt guilty, especially since Jojo had told her that he and his father were attacked by tiger beastmen.
But surely not all tigers were bad, right? The one she saved didn’t seem evil—not when she was treating his wounds, at least.
It took a while for Jojo to calm down.
Once his mind was clearer, he asked, "Where is the hare meat? Didn’t you say you wanted to clean it and then roast it?"
"Oh, that— it got washed away when I cleaned it in the river. The stream was too strong," Sisi lied, knowing Jojo would be livid if he found out she had given his hunt to another beast. "I’m sorry, Jojo."
Jojo shook his head. He didn’t seem angry.
"It’s okay. I can hunt again later. I just don’t want you to get hurt, Sisi." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
Sisi felt even guiltier. She was lying through her teeth to an innocent child.
Maybe she shouldn’t have saved that tiger beastman’s life, then she wouldn’t need to lie. But when that tiger begged so desperately, even Sisi’s heart had softened.
"You don’t have to hunt again for now. I’ll eat mushrooms and fruits as we walk. But we have to leave this area soon, Jojo," Sisi said.
"Ah, why?" Jojo asked, raising his head to look at her. "We have a cave and a river. My Daddy and I would wait for a while before leaving. You must be very tired, Sisi..."
"I saw a dying tiger by the riverside. There might be other predators around. We need to move to a safer place," Sisi said.
She wasn’t lying this time.
She had encountered a menacing but dying tiger at the riverside. She just didn’t tell Jojo she had saved his life.
"A tiger?!" Jojo froze. His body shook with fear, and tears pooled in his eyes again.
But he quickly straightened, forced himself out of his fear, and bared his fangs.
"I will protect you, Sisi! Don’t worry!"
"Silly, you can protect me when you’re older and bigger," Sisi smiled. "That tiger is dying anyway. But I don’t know if there’s another one nearby, so we have to move."
"Urf..." Jojo deflated when Sisi reminded him he was still just a young cub.
Of course he knew he would be nothing more than a snack to a big tiger. But even if it meant sacrificing himself for Sisi’s escape, he would do it.
Jojo often regretted not helping his father fight the tiger beastmen. If only he had struggled more to break free from his father’s arms... he could have done something, anything, so his father wouldn’t have had to fight so many enemies alone.
"Okay, let’s get moving, Jojo. And don’t give me that look, you can fight once you’ve grown up."
Sisi walked in the opposite direction of the river, hoping to find somewhere safer.
She considered using the sun as a guide, but the fog was too thick and the trees too tall and dense; sometimes even sunlight couldn’t penetrate the canopy.
So she decided to wing it for now, using her power to detect her surroundings and choose paths based on how many animals had been treading the ground.
If the animals coming from a direction had stomped the earth and destroyed vines and branches, the culprit was likely a large predator, so she took a detour for their safety.
