Mommy Wolf: Raise A Cub, Claimed By His Beast Daddy-Chapter 45: Torment of a Lone Wolf

"Why doesn’t she trust me? I didn’t lie. Daddy is very good and kind to me," Jojo thought, as the doubt in Sisi’s eyes was far too obvious for the boy to ignore.

Sisi and Jojo shared a bond built on mutual trust. They relied on each other, and without that trust, their bond would most likely fall apart sooner than later.

The four-year-old boy grew anxious at the thought that Sisi might not trust him anymore. Unable to bear it, he added, "Sisi, if... if you see Daddy, will you finally believe me?"

"See your Daddy? And how would we do that?" Sisi asked, raising her brows. As far as she could remember, Jojo had never mentioned knowing his father’s current location.

"I-I believe Daddy wouldn’t die," Jojo said softly, glancing toward the cave entrance where Uncle Marik had left earlier. After a brief moment of thought, which was a serious contemplation for a child his age, he leaned closer and whispered into Sisi’s ear. "D-Daddy told me a secret. But he told me not to tell anyone else. I’m telling you because... because you are Sisi."

Sisi initially thought it might be a silly secret, something like Jojo wetting himself in his sleep or failing to catch prey.

But when she saw how serious he was, even cupping his lips with his two hands as he whispered, she realized it truly was something important.

She nodded. "Fingers crossed. I won’t tell anyone."

"Not even Uncle Marik?"

"Not even him," Sisi confirmed.

"Alright..." Jojo finally confided the secret he shared with his Daddy in a hushed voice. "One time, Daddy got really hurt after a battle, and I cried. I really thought he would die, so I begged him to stay alive. Then... then Daddy told me a secret. He said our lives are one. He won’t die as long as I’m alive. So he told me not to be too sad, because he’s definitely still alive right now."

Jojo stopped whispering and looked at Sisi nervously, as though he had just revealed the greatest secret he had ever kept.

"Don’t believe Uncle Marik, Sisi. My Daddy isn’t bad. It’s just that many beastmen are bad and want to hurt him," Jojo insisted. "You’ll like him once you meet him. I promise!"

Sisi wasn’t sure what to make of the secret. It sounded serious, yet to her it felt more like a dying father’s attempt to comfort his child.

Still, if believing his father was alive brought Jojo peace, then so be it. It was far better than watching him drown in grief over a dead parent.

So Sisi smiled and nodded. "If you say so. When I meet him, I’ll tell him you’ve been a good boy."

"Really?!" Jojo’s eyes lit up with hope. "Tell Daddy that I can finally hunt a deer too! He’ll be so happy!"

"But you haven’t brought me any deer or even a fawn, Jojo. A good boy shouldn’t lie," Sisi teased.

Jojo deflated immediately, then perked up as an idea struck him.

"Then I’ll hunt a fawn today! I’ll even make something from the pelt for you, so you can show it to Daddy later!" Jojo said, having already forgotten Marik’s outburst.

*

Meanwhile, in Rantel Hill, where a small pack of werewolves known as the Silvertooth Pack had transformed into a full-fledged kingdom of various beasts, a black wolf lay inside a solitary cave at the peak of the hill.

He writhed in pain as he slept.

There were no visible wounds, yet he endured agony no living being should experience, all because he had severed his bond with his fated mate.

"Urghh! Arrgghhh!"

Kael screamed as he jolted awake.

Though it was still winter, his body burned with fever, his fur damp with sweat. His heartbeat thundered as he recalled the image from his dream; his fated mate, the woman with beautiful violet eyes, being swallowed by a giant tree, as though she had always belonged to it.

It was a nonsensical dream. Yet after the first snowstorm of winter, the dreams had changed.

They were no longer about facing his severed mate in a firefly-lit meadow before she vanished.

Now, they were about a mate he could never reach.

In those dreams, she never even spoke, so he couldn’t hear her melodious voice. She became one with the tree, transforming into the most beautiful and fragrant flower he had ever seen.

And him?

He stood frozen, bound by unbreakable vines, forced to watch her disappear.

The dream was vivid, yet frustratingly blurred. Each time he woke, he still couldn’t remember her face.

The black wolf with crimson eyes bared his teeth as he cursed her existence.

"Damn it! Why do you keep appearing in my dreams?! You said we severed our bond, then so be it! Stop haunting me!"

Kael scoffed bitterly. Yelling at a wall over a dream made him feel like a madman.

He knew he shouldn’t think of his fated mate anymore. All he did now was conquer, expand his territory, and send out endless search parties to find Jojo.

He never backed down from a challenge. Ever since accepting his fate as the cursed Dusk Star, he had grown fond of the overwhelming power and the thrill of crushing those who dared oppose him.

He was a mountain of strength, unstoppable...

Except when it came to his unknown mate.

Whenever he dreamed of her, he felt powerless and desperate, the same feeling he had when he was dying after the tiger beastmen ambushed him and he was separated from Jojo.

"This punishment is too cruel," he thought bitterly. "I don’t even know her. Why is she tormenting me over a bond we never truly had?"

As he dwelled on his torment, the flap of wings echoed outside the cave.

Kael inhaled deeply and calmed himself. Morning had arrived.

It was time to resume his duties as the new Beast King and to receive any news about his son’s whereabouts.