Marik had been following the human girl and wolf-beastman mother-and-son duo for a week. He made sure to keep his distance so he wouldn’t alert Sisi or her son.
Luckily, he had been an apex predator for as long as he could rember, so stalking even the most alert prey was never a problem for him.
Though, this ti, he wasn’t stalking prey.
He was stalking his savior instead.
A week had passed since Sisi helped him at the riverside, and Marik began to evaluate everything he had learned about the pair as he continued following them day and night.
First, they had no fixed destination. They wandered aimlessly like two lost idiots. Sisi would gather branches while the little wolf boy, Jojo, attempted to hunt. Then they would settle sowhere safe, sotis a cave, sotis a tall tree with thick branches where they could sleep.
On top of that, Marik noticed sothing else: Sisi had a strange power over plants, almost like a faerie.
Faeries were known as the "Darlings of the Forest" because they could manipulate plants to protect themselves and confuse their enemies. It was their innate gift, compensating for their tiny, thumb-sized bodies.
’But she can’t be a faerie,’ Marik thought. ’No wings, no gold dust, and she’s the size of a normal human.’
He had t a group of faeries once when he was a cub. He played with them because tigers were solitary by nature and he had never had any friends. But as he grew older, the faeries stopped appearing.
His late mother told him it was a sign of adulthood, because only the pure-hearted and beast cubs could see faeries. Once they lost their innocence and childlike purity, the faeries would lose interest in them and leave.
So Marik tossed the idea aside.
Next, he wondered if Sisi might be a witch. But she didn’t have the foul scent witches carried. Those witches could disguise themselves as beautiful won, but no amount of magic could hide their putrid sll. Most beastn could sense it imdiately.
Sisi was beautiful, extrely so, he silently admitted, but she lacked that horrible scent of a witch. So he discarded that theory as well.
Now, onto the wolf boy.
Marik had been observing him for a week and Jojo still remained in his beast form, but Marik didn’t overthink it. Beastn with fur often stayed in beast form during autumn and winter to preserve warmth. Winter in Roc Forest was cruel and unforgiving to the unprepared.
What did surprise him was the boy’s ability to hunt.
Despite his age, Jojo was agile and strong enough to catch hares. At first, Sisi helped him indirectly, but gradually, he grew stronger and could catch one alone.
Jojo certainly had the potential to beco an alpha soday if he ever found a pack.
But the thing that bothered Marik the most was—
"Sisi! Sisi!"
"Hm?" Sisi looked up from arranging the bonfire inside the small cave they found. She saw Jojo carrying a dead bird in his mouth. He placed it proudly in front of her.
"Jojo caught a bird for you!" he said excitedly. "I know you don’t like hare at. But you need to eat at! Maybe you will like this!"
Sisi smiled at Jojo’s hopeful gaze. She patted his head and accepted the bird.
"I’ll eat it later. Birds are a little hard to clean," she said gently.
"Oh... can’t you just eat it like ? Why do you have to clean it?" Jojo asked. His hopeful expression dimd. He had expected her to eat it imdiately, just like when she happily ate fruits and vegetables she gathered. She simply dust them off or wipe them before eating.
"I still have to clean it, Jojo," Sisi explained. "Humans aren’t as strong as beastn. I might get sick if I eat unclean at."
"Okay then..." Jojo returned to her side, waiting for the fire so he could eat roasted mushrooms. Lately, he enjoyed both at and mushrooms, but only when roasted, because they tasted like at to him.
Sisi patted his head. "Don’t look so sad. I’ll eat the bird later."
"I’m sad, Sisi. You don’t eat much at like . You only eat mushrooms, fruits, and vegetables," Jojo complained. "Do you not like the hunts I give you?"
"Silly," Sisi chuckled softly, "It’s not that. I just don’t eat much at. I like fruits the most."
She never told him the truth that she had never developed a craving for at, because it was a rare luxury both in the orphanage and on the farm.
In the orphanage, at was reserved for special occasions, such as new year and christmas, because it was too expensive. On the farm, Mr. Piker starved her constantly and only offered at in exchange for her purity. Most days, she ate salted fish or stole chicken eggs when she needed sothing more than fruits from the forest’s edge or leftover bread and vegetables.
Marik continued to watch the pair roasting mushrooms together inside the small cave. Their dynamic was strange.
Sisi claid Jojo was her "son." But Jojo didn’t call her Mom or Mother.
Even a cold-hearted beast like Marik had called his late mother "Mom" as a cub. Besides, the relationship between Sisi and Jojo was far too close, far too intimate, to be anything but family.
Marik had originally assud Jojo was her pet. But she cared for him like her own child. In fact, Jojo often ate better than Sisi.
’So what are they?’ Marik wondered yet again. ’I doubt they’re a real family. Did she pick him up after he lost his mother? That would explain the bond. But still... why doesn’t he call her mom?’
It was the only explanation he could co up with for now.
Still, he didn’t mind watching them. Even if they weren’t a "real" family.
The corner of Marik’s lips lifted slightly as he gazed at Sisi warming herself near the fire.
"A kind girl," he murmured.
The night was cold, but he felt warm just by staring at her.
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