Jojo caught her before her body hit the ground. He was shocked by how light she was. She must've endured so many nights without food.
And yet she still insisted that he must eat the meat.
It was too much for Jojo, who had never tasted an ounce of kindness from anyone except his father.
The bandage around his body had torn when he shapeshifted into his beastman form, but he had already rested for an entire day. He gritted his teeth, ignored the lingering aches in his body, and dragged his savior to the haystack, laying her down gently.
The piece of raw meat she brought had fallen to the floor, but Jojo picked it up without hesitation. He sat beside the sleeping human for a while, staring at her pale face.
He noticed a set of fresh wounds on her face, there was even a large bruise under her eye that couldn't be ignored.
Jojo clenched his teeth and finally ate the meat, even though it had been soiled. After all, he needed to recover as soon as possible. He had to grow up strong so he could repay his savior and protect her.
As he chewed, Jojo realized the meat wasn't as fresh as she had claimed. He'd had fresher catches when hunting with his father.
But this meat was the tastiest he had ever eaten. He savored every bite, until suddenly the flavor turned salty.
He blinked in confusion, looked at the meat in his hand, and realized it had been stained by his own tears.
**
Once again, Sisi sank into unconsciousness. It always felt like dreaming, visions of her life flashing by, from the orphanage to the years on the farm.
But today was different. At the end of her dream, there was a new memory.
She saw the little wolf boy staring at her with wounded grievance, as if she had wronged him by stopping him when he tried to attack Mr. Piker. His wolf ears and tail drooped pathetically, and Sisi felt an overwhelming urge to pat him to comfort him.
She wanted to tell him not to worry just because she had gotten a little hurt.
In fact, today was better than yesterday. She had managed to steal a piece of raw meat from Mr. Piker for him. She might even say the bruises were worth it.
Sisi had once believed she no longer cared about anything in this world. Her life had become a living hell.
But with a little wolf boy by her side, she realized she needed to keep fighting. She had to protect this cub, at least until he was strong enough to hunt on his own and return to the forest.
The feeling was familiar. Sisi had cared for many babies and toddlers at the orphanage. She knew those children had no one else, and even with kind nurses and a kind Matriarch, there were simply too many little ones. A few deaths were not uncommon.
But Sisi had always taken her duty seriously. She valued the children's lives more than her own.
'Maybe the Matriarch was right… I do have a strong motherly instinct,' Sisi thought. 'Yes, it's instinct. I suddenly want to live—just a little longer—so I can raise Jojo until he can survive alone…'
Thus, Sisi found a new reason to wake up tomorrow. Even if her body wanted to give up, she had to rise. Otherwise, Jojo might starve, or worse, Mr. Piker might find him and sell him to the city.
After all, beastmen were considered savage creatures from the Roc Forest. They were rare, and Sisi had once heard the Matriarch say that captured beastmen were often auctioned in the big cities as exotic pets.
'Then you have to wake up, Sisi. Wake up and protect him!'
**
Jojo sat beside his savior for a long time. He leaned closer and pressed his forehead gently to hers, just like his father used to do to check his temperature.
'She's burning up,' Jojo frowned. He remembered the same thing happening last night, her body burning from the inside out, cooling only before dawn.
Following the pattern, he shouldn't need to worry.
But Jojo knew how miserable a fever felt. He had experienced it several times, and his father would return to their cave with all kinds of red berries. He would crush them with his bare hands, squeeze out the juice, and force Jojo to drink it.
He always felt better afterward.
"Right—berries!" Jojo exclaimed. He was about to burst through the door and run to the edge of the forest, but then he remembered her warning not to go outside because it was dangerous.
He hesitated.
He wasn't afraid, but he had always listened to his father.
Now that he was separated from his father, he had to listen to his savior instead.
Jojo turned his gaze toward the hole in the wall where he had slipped in yesterday.
"Alright, Jojo will be back with berries for you—uhm… savior!" he said, since he still didn't know her name yet. "A-and I am listening, okay? You said I shouldn't go out because it's dangerous, but if I'm in my wolf form, nobody will notice me, so you must give me permission because I promise not to make trouble!"
With that final justification as his version of permission, he shifted into his wolf form and dashed out of the shed.