My Beastly Fertility System Chapter 30: Hidden Storehouse

"This season is basically like fall. There are tons of fruits. We should gather more and dry them into fruit leather. The leafy greens can be dried too. When we want to eat them later, we just boil them."

Claire muttered to herself as she walked, stopping now and then to pick fruits she recognized. She gathered edible plants like dandelion, purslane, and lamb's quarters, carefully remembering every spot.

Rufus followed behind her. Not only did he stay alert for danger, he also carried everything she picked. Before long, he was loaded down with food.

By the time they reached the shaded cave she had found the day before, Rufus looked like a moving hill.

"Rufus, are you really that free today? Don't you need to hunt?" Claire asked.

He had been trailing her the entire time, watching everything she did.

Even someone as oblivious as Claire could feel his gaze on her back.

Rufus dumped everything onto a patch of clean grass without even catching his breath. His eyes sparkled as he looked at her.

"Female, you know so much. All of this is edible?"

The eagle clan had a simple diet. He had never seen such a variety of food.

Since he didn't answer her question, Claire let it go and simply smiled.

"Of course it's edible."

Rufus nodded, then hesitated before speaking.

"Female, how about this. You teach me what's edible, and I'll protect you. With me around, you can walk anywhere in this area without worry."

He hadn't planned to ask, but the variety of food was too tempting.

Claire's eyes curved slyly.

"Sure."

Perfect.

Claire washed the wild greens, snapped them into finger-length pieces, and spread them across a large rock under the sun.

"The midday sun is strong. Two days should be enough to dry them. Then we store them. When we want to eat them later, we just boil them in water."

Rufus nodded and worked nonstop under her direction, carefully memorizing how to make dried vegetables.

They cut the fruits into pieces and laid them out to dry as well. Once the moisture evaporated, they would turn into fruit snacks, even sweeter than fresh fruit.

They worked until noon. At Rufus's strong insistence, Claire made grilled fish for him again.

This time, Rufus flew off to fetch the lemongrass himself.

Because of her morning sickness, Claire couldn't fly for now.

She forced herself to eat half a fish and several sour fruits before she finally felt somewhat full.

At that moment, she desperately missed modern food. Chili-lime cream sauce pasta, garlic butter crawfish, peppercorn steak bites. Just thinking about them made her mouth water.

She wondered if she would ever taste those dishes again in this lifetime.

In the afternoon, Claire and Rufus dug up all the sweet potatoes they hadn't harvested the day before. They didn't waste the sweet potato leaves either, drying them the same way.

By mid-afternoon, Claire sent Rufus out for a bit. When he returned, Zane was walking behind him.

Both of them had several wild cattle slung over their shoulders.

Zane had been hunting with his team when Rufus showed up. Thanks to Rufus's help, they had managed to take down many cattle.

While the others processed the meat, Rufus pulled Zane away.

The moment Zane saw Claire, excitement lit up his face.

On the way here, Rufus had already told him she was pregnant. Zane had barely restrained the urge to throw his head back and howl the entire way.

"Claire, you really..."

He rushed forward and pulled her into his arms.

Claire nodded, smiling brightly as she wiped the thin layer of sweat from his forehead with soft animal hide.

Because of his excitement, the color of the beast mark on his face had deepened, making him look even more striking.

"That's amazing, Claire!"

They lingered in each other's arms for a while before Rufus coughed loudly nearby.

He looked at them with slight annoyance.

"Hey, I'm still here."

Claire snapped back to reality and remembered why she had called Zane over. She grabbed his hand and pointed at the cave.

"Zane, this is the cave I told you about. For a while, bring part of the animals you hunt here. I'll come every day and turn the meat into jerky. That way we won't run out of food during the cold season."

Zane carefully checked the cave again to make sure it was safe before relaxing.

"Fiona would never guess we're hiding food here," Claire said.

Females in the Beast World rarely left the clan except to gather at the foraging grounds. They didn't wander far.

With the way Fiona thinks, she probably wouldn't even consider this.

Zane thought for a moment, still holding Claire's hand.

"I'm not worried about the clan. I'm worried about rogue beastfolk. If they find this cave, all our food will be gone. We need someone to guard it."

As he said this, Zane glanced at Rufus, who was sitting nearby.

Claire immediately understood and smiled sweetly at Rufus as well.

Rufus turned his head away proudly.