Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)
Chapter 120 - Cache And Carry, Part 1 (Selection)

Chapter 120: Chapter 120 - Cache And Carry, Part 1 (Selection)

I stared at the claw marks in the wooden table for another long moment before shaking my head and focusing on why I came here. Standing naked in a dead hunter’s cabin while analyzing motivations of that woman was not exactly productive use of time.

"Whatever her goal was, I have my own still to finish."

I walked outside and found a spot between two large trees where I could summon the shipping container inside the | Single Parent Stash |. The container materialized with that same unsettling lack of sensation, looking absurdly out of place with no moisture on it among the very wet ferns and moss.

Opening the door, I moved the tools I might need and arranged them on one side without cluttering the entrance - leaving enough room to slip by with anything large. I did have something like that in mind.

"I should probably steal- reappropriate his shelves too, if they’ll fit. Will make storing things inside here more efficient."

Back inside the cabin, I methodically began selecting items that would serve my purposes most. The silver-tipped arrows went into a large canvas bag he had first - not because I really planned to hunt werewolves, but because silver was valuable.

The wolfsbane vials in that bandolier were more problematic. Potentially useful for self-defense, but also dangerous to handle being a werewolf myself. Still, I wrapped them carefully in spare cloth before adding them to a crate I found.

Several of the smaller pelts caught my attention - not for any sentimental value, but because the quality of preservation suggested they might fetch decent money from the right buyer. As far as I could tell they were also just ’regular’ wolves.

As I sat them in the crate, I tried not to think too hard about my own distaste for the very idea of humans making things from parts of beasts that they only hunt for that purpose. The ones in mine did of course make use of furs, bones, and all they could from creatures that died.

That part only made sense - and was a big reason for the Boneyards. When it comes to ’survival of the fittest’, I wouldn’t even feel much complaint if they wore spoils of a creature that attacked them for almost any reason other than because it was goaded into it.

> But it’s different when you create an industry out of it. When it becomes a commodity instead of natural necessity with a natural story. <

My wolf spirit whines, its attention on the larger pelts. The werewolf ones.

"These shifters are already dead. I can’t help them now. But I guess I shouldn’t leave their remains here either. I’ll... make room at the end."

I don’t know if it is the right move, but I highly doubt that Alpha has any idea that I was going to be able to come back and just collect everything in one go by myself. So even if she, or someone she sends, finds them missing later...

"I shouldn’t be held responsible."

The hunting knives with their intricate etchings were clearly valuable craftsmanship and perhaps a link to what may be this world’s magic. I’m still not sure it exists here in any form as I knew it, but there is certainly enough fiction that brings it up.

I selected three of the finest silver bearing ones, wrapping them in their leather sheaths very, very carefully. They would go in the section of things I plan to keep myself for now, so I start a pile to move with items like that.

Selecting through all this with care rather than simply taking everything took time. Moving back and forth also took time. The container had plenty of space, but not every remnant of this hunter deserved preservation - like that cot I’d probably never get the smell of him out of.

The dried food and water bottles went in first - survival basics that required no debate and whose shelf I could move the easiest, with a simple shift into the hybrid’s increased musculature. It was the only one that would be fully clear just by moving those same goods I’m taking.

A few containers of ’first aid’ kits went in next. Then came any generic hand tool I could find, tossed in another wood crate before bringing it all out.

> I’m not sure what I’d ever need some of these for, but that pawn shop - or another one without those memories - would take them. I saw some of the same sorts of things for sale there. <

I was about to move the whole small shelf of books when something caught my eye. Behind a tattered canvas curtain in the corner was a recess that I hadn’t noticed during my first visit.

Pulling back the fabric revealed what appeared to be a weapon, sleek and deadly in its modern design. Unlike the simple and supple wooden curve, when strung, of traditional bows - like those I’d used from my homeland...

This was quite heavily engineered with this world’s human technologies. Pulleys are what I note first, with the string running around them. Altogether it looks imposing, but Helene had seen a Duskpaw with one before.

I turned back into a human and lifted the ’compound’ bow carefully from its hidden wall mounting. Finding it much lighter than I expected, I wave it around just a little after taking its grip.

"Interesting..."

Attached to it was some sort of specialized quiver that could be removed, containing four arrows. Of course, they were silver-tipped and ready to go when the hunter needed it. There was also an interesting... ’brush’ system at the bottom where the arrowhead would sit protected.

> By the smell of it, before going on hunts they probably paint it with the wolfsbane extract. So that arrows pulled out get some of just such a coating on it. That’s pretty... extra torturous. <

I guess when you are given the green light to take something down that could kill you easily... the amount of pain it feels before you finish it off isn’t your concern. If anything, debilitating them in case you miss a vital point would be preferred.

"Oh, calm down. I’m really not going to go hunt any werewolves down..."

Vrika has so little faith in me. Just because I thought about what it might be like to shoot Jace and Chad in... interesting places.