Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)
Chapter 122 - Cache And Carry, Part 3 (Scalene)

Chapter 122: Chapter 122 - Cache And Carry, Part 3 (Scalene)

Silver glinted from a certain angle due to the setting sun, catching any searcher’s eye exactly as intended. Three metal studs in a triangular pattern were twisted into the bark of an ancient oak, according to his description of his efforts.

When I get close, I see this did match the sketched diagram in the hunter’s journal. The points were not equidistant, but instead were in a sort of geometry that Helene’s memories tell me this world calls ’scalene’. Without the journal’s guidance, I would have walked right past it.

At the minimum, I would have never thought that I must climb this tree for any particular reason should I have happened to be passing by it. Even if I’d looked up in the air, there are no other signs - and you can’t see the container they hid.

> Clever enough. <

This first cache I’d gone to was not the closest... but actually the farthest away from both the city and the hideout. I decided to go to it and then take an arcing path back along the others... for no real reason other than because it seemed like the most interesting choice.

When it came to the hidden container itself, it was said to be some sort of weatherproof box nearly twenty feet up, secured to a thick lower branch. During the sorting I did at the hideout, I’d placed the climbing ropes I’d purchased specifically for this retrieval in my backpack.

But as I took that off and started to transform back into a human... I looked around the fairly large area I had to work with.

> Why worry about lowering it when I could simply bring my storage container here? Then when I get up there I can just store that container! <

Vrika barks, assuring me it’s a good idea. I activate the system’s grid and touch the lilac square, hand glowing blue as I will the shipping container to reintegrate with reality. Its white surface stands out a lot in this forest location... but camouflaging it hadn’t been a priority - yet.

"Maybe I’ll get it repainted when I can afford it. But still, this seems like a waste of money to have bought rope now. Oh well..."

I unlocked it and left the door open, placing my backpack inside for now to make it easier to climb. Shifting back into my hybrid form, I momentarily wonder if I’m not overextending myself by changing so repeatedly... but the extra muscle and claws are perfect for tree climbing.

> We already proved that once. Besides, the doctor said it was advised not to do it too much... I assume I would be able to feel when too much is growing close! <

My wolf agreed happily and - not that we didn’t ’get along’ before... but I appreciate how much we have been playing nice since earlier. A crouch and leap send our form sailing higher than my own head.

Tree bark yielded easily to our sharp grip on hitting the surface and we clawed up the rest of the trunk. Making my way to the branch where the box would be in only a couple seconds overall.

When I’m perched on the branch, I find the metal container I’m looking for. Larger than the size of the toolbox, the green-brown colored metal seems bolted to the branch and secured with a combination lock.

My claws made manipulating that somewhat challenging, so I didn’t even bother to try up here. I simply stare at the bolts for a while, seeing a problem.

> I’ve never tried to store something secured to another object before... <

Attempting anyway, I get the result I imagine. The glow around my claws turns white when I press it to the container. Expecting that, but still a little annoyed... I reach down and pinch the sharp tips around the head of the bolt.

I can feel the purchase when the pointed material of the werewolf claws, as hard as this worn metal, grips and deforms. With jerks and twists, screeching metal sounds, wood pops and a feeling like I’m throwing a tantrum...

The surviving piece of threaded metal and some of the wood it was attached to were torn free.

> Well, that was quicker and easier than I expected, but I’m not sure it was worth getting upset over. I’m pretty sure he had hand tools that would work on these. I just didn’t want to climb down and back up again! <

But I do, ultimately, go back down before breaking more of them. I may not be the one who poisoned the tree by putting metal inside of it, but if I can remove them more cleanly than that, I should. I’m in no rush.

⧖ ☾ ❄ ☽ ⧖

Five broken bolt heads later, I hold the bent wrench and silly ratchet both over my head... and breathe heavily. Contemplating chucking them deep into the woods. Vrika sends me plenty of calming thoughts.

> Either these are defective or the bolts were! <

With only my ’human’ form’s strength, I could not get enough leverage to get them to budge. But with the werewolf form... I could not modulate it enough to not break a single one of the remaining fasteners.

> That up and down the tree, multiple transformations... all for nothing! Well, not nothing but... ugh. <

I felt completely fed up as I reached for the long metal box. Detached, it should now be able to store in my Stash easily. That was my assumption and hope. Except it turns white immediately, again.

Growling echoes up into the tree, causing the final brave bird to have stayed up there all this long after my bestial noises to squawk and flee. Placing a hand on either side of the object, I verify that it is no longer attached.

Heavy, awkward, it nonetheless raises off of the branch with no signs of being bound. Cradling it in my arms, I try again. Reaching out to the system interface... the glow rebounds into a message in the way I’ve seen before.

| LIMIT: Feet Not Touching Ground |

It takes a lot of self control - a lot - not to drop the box down this twenty feet for a mere moment of childish satisfaction.