Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)
Chapter 51 - My First Contact

Chapter 51: Chapter 51 - My First Contact

I checked in again and the man behind the ’safety glass’ gave me the same room as before. Even though he made a big deal out of it when I checked out... saying that there might be no vacancies later.

He also made sure to try and convince me to pay by the week this time. A real salesman.

But I held my ground! After all, while I may be tired... I feel quite strong at the moment.

I was able to stand next to, talk back to, and walk alongside the Alpha of the Rimecoat without completely making a fool of myself. Not... completely.

After I closed, locked, latched, and chained the probably very flimsy motel room door, I sat down everything I’m carrying.

The reusable canvas bag from the grocer I’d been lugging in one hand first. Followed by the backpack and totes.

I set them on or against the wobbly, ’particle board’ credenza... while assessing the fact that Helene remembers so many terms about architecture and furniture. When she was a young teen, she did have small dreams of being an interior designer.

But those were pretty much squashed when her wolf showed itself. Proving that she wasn’t one of the ’lucky’ Omegas that could potentially leave the safety and community of the Duskpaw.

> Also not your fault. Her dreams could have remained her own. She chose to replace them when faced with new options. <

My comforting words lead to a quick bark of understanding. Well, I guess Vrika is in too good of a mood to let my musings get it down.

I allow myself to sit on the bed and examine the phone that was returned to me. The device of a werewolf hunter - like the journal I need to read - is potentially full of information that could help me navigate the edges of this world’s supernatural societies.

Touching some side buttons like this body’s memories say I should, I find that it comes on. My eyes tick toward the battery display and see that it is... near full.

"She charged it for me, didn’t she. That woman is persistently... helpful."

My wolf’s response was to be content and settle to lay down in my soul. As if it was getting exactly what it wanted from the encounter earlier.

> Stop assessing my opinion of her in real time, thank you. <

Sinking back into the sagging, uneven mattress... I turned the phone over in my hands. It really did look like most others I’d seen people using in the city.

Or like the one Anise waved around a few times.

After a moment of hesitation, I swiped my finger across the glass surface as I’d observed others doing. Icons for ’applications’ spread across the display instantly.

Most completely unfamiliar, some vaguely recognizable from Helene’s memories. Especially the call icon and one for the camera feature.

"They don’t look so different from her old model phone."

My thumb hovers over another one that looks like I’d expect. The silhouette of a person, meant for collecting ’contacts’.

For a few seconds, I can feel every logical brain cell resisting... but then they are overrun by... sentiment. The business card I was given, which has been stuck inside that journal’s first page since I took stock of everything I owned, pops into my head.

I roll this way and that before raising the device high into the air above my chest. Like keeping it further away will stop me from taking the blame for thinking these things...

"Do I add her number? How do I even do that?"

I tapped the symbol to start the experiment... with the goal just to see if I can figure out how to work this thing! But my fingers released the device like it was a cold piece of ice.

The phone falls and bounces off my collarbone, sending a moment of sharp pain before it narrowly misses deflecting into my face.

"W-why?"

Embarrassed and upset. At both my reaction to what I saw on the screen and Vrika’s rolling on their back - trying to copy my gekkering noise.

> Quit that! Not being a stupid wolf doesn’t mean you have to try and be a fox! You’re doing it wrong anyway! <

I roll to my side and sit up on my elbow, while grabbing for and flipping the harmful phone back on its face. There on the screen was a single entry already listed with a circular K icon.

Clearly because the name entered was Kyrie Voss! Which is fine, that wouldn’t have been so surprising!

It was the ’nickname’ that was attached to the listing: [Your Waiting Mate]

Seeing it again made more heat rush to my face. Half still in anger at my wolf’s reactions and... at least half something else I refused to name.

"Presumptuous..."

I hissed the word into the empty room.

> Don’t you dare be smug. This changes nothing. <

Nothing but my regret. While I’m sure I never would have had the thought before she planted the idea in my head...

"I really want to sling this at her pretty face. The nerve! Wait, numbers can be ’blocked’, can they not? Or deleted..."

Wordlessly, I stare at the device until the bright screen turns off on its own. I toss it over to the other corner of the bed.

And proceed to go sort through something else other than my feelings.

"I should divide the groceries into what I’ll eat in a bit, what is for the morning, and what can be stored longer."

With a deep breath, I pushed myself up from the bed and moved to grab the things I obtained. The distraction of organizing would be welcome after that... discovery.

I spread my purchases across the thin topped, waist high table in the one corner of the room. The single chair has a strange looking stain - so I have chosen not to make use of it.

One by one... I examined what my hunger-driven shopping trip had produced.

"I really should have eaten first..."

One large loaf of the cheapest bread, several metal cans of chicken and tuna, a large jar of peanut butter - because it was more cost effective to buy in bulk - and a new package of beef jerky of the same brand the hunter had stocked.

That formed the more practical foundation of my hunger needs.

On a whim, I also chose to try apples and bananas for immediate consumption. Fruit here is... similar but different from my world.

So it would be wise to know what I like and don’t.

"Apples were amazing in that pie, but that was cooked and included lots of spices. Well... I’m sure it will be fine."

There was also a box of protein bars that Helene had seen some of the werewolves sneak from the Omega family members. The packaging means they will be good for a long while and might help lower cravings while out and about.

"These will go right in our backpack. I’ll try a can of the tuna tonight, since I ate something chicken again a bit ago. And... maybe this banana and a big scoop of peanut butter?"

Not all together, of course. Though there is a memory of a child Helene knew eating sliced banana layered between peanut butter as a sandwich?

> He rather seemed to like it. Maybe I will try building that. I’ve never actually... prepared food before. <

Which leads me to... the acquisitions that were not food.