Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)
Chapter 93 - Swarm & A Certain Smell

Chapter 93: Chapter 93 - Swarm & A Certain Smell

[AN]: Trigger Warning, some creepy crawly insects~

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I stood there, hand still extended, hardly believing what I’d just done. An entire shipping container, weighing thousands of pounds according to what the [Equipment Reviews] had explained... had vanished into thin air.

A television magician’s trick of the highest order - leaving only a falling, startled cloud of insects that must have been hiding somewhere inside! Some just fell, others tried to fly away... but the swarm was unleashed and I quickly backed away from the scurrying legs.

> Urk, Vrika... what’s wrong with me? <

Such little brown creatures had definitely never been my favorite snack as a fox, but they were at least edible. But now... these ’cockroaches’ are making me sick to my stomach just seeing them move.

I back away further until my back is against a different container as the insects find new places to hide. My hand instinctively moves to my stomach in a protective gesture that I don’t really know why I’m making.

"What is this reaction?"

I mutter over the sense of revulsion to them that feels foreign. Vrika whines softly inside me, seeming just as much confused by my reaction as I am.

> Is this what the books and Dr. Lang meant about pregnancies causing changes in past instincts and food preferences? <

Even Helene’s memories provide no real explanation - she’d never particularly liked bugs, but not to this degree. I distract myself by turning the focus toward the Stash’s square, but it barely helps remove my uncomfortability.

However, the realization that the system had filtered out the living creatures - instead of completely preventing me from storing the item - is most interesting. This way, I do not have to worry about any infestation... or random little pest sneaking in while I have it out in the open.

And now... I could retrieve this thing at any time and place it back down where it was. Like I’d planned.

"But should I?"

Taking it permanently would be theft, plain and simple. While I’d had few qualms about claiming the dead hunter’s possessions by my world’s finder’s rights... this container likely belonged to a legitimate business.

Someone might notice its absence and report it stolen. I may get away with it without much trail to go on, but I also may not.

> Most importantly it had been filled with those creatures - and part of me is still just nauseated by the thought. <

Extending my hand and watching it basically return to existence where it had been is almost as uncanny as seeing it suddenly gone. Unless they were keeping track of every bug, who would know I’d briefly removed it from this world?

With the knowledge that my... ugh, | Single Parent Stash |... really could handle something as large as a shipping container, I slipped back through the hole in the fence. The whole early outing had been a success overall.

But for my actual plans, I wanted to try and acquire one of these through legitimate means... or at least through means that wouldn’t be easily traced back to me. So I can only hope that the hunter on the app gets back to me soon.

⧖ ☾ ❄ ☽ ⧖

From a slope I sat on to rest and check my phone for messages - playing as a little orange fox hopping across logs when I found none - I watched the sunlight spread across the Vossden skyline. As it struck glass and shone around the edges of so many buildings...

I was unable to keep my gaze from lingering on the imposing silhouette of Lunarizon Tower. The building that dominated the landscape, like one of the ancient obelisks in my kingdom on a much grander scale.

"Is she already there, working even before most of the city has opened their eyes?"

Words crawl out of my throat before my hand tightens on the phone. Shaking my head a little too much, shoulders drawing in a little too far, and just protesting too hard!

> Why do I care? I don’t. It’s just a very large building, impossible to miss. <

Vrika made a sound like a snort in my mindscape, before an impression was pushed toward me. The gist of it was that it wasn’t responsible for those thoughts just now, as it had been thinking about something other than the Alpha.

"Yes, yes. It was all me this time. I’ll admit it to you and only you. But it doesn’t mean anything."

Tapping the camera application, I pan around the city and take pictures of the cityscape. It struck me, as I aligned the lens and angles, just how the Rimecoat pack controlled this vast city territory that stretched across such varied landscapes.

From steel and glass towers downtown, modest concrete block and wood neighborhoods, to the industrial and warehouse brick and ’corrugated’ aluminum along the edges. Compared to what it was like for the Duskpaw, it was not at all wrong to call this a true kingdom...

> So I rushed from one to another, but at least I’m a little freer than before? <

Movement below my position caught my attention - purposeful and direct in a way that human pedestrians rarely were. A tall, muscular blonde man in what appeared to be a fairly expensive dress shirt was making his way along the winding park path nearby.

Even from this distance, even without the whiff on the wind, I could tell by his stride and the way he scanned his surroundings alone that he was a werewolf. A particularly strong male at that...

Perhaps it was the early hour - or my recent brush with rogues, but I tensed immediately and put away the phone. He didn’t look like those rough men that chased me... in fact, he appeared every bit as polished as any ’executive’ that might work in Kyrie’s tower.

Which probably made him a Rimecoat, but I didn’t really want to deal with anyone unknown at all right now! So of course, with that hope in my heart, the wind shifted and ruined my chances to slowly slip away.

His head snapped up to where I’d been sitting, nostrils flaring as my scent was checked and recognized as one of his kind. Then his voice called up to me easily and clearly.

"Good morning. Beautiful view, isn’t it?"

His tone was easy and casual, but his posture had obviously changed. He wasn’t rushing to approach, but he’d positioned himself to cut off the most obvious exit path out of the park... probably assuming I wouldn’t be willing to shift and rush out a different way.

Silly assumption, but one I’m privately glad he would make. A fox does not run the way any hunter expects.

"It is. I’m an early riser, so I like to watch them."

Lying came so easily when I was under pressure. While I was happy I came out to learn more about the system’s new ability, I was also absolutely wishing I had never left the safety of those covers.

> Also, why are you not more... growling and wary?! Is it... oh... <

I hadn’t noticed before, but the man had a small layer of familiar scent to him. One that made me trust him just a little more, against my wishes, and also...

Made me narrow my eyes.

> He smells like her. No, he has her smell ON him. Why? How close are they? Relative? <

I felt silly, getting more worked up than Vrika over this. For getting primal feelings about something that shouldn’t matter to me at all.

"Not many people appreciate dawn these days. It’s nice to meet another like that."

Glancing toward the skyline behind himself, either trusting me too much or giving me the chance to make a mistake... his dark eyed gaze returned to my face. Flecks of orange were only visible at this distance because of how focused on him I was.

"My name is Luca. What is yours?"