Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)
Chapter 99 - Relaxing While Researching

Chapter 99: Chapter 99 - Relaxing While Researching

Grey fleece throw draped over my shoulders, I sat cross-legged on the motel bed as its softness retained warmth almost like having the welcome comfort of fur. I admit I’ve thought more than once since getting to the city... about just turning into a wolf and curling on the bed.

> Explaining the shed non-human hair left behind would be impossible, though! <

The fox mug beside me now had what must be the strangest beverage I’d ever willingly consumed - warm cow milk with honey stirred in. Combining something a mammal makes with that of an insect...

"Humans do weird things."

Since I didn’t drink the bottle last night or this morning mostly because the ’brain freeze’ made me wary, I did a quick online search that suggested heating it might make it more palatable to some people.

Which led to instructions on how to adjust power settings on a microwave and stir in small sets of time to prevent ruining it. My first real attempt to use the piece of technology - after looking for the microwave safe symbol on the ceramic.

Even if I knew it wouldn’t be as cold as a milkshake... this sounded like a good idea, as chilled drinks were not my preference. And the test sip I did before I heated the mug of milk only made me more and more sure of that!

Taking another drink, I found that the added sweetness of the honey made it bearable. Whatever the processes they put the milk substances through in this world, I’ll research later, make it taste and smell nothing like what comes directly out of livestock.

After a day of meticulous research on so many things and a few carefully crafted messages back and forth with the seller... I’d finally sent a message expressing that I would purchase one of the units they had. I’d also verified that TEU stood for [Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit].

When it comes to shipping containers, it is apparently the standard measurement... which must have been what the system meant. A case of it being right but vague - and also me just not knowing enough of this world and making assumptions based on my own logic.

The price quoted was steep compared to anything I’d purchased since coming to the city. $1,800 for a decommissioned unit with ’CWO’ certification - which apparently marked it as used but still valuable for official shipping purposes.

> Not that we intend to put it on a truck or a boat! Hey, you’re looking as lazy as I feel, where is all your energy, huh? <

My wolf gives me a fang filled yawn and then stands up, circles, and lays down in the exact same position. Vrika had done little but lounge in my mindscape ever since I started reading on the phone.

"Silly creature - I’m never going to admit that I’ve ever done the same thing... But almost two thousand..."

That much seemed like a lot to someone with no income to their name, but it wasn’t an unreasonable price given the modifications... according to some more attempts to research resellers of these units.

The internet is kind of an amazing place to find whatever you need to know if you can think how to ask. Looking up how to use ATMs... I absentmindedly began rolling one of the like new hair ties between my fingers.

"Well, this all seems much too easy, everything considered."

Besides how fast things were proceeding, there was something else nagging at me. Using Kyrie’s card for such a large purchase felt... significant.

Not that I hadn’t already accumulated an amount of debt that, at this point, I cannot repay - but this was different. This was a premeditated use of a large amount of money, without even bothering to ask.

All because I can convince myself that it’s just a means to an end. That everything I spend might be able to be repaid with the items I go retrieve, even though his journal alone isn’t exactly a full ledger that tells me all he owned.

"But it’s close... he speaks of those caches like they are his retirement fund. Old kook should have already retired, it looked like..."

Once I have the container and get back to the city, those coins alone should be worth enough to start paying her back. Even before I decide whether to try to sell tools that harm my kind to people that do it for... a hobby?

The detailed instructions from [BoundaryKeeper] indicated that the first step would be the cash payment through a dead drop point. The container would then be delivered to an isolated location within city limits that evening.

> First problem: actually getting that much cash. <

⧖ ☾ ❄ ☽ ⧖

For a walk of about six blocks from the motel, the ’new’ shoes were far better suited... and I found myself appreciating the purchase more than I’d expected. Used sneakers felt quite comfortable as I made my way to the nearest ATM.

"Consuming knowledge makes me hungry. I wonder if I should grab more to eat while I’m out?"

Before I actually shop inside the store I entered, I walk up to the well lit space outside and to something there that reminds me of the medical machines at the clinic. Its blue-green screen lit up as I inserted Kyrie’s white card.

I’d never withdrawn cash before, but supplemented by what I’d looked up on my phone earlier it felt simple enough. I selected the withdrawal options and entered the maximum amount it had displayed: [$300].

The machine whirred after I pressed the right buttons and a stack of six crisp bills emerged. For some reason, the seller had asked for the funds to be only in fifty dollar denominations.

"One turn down, several more to go."

I pocketed the cash and attempted to repeat the process. This time, a message appeared on the screen: [Temporarily Unable to Dispense Cash].

Naively, I must have assumed Kyrie’s status would somehow exempt her from such restrictions. But even a billionaire’s card couldn’t make more cash materialize inside an empty machine, which is what I gathered this message must mean.

> So much for getting this done quickly in one night. Well, that was always in question in the first place as I have no idea what her ’daily limit’ may be. Not without asking... <

As I turned away from the ATM, pondering whether to venture to another or just start again in the morning, my phone buzzed. With slightly trembling fingers, I pulled out the device from my pocket... knowing that without the sound it was not another hunter’s app message.

K: [I apologize for the delayed response to your beautiful photograph. I was caught in meetings all day, but seeing it this morning helped me through them. I hope you’re enjoying yourself in our city. If you ever have anything else to send or tell me, I’ll always get back to you when I can.]

I stared at the message, reading it three or four times. The timing couldn’t have been worse... or perhaps more appropriate?... either way, here I was, having just withdrawn a significant amount of cash from her account.

And she reached out asking if there was something I needed to tell her!? My thumb hovered over the screen, caught between the desire to respond with anything at all and the guilt weighing on me about the money.

> What would I even say to her? Thanks for checking in... by the way I’m taking out cash to buy something that makes no sense to need from hunters it makes no sense to be in contact with? <