Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)-Chapter 198 - Confections Or Confessions?

The warm scent of fresh pastries at Bread & Breakfast immediately soothes something tense in my chest. The same cheerful brunette woman from before, with her piercings, waves at me from behind the counter.

"Oh, hey, finally back again! You know, I was wondering if we’d see your hair in here someday."

Feeling a little awkward about being called out to while there is a line ahead of me - because it feels natural enough to the royal me, but shouldn’t be natural for ’just’ Helene... I wave at her shortly before getting into the expected wait.

> You’d think with a place this busy, they would expand. But I guess it’s not so simple as all that, is it? And it’s not like I would suggest them to do so... with what is coming. <

"Want today’s special or have a hankering for something specific?"

"The special is..."

"Cinnamon roll."

I look at what she shows off and I nod. It can’t hurt to try it, though it looks slathered with sugar and has a strong spicy scent that feels a bit different than the kind I’m familiar with from my world. But maybe it’s just my werewolf senses.

"Getting breakfast for others again, huh?"

Pointing at the breakfast sandwiches, I’d raised three fingers... and my eyes swim to the side and I make a noncommittal sound as she prepares my order, adding a bottle of milk when she asks if I want a drink this time.

When I pay and look over my shoulder, I see that a single table and chair facing the window is free. I’m really hungry and could walk and eat again, but I really don’t want to hurry to the warehouse and drop off the container yet.

"Seats are first come?"

"Yep. If it’s open, you can sit in it. If it’s still dirty, just tell me and I’ll complain to my boss for you - and he can order me to come wipe it down."

Nodding and walking away, I spread the food across the small table like I’m claiming territory. The first sandwich is perfect - just egg, cheese, and some kind of herb-crusted bread that makes my stomach actually rumble with glee.

Halfway through eating the second one, which has some sort of ’sausage’ patty... I finally work up the nerve to open Kyrie’s message and see what she is asking for. What it says makes me slowly sit down the food.

K: [Would it be alright if I called you sometime this morning? I have a meeting at 10:30, but will be free until then. Nothing important, just wanted to hear your voice.]

Such a simple request, but it makes my chest tighten. Anxiety. Desire. Both of them war with each other, because of what I started.

Things are escalating... and continuing to engage with her is just going to make her expect and hope for more until she gets what she wants. To mark me and claim me as her fated mate.

> Truthfully... that would be lovely enough right up until she decides a fated bond doesn’t have to mean forever. Probably around when I give birth, most likely. <

Vrika sends me encouraging impressions, but I ignore them in favor of staring at the message for another full minute. Mulling over a single question with lots of variables... is it right to get what I want out of it now?

Finally, I type slowly.

C: [I’m eating at Bread & Breakfast. I’ll be available for another hour and then I’m taking a break from all social contact that I can for the rest of the day.]

K: [On my way back to the office, but I can call in five minutes. If that works for you?]

My heart does something complicated and annoying against my ribs when I read her careful double checking for permission. Scarfing down the rest of the sausage sandwich, I drain half of the milk on top.

Then I sit there with my hands over my eyes for long enough that the woman behind the counter comes and checks on me. I wave her away with a few generic statements, and she leaves off with one of her own.

"Well, we all have rough mornings."

C: [That works.]

Again I sit there staring at my phone like it might come to life and bite me. When it finally rings, showing the nickname ’Flickering Candlelight’ on the screen... I answer on the third ring. Though my hand was on the phone on the first.

"Hello."

"Good morning."

"...Good morning."

Her voice was warm and slightly rougher than usual. I think mine may have been too... the second part anyway.

"Thank you for saying yes to this."

"I just said you could call. That’s not quite the same as saying yes to... whatever else you want."

A soft chuckle travels through the phone that makes me shift my feet around under the table. The urge to hang up and hide is almost as high as it is to hang up and track her down, leaving me in a stalemate of sitting there doing nothing.

"That’s fair. I didn’t mean to imply. How are you feeling today?"

I lean back against the barely cushioned seat, watching the morning foot traffic through the window. People rushing and trudging about their day reminds me just how filled mine have been lately.

"On the verge of overwhelmed, as always. Tired because... nevermind that, you don’t need to know. Altogether, slightly mortified by my own behavior."

My words have no strength to them, but I say them all. I say... I can’t believe I just said all that...

"...Do you mean what we did?"

I pause at the sound of her less than confident tone, then decide to just dive in. I’ve already opened up that much. Explaining myself a little more can’t hurt, can it?

>Yes, for the record I think it can. Stop barking so much. I know you’re happy I’m talking to her!"

"No. Well, a little...? We’ll call it ’among other things’. But I did have an awkward encounter last night. Another werewolf caught your scent on me and... made some assumptions."

> No, I do not have to tell her that I made them worse! I didn’t *have* to tell her any of that! Stay out of my conversational choices, Vrika! <

The most uptodat𝓮 n𝒐vels are published on (f)reew𝒆(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦