Chapter 125: Finding A Shrimp (3)
We finally got to the location after hours of walking. My legs were heavy and my feet were starting to throb inside my boots. I looked at the water and then back at Malo. The lake was round and kind of looked like a fucking pond. It wasn’t majestic or deep. It was just a big, still puddle sitting there in the middle of nowhere.
I shook my head, telling him it was a pond, but he wouldn’t have it. He insisted the internet classified it as a lake. I stared at the murky water for a second and then finally gave up on the argument. There was no point. He was defending himself with the internet like it was the holy word, and I was too tired to fight about geography.
He dropped his backpack onto the grass with a heavy thud. I moved more carefully, setting Kali down while she was still inside hers. I could see her little eyes looking out through the transparent material, watching us. Malo reached into his bag and brought out two raincoat jumpsuits. They were crinkly and smelled like cheap plastic. I pulled mine on, struggling a bit with the legs. Then I realized the net he was holding was actually two nets stuck together. He separated them with a sharp tug and handed me one. I took it without complaining. Since I wanted an equal share with him, I had to work too. I wasn’t going to let him say I just sat on the sidelines while he did the heavy lifting.
The moment we stepped into the lake, I felt the water press against the plastic of the suit. It was so shallow it barely reached my knees. I stopped moving and gave him a sharp look. I didn’t even have to say it. He immediately knew why I was looking at him that way. He looked away, shifting his gaze to the trees, but he still muttered under his breath that it was a lake. I just rolled my eyes and started moving.
We began searching for a colorful, glowing shrimp. My eyes scanned the bottom, looking for any sign of a spark. Just like the Blue Spark Shark, the Beast Morphs had one thing in common. They glow. It was a faint light, but in this murky water, it should have stood out.
It was 6 p.m. the last time I checked. The sun was starting to dip, casting long, orange shadows across the surface. If only it were nighttime, it would’ve been easier to see the glow.
Right now, I wasn’t feeling it. The water felt thick, and something kept brushing against my feet. It was a slimy, quick sensation that made my skin crawl.
I couldn’t take it after the third time something touched me. I quickly jumped out of the lake/pond. Whatever it was. I stood on the muddy bank, shivering slightly even though it wasn’t that cold.
"What happened? Did you find the mantis shrimp?" Malo asked the moment he saw me jump out. He looked hopeful for a second, his net poised in the air.
"Fuck no. I can’t stand the tiny creatures in that water," I said. I was crouching on the ground now, trying to wipe the imaginary feeling of bugs off my ankles.
"That’s why I brought the raincoat. They won’t bite," he said, looking back at the water.
"My feet are not covered with your leather raincoat. You should have brought leather socks," I shot back. I felt annoyed. My pride was hurt because I was being a baby about some pond water, but I really hated the feeling of things crawling over my skin.
"See, I’m the one doing all the work," he muttered to himself. He said it quiet, but I heard him perfectly. I chose to ignore it for the moment because I knew he was technically right.
After some time, there was still no shrimp. The glowing creature was nowhere to be found. Malo didn’t give up entirely, though. He brought out some small fish, clams, and crabs we could take home. He piled them up near the bags. At least coming all the way to Blackwood wouldn’t be for nothing. We’d at least have a decent dinner out of this mess.
I eventually felt guilty enough to go back into the water to help out a little. I stayed near the edge where I could see the bottom clearly. There was still no shrimp. I just used the net to catch other things, dragging it through the silt and pulling up a few more clams and ordinary shrimps. The silence of the forest started to feel a bit heavy.
"What are omegas doing in a place like this?"
A deep voice cut through the air like a knife. The hair on the back of my neck stood up instantly. We both turned around fast. Standing there was a huge man, tall and broad with a face that looked like it had seen too many fights. Behind him were four others. Three males and one female. They all had that same look. Hard eyes and flat expressions.
I dragged myself out of the water, the wet plastic of the suit making a loud splashing sound. Malo had been sitting on the ground resting, but he stood up immediately. He looked small compared to them. The sky was bruising into a dark purple. It was almost nighttime.
"Good evening, sir. We’re just fishing," Malo said. He was trying to sound casual, forcing a bright and normal expression onto his face. I could see his hands shaking slightly at his sides.
"Fishing?" the big man repeated. He stayed where he was, just watching us.
"Yes, fishing. We’re just trying to catch something to take home," I added. I tried to keep my voice steady. I didn’t want them to smell the fear on me. I tried to stay calm, breathing slowly.
He looked around the small clearing. He noticed the crabs and clams we had caught. Then his eyes moved to our bags. I felt a knot form in my stomach.
"I see you are actually fishing... Are you two with anyone else? Maybe a companion?" he asked. He started scanning the trees behind us, looking for any sign of a larger group or an Alpha.
"We don’t have any companions. We’re just teenagers here for a day camping," Malo said. He was talking too much, trying to fill the silence. Then he quickly added, "And by the way, I’m not an omega. She is. I’m just a normal wolf."
I wanted to kick him for saying that, but I understood why he did it. He was trying to make himself seem like less of a target.
"Okay then, normal wolf. Do you have any valuables? If you both want to live, give us everything," the man said.
The atmosphere changed instantly. The masks dropped. I saw the crooked smiles and the greedy eyes. These weren’t just hikers or locals. They were bandits.
They moved in fast. Two of them emptied Malo’s bag, dumping everything onto the dirt and searching for anything valuable. They took our phones and the little bit of cash we had in our pockets. We couldn’t fight back. It was five against two. We were outnumbered, and I saw the glint of metal. Two of them were carrying loaded pistols, tucked into their waistbands but very visible.
Bandits were known to rob people in these parts. If things didn’t go their way, or if they got bored, they started killing. It was just how they operated.
So I stayed calm. I had to. I was pregnant. I could feel the weight of that responsibility in my gut. I didn’t want anything to happen to me. I had to think about the pups. I had to think about Princess. I didn’t want to give her any reason to think I couldn’t protect them. I didn’t want to be the reason something went wrong.
We let them take whatever they wanted. I watched my phone disappear into one of their pockets. I didn’t care about the money. We could always find more. I just wanted them to leave. As long as they didn’t harm us, we could walk away from this.
But then one of them stepped toward the bags again. He grabbed Kali’s backpack. My heart stopped.
Even though the bag was transparent and he could clearly see a small creature inside, he still opened it. He was looking for something hidden underneath her. He turned the bag upside down and gave it a rough shake. I watched in slow motion as Kali fell out, hitting the ground with a soft thud.
She didn’t react at first. She just lay there in the grass, looking small and helpless. The bandit didn’t even look at her. He was too busy feeling the lining of the bag. He shifted his weight, moving his heavy boot.
He unknowingly stepped on her tail.
The sound that came out of her wasn’t a normal animal noise. She screeched. It was a high, piercing sound that vibrated through my bones.
Then, right in front of us, the world seemed to warp. Kali grew.
Her body expanded with a terrifying wet sound. She was stretching larger and larger, her skin pulling tight over muscles that shouldn’t have existed. Her mouth opened wide, unhinging like a snake, revealing rows of teeth that looked like glass.
And in a blink, she swallowed him whole.
The man didn’t even have time to scream. One second he was standing there, and the next, he was gone. The forest went dead silent. The other bandits froze. Malo froze. I couldn’t breathe. All we could do was stare in shock at the creature standing where Uncle PP’s pet used to be.
