Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)-Chapter 416 - Trust Pierces More Than Any Needle

A rolling tray of supplies was wheeled beside me by the woman who still didn’t look angry, but definitely *annoyed* that any of this was happening. I bet she pictured this going quickly.

Probably expected to take the blood and for us to be out of her hair already. Now, she has to give an impromptu class to someone who has never even held one of this world’s needles.

> That looks a lot easier to bend on accident than... a ratchet... <

"The jugular vein runs along both sides of the trachea. On wolves, it’s more prominent than humans because of the neck musculature. Are you right-handed?"

She gestured to Kyrie’s white-furred throat waiting patiently next to me before posing this question that I answered without reserve.

"Ambidextrous."

"Really? True or simple mixed-handedness?"

Tilting my head, she quickly explained the difference and I realized I hadn’t sincerely noticed until now... but I’m actually *slightly* inferior with one side in Helene’s body. Or so I judge while trying to scribble identical geometric shapes at the same time.

"...Left-handed, then? I don’t think it matters, I’ll never stop to think about which to use, just whichever is closest."

"I haven’t seen that party trick in a while. We’ll use the right side since most practitioners are right-handed and that is what patients will be used to."

"Very well. I can do that."

"Cold coming."

She tore open several gauze pads and began saturating a section of Kyrie’s neck with a curved squeeze bottle of more of that alcohol. Doctors here are incredibly liberal with their antiseptics!

"This is your first step. Fur is in the way of seeing what you need, get it soaked thoroughly with alcohol and then part it like so."

The white fur matted down before her thumb slicked it side to side, revealing a strip of light gray skin underneath. Her finger then traced a line with the tip of her gloved finger.

"See this groove here? The vein runs right along this jugular furrow. When you locate this, you need to occlude the vein to make it fill and become visible."

She demonstrated by placing her left thumb at the base of Kyrie’s neck and pressing firmly. Within seconds, a thick blue line became visible under the damp fur.

"You’re essentially creating a dam, like the tourniquet on your arm did. You maintain that pressure until you’ve got your samples. Understand?"

"I believe so."

Whether I can do it calmly or not is a different matter. I might be less hesitant if this Alpha looked more wary, but those orange eyes just tick toward me then back towards staring at the corner of the ceiling.

"Your turn. Here. Firm but not crushing. You just want to prevent bloodflow, not collapse the windpipe. Sorry, more pressure than that. I’m giving this advice because you are learning in general, but you won’t hurt her unless you actually try to."

I positioned my hand where she’d shown, feeling the cooling evaporation of the alcohol soaked fur. It began to glow green when she insisted I press harder.

My subconscious reached out for | Matron’s Monitor |, but those six seconds took even longer than the thumping pulse of rope on her neck to be expressed... as I finally get things ’right’.

| TARGET: Kyrie Voss |

| SPECIES: Werewolf |

| VITALS: Mild Dehydration, Fatigue |

| NOTES: Rest Needed, Increase Water Intake |

All of that text was well and expected to appear, but it was really something else I was hoping for. When checking on my son inside my womb, back before I really... felt it was my son and not just Helene’s child...

This ability would show a three-dimensional representation of the ’target’. One I’d used to track the accelerated development of the pup. But I’d never seen that happen whenever I used the ability on anyone else so far.

> Assuming that was because it was only meant to do it with my child is the easy way to look at it. That it only activated that way because it existed inside of me and I had a desire to see it for myself. <

Well now, for the first time, I had that same desire. To see for myself what the nineteen hells I was even doing inside of her.

"Good. Keep that pressure as you hold this with your other hand, like so - if you let up, it will collapse, the skin will roll, and you’ll miss. Bevel up, shallow angle."

She demonstrated... and I probably should be paying more attention to that than trying to will whatever I should call the not-magic in my head into doing what I want. Still, I take the tool from her when she offers.

"Aim for the center of the vessel. Pierce the skin first, you’ll feel a small pop of resistance from that, then advance slowly until you see flash in the hub. By that I mean coloring right here - you know you’re in the lumen when it appears. You will stop completely when you see it."

I’d rather know I’m ’in’ by seeing *it* more explicitly. If this stupid system could show a being inside my body, that means it can see through biological material - just like how it has accurate topographical map data mysteriously.

> Or how it can guide me through tunnels under the earth. What are veins but tunnels for blood under the skin? <

"Align the needle angle slightly lower to the skin, along the route of the vein, and advance another small fraction to be sure you’ve done more than just prick the corridor wall."

Can I actually do this?

"Then while maintaining pressure with your thumb, turn that same hand’s fingers to hold the hub like so - take a tube with your free hand and push in to let the vacuum do its job."

I felt her throat roll slightly under by grip, swallowing feeling different from the rise and fall of breath I’d been experiencing. The doctor noticed it too, because her next words...

"If you feel her start to swallow again during the procedure, freeze. Just wait for it to finish or you risk tracheal puncture. Citra. You were the one who asked to do this. Are you ready?"

Her voice was warm. Because by hand holding the needle started to shake slightly - and of course, she noticed that too.

While taking a slow inhale and closing my eyes for just a moment, bothering to respond doesn’t even cross my mind. I just push with the steadiest hands in my life.