The Awakening Aidan

Chapter Eleven


Thunder boomed, rattling the house and the boards of the deck underneath her feet. Lightning streaked across the sky. Flinching, Jaylin frantically searched the darkened beach for any sign of Aidan. All she saw was the ominous sway of palm trees as the wind picked up speed. Fear twisted her insides, making her fingers tingle and her chest tighten in panic.

Where was he?

Right after saying he wished he’d never laid eyes on her, Aidan had stalked off into the night without a backward glance. He hated her. Knowing that had filled her with such pain, she’d curled into a ball and cried, until thirty minutes ago when she’d heard the first warning rumble and seen the flash of lightning far off in the distance.

The pacing had started then.

With each passing minute, those rumbles had grown closer and louder. The lightning had gone from white flashes off in the horizon to white splintered streaks that webbed across the sky, brightening the house with each bolt.

No matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise, she now had to face the truth.

Aidan wasn’t going to return.

He’d rather take his chances with the storm than be safe in the house with her.

The intercom buzzed before Rafael’s “Miss Jaylin?” echoed throughout the living room speakers.

Of course. A hysterical laugh bubbled from her lips as the tension left her in one quick whoosh. She’d gotten herself so worked up, she hadn’t even thought of Rafael’s cottage.

Aidan was safe. Not with her, but at least safe.

Hurrying inside, she crossed the living room to the intercom mounted on the wall and pressed the buzzer.

“Yes?” she replied.

“This storm looks like it’s going to a pretty bad one. I’d suggest that you and Mr. O’Connell move away from the windowed rooms and into one of the interior ones. Okay?”

The tension returned full-force. “Wait. Aidan isn’t with you?”

“No, Miss Jaylin. I haven’t seen him today.”

She pressed her hand to her mouth, her gaze automatically drawn to the storm brewing outside. Fear for Aidan consumed her. He may be a shifter, almost invincible, but he wasn’t immortal. Anything could happen to him out there. Something that could take him away from her forever.

Just when she’d been ready to open herself up to the possibility of a “them.”

Wouldn’t it be what she deserved for being so shortsighted and continuously denying him?

“Did you hear me?”

She blinked, her attention slamming back to the box. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“It’s getting closer. Go on now. Don’t worry about Mr. O’Connell. He can take care of himself.”

“Right.”

Not worry. As if.

As she stepped away from the intercom, a gust of wind whipped through the room and sent magazines scattering to the floor. She quickly closed the wall-sized shutters and stepped back. She couldn’t see outside, couldn’t search for Aidan. She’d locked him out. Again.

Such an irrational thought, but the wall towered over her, becoming a symbol of every wall she’d put between her and Aidan.

Claustrophobia pressed on her chest.

No more walls. She’d no longer protect herself at his expense.

It was time to weather the storm, both literally and figuratively.

She yanked one side open and slipped out onto the deck. The wind whipped her hair across her face and flattened her robe to her body. Hurrying down the stairs onto the sand, she called his name, hoping if he heard her, he’d know she was worried about him and at least come back inside. She didn’t care if he went into another room and completely ignored her, just as long as he was out of danger.

Howling wind carried her voice away as if she hadn’t even spoken. The first droplets of rain hit her face. Within seconds, the skies opened up and a torrential downpour ensued, soaking her through in seconds.

“Aidan! Please! Answer me!”

As she surveyed the wall of trees, she pushed her drenched hair away from her face. He was in there somewhere. Her mind went crazy with possible scenarios. Hurt? Trapped? Dying?

What if she never got to make amends and he died thinking she didn’t care for him? He died hating her?

Her throat tightened in terror. Oh God, she had to find him. Tell him how she felt, so there was no longer any doubt.

“Please be okay. Please be okay.”

She stepped into the woods, wincing as the earth shook beneath her feet as another round of thunder boomed overhead.

“Aidan! I’m so sorry! Please come out!”

She took a dozen more steps before a shadow moved out from underneath a dead tree about twenty feet away.

A cougar.

Aidan.

He transformed and shouted, “What the hell are you doing out here?”

Relief almost brought her to her knees. He wasn’t hurt. Dying. He was whole.

All her misgiving left, leaving her feeling liberated, truly free.

She loved this man.

She stepped toward him, wanting to wrap herself around him and never let go. Orange sparks followed by a sickening crack stopped her in her tracks and she ducked, covering her head with her arms.

Everything slowed to a crawl.

The crashing sound of the branch hurtling toward her, Aidan roaring her name as he stumbled forward, the gasp of realization that the split second she’d needed to move was gone. The thick limb crushed her to the ground. A moment of pain ricocheted throughout her body.

Then she felt nothing.

…

“No!”

Aidan shoved the huge limb aside as if it weighed no more than a piece of paper, and he knelt beside her. Terror made his body tremble, leaving his beast momentarily stunned.

It’d happened so fast. One moment he’d been trying to convince himself that love hadn’t just softened her face, the next he’d been running toward her in a blind panic. Her body crumbled beneath the weight of the wood.

And now she lay on her side. So still.

“Jay—” his voice cracked, and he cleared it. “Jaylin?”

Hands shaking, he gently turned her over. His throat constricted. Blood mixed with rain, creating a watery red trail from one corner of her mouth to across her cheek. Aidan moved over her, protecting her head from the downpour, as he pressed two fingers into the side of her neck.

Faint, but there. He closed his eyes in relief.

Another boom of thunder shook around them, then hail pelted his naked skin with sharp needle-like pricks. He huddled closer to Jaylin, wrapping his arms around her head, blinking the water out of his eyes as he calculated the distance to the house.

Moving her was a horrible idea, but the danger out here was more threatening. After gathering her in his arms and tucking her as close to him as possible, he sprinted across the beach and into the house. She made no noise, no movement. Her body limp.

As he carried her through the house, he used the light to take a quick inventory of her injuries. No broken bones that he could see. No gaping wounds. Minor scrapes on her arms and neck. Nothing surface. His throat tightened further, fear he hadn’t known a person was capable of gripping him.

When he reached the bedroom, he gently laid her on the middle of the bed, horrified at the labored way she’d started to breathe. He opened her robe and moaned. “No. No. No.”

Dark purple stained her torso. Internal bleeding.

There was nothing he could do. Nothing.

A pained groan came from her as her eyes fluttered open. Aidan crawled up beside her, brushing the wet strands from her face. Fear shone in her eyes as she looked up at him and she gasped for breath.

He shushed her, tears scalding the back of his. “Don’t you die on me.”

“Ai—” A gurgle, then more blood slipped out of the corner of her mouth.

Her struggle to speak almost undid him. He shot off the bed, tearing through the room desperate to find anything to help, knowing it was futile. A blow like this was fatal.

His eyes landed on her briefcase. Or was it?

Jaylin had said the red flash device was used to bring a half shifter’s latent shifter DNA to the surface during extreme injuries.

She’d thought she was going on a working trip. Had she brought it?

He stumbled forward, hand shaking as he undid the latch on the case. On top of the fake Biggerstaff file sat the device, along with her stethoscope, a tape recorder, paper, and pens. She’d been prepared to work.

He glanced at Jaylin lying helplessly on the bed, her chest fighting to just take a breath. This never would’ve happened if he hadn’t tricked her into coming here. She’d be healthy, full of life, not fighting for it—and slowly losing the battle.

Aidan looked back at the contraption. A new fear churned his gut, remembering his beast’s anger even with him in the next room away from the flash. What would happen if he were in the same room?

It was the only chance she had, though. Even if he called the mainland, it would be at least an hour before help arrived. She didn’t have that much time.

This was the only hope they had.

Device in his hand, he moved back to the bed and sat on the edge of the mattress. “Jaylin?”

When her eyes slowly opened and shifted toward him, he held up the instrument. “How do I use this?”

The fear in her eyes grew as her gaze darted between him and the device. She slightly shook her head.

“It’s the only way.” He took her hand. “Show me where to put it.”

She silently refused his request by clenching her hand closed.

“Show! Me!”

She turned her head away, staring in the opposite direction, again denying him the chance to save her. It infuriated him that she’d rather die than let him help. Aidan hurried around the bed and bent close to her face, curling a hand around one of hers and holding tight, as if that alone would save her.

“Y-you’re going to die.” He squeezed her hand as emotions clogged his throat, but he forced himself to speak. “Jaylin. Please. Live. I’ll walk away. You’ll never see me again. Just live. ”

Tears illuminated her brown eyes. One slipped from the corner and trickled down her temple into her hair. Slowly she opened her fingers and touched the area to the side of her left breast right under her arm. Then she held up two fingers.

“Twice?” He swallowed.

Once he was almost certain he could handle, but twice? They sent shifters out of the room when they used this thing. What if something happened to him after the first shock? What if his beast emerged before he could do the second shock? What if it turned its anger on Jaylin?

She squeezed his hand back. “I-t…o…k.”

It wasn’t okay, nothing about this was okay.

He looked around the room. He didn’t have long—he was either going to do this or let her die. And he sure as hell couldn’t do the latter. The wind howled outside, rain slammed against the windows. He went over and touched the window encasing the private balcony.

Double paned. Tempered. Not easily shattered. Built to withstand the forces of a hurricane. Even one created by a raging beast.

He dragged over one of the nightstands and then opened the door, the force of the wind almost knocking it from his grasp. He used the nightstand to prop the door open enough where he could slide through. He didn’t know what would happen once he clicked the device, but he sure as hell didn’t want to take any chances.

Aidan walked back over to Jaylin, her breathing even slower than before. A gray pallor ate away her healthy glow. With shaking hands, he placed the device where she’d instructed.

Please give me the strength to do this.

He hit the switch.

Red flashed into the room and her body jerked. His beast sprang forward. A white explosion went off behind his eyes and he doubled over, feeling as if a red-hot poker had skewered his insides. He dropped to his knees as the snarling animal pummeled from within, slashing and clawing its way to the surface. Agony encased his body as his nails blackened and lengthened, his teeth elongated, and fur sliced through his pores like razor blades.

Never had he felt the change as he did now. Never felt the beast so out of its mind with madness, ready to maim…rabid.

He looked at Jaylin, her eyes round in terror as she stared at him and he grasped the full extent of why she hadn’t wanted him to use it to save her. The beast would hurt her, a shocking discovery, considering it would kill to protect her as Aidan would. He had to get away from her. Ensure that she was safe from the beast.

Crawling forward, he shoved the device into her side once again and clicked.

The beast caterwauled, charging forward. Aidan bellowed through clenched teeth, dropping the device as he landed on his side on the floor, clutching his midsection. The pain so intense he was certain at any moment his skin would split wide open. Bones began to snap one by torturous one. His energy waned.

Get out. Now.

Belly-crawling, he used his arms to pulls his weight toward the door. Halfway there, his knees and elbows dislocated and bent into feline legs as more fur carved through his skin, making him howl in agony. His nose and jaw cracked, stretched. Long claws clacked on the floor as he used the last bit of human he had left to drag himself the remaining few feet.

Kill.

His lips pulled back on a snarl.

Kill.

Half-animal, half-human, a contorted mess of fur, flesh, fingers, and claws, he turned around and took one step toward Jaylin, eyes locked on the white flesh of her throat. Bloodlust consumed him. Then she moaned, speaking to the last bit of human remaining in his shattered body.

Never!

He forced the emerging beast to turn, using the last of his restraint to thrust his body through the opening and shut the door.

Then he lost himself to the animal.

…

Groaning, Jaylin shifted on the bed. Muscles screamed in protest and she grimaced. Why did she hurt so bad? She tried to swallow, but her mouth and throat had become sandpaper. Opening her eyes, she flinched against the sunlight that streamed into the room, then moaned again as her body rebelled against the movement.

What had happened?

She lay still for moment, blinking to focus on the room, which had taken on a foggy haze. Everything sounded normal. Crashing waves, chirping birds, rustling palms trees.

All the noises she’d grown accustomed to.

The haze slowly lifted from the room.

Had she drunk too much?

No. Definitely not. She’d had her fair share of hangovers and this was not a hangover. Besides, an odd sensation coursed through her body, something she’d never felt before, like an extra electrical charge that created a metallic taste in her mouth and a slight vibration in her entire body as if she’d gotten shocked.

Shocked.

Aidan.

Gasping, she sat up, then flopped back onto the mattress and moaned as her torso constricted. Looking down, she saw the faded remnants of bruises across her abdomen. The previous night hit her.

Holy crap. He’d done it.

She’d been certain she was done for, had been horrified that her last moments on this earth would be watching Aidan torture himself to save her, which had made her wish she’d never told him how to use the Splycer and instead had him hold her while she took her last breaths, so she could go to Anavrin while looking into his eyes, with regret in her heart.

Last night as she lay dying, she would’ve given anything to have been Fewsed with Aidan. Not long ago, she would’ve thought that a very selfish desire. Knowing she was leaving him to face the world alone. But in those final moments, she’d realized what Aidan had been trying to tell her all along.

No matter which one of them left this world first, death didn’t matter. They would have an eternity together.

At least now, she was certain of what she wanted to do. No more hesitation. She was alive, and she planned to live every moment she had left with Aidan by her side as his mate.

Considering how they’d left things, she may have a time in hell of convincing Aidan of that, but she was up for the challenge.

Gingerly, she sat up, cradling her stomach with her arm.

Where was he?

Maybe he’d gone to sleep on the couch, letting her have the bed so she could heal. Her belly grumbled. A small smile came to her lips. Or maybe he was fixing her some food as she did yesterday morning.

It was hard to believe she’d only been here for a couple of days, and how everything had changed in such a short period of time. She may have been pissed that Aidan had tricked her here, but she could admit now that it was the best thing he could have done for her—for them.

She slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood. Her legs shook a little before they felt like they could hold her weight. “A—” She grimaced and worked her tongue, trying to get moisture to flood her mouth. God, she needed water. She tried again. “Aidan?”

A low growl came from behind her.

She slowly turned around. Aidan’s cougar had its nose pressed to the glass with its jowls pulled back, revealing long, sharp teeth as foamy drool dripped from one corner of its mouth.

Jaylin gasped. Aidan?

Sunlight streamed in from behind him. So many hours had passed. How many?

She glanced at the clock. Nine o’clock.

The storm had started around the same time last night, so she’d been out of it for twelve hours. And Aidan was still in beast form? How?

She cringed from the memory of watching Aidan fight the beast. The way his face had blinked between being fully human and partially animal. The teeth that had lengthened. The eyes that held so much fear in them, she silently prayed he’d succeed so he would never have to live with blaming himself for her death.

And had things gone bad, she knew he would. No matter if she would’ve died anyway. If he’d killed her, none of that would have mattered and he would’ve never forgiven himself.

But why was he still in beast form? Shouldn’t he have already transformed back by now?

She walked toward the balcony, clenching her arm around her waist. The cougar lowered, its back legs prepared to charge as a low, scary growl rent the air. When the animal threw itself against the glass, hissing, she froze.

“Aidan?”

Jaylin stared at the cougar, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. When a shifter shifted, he retained the human side of himself. It showed in the beast’s eyes, even if not the same color. Yet, no remnants of Aidan remained in this beast’s feral eyes. Only animal.

“Oh, God. Aidan?”

Her pain forgotten, she lowered to her knees, tears burning the back of her eyes. He’d been in so much agony. She’d never seen a shifter fight as hard as he had not to shift, the way his body had been broken, and he’d still fought with each stomach-turning snap of his bones.

Could saving her have killed the human side of Aidan?

How did she save him?

“I-if you can hear me, please come back.”

The animal only growled some more.

“Don’t give up. Please. You saved me. Now I need you to fight to save yourself.”

The tears slid down her cheeks and she pushed to her feet. She needed help. But who?

Trevor. If anyone could help, he could. He’d been a therapist for a few years longer than she had, so maybe he’d dealt with this sort of thing. Maybe he knew something about what the Splycer had done. God knows, she had no clue.

She hurried into the hall and found the satellite phone, quickly dialing his number.

“Dr. Foster speaking.”

“Trevor, its Jaylin.”

“Jaylin. What can I do for you?”

“I have a serious issue on my hands. Has any male shifter ever used the Splycer on his own before?”

“Of course not. The damn thing would’ve never been made if it hadn’t been for a half shifter inventing it.”

That’s what she thought. She fisted one hand in her hair and tried not to let panic overcome her. “So there is no recorded case of a shifter actually using the device, or what could happen if one did?”

Trevor was silent for a moment. “I think you need to tell me what’s going on.”

She quickly filled him in, then couldn’t hold the tears back any longer as she added, “I—I think Aidan is dead.”

…

“I’ve never seen anything like it, Miss Jaylin.” Rafael sat cross-legged beside her, looking at the pacing animal on the balcony. “I see no human in him at all. It’s like his beast has completely taken over.”

She’d buzzed Rafael as soon as she’d gotten off the phone with Trevor, just needing another warm body with her while she waited. Rafael hadn’t said a word when he’d found her sitting in front of the window, staring at the cougar, just sat down beside her.

That had been five hours ago, and he hadn’t left her side, unless it was to get her something to drink or more pain pills.

She was thankful for that.

She was doing her best to keep it together, letting Rafael keep her distracted as much as possible, but the longer she watched the cougar, the more she thought she was going to completely lose it.

“I’ve never seen anything like it either,” she whispered.

Not only hadn’t he changed back, but the animal was extremely aggressive toward her. She could just shift her position and it would bare its teeth and lower itself to the floor, growling. Rafael, however, could get up, leave, do cartwheels, and it didn’t even tense.

“When did that doctor say he’d get here?”

“Soon. He left as soon as I called.”

She didn’t think Trevor quite believed her when she’d told him what had happened. In fact he’d told her that she had to be mistaken and Aidan was just refusing to shift. Something that did happen on occasion when a tragic incident occurred. The shifter found solace in being in his beast form. She’d even given therapy to shifters in their animal form a time or two, because she could still communicate with the human.

There was no human to communicate with now.

She’d tried until her voice was raw, until she’d crumbled, sobbing into Rafael’s chest, who’d shushed her and rocked her like a child.

It had taken her getting almost completely hysterical before Trevor realized she at least believed what she was saying.

He’d soon see with his own eyes. It would only take one look at Aidan to know something wasn’t right. She’d been raised with a shifter father, had shifter cousins, went to shifter bars, had seen countless men turn into their beast, and she had never once been afraid because of what they were.

This cougar terrified her.

The whirring of the blades of a helicopter sounded outside. She pushed to her feet, wincing as her muscles protested, and hurried out of the room. Thumping sounded behind her. She didn’t stop. She knew what it was: Aidan throwing himself against the glass. She’d wept the first time he’d done it.

She hurried outside onto the tarmac, her hair whipping as the copter set down. Within minutes, Trevor jumped out, using his hand to shield his face from the wind caused by the rotating blades. He was a sight for sore eyes. Her only hope.

Dressed in gray slacks and pressed button-down white shirt, Trevor was a beast of a man in human form. Tall, pushing six-four at least, and weighing in at around two-twenty in solid muscle, he still moved with the grace of a dancer as he came toward her.

“Where is he?” he yelled over the noise, his short dirty-blond hair being blown toward the left side of his head.

She waved him to follow, noting the two other men who had run up behind him, and they hurried back into the house. When they rushed into the room, she hung back with the strange men and let Trevor enter the room alone, knowing the animal was more aggressive when it saw her. Trevor slowly approached the window, then squatted before the glass. The animal stared at him, its lips quivering on a silent growl.

“Holy shit.”

She guessed he believed her now. “You can help him, right?”

Trevor straightened, his attention focused on her but straying back and forth to the glass. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. I’ve never experienced this. Have you tried talking to it?”

She gave him a disbelieving look. He held up his hands. “Forget I said that.” He glanced around. “I can’t do anything here. I need to get him back to the States.”

Jaylin had expected that, and was ready for a fight. “Only if we can take him back to North Carolina, Trevor.”

“I won’t argue,” he said, surprising her with his easy agreement. She’d thought he’d want to take him to New Jersey, where his office was. “Anything familiar can only help him. I’ll need to make some calls, get some paperwork in place before we transport him, then talk to my team, but it shouldn’t take me an hour and we can leave.”

She nodded, understanding what he was saying. They were bringing an exotic animal back into the States, not a human being—red tape had to be dealt with. Luckily, shifters had their connections for emergencies such as this, though a shifter who’d lost his human side was a new one. Plenty of shifters refused to be human, wanting to instead stay in their animal form, but this was different. Scarier. Because Aidan couldn’t shift back.

She wrapped her arms around her waist and walked toward the glass. The cougar immediately lowered in warning. She took up her place on the floor and seconds later Rafael joined her. He reached over and took her hand.

“Everything will be fine, Miss Jaylin.”

She really wished she could believe that.

…

A little over an hour later, Trevor walked into the room. “Okay. We’re clear.”

Jaylin climbed to her feet with Rafael’s help. The more she sat on the floor, the stiffer she seemed to get, but she couldn’t make herself move from the spot.

“Jaylin, I need you to leave the room.”

She stiffened. They’d have to remove her physically if they thought she was going anywhere. “That’s so not happening.”

Trevor sighed. “We’re going to have to tranquilize it. It’s not going to be easy to watch.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You mean him, don’t you? I’m not leaving him.”

Trevor cursed. “We’re not dealing with a shifter’s beast right now. We’re dealing with a cougar. A wild animal. There’s no telling what can happen. You’ll be safer in another room until we get it caged.”

She looked him square in the eyes and tilted her chin up.

“Let her stay,” Rafael said. “I’ll keep her out of the way.”

Trevor rubbed his hand over his eyes. “Fine. Stay over there.” He pointed to an area by the door, near the corner. When they’d moved to where they were instructed, Trevor said, “Alric, Bastion, come on in.”

The two men came in with scary-looking guns, and Jaylin swallowed. Maybe she should’ve left the room. The guns made everything real.

“We don’t know what it’s capable of. If cornered, it could attack. The less danger we put ourselves in the better, so we don’t want to ambush it. I think it’d be best if we opened the door and just let it come into the room on its own. Once you get a clear shot, take it.”

Jaylin pressed a fist to her mouth, breath held as one of the men walked up to the glass. The cougar snarled, its razor-sharp teeth bared. The man opened the door and quickly stepped back, gun raised.

Jaylin hated seeing the weapon aimed at Aidan, had to bite her tongue to keep from yelling for them to lower it, but she knew this had to be done. The cougar growled, then hissed. A standoff ensued.

Minutes went by. The cougar not moving, the men positioned and ready to fire.

“Damn it,” Trevor muttered. He sighed. “This isn’t going to work. It’s not going to come out of the room with all of us caging it in. Everyone back out.”

One by one the men backed out, including Rafael. As Jaylin moved to follow, the cougar stepped forward into the room, eyes locked on hers. Its snarls made her swallow. The room shrank. Suddenly there wasn’t enough space between her and the animal. The caterwaul that came from it right before it charged petrified Jaylin right on the spot. All she could do was stare in abject terror as the feline slammed the distance closed between them.

Trevor immediately shifted into his beast, a Bengal tiger, and intercepted the raging animal. The felines rolled on the floor an entangled mess of teeth, muscles, and claws. The cougar tore into Trevor’s back, causing him to yelp and scurry to the side.

“Stop! Aidan. Please. Stop!”

That brought the cougar’s attention right back to her. She held up her hands and stepped back. It prowled toward her, low growls warning if she so much as moved it’d kill her.

Hope that Aidan was somewhere in that animal dwindled. Aidan and his beast were one. Without his beast, Aidan was just a human. Without Aidan, the beast was just an animal—a rabid wildcat. One that had its sights on her.

The cougar lowered, preparing to pounce. Just as it sprang up, something popped and whizzed by her cheek. A dart punctured the shoulder of the cougar. It hissed, changing directions mid-jump toward the man who had shot it. Three more pops fired. Animal or not, all she saw was Aidan snarling and trying to defend himself.

“Stop! God! Stop. Don’t hurt him anymore!” She fell to her knees, covering her mouth with her hands as the cougar staggered, then fell to its side.

Jaylin crawled forward. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Aidan. Oh, God. What have I done? I’m so sorry.”

With a trembling hand, she caressed the side of its face and wiped the moisture from her eyes with the other. He jerked, eyes watching her every move. Lips quivering on barely-there snarls.

“I love you. Please, please, come back to me.”