The Awakening Aidan - By Abby Niles Page 0,3

was concerning. He was even deeper in Bahrraj than she’d thought. She moved the scope to his right side under his rib cage, listening for a rumble of his beast. Silence. She clenched her teeth together. Worst-case scenario right in front of her. Thank God she’d brought her kit.

Straightening, she pulled the plugs out of her ears and let the scope hang from her neck. She turned to face Mr. O’Connell. His eyes pierced hers, assessing her with an interested gleam. He stepped closer to her, and she tilted her chin up in warning.

“Mr. O’Connell—

“Aidan.

“Mister O’Connell, he’s very deep in Bahrraj. I’ll need to take extra measures to reach him. I’ll need for you to leave the room.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “No.”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Like she hadn’t seen that coming. Heaven-for-freaking-bid she ask a shifter to do something he didn’t want to do. “If you insist on staying, I’ll need your help.”

“I’m listening.”

“He needs more outside stimuli. What’s Liam’s favorite food?”

“Pork chops.”

“Do you have any on hand?”

He nodded.

“Could you throw some on so we can get the scent inside the house? It will help reach him.” Which was a lie, but he didn’t need to know that. If it got him out of the room so she could do what she needed to do, then she had no qualms about lying.

When he didn’t move, she leveled him with a stare. “Now.”

A slow grin spread across his lips, drawing her attention to them. Irritation spiked. Not only for noticing his lips, but for what that slow grin had meant. He thought she was cute for trying to boss him around. Ass.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said in a slow drawl.

While he rustled around the kitchen, she calculated the distance. He should be far enough away. He may feel some residual effect, but she and Liam should be safe from any negative impact it may have on Aidan. Jaylin riffled through her briefcase and pulled out the leather package containing the Splycer.

Years ago, when she’d been inexperienced and allowed emotion to cloud her judgment, she’d made the mistake of using the device in the presence of another male shifter, something she’d been taught never to do. She’d ended up having to tranquilize the raging beast that had emerged. She’d never made that mistake again. She withdrew the small tool, no bigger than her thumb, and put the earbuds back in her ears.

The smell of pork chops cooking started to permeate the air. Good.

Now to find his beast and bring it back to its rightful place under Liam’s rib cage, so it could help him fight his way back to reality. Unfortunately, his beast could be lost in one of six areas. Placing the stethoscope on his wrist, she listened for a faint rumble. Nothing. She checked around his back and temple, and finally heard the low vibrating growl below his ear where his jawbone stopped. She pulled the cap off the electrode and placed the two coils directly to his skin and pulled the trigger. A red flash lit the room as the sounds of electricity shooting from the Splycer into Liam rent the air. His body jerked. Once.

“Liam!” She barked the word, with force and dominance. She snapped her finger.

“Liam!” she repeated.

She saw a flicker in his eyes, a quick shadow that passed right across the iris. Then the tense shoulder beneath her palm relaxed and he blinked.

Jaylin sighed. Thank God. She’d had patients in Bahrraj before, but never this deep. His gaze focused on hers and her stomach dropped at the lost look of a Dserted shifter. She smiled at him, trying to keep the pity from her face. “Hey. How are you feeling?”

He frowned and moved back in his seat. “Who the hell are you?”

Jaylin straightened as Mr. O’Connell walked into the room with three pork chops on a plate in one hand, while rubbing his chest with the other, a look of confusion on his face.

Yep, he’d felt it.

“What the hell was that red—hey there, buddy, you scared the hell out of me.”

Liam glanced around the room, his frown deepening. “What happened?”

Jaylin sat on the coffee table across from him. “Liam, I’m Dr. Avgar. Mr. O’Connell called me for help. Do you remember anything?’

His jaw turned to granite. “No.”

He was lying. They all did in the beginning, until it got so bad they could no longer lie. “You felt her, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You need therapy. A way