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