The Awakening Aidan - By Abby Niles Page 0,71

and yelled for them to come into the room. Within seconds, Pam hurried in, a little red in the face, while Britton sauntered in in all his smug glory. Jaylin could’ve kicked him. She could’ve kicked him even harder when she realized she’d forgotten to turn around and watch the cougar.

All she had to go by was the pensive expression on Trevor’s face and the confused shaking of his head. The eyes hadn’t changed.

“Jaylin. One more time. Leave and come back.”

Inhaling, she left, feeling the first true ray of hope in days. As she stepped back in, she held her breath, waiting for the verdict. When Pam gasped, her wide gaze snapping from the cougar to stare at Jaylin, she had her answer.

Trevor turned around, a smile on his face. “You’re the key. You’re his mate and even though you’re not bonded, he’s still aware of you.”

She almost collapsed from the relief. If he was in there, then they could get him back. Somehow. “What should I do?”

“First I want to see what happens when you get close to the cougar again. Take a couple of steps past the chalk line.”

Jaylin swallowed. The last time she’d gotten too close, the animal had tried to kill her. Could she handle knowing it still saw her as someone who’d hurt it? Fear of being reminded of that on a daily basis had kept her on her side of the chalk line to begin with.

It didn’t matter. If Aidan were in that animal somewhere, she’d do whatever was needed to bring him back.

She stepped over the thick yellow line. The cougar immediately lowered and pounced against the bars. One long, powerful leg swiped past the steel, barely missing her chest with its sharp claws. Shrieking, she stumbled back, hand pressed to her chest, blinking tears from her eyes. She was still the focus of its rage. “Are you sure you saw Aidan? That animal hates me.”

“We saw it,” Trevor said. “Every time you walked into the room. It means something. We’ve just got to figure out what and how to use it to get Aidan back.” Trevor paced the room, rubbing his fingers across his lips. “I keep thinking the Splycer is somehow part of all this. It’s to blame for starting this whole mess.”

She refused to look at Liam. There were two people in the room who disagreed with that statement.

“It has to be what brings him back,” Trevor continued.

“But we tried that,” Liam said.

“Yes, while the cougar was sedated.” Trevor paused, putting his hands on his hips while he stared at the floor. “Could that be it?” he muttered before looking up. “We’ve never used the Splycer on rejected shifters or half shifters while they were under sedation. What if the tranquilizer is keeping the device from working properly?”

“How do you propose someone gets near him enough to see?” Liam asked.

“It can’t be just anyone. It has to be Jaylin.”

Liam immediately shook his head. “Definitely not. We might have seen a glimmer of Aidan, but we also know it is much more aggressive toward her. We can’t chance the animal hurting her.”

“There’s a reason for that, I’m sure of it. She’s his mate. All week that animal has responded to nothing we’ve tried, but she just walks into the room and we see a glimpse of human. She is the only thing that can reach him. I’m sure of it.”

“That’s all fine and dandy, but can we at least have someone else try first?”

Jaylin stepped forward. “No. It’ll have to be awake. I won’t put another half shifter in danger. If Trevor thinks it has to be me, then it’s going to be me.”

Liam eyes rounded. “You can’t be serious! Do you have any idea what would happen to him if he comes back and realizes that animal hurt you? There won’t be any convincing him that this…this animal wasn’t him or his beast. He’ll blame himself for hurting you.” His jaw clenched. “You’ve already ruined his life once. I won’t allow it to continue. There has to be another way.”

She understood why Liam was vehemently against this plan. Being the cause of her death would be a torture Aidan would never be able to bear. The really twisted part was if the animal did hurt her, it wouldn’t have been by Aidan or his beast, but Liam was right, Aidan would never see it that way. If this worked and she was able to save Aidan, but the unthinkable happened,