The Awakening: Aidan by Abby Niles Read Free Book Online Page A

hands, he forced himself to stay still when all he wanted to do was knock Liam out cold.
    “You’re going to have to make me shut up. Can you do that?” She paused as Liam’s nostrils flared. “Guess not, so I’ll continue. Ava may have been your mate, but you were not hers . Are you really going to let her have that control, Liam? She didn’t want you. You’d rather be lost in a woman’s emotions rather than fight it and claim some of your life back?”
    Liam’s entire body stiffened, then shook violently once again. Had Jaylin gone nuts? Why was she goading him? Goading his beast?
    “I don’t have time for this shit.”
    As Liam stormed to the front door, she said, “Do you want your beast back?”
    He froze mid-step, then slowly turned around. “H-how do you know about that?”
    “From all my fucking books, degrees, and psychobabble. I’ve pushed you far enough that the change should have occurred. Your beast is raging, isn’t it, Liam? Yet I didn’t even see a flash of it in your eyes.”
    The anger fled Liam as quickly as it had come on. His shoulders slumped.
    Aidan stared at him. “What does she mean?”
    His friend avoided his gaze. “Seriously? With all the rages I’ve been in over the last few months, you didn’t notice my beast hadn’t emerged?”
    He had noticed. He just thought it was some effect from the Dsershon . Apparently not. “I don’t understand. How can you feel your beast but not be affected by its emotions?”
    “His connection to Ava has taken over everything,” Jaylin answered, her gaze never wavering from Liam. “He’s consumed by her. That has damaged the connection with his beast.”
    Aidan swallowed. Everyone knew Dsershon was bad, but this bad? To the point a shifter was no longer connected to the one thing that made him who he was? Never.
    “You can get your beast back,” she continued, her voice calm and soothing. “But you have to learn to control her bond.” She stepped closer to Liam. “Don’t you miss running? The release the change can bring you?”
    Liam remained silent, but the hopefulness that entered his eyes screamed yes. Aidan understood. As much as he sometimes hated having to fight the beast for control, the idea of being separated from it was terrifying. They were a part of each other. Enemies at times, but one.
    “How long will it take to learn?”
    “It varies from shifter to shifter, Liam. Life can get better, though, if you’ll let me help.”
    He sucked air through his teeth, his eyes taking on a faraway look, then he swallowed. “Why do I know I need this, but I feel all cagey about it? I was ready to commit to this, even asked Aidan to drive me here, but as soon as I got into Aidan’s truck, I felt like I was going crazy. The closer we got, the more it ate at me. The more I felt her.”
    A sad smile tipped the corner of Jaylin’s lips. “That’s the Fewshon . It doesn’t want to accept, Liam. The bond is making you hold on even though you know it’s over.”
    “How am I supposed to battle an eternal link?”
    “I never said it would be easy. Your instinct and the Fewshon are going to fight you every step of the way, but you have to be stronger. You have to start using your mind to overpower the bond. I promise, it can be done. It has been done.”
    Liam shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and was silent for a long moment. “Fine.” He inhaled deeply, then released it in one gush. “I’ll do it.”
    “Do you mean it this time?”
    Another second of silence, before he said, “I want my beast back. I need something to feel normal again.”
    “Okay. Therapy will trigger more Bahrraj episodes. Considering this episode came almost on top of the one you had yesterday, we need to give you at least twelve hours to recover. You’ll need to be mentally prepared to do what we’ll need to do.”
    Liam shifted, a tinge of red creeping up his neck.
    Jaylin cocked her head to the side. “You can ask me, Liam.”
    Aidan was