Chapter 612

• "I'm shielded too tightly for you to feel anything," she said quietly, turning her intent gaze on his. "Whatever help Mother was at the beginning quickly wore off, Liam. Everyone was certain we were losing you. I snuck down one night to see you because I couldn't bear to be apart from you any longer." Her voice faltered and for a moment he thought she wouldn't continue, then she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You were hurting yourself. You were in wolf form and you were biting at your own paws...you were trying to chew them off."
• Her voice had dropped to a whisper, and for a glimmer of a moment, he felt a strong surge of pain and then it vanished as quickly as it had come.
• "I couldn't let you do that. I couldn't let you hurt yourself. I opened the door and came in, even though I'd been warned to stay outside and call an adult if you needed help. I did the only thing I could think of: I just threw my arms around you. I could feel you in my head, screaming relentlessly. It hurt my head, so I tried to push you out and something snapped into place. The adults think it may have been something to do with the fact that we connected before I was born. The shield I used protected me, but it also strengthened your own shield. When we are connected like this, I can help keep the overload at bay."