Hey everyone, sorry that it's taken me soooooo long to update. Hopefully you all will enjoy the chapter and hopefully it won't be long for me to post the next one. I'm really going to try to finish the story next year seeing as this one is close to being done.

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Chapter 18

Mary-Lynette's POV

"I'm staying." His eyes never left me as he said it. The other guys probably thought that he was referring to being here, but I knew different. He was talking about being with me. I couldn't help but smile at him for that. He really had changed.

"So what is going on?" Rowan stepped closer to her brother and the other guys. It was clear that they knew each other and I was the one left out. Hopefully this meant that they would be honest with her. I let her deal with the other guys while I just watched Ash. The moment I turned my gaze to him, I saw that he was watching me. We both smiled.

"Jared wants Mare for some reason." Ash spoke for the first time. I hadn't realized until then how much I had truly missed him. His voice ran through my mind and I fought the urge to wrap my arms around him. "The safest place for her is here. Jared won't come anywhere near here knowing of what he'll have to deal with."

"How long are you planning on keeping us here though?" Rowan turned her gaze to her brother. "School is still going on Monday and we can't stay here for weeks."

Rowan had a point with that. I needed to get back before Monday otherwise people will start to worry, and I would hear a long speech from Claudine about staying in Las Vegas later than what I promised.

"We understand that." Quinn – I do believe – responded first this time. As he talked I kept on turning my gaze to Ash, curious to see if he was still there. He was. I could feel the urge to touch him rising within me. "We'll make sure that Jared is distracted before she leaves town making it almost impossible for him to follow her, hopefully he won't already know where she lives."

"What if he does?" I tore my eyes from Ash to ask everyone. "It's a small town, everyone knows everything that happens. If he gets there-"

"He won't, we'll make sure of that." Ash took a step closer to me. His eyes flashed red briefly before resting on a deep blue. Oh how I've missed those eyes! I wanted to just watch his eyes change colour as his mood shifted.

"I think that we're missing something." From the corner of my eye I saw Quinn turn to James. "I don't remember Ash becoming so determined about protecting someone before."

"That's because it hasn't come down to my soulmate being in danger." Ash kept his eyes on me as he talked to Quinn. I saw both of the guys jaws slightly drop as Ash's words sunk into them.

"So this is the girl that completely changed you in less than a week." James took a step closer to us. I wasn't sure what he was going to do. I turned to Rowan and Jade to see them smile at the entire situation.

"It was pretty much the week for them to finally admit that they were soulmates." Jade laughed slightly and walked closer to Ash. "I'm glad to see you again." Jade spread her arms wide and hugged Ash.

I was slightly envious of her. I was fighting so hard against the urge to hug him yet she just walked right up to him. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up off the ground.

"I'm glad to see you again too Jade, only not under these circumstances." Ash set her down carefully and his gaze turned towards me. It was almost like he was struggling with the same thing that I was. In the end he raised a hand and gently touched my cheek. "Nothing is going to happen to you, I promise."

"Sorry for breaking this reunion up," Quinn looked directly at me and Ash, "but I'm sure that the girls are hungry so how about we show them around."

"Sounds like a good plan." Ash looked at me and extended his hand. Without any hesitation I placed my hand in his.

They showed us the mansion on our way to the kitchen. Each room was beautiful and I couldn't believe that we were going to stay here for a while. I had completely forgotten that someone was after me until the end when we were introduced to Theory and he wanted to talk to me alone for a moment.

"Of course you are more than welcome to stay here as long as you would like and we could transfer you to the school that most of the people here attend to make sure that you are completely safe until the threat is over." Theory sat in his desk with his hands folded before him.

"I appreciate your offer but I can't just transfer, my parents would freak out and I can't leave my brother and friends just like that without saying goodbye in person." I couldn't image what would happen at home if I did agree to this.

"I understand." He lowered his head slightly and raised it up again to watch me. "If the treat of Jared is not over by the time that you leave, and I fear that it will not resolve that quickly, then I will send some of the best fighters back with you to keep an eye over you." He stood and slowly walked towards me. "Jared wants you for some reason, and we only want to protect you from him, we know what he is capable of and that no good comes from him. We do not need you or anyone else to be endangered by him." Theory looked at me and for some reason I had no reason to doubt anything that he said. From his eyes it looked like he'd been through a lot and didn't want anyone else to be endangered.

I just nodded and he led me to the door. Opening it I saw the others waiting outside for me. I didn't know how much they heard but it appeared that they were having their own conversation. Ash pulled my close as they quickly finished up. When they stopped we continued with the tour.

"I still can't believe that this is your soulmate." Quinn kept on staring at us throughout the tour. "I thought that you were making that up."

"How could you think he could make that up?" James looked over at Quinn almost like he was insane. "You do realize that he didn't even talk to another girl for weeks unless he had to. Remember how Maggie thought that he didn't want to be friends with her."

The final place that we went to was the kitchen. There were several people already in there making food. It smelt delicious. It was like a buffet but when Ash cleared his throat forks froze in midair and everyone's eyes rose to look at us.

"You all can stop thinking that I'm lying because I would like to introduce you to my soulmate Mary-Lynette and my sisters." Ash put his arm around my waist pulling me closer to him and as he did everyone's eyes slightly widened. James and Quinn went over to some girls and kissed the tops of their heads. I take it they were soulmates as well.

We all grabbed some food after everyone stopped gawking at the fact that Ash was telling the truth about me. As we ate Ash introduced me to everyone and the sisters to the people that they didn't know. When we finished eating we were taken to our rooms for the night.

"Mare?" Ash stopped me from going into the room. "I was wondering if you would want to . . . um . . ."

"Spit it out brother, she doesn't have all night." Kestral walked right by us and closed the door on us.

"Do you want to stay in my room and get caught up?" Ash just stood there and watched me. I didn't know what to say. It would be nice to get caught up and to spend more time with him, yet I didn't know if he would want to do what he was known for either. Closing my eyes I gathered up all of my courage to tell him my answer.

Heads up the next one will continue to be in Mary-Lynette's POV. She is going to do the day and Ash is going to do the night.

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