A/N: Thanks to all my awesome reviewers:

Sophia: You know it! Your idea was awesome, however I have something a little different in mind. Hope you enjoy it!

Alissarhode: Thank you! Sorry about the short chapter. I hope this one makes up for it!

Rose: Hooray! I'm glad someone enjoys the suspense! Enjoy the wrath!

mj-a4evaxx: No problem! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 20

Mary-Lynette was furious. First Ash had dragged her and her family down to Las Vegas from Briar Creek, then she finds out that he tried seducing his cousin's soulmate! She knew he had done things he wasn't proud of; but kidnapping someone? He was going to pay. Soon. A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts. It must be Ash. She knew he would come. Where would he sleep otherwise? When she first entered the room, she had found that along with her suitcases, there were clothes in the closet and dresser. Assuming it was Ash's stuff, she sat down to wait for him to come up to bed. Now that he had, she would finally be able to give him a piece of her mind.

"So nice of you to finally show up." she said as the door opened, revealing the vampire she had been waiting for.

Ash stood there for a moment, looking frightened. Mary-Lynette knew he had been trying to talk to her earlier. She had effectively blocked him from her mind. It took some concentration, but she had managed.

"Mary-Lynette? You okay?" Ash sounded just as scared as he looked. Perfect.

"I dunno. Why don't you ask the girl you kidnapped?"

Ash looked confused for a moment, then the confused look on his face transformed into one of realization. Then it went right back to fear.

"Mary-Lynette. You gotta understand. That was a long time ago-"

"No! You've got to understand!" Mary-Lynette cut him off. "I don't care how long ago it was! The point is that you still did it!"

"I thought you had forgiven me?"

"Well you thought wrong."

Ash was stunned. He had seen his soulmate angry before, but never to such an extent. She was outraged.

"Care to explain to me just why you would kidnap your cousin's soulmate?" she asked. Her voice was deadly. If it was able to manifest into wooden stakes, Ash would have been dead.

"Well, like I said, it was a long time ago. I was different. All I knew was that my cousin had broken the Night World law. It was before I believed in the soulmate principle and -"

"Di-Didn't believe?" Mary-Lynette cut him off.

"No I didn't. Just let me finish my story please."

Mary-Lynette sat with her arms crossed over her chest, not really wanting to hear her soulmate carry on.

"Thank you. As I was saying, I thought James was just being the idiot he is. I convinced Poppy that she was putting James in danger as long as she was near him. Mortified, she followed me willingly. I brought her to Vegas and figured that I could at least have some fun with her before handing her over."

Mary-Lynette looked like she was going to say something, but Ash spoke before she could get the chance.

"She wouldn't let me get near her, so I figured I might as well cut my losses and go to the party Lord Thierry was hosting. Luckily for her, James and her brother Phil showed up before I had the chance to expose her. They walked away from my fight challenge and left. I hadn't heard from James until I arrived here at Circle Daybreak. Ironically enough, this mansion is the same one that the party was at…" he ended, remembering the event.

Appalled, Mary-Lynette glared at Ash. How could he have done something like that? Granted, it was before he had met her, but she couldn't let him off that easily.

"So, do you forgive me?" he asked childishly.

"No. In fact, I don't even want you near me right now! Please leave." she demanded coldly.

Ash quietly obliged, backing out of the room and closing the door behind him. As he did so, he took one last glance at Mary-Lynette, who was still seated on the bed, but looked as though she might break into tears. His heart broke. He was the reason she was crying. Him and his stupid mistakes. He numbly laid down on the couch in the living room, pulling a blanket off the back. The pokey edges of his broken heart jabbed him no matter which way he lay. He welcomed the pain as a constant reminder of how idiotic he was.

Alone in her room, Mary-Lynette began to sob uncontrollably. She kept her mind shielded, but wished she didn't have to. The instant she told Ash to leave, she instantly regretted it. She needed him there beside her to protect her and keep her safe. Not having him in the same room as her just wasn't the same. She didn't feel those same feelings of peace and security. The security was there - she couldn't feel unsafe in this large mansion - but the peace wasn't. It felt like a tornado had ripped through her body, leaving her insides torn and mangled. Crying herself to sleep, Mary-Lynette tried telling herself that she had done the right thing; but for some reason she couldn't make herself believe it.

Ash was rudely awakened by hands picking him up and dropping him just beside the couch. Opening his eyes, he saw a girl with long black hair and grey eyes standing over him.

"Good morning! It's about time you woke up!" she told him with false cheer in her voice.

"Keller's been begging to do that all morning! You're lucky I was able to hold her off this long." a male voice said. Sitting up slightly, Ash saw Galen Drache, Prince of the First House of the Shapeshifters standing off to one side smirking.

"I see you got kicked out of your room." he observed.

"Ya. Poppy told Mary-Lynette about a little incident from before I met her and she freaked."

"I'd say freaked is a bit of an understatement. I'm pretty sure the whole house heard your argument."

Ash simply glared at the dark-haired girl. Keller could be so annoying! It was a good thing she had Galen to keep her out of trouble.

Suddenly, a voice from the archway caused all three teenagers to look. It rang with authority.

"I'm sorry to break up this little party. Ash, could I talk to you in my office please?"

Ash stood up hurriedly. "Yes Lord Thierry. The sooner the better." he said, throwing a glance at Keller.

Following Thierry to his office, Ash caught a glimpse of James and Poppy walking down a hallway. He'd need to have a little chat with Poppy later. Closing the door, Thierry gestured for Ash to take a seat in front of his desk. Sitting behind the desk, Thierry ran his eyes over Ash.

"You look rough." he began.

"Tell me about it. Mary-Lynette and I had a bit of a fight last night and I got kicked out of our room." Ash explained.

"I see. So would you care to explain why you're back so early? You called to let us know you were coming, but you didn't explain the situation very fully."

Ash took a breath and prepared to once again explain his story for what he assumed would not be the last time.

Mary-Lynette's first thought upon waking was Where am I? She looked around, remembering she was in Ash's room at Circle Daybreak's headquarters. Her next thought was regarding Ash. Where was he? Then she remembered. She had kicked him out because he had neglected to tell her about the time he kidnapped Poppy. She supposed she had been a little harsh on her soulmate, but hopefully it had given him something to think about. Wondering how her parents were doing, Mary-Lynette got dressed and went to find them. She knocked on their door, then on Mark's, but nobody answered. Perhaps they were somewhere else. Walking down the stairs, she was intercepted by a girl with fiery red hair and silver-blue eyes and a boy who's black hair hung down in his face, not quite covering his green eyes.

"Hey." the girl greeted.

"Who are you?" the tough-looking boy asked.

"Mary-Lynette." she replied, on the defensive now.

"Oh! You're Ash's infamous soulmate!" the boy seemed shocked to be seeing her.

Seeing her confusion, the girl spoke again. "We've heard lots about you. In fact, we were starting to think Ash just made the whole thing up!"

Mary-Lynette was surprised. Ash had told them about her?

"Oh, I'm Jez and this is Morgead by the way." the girl said as they started walking up the stairs, waving goodbye.

"See you around!" Morgead called to her.

Well that was somewhat odd. Mary-Lynette thought to herself, hoping that everyone else accepted her just as easily as Jez and Morgead had. Glancing in the living room on her way by, she found another couple sitting on the couch laughing. The blonde-headed boy had his arms wrapped around a girl who had long, flowing black hair. Not wanting to disturb them, Mary-Lynette turned to go.

"Wait! Come back!" she heard a male voice say. Turning around, Mary-Lynette saw that the boy had disentangled himself from the girl and was walking towards her.

"My name is Galen. Who might you be?" he asked, extending a hand. Finally! A normal introduction!

"I'm Mary-Lynette." she said, smiling at the cat-like boy. Like Ash, he felt like a cat. Everything from his cat-like eyes to the way he moved made her think it.

The girl stood up to shake her hand, and Mary-Lynette got the same impression from her.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Keller. I'm a shapeshifter." she added with a grin. "He is too."

That would explain the cat-like appearance.

"So, you're Ash's soulmate?" Keller asked after a moment. Obviously she had heard about her too.

"The one and only." she admitted with a smile. Something about these two made her feel extremely comfortable. Safe even. Though she was sure that both could kill her with a single strike, they didn't seem like it. Mary-Lynette was a little more comfortable around Galen, but Keller seemed genuinely nice. She noted that they stayed fairly close to one another, just like soulmates seemed to do.

"Um, have you seen my parents?" she eventually had enough courage to ask the question after learning a little bit about the two shapeshifters. She had learned that Keller was a panther and Galen was a leopard. Both looked very confused by her question though.

"Never mind." Mary-Lynette corrected. "Do you think you could point me in the direction of the kitchen?"

"We can do better than that. We can escort you there." Keller offered, receiving a nod from Galen.

"Okay I guess."

When they finally arrived at the kitchen, Mary-Lynette was sure that she would get lost in such a large house. There were just so many rooms and hallways. There were some people sitting around a small table off to the side of the room, her parents among them. Thanking her new friends, Mary-Lynette walked over and took and empty chair next to her father.

"Morning sleepyhead." he teased. "We've been up for hours now and you've only just woken up."

"I was tired." she said as an excuse. "Plus I got a little lost trying to find the kitchen. Or at least I would've if Keller and Galen hadn't shown me the way."

As Mary-Lynette gestured to the two teens standing awkwardly by the door, her father and Claudine gave a little wave.

"So how long do we have to stay here?" they whispered to her, not wanting the others to hear.

"I'm not sure." she whispered back. "Until Ash thinks it's safe enough for us to leave I guess."

"Kind of controlling, don't you think? I hate to nag, but controlling boyfriends aren't very good. The relationship might turn abusive." Typical Claudine. Mary-Lynette knew she was just watching out for her, but she clearly didn't understand the soulmate bond.

"We heard you guys fighting last night…" her father began.

Mary-Lynette cut him off. "Does everyone in this house know?"

Claudine looked sympathetic. Angry once again, Mary-Lynette walked briskly out of the kitchen, not even bothering to say good-bye.

Trying not to get lost, Mary-Lynette suddenly found herself in a large yard. Mark was there with a blonde-haired girl and a boy with sandy hair. They were crowded around a small bird which looked hurt from where she was standing. Not wanting another confrontation about her fight with Ash the night before, she quickly exited the yard from the way she came in. In her rush to escape, she suddenly collided with a girl who looked as though she was around the same age. The girl had a red smudge across one cheek, and for a moment, Mary-Lynette thought it was blood. Looking closer, she realized it looked more like a birthmark.

"I'm so sorry-" the girl started. Mary-Lynette cut her off.

"No no. I'm the one who should be sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going. It's my fault."

Standing up, Mary-Lynette offered the girl her hand. She gratefully took it, and Mary-Lynette pulled her to her feet.

"I'm Hannah." she introduced herself.

"Mary-Lynette. It's nice to meet you."

"You're Ash's soulmate then?" What was with everyone asking her that and being so surprised?

"Yes. I don't understand why that's such big news around here." Mary-Lynette said, hoping she didn't sound rude.

"Well Ash has just been so lonely and we could all tell he missed you so much. I guess we're just surprised that you're here is all. Not that we don't want you. We're just glad that he brought you with him." she finished with a smile.

Mary-Lynette liked the brown-haired girl. She felt almost as if she had connected with the girl, even though she had only spoken to her for a minute or so.

"Do you think I could talk to you for a minute?" she asked shyly.

"Sure. What about?"

"Um… Ash and I kinda had a fight last night, and I kinda wanted to talk to someone about it, if you don't mind." Now that she said it out loud, it sounded stupid. Now not only would Hannah think she was a klutz, she would probably think she was a complete idiot too.

"Of course! Come with me." she said, leading Mary-Lynette upstairs through a back stairwell. They came to a door and Hannah opened it, peeking in.

"Okay. Come on in. We can talk here."

Mary-Lynette found herself entering a pale gold bedroom. It was larger than Ash's, and seemed much more grande.

"Who's room is this?" she asked, again hoping that she didn't sound rude.

"Mine." Hannah replied simply.

Now seated on the bed, Mary-Lynette began pouring her heart out to this girl she had just met. It was odd for her, but she didn't stop to consider what she was doing. So many odd things had happened the past few days, one more thing didn't worry her too much. She found herself telling Hannah absolutely everything, including the ordeal with Ash's mother and even her heart disease. When she finished, she was shocked and out of breath. Hannah had simply sat there listening, nodding at the appropriate times. They sat there in silence for a few minutes once she was finished. Mary-Lynette was thinking about what she had just said, and Hannah was taking it all in.

"Well, the only thing I can think of that'll help you is talking to Ash." seeing that Mary-Lynette was about to protest, Hannah continued on.

"What he did to Poppy was in the past. He's changed. Even I've seen it. You know, when I first arrived at the mansion, he told me about you and how amazing you were. He also said how much he missed you and how much he wanted to make up for the things he had done in the past. He's a good guy, Mary-Lynette. Go talk to him."

Mary-Lynette nodded, seeing the logic in what the other girl was saying. Nodding, she leaned forwards, wrapping her arms around Hannah. She hoped the girl didn't mind. Hannah returned the hug, thankful that Mary-Lynette had so readily become her friend. Feeling a small amount of water on her shoulder, Hannah realized that Mary-Lynette was in tears.

Pulling away, Hannah looked at Mary-Lynette.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just - I wish I hadn't been such an idiot!" Mary-Lynette said, laughing slightly.

Hannah laughed as well. "Well sometimes it just can't be helped." she told her, giving her a teasing look before pulling her into another tight hug.

That was how Thierry found them, laughing and still hugging each other tightly. He looked at them for a moment, trying to figure out what they were doing, before clearing his throat to get their attention. The two girls immediately broke apart. Mary-Lynette watched as Hannah stood up and hugged Thierry quickly before gesturing to her.

"This is Mary-Lynette." she explained. Thierry nodded.

"Mary-Lynette, this is my soulmate, Thierry."

"Nice to meet you Thierry." Mary-Lynette said, in a good mood for the first time that day.

"So you're Ash's soulmate?" he questioned, though he sounded like he already knew the answer.

"Yep. So you're Hannah's soulmate?" she teased back.

Thierry laughed. "Well I can see why Ash loves you." was all he said.

"I'd best be on my way out." Mary-Lynette said after a short moment. "I've gotta go talk to Ash about something."

Both Thierry and Hannah nodded. Mary-Lynette gave Hannah a quick hug on her way out the door.

"Thanks for everything, Hannah."

"Anytime."

A/N: Well that would be that chapter. Hope you enjoyed it and hopefully the length makes up for last chapter being short.

As always, let me know what you think of this new friendship between Mary-Lynette and Hannah. The rest of the soulmates will be introduced into the story soon.

So what was your favourite part? Any guesses about what is going to happen next?

Happy Writing my friends!