Strange Love

Chapter 2- Present

Ash's Pov.

Everything is still and peaceful, complete and utter bliss. I could stay here forever and never have to worry about anything ever again but of course, I am not that lucky. My peace and quiet are shattered when my curtains are ripped open and let in the all too bright morning sun. I roll over to see my uncle Jace standing over me bouncing on the ball of his feet. He has a big smile plastered on his face and looks all too pleased with himself. For a man that's in his 40's, he is far to chipper in the morning.

"Rise and shine sleepy head, its a big day today! She is arriving today!"

"I know, I know, you've told me that about a hundred times already."

"Ash get a move on." He drops his lighthearted tone and takes on a more serious one, "I want you to be there because we both know you are going to avoid her at all costs." He gives me a rather pointed look and I sigh before getting up. He throws me one last smile before leaving me to get dressed.

Normally I would argue with him but I know its no use to try today, I know once his mind is set there is no changing it. I look around my room, it's small and simple and I love it for that. My double bed takes up most of the room, with a white headboard resting at the top. The walls are light grey and so is my bookshelf and cupboard that stands in the corner. Next to my bed is my draws and small side table. Above my bed is my small bookshelf that is solely dedicated to my favorite books, the limited edition books, and the books in perfect condition that never actually leave the shelf, the rest of my books are in the mini-library downstairs.

I pull on my black ripped jeans, loose black tank top, and combat boots before moving to my side table to look at my small assortment of knives. I keep my favorite and most used ones in my room and the rest are in the tracking agency armory (Pack & Track). It's supposed to be some play on words, something along the lines of wolves track and hunt in packs and we are meant to be a makeshift pack. The agency is mainly used by law enforcement to help track down criminals they can't find or are too dangerous to go after. I choose a small blade and tuck it into my boot plus another one at my hip.

I exit and walk down the endless hallway to meet an overly excited Jace in the living room. When I enter he looks at me and smiles widely before rolling his eyes at my appearance. We both know that if it were up to me then every room in this house would be painted and decorated in shades of grey and black. I cross the room and stand next to him, he looks back at the door and starts bouncing again, waiting for this mystery girl to appear.

The only thing I know about this mystery girl is that she is some rare half-breed that Jace technically bought, did I forget to mention that half-breeds are often treated as property. About two weeks ago two of his hunter friends approached him and said they had 'acquired' something he would love. He came back from the meeting blabbering about how pretty she is and how he just must have her. So here we are waiting for them to appear with his latest must-have and me wanting to punch him just a little.

I am pulled from my thoughts by a knock at the door which causes Jace to practically flings himself at the door and throws it open to reveal two tall men holding a girl by the arms between them. Jace ushers them in and I take the opportunity to inspect them, they are both freakishly tall with choppy light brown hair and rather large muscles. The one has amber eyes that sweep over the interior of the house before landing on me, he dismisses me all to quickly which is a mistake on his part, his counterpart has dull brown eyes that seem to study me a moment longer. They stop in front of me and as my uncle returns to my side to finalize details with them I turn my attention to the girl.

The girl in front of me is about my height just slightly shorter and looks fragile and dainty, almost like she might shatter at any given moment, which is accented by her pale complexion and lose fitting dress that stops just before her knees. She is barefoot which adds to the innocent childlike aspect. She has straight white hair with a slight purple tint to it that stops around her mid-back. She has two braids on each side that form a sort of makeshift crown. With her hair pulled away from her face you can't help but notice her bright crystal blue eyes that are rimmed in dark blue. Her eyes are basically two giant orbs of innocence and they are trained on me. I raise a questioning eyebrow and discretely try to catch her scent. I get a small whiff of her scent, pine forest mixed with mint, cinnamon, and lavender, the strangely familiar scent causes my ears to twitch forward in interest. A small smile takes shape on her face and I frown before flattening my ears against my head.

I turn my attention to Jace who has broken off into a ramble about how thankful he is. I lightly punch him on the arm and he seems to remember himself and calm down enough to pay the hunters. They smile crookedly at him before dropping her arms and leaving. I can feel her gaze still trained on me but I ignore her and watch them leave, ready in case they try anything.

Jace returns gives me a look that says relax and then starts off down the hallway gesturing for the girl to follow. She looks at me for a second longer before following after him. I fall into rank behind her and follow. That's when I notice them. Long graceful feathery white wings tinged with gold and it hits me, the real reason why Jace wanted her so badly. I glare at the back of the idiots head. If I'm right this girl is pegasus cross unicorn half-breed, flight and strength from the pegasus part and healing from the unicorn side.

We finally reach her room, Jace walks in with a flourish and immediately launches into explaining the rules while I stay in the doorway and she goes right back to staring at me.

"Hello Jupiter, my name is Jace, and mister grumpy over there is Ash. This is your room and you may decorate it however you please just ask me or one of the maids if you need anything. You have free reign of the house. In the mornings I will bring you breakfast and then you are free to wander. Any questions?"

Her gaze flicks over to him and seems to study him for a moment before speaking.

"What if I want to go outside?"

I smile a little at her question knowing full well he was not expecting that. He looks around trying to think of how to answer in a way that makes it seem like she has complete freedom without actually giving her complete freedom.

"Uhhh...." His gaze lands on me and I am already forming a protest before the words even leave his mouth "Come and find me or a maid and we will get Ash to take you outside, you can try asking him directly but it will probably be easier to find one of us."

I glare at him, my smile wiped from my face, and he gives me a small smile and I know that I am not getting out of this either because he just figured out a way to get me to be more involved.

She nods and her focus shifts back to me, she has a small smile on her face. I sigh and exit. I head down towards the training room to get some training in and blow off some steam. Ever since I got here four years ago I have been training, I learned how to track, fight, and do parkour. Eventually, Jace got me to join the agency and become a part-time tracker and a part-time bodyguard around the house which is probably why I am now in charge of watching our new guest because he knows that even if she runs away I can find her.