Never Let Go

10

Oliver's POV

I collapsed onto the chair beside Ash's bed, staring at nothing in particular as the realization of what had just happened settled into my mind. Ash was gone, Ashley was in Ash's bed, injured.

I chuckled silently. Nothing was going right this week, I thought as my eyes skimmed over to Alice as she leaned onto the wall by the door, Distrime at her side, trying to calm her down. She was all over the place, crying while she cursed, as well as sending hateful glares at the now terrified Ashley every chance she got. It had been a while since I'd seen Alice panic like this. She had always been protective of us, so for Ash to up and disappear like this had her on the edge. I was tense too, but I could mask my concerns under a blank face like I was now.

“So what you're telling me is that, Alice, you were woken by the sound of a car leaving, went to go check it out, and noticed Ash car missing,” Jasper said as he paced the room, frustrated; he couldn't find a legitimate reason for to what the hell was going on.

“Yeah, and I smelled the blood coming from Ash's room, but I heard movement coming from Ollie's room, so I went there first and you know the rest,” Alice said, sliding down the wall.

I glanced at the clock, seeing that it read 10:30 am. That meant we had been sitting here for a while now, and have been left with more questions then answers. Worry was starting to sink in even more as my eyes landed on Ashley. If it was any other time, I would have laughed at how pathetic, she looked curled up into the covers as far away from us as she could get on the bed. But right now, I couldn't; for she may just have been the last one to see Ash before she disappeared.

I leaned forward in my chair, my elbows resting on my knees as I dropped my head into my hands, taking in a deep breath. Why would she do this? Where is she? I thought Ash was the person that would help me redeem myself. To help me better myself. Without her, I felt empty of emotions. Other then my mate, what am I living for?

I looked back up at Ashley to see her staring at Jasper in a weird way. Looking to Jasper, I saw he wasn't paying attention to her; he was more stressed out about Ash.

“Okay, Ashley, what the hell are you doing here?” I asked, making eye contact with her.

“So it all started…”

When she was finished, everything was silent. Nobody was talking, let alone breathing, but our hearts were accelerating as the clock tick.

“So you are telling me that Mark has basically turned into a psychopath, and you were able to escape but you had to leave your brother?” Distrime said, leaving the statement to transform into a question as he sat down beside the mad Alice.

“Why are you here? Where is Ash, huh? I swear, if you did something to her, I will put you-” Alice's outburst was cut off due to Distrime covering her mouth and dragging her out the door. An apologetic expression was on his face, and a murderous one was on Alice's.

“This is all going down the toilet. What would make Ash leave?” Nicholas sighed. He too was lost on what to make of the situation.

“Maybe she just needed a break. What if it was just too much for her to handle, and she went somewhere to relax? A lot has happened in the last few days, and I too would have left to be alone, seeing as nobody really took the time to sit her down and ask her if she was okay,” Jasper finished after coming to this realization.

I felt even more sick to my stomach. What if I could have prevented this from happening? If only I had been a good friend. I felt like I just failed her. I stood up, making my way towards the door.

“What are you going to do about her?” Nicholas asked, looking back at me and Jasper. Jasper glanced at her, then at me, and exited the room after shrugging his shoulders.

“Um, put one of our best warriors on her until we know for sure she can be trusted. Also, get her the hell up out of Ash room. I don't want this disease messing it up any more then it has already done," I said, exiting the room. Just because she is injured and oh so sad doesn't mean I forgave or forgot everything she did. In my eyes, she was still the enemy.

Three full weeks had passed since Ash's disappearance. No word had come from her or anyone about the situation. Security had been taken up a notch, seeing as Ashley was able to get through them fairly easy. And the guards that night were punished. Alice and I were still hostile towards Ashley, even though the men had started to warm up to her. Yes, I could see a change in her attitude and demeanor, but that didn't change anything at all. She was still a snake in the grass.

Every day was a day that I remembered my fault, that I was not there for Ash like I told her I would be. Damn it. I thought I needed answers now, or I was going to go insane.

I pushed opened the doors that lead outside the training building and headed back to the house, the resolve to go find Ash myself on my mind.

When I came into the kitchen, I saw the whole gang sitting around the table talking. Oh yeah, and Ashley was here too….

“Hey babe, right, on time; we need to discuss a few things as a group," Nicholas said, pulling me down onto his lap.

“Okay, I'm fine with that, but what is she doing here?” I asked, nodding towards Ashley, who was standing against the wall.

“Uhh….well, Jasper,” Alice started, dragging out the r in his name, “thought it would be a good idea to bring her with us instead of leaving her with the pack.”

“Okay; wait, where are we going?” My mind was racing at this point, for I was hoping that it pertained to finding Ash.

“Well, if you would have waited, we are coming up with a plan to go find Ash. We need her just as much as she needs us, maybe even more,” Nicholas said, rubbing circles on my back in an attempt to calm my overactive mind.

I was just about to say something when the lights turned off and the warm air around us dropped significantly and quickly turned extremely cold.

“What the hell?” Distrime said, going to the light switch and flicking it on and off.

Ashley was extremely scared. You could visibly see the trembles going through her body as she tried to blend in as well as possible with the wall.

The rest of us were semi-calm on the outside, but on the inside we were all prepared for whatever was coming our way.

It wasn't long before a figure started to form. Shadow was being drawn towards it. Vibrant red eyes and pearly white teeth was visible. After a short while, the figure took on the form of Alexander.

I released a breath that I did not know I had been holding, along with the others. I was confused to the max as to why he was here, but then something clicked in my mind.

“Did you take Ash?” I asked, practically yelling as I jumped out of my seat, waiting for him to say yes so I could attack him.

He laughed, as if I were the last thing he was worried about. Little did he know, he was pushing all the right buttons for me to snap.

“No, I didn't,” Alexander replied, casually taking a seat at the table. “I could tell you what happened, if you want.”

I hated people that acted like him with a passion. Acted all high and above everyone else. But he had information that I desperately wanted, so until I got it, I would have to calm down and focuse. I was doing it for Ash.

After finally calming myself and sitting back down, Alexander decided to talk.

“So...as you know, Ash disappeared about three weeks ago. I'm here today because she wanted to pass on a message.” He looked at all of us: me, Nicholas, Alice, Distrime, and Jasper. (Ashley had run out right before Alexander sat down.) It seemed like he was playing with us, drawing out our anticipation of what she said. Taking what we wanted and was toying with us with it.

“For freak's sake, get on with it. What did she say? Where is she?” Alice shouted, her face turning red by the second with anger. She was always one for being a hothead, and she was hella impatient.

“Okay, okay. Three weeks ago, Ash decided she couldn't take it anymore. The pressure that was being put on her coming from Mark, you guys, and myself was just too much. She didn't have anyone to vent to, because you were all living a happy life and she didn't want to intrude on that. She said to not beat yourselves up over it. Especially you, Oliver. She decided to go to the mountains where Jasper took her to last time, but while she was there, something happened. She does not wish to tell me what happened, but soon after, she decided to take up my request and come to the Shadowworld, where she is currently residing right now.”

The room was again silent as he finished. Everyone was locked into their own thoughts over what he had just said; me the most. I felt like it was my fault. I realized at the last minute that I hadn't been a friend. If only I wasn't so uh.

“She said that she will return when she is ready, so get rid of the search units you put out, because you will never find her," Alexander said as he got up, prepared to leave.

“Wait; can you give a message to her?” Jasper said, who had been oddly quiet throughout this whole ordeal.

Alexander smirked. “Maybe, maybe not, it depends.”

“On what?” Distrime asked.

“When the time comes, you will have to do something for me," he replied.

Without hesitation, Jasper accepted it.

“Okay; tell her we are extremely sorry we didn't take the time to check on her. She had been so strong that we thought she was handling it. But also let her know we have a battle to prepare for, and if she is not back by the end of the year, we will come find her and bring her back.”

Jasper said, making eye contact with Alexander. I thought he was being heartless with his last words, but he is the Alpha; there's no going against him. What he said was true, though; no matter what, we had to prepare for the upcoming battle, and Ash was the center of it.

“Okay, your message will be delivered. Goodbye.” Before anyone could say or ask anything else, he disappeared as quickly as he had come.

After he left, everyone went their separate ways: Jasper to his office, Alice and Distrime off to let off some steam. Nicholas and I went to our room. Not really up to be around people.

I closed the door and got in between Nicholas legs facing him.

“It's not your fault. You couldn't tell what was going on with her internally. Ash is a strong woman, she can take care of herself. Maybe this is what's best for her; this time to be alone and away from this atmosphere," Nicholas said as he rubbed my back, trying to help relieve the stress I was putting on myself.

“Uh, maybe you are right, but why would she go to Shadowworld? Hell, what is the Shadowworld? It's that type of thing that worries me: we honestly don't have proof that what he said is true. That scares me; what if she needs help?”

Before Nicholas could respond to my question, my wolf Nix cut in.

•Dear child, she is okay. I cannot go into details on how I know this or anything like that, but know that she is fine. Do not worry, she will come around in due time.•

After Nix spoke to me, he cut off our connections. Nix was an older wolf soul; he had the wisdom and age; at times it was great, but at other times, not so much, seeing as I'm still young and he's old, we clash every other day.

•Stop calling me old!• Nix shouted, his voice booming in my ear, making me wince.

I chuckled, causing Nicholas to raise an eyebrow at me. Instead of replying to it, I just started planting kisses all around his face. His arms circled around my body, drawing me closer towards him. As the kiss got heated our clothes soon disappeared one by one, until we were both naked. After that, the night became wonderful for us, and soon after, we fell into each other arms for a much needed rest.

Unknown POV

The night was dark, but the moon was shining the brightest it could. The wind felt to be carrying the sound of music through the air as it passed the balcony doors of a house, where a older man could be seen talking to a young woman.

“It is time," the man said to the woman. “Once there, you will need to become her. Learn things off the others. Use it against them, and above all, don't get caught. It will take you about two months to get there. You leave in the morning.”

He gave the woman a jar after instructing her on when to drink it. Then he left the woman in her room. The night was going to be long for her, she thought as she looked up towards the moon that was visible through her window. She stepped forward and out the double doors that led to her balcony. This is what she was born to do, born to be. She spoke to no one in particular, just to the moon and the flower that looked up to her like a princess as the moon cast its glow onto her face.

“Yes, Father, I will become the best Ash I can be.”