I hope you enjoy this, I've always shipped Hugh and Kestrel. (I personally don't think either of them gets enough shine time in the series, but that's what us fans are for i suppose :)

Anyway, as I said, I hope you like it. Please review, they do help.

Third Person POV:

"Hurry up Kestrel! He'll be here any minute!" The voice of Kestrel's youngest sister sounded from the hall. Honestly, Kestrel didn't know what exactly Jade was so excited for. Ash was coming to spend two weeks with them in Brier Creek. But to Kestrel, that held no ground to be exciting. It had been a year since Ash had come the first time, that time to take them back from where they had run away from. In that time, he had supposedly been trying to redeem himself for Mary-Lynette. Jade and Rowan had been keeping contact with their brother, even calling him every weekend just to ask how he was. They seemed to have forgiven Ash for all those years he had kept them trapped in that town, living in fear of what he might do to them if they tried to leave. Kestrel on the other hand, was much forgiving to her sisters. Ash might have been going back and trying to right his wrongs, but in the eyes of Kestrel it would take a lot more then a few saved lives to give her back the years taken from her out of fear of Ash's retaliation.

At least Ash hadn't seemed to expect Kestrel to suddenly become friendly to Ash the way Rowan and Jade had. After all, the two had always been at odds with each other, even as children they would always bicker, argue, and even fight each other. Though once Ash had hit puberty and became much bigger then Kestrel, she generally kept away from getting into any physical fights with him as by then she knew she had no chance of beating him anymore.

"KESTREL! ARE YOU EVEN COMING DOWN?!" Jade now shouted as she began to jiggle the doorknob to Kestrel's room. Finally Kestrel sat up in bed. Her main of golden hair fell around her face, messy from sleep. "Would you just give me a minute?!" Kestrel called through the door, the annoyance clear in her voice. With that Jade seemed to stop messing with the doorknob, and the sound of her voice echoing through the house could be heard while she called to Rowan. "OKAY! SHE'S AWAKE! BUT BE CAREFUL! I THINK SHE'S IN ANOTHER MOOD!"

Kestrel had to smirk at this. It wasn't a secret that Kestrel was considered to be the coldest and most dangerous one in the house. And with that, Kestrel would often have good days or bad days. Now for those who didn't know Kestrel very well, one could hardly notice the difference between Kestrel's good and bad days. However her sisters at least had come to realize that Kestrel was more likely to be snarky and was more prone to arguing on her bad days. Knowing that Ash was coming soon automatically set Kestrel in a bad mood for the day.

Kestrel swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood from it. She wouldn't dress up for her brother, but she could at least put on some comfortable clothes for the day. Despite how nice it would have been to lounge around in her pajama's all day. Going to her closet though, Kestrel only just now realized that her choice in outfit was rather limited. Not that it was a bad choice, jeans and a plain green t-shirt. Of course, it wasn't her favorite shirt. But the choice could have been worse. Correction, she did have a worse choice. She could also wear the formal dress she had tucked away in the back of her closet. She hated the dress to be perfectly honest. It was hugged her body in a nice way, this was true. However it also limited her movement if she were to try and fight or something of the sort. Not that she had much reason to fight here in Brier creek, but Kestrel still liked to know that if needed, she could take on whoever she had to without the need to tear off her clothes to win a fight.

"KESSY! HE'S PULLING UP!" Jade now shouted with several bangs to Kestrel's room door. Kestrel looked at the clock on her bedside table. He was early by two hours. The bastard. She finally left the room and took her sweet time walking down the steps of her home to stand on the porch with her sisters while they watched Ash park. Jade was the first to greet their brother, jumping off the porch of the farm house and running right up to the car just after Ash had opened up the drivers side door. Kestrel watched as Jade pulled Ash into a hug, seeming to be unable to contain her excitement for the blonde villain while Ash smiled and gave a wave over to Kestrel and Rowan. Rowan had an amused smile on her face while they watched Jade and Ash, and gave a slight wave back to their brother while Kestrel leaned against the house with her arms crossed.

One thing did finally catch Kestrel's attention though. The passenger side to Ash's car opened up. Kestrel's eyebrows pulled together in both confusion and curiosity. Ash hadn't mentioned someone else coming with him. She watched as a boy emerged from the car. He couldn't have been much older then herself, if at all. He was handsome Kestrel supposed with light skin and fair hair. And even from where she stood on the porch she could see his grey eyes. He was looking around at his new surroundings, seeming to be trying to take it all in. And then he went on to look at the people he'd never met before. Kestrel watched as his eyes went over Jade, then Rowan, and finally her. When the boy's eyes went over Kestrel though, she could feel the hairs on the back of her arms stand up causing her to have to restrain herself from getting into an instinctive fighting position. Finally, the boys grey eyes met Kestrel's amber ones, and she was taken aback by the look in them. She couldn't pin point exactly what it was about them. They seemed intense, and the only way she could think to describe them were that they were wise.

"Rowan. Did Ash say anything to you about bringing someone?" Kestrel asked almost accusingly, always hating to be the last one in on a secret. She was hardly ever the last to know any secrets. Even if no one told Kestrel anything, she was always listening and watching. It also helped that when she was silent, it almost seemed as though people could entirely forget she was in a room at all. These traits greatly helped her in achieving information she wanted. Especially from her family.

Rowan looked over to Kestrel, frowning at the intense look she was getting from the blonde wild woman. "No, he didn't say anything. But as a guest of Ash we'll welcome him and make him feel comfortable in any way we can. Wont we Kes?" Rowan asked this of Kestrel, though by her tone it was clear that there was no real question as to whether or not Kestrel would behave herself or not. Rowan was the oldest of all of Kestrel's siblings, and also the one in charge. Kestrel knew she had to listen to Rowan, but she certainly didn't need to like it. "And where's he going to stay Rowan? We only have one guest room." Kestrel pointed out.

Rowan turned back to watch their new arrivals while they grabbed their things from the trunk of Ash's car. The boy had a limp. "He can have the guest room, Ash can take my room, and I'll bunk with Jade." Rowan said decidedly. Well as long as Kestrel didn't need to give up her warm bed, it sounded like a fine arrangement. Though she was still unhappy about a surprise guest that was being led in by one of her least favorite people. "Now be nice, go help him with his bag." Rowan said looking at Kestrel whose face twisted up in annoyance as she was about to refuse. Why should she help the intruder? Rowan could do it herself if she really cared! Just before Kestrel could say anything though, Rowan was talking again. "I'm already giving up my bed." She said pointedly. Alright. One point for Rowan.

Kestrel gave Rowan a brief scowl, just to be sure that Rowan knew she was displeased with her before jumping over the rail of the porch and landing perfectly on her bare feet on the ground. She jogged over to help the boy gather his things to carry them in since clearly Ash had no intention of doing so as he was already having Jade carry half of his things as "he was the guest" as he put it.

The boy had two suit cases with him, but the moment Kestrel pushed herself between the boy and the trunk to get the cases, he was quick to grab the bag for himself. "I can get it myself, but thank you. You don't need to help me just because I've got a limp." He said, his voice warm and even angelic. Not that Kestrel cared what he sounded like. She hardly cared for anyone besides herself with the exception of her family. And not even all of them, just her immediate family. There were far to many double crossing, silver tongued, evil Redferns for Kestrel to care about all of them.

"Well that's good, because I didn't want to help you anyway. Hurry up inside or we'll lock you out. " Kestrel stated then turned her back on the boy and began back towards the house. She had no trouble letting a boy with a limp carry his own things, especially if he insisted he could do it alone. "I'm Hugh, by the way." The boy introduced as he attempted to catch up to Kestrel's fairly fast pace, though he was still paces behind her, slowed down from his limp and bags. Kestrel didn't reply to him. "I'm gonna take a guess and say you're Kestrel." He said, though there was certainly no guess in his words. He knew it was Kestrel.

Kestrel finally turned to look at him with a glare, He'd only just gotten here and already the human with a limp had annoyed her. "What was Ash telling you about me?" Kestrel demanded harshly. Oh boy would Ash hear of it if he'd trashed her to a stranger.

"Nothing bad, you don't have to worry. Rowan is the oldest and most reliable, Jade is the youngest and sweetest, and you, Kestrel are the middle child, but the strongest... well...he said strongest besides himself. But you know how Ash is." Hugh said with a light but awkward sounding laugh. Well, at least he knew that Ash was full of himself to a ridiculous level. But that still didn't make her happy that Ash had been talking about her. Even if it was good things. Actually it kind of agitated her. She didn't want Ash to think good of her. She wanted Ash to hate her the way she wanted to hate him if he weren't her brother.

"Well then I'm afraid Ash has told you wrong." Kestrel stated bluntly before stepping closer forward to stand directly in front of Hugh. "I'm mean, bitter, and spiteful. I am strong, sure, but I am also cold and dangerous, and you absolutely, should not turn your back on me." Kestrel informed him seriously. These were all things she'd heard about herself in the past among other things. But rather then rejecting them and trying to hide the bad parts of her personality, she stuck with them, and was happy to say that even with her bad qualities, she was herself. Kestrel's eyes flickered to one of the bags in Hugh's hand. She looked back up at his eyes."Give me that." she said with more force then needed before she snatched the bag away from him only to feel what felt like an electric shock bolt through her body when their hands touched.

Kestrel's eyes darted from her hand back up to Hugh and she scowled at him, assuming it was just some massive static shock. "Don't touch me again." She ordered before turning back around and heading towards the house again. The last thing she needed to deal with was a boy who shocked her while she was trying to carry his things for him.

Hugh watched as the lion like woman walked away from him. More like marched. Well, this was some wasn't overly surprised though. Hugh was an old soul, and as far as he could tell, it wasn't uncommon for a vampire to come with a chip on their shoulder or a few unkind words. Some were perfectly nice, for example that girl Poppy was a ball of energy, as was Ash's sister Jade it seemed. Though Ash himself had been skeptical of everything that had to do with Circle Daybreak at first, and it didn't take long for anyone to figure out he slept with a knife under his pillow for his first several months at Thierry's mansion.

Kestrel was different though. He hadn't even needed to touch her to figure that out. The way she'd stalked up to him after jumping off the porch the way she did, and with such ferocity and attitude. It was clear to anyone that Kestrel Redfern liked doing things the dangerous way. Or as some vampires had come to call it, the "fun" way. There had to be more to her then that though. When Hugh had made eye contact with Kestrel before she took his bag, he could just sense there was more to her behind those amber eyes then just some adrenaline junky looking for her next fix of blood. Only Hugh didn't know what. She'd pretty much laid out her personality on a hot plate for him. But then again, with the many lives Hugh had lived, he'd long since grown used to the idea that not everyone was exactly as they seemed.

Only what made Kestrel special so far, was the fact that she was his soulmate.

Hugh knew this already. The moment they touched that was Hugh's first thought. He'd known far to many soulmates not to know exactly what it was. Unfortunately, this came with complications. Hugh knew no one could live without their soulmate. Or at least, no one he'd ever heard of. But there lied the problem. Old souls couldn't get attached to people. At least, not ones that remembered their past lives like Hugh. Otherwise, when Hugh died, he'd come right back feeling and remembering the loss he'd suffered when he lost someone close to him.

Hugh supposed that Kestrel was a vampire, and that could be looked at as a good thing. She could live forever, and so if he kept dying, he could always come back and find her. But what happened if she died? Then Hugh would keep coming back. Over and over, without her. That wouldn't be a terrible fate. It would be a torturous one. Hugh frowned as he slowly began to follow Kestrel, now only holding one bag as he went to the house. If only there was a way to get out of this. It'd spare both himself and Kestrel a lot of grief if they weren't soulmates. He briefly thought about turning back and stealing Ash's car to get away. He didn't love Kestrel yet, and she sure as hell didn't seem to love him. Not by a long shot.

But he quickly shot down the idea. It didn't matter whether or not he thought he was in love. The fates decided he would be. And even if he tried to run now, he would be never be unable to feel the loss of her. He would always look back on their meeting and wonder "What if..." She might even think such things too. Hugh couldn't do that to her. He wouldn't do that to anyone. Especially not someone he was supposed to be with forever.

Now that was a strange thought. Kestrel had been made for him, and he for her. He'd always wondered why he was the one who was an old soul. Why he was the one who was continuously brought back to life, remembering his past lives each time. And now he supposed this was why. He was being made. Every life, every experience he'd ever had been making him. Molding him to be the perfect piece Kestrel needed to a clearly complicated puzzle.

So Hugh would stay. But did Kestrel know? Surely she had to know. After all, two of her siblings had soulmates. But by the frustrated look she gave him for the shock, it didn't appear to have set in what they were to one another. Just as well. Hugh would get to know her before dropping THAT bomb shell. And perhaps if he waited, she would love him on her own. They could get used to one another, and just maybe she wouldn't try to fight the connection which Hugh was sure Kestrel would try to do. He just had that feeling about her.

With that in mind, Hugh finally managed to continue his journey into the Redfern home. This would be a long two weeks.