Did... Did you leave me those roses and that note?" My voice was nothing but a mere whisper, hoarse and croaky as my throat constricted and closed, making me feel as if I had swallowed acid. My frantic heart pumped the blood to my ears in anticipation for his answer.

I already knew the answer though. This had to be some kind of sick nightmare and any moment now, I'd wake up and return to my boring, normal life that didn't involve sexy-as-hell kidnappers with Lamborghini. It had to be! "Are you a s-stalker or some kind of psychopath?" I couldn't resist the urge to ask, the ludicrous thought suddenly seeming incredibly possible as the naked and occasional evergreen trees blurred by. 

My eyes met Xander's. For a second or two, his beautiful golden eyes seized my breath, those mysterious orbs never failing to surprise and remind me of their intensity and of the mysteries that lurked behind them. The emotion that swirled in their depths resembled amusement, much to my horrification. This amused him?! 

"To answer your first question, yes, I was the one who left those roses at your door, and as for your second question, no, I'm neither of those things." His tone of voice sounded extremely amused, much to my irritation.

Him claiming he wasn't a criminal just wasn't enough for me to believe him, especially when he was taking me to some place without my consent. After all, he did confess to leaving those dead roses at my doorstep probably. Surely he'd left them as some sort of demented omen. The message in the card was terrifying on its own. The breath hitched in my throat as I recalled with vivid clarity all then stories I'd heard or read about women being kidnapped. Horrible, horrible things had been done to most of them.

"I don't believe you," I blurted gripping the door handle and trying it one more time to see if it would open despite the car still moving. But the bastard had child-locked the door, which meant that he'd planned this well in advance. 

But why?! What was his goal? I wasn't rich or famous and neither were my parents! I had nothing that someone who owned a Lamborghini would deem worthy of kidnapping me for!

As if magically reading my mind, Xander said in a firm yet soft voice, "I'm not a kidnapper either." When he said that this time, his eyes met mine.

I saw in them hesitance–perhaps for kidnapping me. 

I finally found my voice after what felt like an eternity. "But you are kidnapping me," I stated matter-of-factly, staring at him beseechingly, praying with all my heart and soul he'd change his mind and decide to abort this ridiculous, illegal mission. And just to bait him, I said, "I swear on my ancestors' gravel I won't tell a soul if you let me go. You know what, you can just leave me here even though it's the middle of nowhere and I don't know the way back. You might get lucky and I'll get lost and eventually die here and only be found a hundred years later during an archeological drilling." The idea made my stomach churn and turn till I thought I'd hurl, tears welling in my eyes and threatening to spill, but I had to tempt him somehow and the words poured out of my mouth on their own accord. 

To my alarm, a hearty laugh escaped Xander's mouth.

Stunned by his reaction, my jaw dropped. 

The idiot took his gaze off the road completely to look at me, his grip on the steering wheel loosening a little. My eyes widened and my heart stuttered in mortification and trepidation, death-alert bells ringing in my head. If he kept looking away from the road like this, he'd eventually kill us both in a car accident!

But despite not having his gaze on the road, the Lamborghini's speed didn't falter nor did the car so much as sway, as if he knew the road we were taking like the back of his hand. And perhaps he did. No, he had to know the road for sure. Who would lay a road in a deserted place like this anyway? And for what?

Was there something up ahead I hadn't heard of before?

No, I knew every inch of the Evergreen Town and everything that lay within its borders and I had never heard tales of some destination this far away.

"Why are you doing this?" 

Xander glanced at me in the rare view mirror, his eyes appearing to be glowing once again. "I'm not going to hurt you, Carly. Ever. You can be sure of that."

The way he said it and the conviction I heard in his voice almost made me believe him, but it did make my heart stammer, butterflies coming to life in my stomach. Not to mention my back began its frantic tingling once more as shivers ran to my fingertips. His voice was weirdly reassuring.

Really, why would Xander kidnap me? Perhaps he wasn't and this was some kind of sick prank he coordinated with Shitney. I mean, I had already concluded there really was nothing special about me to attract hot-as-hell and rich criminals.

"So you're just taking me on a joy ride?" The disbelief in my voice was plastered on my face as well. 

"'Course." The word left his mouth so casually, so nonchalantly that I immediately knew it was a lie, like he were trying to silence me just to make the ride to wherever he was taking me –probably an abandoned slaughterhouse or death cabin- easier and quieter.

It didn't help that every single horror movie I'd ever watched flashed in my mind one after the other at that very moment, every gruesome, bloody scene much more enhanced in my head than it even were on TV.

"Where are we?" I whispered to myself. I looked out the window and caught sight of a blue sign, but I wasn't quick enough to catch the words as well. The car still drove down the same long, seemingly-endless road, trees standing and undergrowth spreading on both sides of it. From my seat, all I could see were trees of all kinds, shapes and sizes. Some of the trees had been stripped of their leaves by the winter, leaving them only with dry, skeletal-like branches while the others such as pines maintained their green, radiant leaves, snow dotting them as if sugar caster had been sprinkled generously on top of them. The only place that came to mind that matched all these descriptions was the Evergreen Forest, the one place my parents strictly forbade me from ever entering. As I continued to stare from the window, I spotted nothing sinister or dangerous that could've possibly caused my parents to freak out on me when I was fifteen for wanting to go hiking in these woods.

Of course, there were the occasional accidents with animals or people ending up lost and never returning, even as corpses, but the reason for that could be because it was so vast. That was the argument I had countered them with, but they constantly reminded  me of the local legend that the Evergreen Forest had been rumored to be the home of hundreds of wolves since ancient times, the mindless animals dangerous and vicious. 

"Home," he said in response to my question–which he apparently overhead me saying.

I looked left and right for a cabin in the woods or a magnificent Victorian home surrounded by trees with more windows than walls. But I saw nothing but thick foliage creating barricades on both sides of the road.

I knew he noticed my obvious confusion when he glanced at me with those mesmerizing eyes in the rare view mirror again, and that devilish smirk confirmed it. Yet he made no effort to clarify, which drove me to the brink of insanity.

"Where are we going, then?" I tried the other question that had been nagging at my mind ever since Xander sped out of the school' sparking lot, hoping he'd have the decency to answer me this question at least. 

"You'll see." 

I nearly screamed out loud at his elusive behavior. I was hovering dangerously close to the edge.

"Why won't you tell me?!" I questioned hysterically. "You don't have the right to just whisk me away to wherever the hell you plan on taking me to. Stop this car right this instant!" I demanded fervently, my anger escalating, stomping my feet as if I stood on solid ground.

"Your wish is my command." Without warning, Xander slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a sudden stop. I would have flown out of the window if it weren't for the strong arm keeping me in place, pressing against my chest right where my breasts were. 

When my mind finally registered Xander's hand on my breasts, a crimson shade colored my cheeks and I slapped his hand away. 

Xander flashed me a wolfish grin before killing the engine, swung open his door and stepped out of the car, slamming the door shut behind him. For a moment, my heart literally paused beating when I thought that he would leave me inside his car in the cold to die all on my own, but that moment quickly passed by when he opened my door, gesturing for me to exit.

Hesitantly, I stepped out of the car, suddenly appreciating the car's safety than having to face him out here in the open with no one to come to my aid if things went awry.

Xander stared into my eyes for what seemed like forever, his eyes glowing brighter than they'd ever glowed before, and I was taken aback. Was it even humanly possible to have such an unusual, practically impossible trait –to have glowing eyes?

Before I could ask what he was staring at, he said in a husky, deep voice, "Welcome into the Evergreen Pack Carly." Then he stepped aside, revealing what he'd been obscuring with his body.