Forever (Book 1 of the FOREVER trilogy)

Chapter 30

Ever's P.O.V.

I exausted myself after a good thirty minutes of unsuccesful struggling. Roderick had laughed at my struggles a few times but at the moment, he was silent. I relaxed against the restraints and tried to focus on what I could hear and feel. I felt the wood pulling at the thin material of what I was wearing, which I assmued as a dress. I guessed I was laying out on a table beside a fire. Counting the fact that I had felt rain earlier and I could hear the wind rustling the leaves on the trees, I figured it was safe to assume I was outside in a forest of sorts. As I heard Roderick stride towards me again, I struggled against the retraints again. He laughs darkly and cupped my cheek in his hand, causing me to flinch since I couldn't jerk away fro him.

"You know," Roderick said with a heavy sigh, "It's a shame that I've got to kill you, doll. I rather liked you. You've got fire just like Cassandra did." At the sound of my mother's name, I froze. I wanted to tear Roderick apart. How dare he speak of my mother. I jerked slightly, forcing myself to move and centimeter or two towards him. He laughed and brushed his thumb across my brow.

"You look just like her when she was your age. So beautiful," Roderick said and I could hear the frown in his voice. What the heck was he talking about? I knew that he knew my dad and my uncle but my mom? Joshua said he killed my mother. If Roderick had cared for my mom then why was the man that killed her working for him? This wasn't adding up. I was pulled from my thoughts when a sharp pain flared up in my head. As it eased, I found that I could move again. Roderick must have lifted the spell.

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was mostly correct in my guesses. I was laying verticallty on an old table that reminded me of a tourture table from the medieval time period. My wrists and ankles were bound with ropes that were connected to posts at the head and the end of the table. I was wearing a white lacy dress with a beaded bodice and a long train. It took me a moment to realize it was a wedding dress. To be specific, It was my mother's wedding dress. I had seen pictures of her in it before but I thought that Dad had given it away when she passed. How the heck had Roderick gotten a hold of it? I lifted my head and let my long, curled hair fall forward. I was facing a tall fire in the middle of a clearing. The full moon was illuminating the sky. I heard a low groan and whipped my head around to the source of the noise. There by the trees that lined the clearing, bound to a post with chains, was Jack. I gasped and struggled towards him but it was no use.

"Jack!" I called out cautiously. "Jack!" He moaned softly and lifted his head slowly. He had a large gash on his head and blood was running down his face and into his eyes. He looked up at me groggily and stood up on his knees te best he could, leaning forward and letting the chains that bound his wrists hold him up.

"Ever?" He asked faintly as he became more aware of his surroundings, "Ever! Are you alright? Where are we? What's going on?" He winced and lifted a hand to his head. I frowned and flicked my index finger at him, signaling for him to be quiet and take it easy. He leaned back against the post he was bound to but he didn't relax. He eyed my curiously and cracked a faint smile.

"You know, I would say that you look beautiful if it weren't for the current situation," He smirked weakly. I rolled my eyes at him but not before a small smile crept ontp my face. He was pretty good at making bad sitations feel a little better. I looked around for Roderick be he was nowhere in sight. I frowned and looked back over at Jack. He looked at me with a faint smile but his eyes were full of sadness.

"I really wanted to save you, you know," He said weakly, the smile fading from his lips as he looked to the gound. "I wanted to do something good for once. You don't deserve this Ever. You're a good person and you don't deserve any of this." He looked up at me and frowned. "Are you alright?" I stared at him for a moment, confused, before I realized what he meant. I was crying. I sniffled lightly and blinked quickly, clearing my tears. God, I hated crying.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked again, his concern written all over his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said confidently. I really was, suprisingly enough. I had never been afraid of dying before. I always thought of it as a part of life. We're born, we live, we die. I knew I was going to die tonight but it wasn't myself was afraid for. It was all the people I had impacted in my short life. My Dad, Rie, Damien, Dakota, even Jack. I was scared for them. When I was gone, I wouldn't feel any pain but that pain will go to the ones I love. They'll have to feel that pain for me and I hate that. I heard Jack curse quietly to himself and I looked up. Roderik had returned. And, lucky me, he brought knives with him this time.

Dakota's P.O.V.

I raced around turns and corners, following the map that I had memorized. Damien and Rie were behind at the motel, waiting for me to give the signal that it was safe to follow the map that I had lft with them. After a good half hour of arguing, they finally let me be the one to scout ahead. I had instantly bolted out the door with just enough time to tell them what signal I would give them before I was gone. I turned the last corner on my mental map and arived at a large abandoned building. I sniffed the air and came to the conclusion that Ever wasn't inside. I followed her scent to the edge of a forest and intantly sprinted back into action. I ran while followng the invisble thread that was Ever's scent.

I slowed to a jog as I neared a clearing. There was a fire burning in the center of it. North of it was a long table with a girl tied to it. Ever. It took every fiber of my being not to run right to her. I would have if it wouldn't have been for Roderick standing very close to her with a knife in hand. I hid behind a large tree that was, luckily, down wind so Roderick wouldn't catch my scent. Very close to me, a boy with shaggy dark brown hair was chained to a post. I recognized him as the guy that had cut Ever back at the pack house. I growled inwardly and turned my attention back to Ever and Roderick, straining my ears to hear what they were saying.

"Kill me if you want Roderick. I'll let you willingly let you if you just promise to let Jack go and leave him and all of my other friends alone," said Ever confidently. Roderick grinned.

"Sweetie, I'll kill you weither you'll let me willngly or not," he mused, pleased with himself. "You'll have to make me a deal that I benifit from." Ever pursed her lips.

"Fine. If you leave my friends alone once and for all," Ever swallowed visibly, "I'll give you every picture of my mother I can find. I'll tell you where to find her grave." At this, Roderick laughed.

"I won't need any of that after tonight," Roderick smiled. Ever tilted her head slightly.

"What do you mean? You'll have your mate back plus things to remember my mom by," Ever reasoned. Roderick laughed and traced Ever's exposed collarbone lightly with his knife.

"Stupid girl, you haven't figured it out yet have you? Your mother is my mate."

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PLOT TWIST!

Hi everyone, I just wanted to say a few things! First off, I'm sorry I don't update very often! It really do try though! Second, I know there are a lot of problems in the story that it's a bit to late to try and fix but I just wanted to say thank you for reading this far! It really means a lot to me! Third, I really want to know what you think of the story so far! Please comment what you think, I'm super curious! I was also thinking about making a sequal to this story once its finished so it would be really helpful of you commented what you think on that topic too!

Thanks again and have a great day!