A Long Running Dream

"You can run. You have run for so long, but you are still coming back to me. I am preying on you, and I am going to ensure you like it. You can run, but you are coming right back to me."

I woke up with a start, my eyes wide, my chest heaving hard as I tried to breathe. It was the same dream I have had ever since I turned eighteen, with the veiled man and the full moon.

I turned to the mirror, my chest heaving. I was soaked in my own sweat, my hair clinging to my forehead, my hands still lightly shaking.

Even though I have had the same dream for close to two years since I first shifted at eighteen, the images never got clearer, and I never got answers. Who was the man with a cloak and a scar across his eye?

The scar was the only thing about him that I had been able to see, and despite being an omega who had served at almost all of the houses in the pack, I haven't seen one man with the same scar.

It was very peculiar, and I could see locks of dark red hair falling close to his eyes, and it made him even harder to find.

I let out a sigh and slowly pushed myself out of bed. I had started to make my way to my brother's room when I stopped in my tracks, my brows furrowed.

I had almost forgotten. Valerian was no longer home. I always went over to cuddle with him when I had this dream, and realizing that I couldn't do that for the next few months till he was out for the break made the tiny house we shared even emptier.

I sighed and sat back on the bed. Valerian was my twin, yet we couldn't be more different. We had the same blonde hair, but that was about it. He had an alpha potential, which is a sacred way of knowing which wolves would grow up to be guardians of the pack.

I, on the other hand, was an almost wolfless omega.

When our parents were still alive, they showered him with so much attention. Enough for me to realize early on just what my place in the family and in society was. They were ecstatic to be parents of the only alpha potential from the North family, and honestly, I was happy he was my brother, too.

He was effortlessly beautiful, and you could smell his aura even without him shifting. He had grace, had the most beautiful smile I had ever seen, and well, the kindest gestures too.

So even though he got away with everything and I watched him have the life I wouldn't mind having, I couldn't resent him. He treated me like a sister and loved me like one, too. That was more than enough.

The pack was already harsh enough for omegas like me, I don't know what I would do if Valerian wasn't there.

I turned to the curtains. The sun was steadily rising, and I got out of bed again. I should get an early start today and make my daily trips to the houses I clean for, then circle back to the pack house to train the pups.

That was my favourite part of the day as they were such a pleasure to be around. Especially since I had no hope of having my own pups. I was supposed to smell or be smelled by my mate on the very day I shifted for the first time, and instead, all I got was a long-running dream.

I took a short bath and changed into one of my hoodie and shorts combo before cleaning the house. There wasn't much to clean. I was the only one, and I was rarely home, too.

Once I was done, I put everything I would need in a small bag I normally used, then pushed my small phone into the pocket of my shorts. It had been a birthday gift from Valerian and easily the most expensive thing I owned.

My eyes fell on the bunch of letters that Valerian had sent to me ever since he got admitted into Rosendale High School. It had been my parents' dreams for him to go to the prestigious Alpha high school and hone his alpha potential. Too sad they never saw it, but I was still just as proud of him.

I let my hand run slowly across the letters, and it brought a smile on my lips. He hasn't sent one in weeks, but he had mentioned coming back in a few months in the last one, so I was optimistic.

I walked away from the letters and locked the doors, excited to start my day. I normally go to the houses closest and then spread out, and I braced myself for the short walk. It wasn't exactly short, but I had to take the route.

I was only a few minutes away from the house when my phone suddenly started to ring. My brows furrowed, and I looked down at my pocket.

I started to walk even faster towards the house but grabbed my phone. It was an unsaved number.

"Hello?" I answered, briskly walking towards the house.

"Are you Skylar North, Valerian North's mentioned relative in the school application?"

I stopped, my chest heaving, my heart suddenly going on overdrive. I have never had the school call me, and I remember being extremely proud to be the one on his school application.

But that was supposed to be for if something happened to him. Did he get in some sort of trouble? Was he..

I shook my head. "Y... yes. Yes, I am. Who are you?"

"I am from the school board, and I am sorry to announce that your brother is going to be brought back home."

My eyes widened, the bag I was holding falling to the ground in front of me.

"What? Why? What happened? My brother would never do anything..."

"He is dead. Valerian North committed suicide this morning by injecting himself with wolfsbane."