ALPHA: Heir Of The Four

Chapter Two

Chapter Notes: Ava-Rain's POV

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- 'Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. . .' -

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     The annoying sound of my phone alarm blared in my ears, pulling me out of my sleep and away from my dream. After silencing it, I flipped over onto my back and allowed my eyes to close, even though I already knew that unconsciousness was long gone and all hope of returning to him had been lost. For months, my dream—or rather the dream—had always been the same, and for months, I had been slowly losing my sanity trying to decipher what it meant. If it meant anything at all.

          It had always started the same, with me running away from something or someone inside of a forest. It always took place at night. I could hear the wind in my ears as I ran, and the cries that emerged from the earth with each stomp of my feet were the only sounds to be heard in the otherwise silent forest. The only thing I could see was whatever the moonlight had permitted and my only source of companionship was the down pour of rain. As I ran, the only sense of comfort had been the burning adrenaline flowing through my veins. It provided the capabilities of pushing me harder and faster, but I knew that whatever it was that I had been running from would not be deterred for very long. Whatever it was that had always remained hidden in the shadows and cloaked by the darkness was determined to catch me. I felt it, felt it stronger than I ever thought possible you could feel something in a dream.

      I ran in the same direction every time and continued running until I reached a clearing in the forest. Once there, all of my fear and anguish would disappear and the threat of whatever it was that had been stalking me seemed to have vanished. With only one look at the black wolf inside of the clearing, illuminated by the moonlight like a beacon of hope and refuge, I knew that I was safe, knew that I no longer had to run because in there darkness held no power.

     But last night's dream had been different. For as long a I can remember, the big, black wolf had always remained the same. Its thick, shiny fur, it's amber eyes and enormous build never changed. Not even in the slightest. I had deemed it my protector, my hope, my light. Yet, that time—for the first time—when I reached the clearing, I had not been greeted by my wolf but by the guy I had met at the club from the night before.

     That stupid club.

     I forced open my eyes as the previous night's events replayed over and over in my head. It certainly had not been my idea to go because clubbing wasn't exactly my scene. My best friend, Kasey, and I had been guilted into going by our other best friend, Jennifer, who had always been good at getting what she wanted if she whined and begged long enough. Because Kasey was set to leave for her annual summer trek up to her family cottage, Jennifer felt the need to remind us that it would be the last time all three of us would be able to hang out together for a while. Had we not gone, she would have thrown one of her infamous fits and tortured us with a ridiculous rant about how we never had time for her, then followed up with a two week protest of silence. To save ourselves from the ritual, Kasey and I had gone.

     Apparently, it had been her boyfriend's birthday or her boyfriend's brother's birthday. The confirmation Kasey and I hoped to have received never happened because we had not seen Jennifer or her stranger boyfriend the entire night, which was completely and totally fine with us. We had grown accustomed to princess Jennifer and her ridiculous ways, but our loyalty to our childhood friend always managed to force forgiveness out of us and led our way back to her. Past wrongs were always forgiven, no matter how badly she sometimes treated us. It was more than she deserved, but if it were not for her ability to stop herself before pushing us past our limits, she would have been on her own a long time ago. As unhealthy and dysfunctional our relationship appeared to be, everyone had a friend like Jennifer. . .right?