RED EYES

Chapter 28

Flashback

"Elena, Alex, don't run like that, you both will hurt yourselves," a woman's voice called out, laced with panic.

"Nothing will happen, Mom, I will be okay," a giggling Little Elena said as Alex chased her around.

In a sweet voice, Alex said, "Elena, I will catch you." However, Elena stumbled over a stone while running and was about to fall when someone grabbed her.

Fearing that she would fall, she closed her eyes, expecting to be hurt. But when she opened them, it was Lucian who had grabbed her.

Helping her to stand, he said, "Careful, sister."

"Thank you, brother," she said softly.

"I warned you two not to run. It's a good thing Lucian caught you," their mother said as she approached them.

"But Mother, you are the moon goddess, you can heal my wound, right?" Elena innocently questioned.

"Oh, child, I'm a goddess, but I cannot do this," their mother explained.

"But you made brothers Lucian and Lorenzo like that, they can heal themselves, and also Alex. Why not me?" Elena asked, puzzled.

"Because, my dear, you are special. You don't need this power. You have a much bigger power than this. You have a human heart full of kindness and innocence," their mother replied.

End of flashback

Bella leaned forward, her eyes intrigued by the tale unfolding before her. "She was a human girl who had brothers who were wolves," Bella said, a soft chuckle escaping her lips.

"Yes," I nodded solemnly, my mind drifting back to the memories of that tumultuous time. "She would constantly complain about our ability to heal."

"What happened then?" Bella's curiosity was palpable, her gaze urging me to continue.

My smile faded as I delved deeper into the story. "The moon goddess didn't create us to rule over humans but to rule beside them, to have an equal balance over good and evil. Lucian was meant to be king of the beasts, but Lorenzo didn't share the same vision. He desired sole dominion, believing wolves were superior to humans."

"So Lucian was okay with ruling beside humans?" Bella's brow furrowed in puzzlement.

"Yes," I confirmed, "but Lorenzo's ambitions knew no bounds. He believed in the supremacy of wolves and sought to assert his dominance over all living beings on Earth. The moon goddess opposed his tyranny, holding onto the hope that humans could evolve for the better. However, fate took a dark turn when Elena, just eighteen years old at the time..."

Flashback

Lucian's anxiety was palpable as he approached his mother. "Mother, have you seen Elena? I can't find her anywhere, she's not in her chambers, nor with Alex, nor in the gardens."

"Perhaps she's in the library. I'll go check there. You and Alex search the castle," the moon goddess suggested, concern etched into her features.

"Where could she have gone?" the moon goddess pondered, her worry mounting with each passing moment.

Suddenly, a man burst into the room, his frantic words tumbling out in gasps. "Lucian, Elen... Elena, she... she—" He was too breathless, too overwhelmed to complete his sentence, leaving us all on edge, our hearts pounding with dread.

"What happened to her?" Alex asked, his voice filled with concern as he surveyed the tense scene before him.

The men exchanged solemn glances before one gestured outside the castle, saying, "Come outside."