Back To The Past

Bells. Helena could hear the soft and melodious ring of bells surrounding her like a warm blanket.

They reminded her of her dear mother. The joyful woman who had loved tiny bells and always had a smile on her face, even when her sickness had gripped her and left her a shell of the person she was.

Helena felt light and weightless, and the soft jingling of the bells added to the heady feeling. She struggled to open her eyes but it felt like they were glued shut so she gave up, choosing to enjoy the warm music.

~Wake up, Helena~

She frowned and shook her head. For some reason, she felt dread at the thought of waking up but she could not understand why.

~You have to, child. Everything depends on you waking up~

"No."

The bells stopped ringing and Helena was surrounded by a suffocating silence. Her eyelids grew lighter and she was finally able to peel them open.

She was in a kingdom of white fluffy clouds that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Helena slowly sat up, unaccustomed to how weightless she felt and traced the soft clouds she was lying on with curious fingers.

"Where am I?" She whispered as she looked around, searching for anything that was not fluffy whiteness, but found nothing.

~You are in my domain, Helena~

The musical voice she had heard before, said and she searched for where it was coming from but was unable to pinpoint a location.

~I am everywhere and nowhere~

"How is that possible?" She asked with disbelief as she clambered to her feet, the softness of the cloud making it difficult to find her balance. "Who are you?"

~I am known by many names but you call me the Moon Goddess~

Helena's eyes widened as she stared into the abyss. "I would fall to my knees but I don't know which direction I should face." She joked and the area hummed and brightened, and something told her that was how the deity showed amusement

~You have to go back, young one. There is still so much you have left to do~

Helena felt dread wash over her and frowned. She did not know where she had to go back to and she did not want to return there.

~Death tempts you with the promise of endless joy but I will not let him take you~

"Why?" Helena asked with a confused frown, "everything feels so peaceful and calm and I... I don't want to go back."

~You have to, Helena. You have three mortals waiting for you and millions more who need your help~

Helena groaned and flopped onto the cloud with a huf., "I don't want to go back," she insisted, unsure of why exactly she did not want to return.

~Happiness awaits you~

Helena perked up with hopeful eyes. "Really?" She asked in a whisper.

~Really~

"Okay. How do I get out of here?" She rose to her feet and turned in a circle, searching for anything she had missed.

~You have to wake up~

"But, I'm already awake..." The area began to tremble, softly as the bells started ringing again.

Helena's breathing picked up as the rhythm of the bells did, and with a loud pop, everything went quiet and black.

Sunlight spilled into the room, through the open window and raced towards the queen-sized bed. The occupant of the bed whimpered as they struggled with imaginary bonds then stilled, suddenly.

Helena blinked, slowly as she regained consciousness, her long eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks and her eyes popped open.

She whimpered as she stared up at the familiar canopy of her bedroom that she had not seen since she left with Rigel and tears began to pour.

Helena wailed, loudly as she took in her childhood bedroom with sorrowful eyes.

The door slammed open as two sets of footsteps hurried over to the bed.

"Are you alright, my heart?" She heard her Father ask in the soothing voice that had once sang her to sleep and she turned to him with watery eyes and a trembling pout.

His warm blue eyes glowed in the light of the morning sun, his face scrunched up in a small frown as he stared at her.

Her Father had always been a handsome man and her Mother, before she died, used to tell her stories of how popular and adored he had been in their younger years. After her Mother's passing, he had not shown any signs of taking another mate, as was expected of him, instead focusing on raising his children with an enviable dedication.

Helena threw herself into his waiting arms when he settled beside her, on the bed and sobbed.

He was alive. Her wonderful, kind and loving Father who had died because of her foolishness, was alive.

"What happened?" Her Brother, Charon asked with his nose in the air, searching for what had frightened her.

Charon was a replica of their father, from his messy ash-blonde hair, ruffled from restless sleep, down to his large feet that thumped against the carpet as he made his way to the other side of the bed and settled down with a huff.

"Oh, Charon," she sobbed as she pulled away from her Father and threw herself into his unclothed chest, sobbing harder when she saw his pendant.

"Was it a bad dream?" He asked as he wrapped his arms around her sobbing figure, awkwardly while patting her back to try and calm her.

Charon looked to his Father with a helpless expression, unsure of how to calm his hysterical sister.

"Can you please tell us what's wrong, my dear," the older werewolf asked, in a gentle tone.

Helena pulled away from her Brother's damp chest and took several deep breaths to calm herself.

She felt herself flush in embarrassment at how she had reacted and stared down at her clasped hands as she slowly calmed down.

"I love you two so much and I'm sorry... I'm sorry I couldn't save you." She sobbed with a wet sniffle.

Both men frowned in confusion and she shook her head when her Father made to question her.

"I just need some space," she said, to get them to leave, when in reality all she wanted was for all three of them to stay in her bed and enjoy the comfort of each other.

"Alright," her Father agreed, placing a kiss on her head and got off her bed. "Come join us for breakfast when you're ready."

"You shouldn't have screamed at the top of your lungs at six in the Goddess-damned morning," her brother grumpily muttered and followed their father out, the door closing behind him with a soft 'click'.

"Holy f*ck." She cursed at the quiet room as she stared out the window with wide and misty eyes.

She stumbled out of bed, her feet getting caught in the tangled sheets and causing her to fall face first to the floor. Helena prepared herself for the impact and opened her eyes when her face hovered inches from the floor.

A familiar force slowly lifted her, untangling her legs from the sheets and placed her gently on the ground.

She smiled as she walked over to her reading table and grabbed the pink device resting on it, to check the date.

A year. She went back a whole year before she was executed by that monster. A year before her family and people were killed in cold blood.

Helena stared blankly at the phone screen, her mind going over everything that happened and her fist clenched around the device.

She hated Rigel more than words could say and she wanted him to suffer like he had made thousands of innocent people suffer.

Helena's magic sang inside of her, urging her to hunt him down and rip him apart, slowly.

An impatient knock on her room door pulled her away from her deadly thoughts and she turned to it.

"Charon?" She called out, knowing he was the only person in the house that knocked like that.

"I know dad said you should join us when you're ready but I am not waiting any longer for you. If you aren't out, on the count of three, I'm coming in and dragging you downstairs."

Helena rolled her eyes, fondly and made her way towards the door before her brother could carry out his threat. "You're the future Alpha, Charon," she reminded him and opened the door, "you have to learn the importance of patience."

Helena could remember how hotheaded and reckless Charon had become in her last life and how it had led to him getting captured early, during the invasion of their pack.

He sniffed at her curiously and frowned.

"What is it?" She asked with a worried frown as she lifted the hem of her nightgown and took a small sniff.

"It's nothing," he said with a small shake of his head but his eyebrow were furrowed in confusion. "Come on," he urged as he turned around and made his way downstairs, Helena following after him.

Her eyes were drawn to the pictures lining the wall and she teared up when they landed on a picture of all four of them, that had been taken some months before her Mother's death.

Charon paused, each foot on different steps and turned to stare at her with worry. "Did you dream about mum?" He asked, his eyes flitting over to the small picture on the wall.

"No," she denied, sniffing slightly as she used the sleeves of her gown to wipe away her tears. "It was much worse."

"Hey." He ascended the steps and stopped in front of her. "As long as I'm alive, nothing can ever hurt you, Helena." He declared and she felt a shudder go through her.

Helena nodded and hugged him. Nuzzling her face into his skin, she wished that she had heightened senses so that she could smell his unique scent.

"Let's go join, dad," she whispered as she pulled away from him, doing her best to ignore the glaring picture on the wall.