THREE YEARS AFTER MY DEATH

CHAPTER TWO

The Pretty Woman in the Mirror

I woke up screaming.

My hands flew to my chest.

I was breathing.

Alive.

How was I alive?

The realization hit me so violently that I almost vomited.

I sat upright, dragging in desperate breaths as my eyes darted around the room.

White walls.

Dark curtains.

A massive bed beneath me.

A chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

None of it was familiar.

Where was I?

My heart began racing.

The forest.

Kael.

The blood.

The pain.

Elara Vale is dead.

I looked down at my hands.

They were clean.

No blood.

No cuts.

No scars.

I touched my ribs.

Nothing.

My fingers trembled.

I pulled the blanket away and examined my body.

There was no wound.

No bruising.

Nothing.

I slowly got out of bed.

My legs nearly gave way beneath me.

"Where am I?"

My voice sounded strange.

I froze.

That wasn't my voice.

I stared at the closed bedroom door.

Then I looked toward the mirror across the room.

I didn't want to walk toward it.

Something inside me screamed not to.

But my feet moved anyway.

One step.

Two.

Three.

I stopped in front of the mirror.

And forgot how to breathe.

A stranger stared back at me.

She had long, dark hair falling over her shoulders.

Pale skin.

Full lips.

Sharp cheekbones.

Beautiful.

But not me.

"No."

I touched my face.

The woman in the mirror did the same.

"No."

I stumbled backward.

"This isn't me."

My hand flew to my chest.

My heart was pounding.

I looked at my reflection again.

"Who are you?"

The woman stared back.

My own eyes stared back.

But they weren't my eyes.

I shook my head violently.

"This isn't real."

I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, she was still there.

A knock sounded at the door.

I jumped.

"Miss?"

I didn't answer.

The door opened slightly.

A middle-aged woman stepped inside.

The moment she saw me standing by the mirror, relief flooded her face.

"You're awake."

I backed away.

"Who are you?"

Her smile disappeared.

"Miss?"

"Who am I?"

She stared at me as though I'd asked the most ridiculous question in the world.

"You are—"

She stopped.

Confusion crossed her face.

"Are you feeling all right?"

"I asked you who I am."

Her expression became worried.

"You are Seraphina."

The name meant nothing to me.

"Seraphina?"

She nodded slowly.

"Seraphina Ashford."

I stared at her.

"No."

The woman looked frightened.

"You've been unconscious for about three days. Perhaps I should call the physician."

"Three days?"

She nodded.

My thoughts raced.

Three days.

Not three years.

Three days.

Then all the memories came rushing into my head.

The forest.

Kael.

The attackers.

The blow to my head.

Falling.

Darkness.

I pressed my palms against my temples.

Pain exploded behind my eyes.

Images flashed through my mind.

A moon.

Blood.

A woman crying.

A strange house.

A man I didn't recognize.

Then—

Kael.

I gasped.

The memories vanished.

I opened my eyes.

The room spun.

"Kael....."

The woman's face changed.

"Alpha Kael?"

My head snapped toward her.

"You know him?"

"Of course."

My pulse quickened.

"Where is he?"

She hesitated.

"Miss Seraphina..."

"Where is Kael Draven?"

She looked at me strangely.

"Shadowcrest."

"Take me there."

Her eyes widened.

"You can't."

"Why?"

"Because..."

She swallowed.

"Alpha Kael is getting married."

The words hit harder than any blade.

I stared at her.

"Are you sure of what you're saying. you really mean Married?"

She nodded.

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

Everything inside me went still.

Tomorrow.

Kael was getting married tomorrow.

After everything that had happened.

After my death.

After three years.

I gripped the edge of the table.

"Who?"

The woman looked at me sympathetically.

"Miss Amara."

My blood ran cold.

I knew that name.

Not from this body.

From my memories.

Amara.

My best friend.

The woman I'd trusted with everything.

The woman who had held me when Kael rejected me.

The woman who had promised me she would never leave my side.

The woman who had cried when I disappeared.

My lips parted.

"Amara?"

The servant nodded.

"Amara Voss."

It was impossible I thought about for a second and then I laughed.

It came out broken.

"No."

My knees weakened.

I grabbed the chair behind me.

"No, that's impossible."

"Miss?"

"She's dead."

The servant's brow furrowed.

"No, Miss. Amara Voss is very much alive."

I stared at her.

Alive.

Amara was alive.

And she was going to marry Kael.

My Kael.

Except—

He wasn't mine anymore.

He had rejected me.

He had watched me die.

At least, that's what I remembered.

I turned toward the mirror again.

The unfamiliar woman stared back at me.

Seraphina Ashford.

A woman who had apparently been unconscious for three days.

A woman whose body I was somehow wearing.

I raised a trembling hand and touched the glass.

"What happened to me?"

The mirror gave me no answer.

But somewhere deep inside me, my wolf stirred.

For the first time since I woke up, she spoke.

We survived.

I swallowed.

"How?"

Silence.

Then—

I don't know.

A cold shiver ran through me.

Three years.

Everyone thought Elara Vale was dead.

And maybe she was.

Because the woman standing in this room wasn't Elara Vale anymore.

But beneath this unfamiliar skin...

I was still here.

And if Kael Draven was really getting married tomorrow, I had one thing left to find out.

Why had he told me to disappear?

Why had he watched me die?

And why had the woman I once called my best friend become his bride?

I looked at my reflection one last time.

The frightened woman staring back at me was gone.

In her place was someone I barely recognized.

Someone colder.

Someone harder.

Someone who had already died once.

I wiped the tears from my face.

"Fine."

My voice was steady now.

"If Elara Vale is dead..."

I stepped away from the mirror.

"...then Seraphina Ashford will find out who killed her."