Who Am I?

Kira’s POV

I had no idea where I was going but all I know is that I needed to get away. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me down a long corridor that smelled like lavender and money. People in uniforms…servants, maids, guards, I don’t even know…stopped talking when they saw me. Their eyes widened like I was a ghost or a bomb about to explode. But not one of them tried to stop me. They just stared.

Some whispered. Some even looked relieved to see me. Others looked… terrified.

Yeah. That’s comforting.

“Princess!” I heard his growl from behind me…the same freakishly powerful man who wanted to mark me like a cow five minutes ago.

Nope. Not happening. I didn’t stop to see if he was close or if he had magically grown wings and was flying after me. I just ran harder.

And for some weird reason…I was fast. Like really fast.

I rounded a corner and froze. There…at the other end of the hall…someone was mimicking me. Every movement I made, she made. I turned my head.

She turned hers. I lifted my hand. So did she.

What the hell…

I stepped forward. So did she. I raised a shaking hand and touched my hair. She touched hers. I slowly touched my waist. So did she. My heart stopped.

She wasn’t mimicking me.

It was a mirror.

I stumbled closer, staring at my reflection like I was staring at a stranger. Because I was. That wasn’t me. That was… someone too perfect. Too stunning. Too unreal. Waves of thick long brown hair. Smooth glowing skin…pale but flawless. A tiny waist. Curves. Long lashes. High cheekbones.

My jaw dropped.

“Hold on… what is going on? Who the hell is that?!” I screamed.

That wasn’t sarcastic. That was raw panic. Because that… was not my body.

I didn’t get time to process it. Because suddenly…an arm hooked around my waist and yanked me violently into a dark room. The door slammed and a hand clamped down over my mouth.

I tried to scream but the girl holding me hissed, “Shhhh! Be quiet… he can’t smell you in here.”

Smell me?

What am I…steak?

She slowly released me after a short time and I spun around, ready to swing if I had to, but stopped as she turned on the switch. She was a girl around my age…maybe older…with sharp brown eyes and hair tied back in a messy braid. She was breathing fast, like she had run too.

“Who are you? What is going on? Why do I look like this? Why do I look this hot? I’m always the plain one…Miranda was the curvy one. Why do I have these stupid curves? Why is my skin glowing like a vampire just bit me? What happened to my face? Why don’t I have freckles anymore? Why do I look… stunning?!”

The words exploded out of me so fast they tumbled over each other. She just blinked at me like I was a circus act she didn’t sign up to watch.

Nothing made sense. Nothing.

My brain tried to piece things together. And then it hit me.

Something is wrong. Seriously wrong.

This body isn’t mine.

My mind is still me. I remember everything. My real life. My horrible family. Their betrayal. My fall. My death.

So how the hell am I alive in another body?

Unless…

Unless this is another timeline.

Or an alternate universe.

Or some creepy rebirth ritual by a bored cosmic god who decided to play with my life when I made that prayer while falling.

Is this my second chance?

Did something…or someone…pull my soul from my dying body and shove it in this one?

My breathing turned harsh.

If this is a second chance at life…fine. Good. Bonus life unlocked.

But I swear…I’m not letting anyone treat me like dirt again.

No more begging to be loved.

No more trusting the wrong people.

No more being weak.

This time…I will protect myself.

This time…people will bleed before I do.

But first, I need to survive long enough to understand this world.

“What is going on?!” I shouted again.

Her face softened with an emotion I didn’t understand. Pain. Relief. Fear. “My princess,” she whispered. Her voice cracked. “I thought I lost you. I thought…”

“Why is everyone calling me princess?” I snapped.

“And why are you people always saying you thought you lost me? He said that too!”

She looked up sharply. “He? You mean the king?”

Oh great. Here we go again.

“We must not let him find you again,” she said urgently. “We have to escape immediately!”

Before I could blink, she rushed to a side table, grabbed a duffel bag, and started shoving things inside.

“I was getting ready to commit treason after they fed you poison,” she said.

I froze.

Poison?

“But then I heard you somehow survived…you woke up. I’m sorry for acting like a coward when you begged me to escape with you before, princess. But now…they drew the line by trying to kill you. I won’t let them touch you again.”

Poison. Escape. Treason. King. Princess.

My head was spinning. None of this made sense. But one thing was clear…I was not safe here. Wherever here was.

“Okay…stop. Do you know her?” I pointed at my reflection. “I mean… me?”

She gave me a weird look. “What are you talking about, Abby? Of course I know you. I’m your personal maid.”

Personal maid? That sounded illegal. Also…Abby?

So that’s this body’s name.

“What year is this?” I asked.

She gave me a suspicious frown. “Um… 2027?”

“So it’s the same year?” I asked slowly, trying to organize the chaos in my brain. “Okay then… What country is this? Like…where exactly are we?”

“Alaska, Your Highness,” she said, watching me like I might start barking next.

I blinked. “I’m sorry…Alaska?”

She nodded.

I threw my hands in the air. Out of all places on this planet…not Los Angeles, not New York, not even freaking Mexico…but Alaska? Ice, bears, and serial killer documentaries Alaska?!

I dragged a hand down my face. So let me get this straight…whoever or whatever gave me a second chance at life looked at me and said, ‘Yeah, send her thousands of miles away from the people she needs revenge on. Put her in snow hell. That’ll be hilarious.’

I groaned. “Fucking hell.”

“Princess, are you okay?”

Am I okay?

I thought of the skyscraper. The wind in my ears. The pain. The darkness. The betrayal. Then a horrible stabbing pain shot through my skull and I screamed.

She slapped her hand over my mouth. “Please…we can’t get caught!”

I shoved her hand away. “Stop doing that!”

“THEN STOP SCREAMING!”

“I HAVE A HEADACHE THE SIZE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM!”

We glared at each other like two stray cats.

I took a breath. “Why do you keep calling me princess?”

“Because you are one,” she said simply.

I blinked. “What do you mean?”

“It’s simple. Your father is a king. So you’re a princess.”

My stomach dropped. My father? So I’m like a real life princess?

No way. No…this isn’t real.

“Okay then…” I said slowly. “Why am I here?”

“We don’t have time for all this! We need to leave now… I’ll explain everything later!”

Kira…the old me…would have nodded. Would have followed. Would have trusted. Because she was a people pleaser.

But Kira died when she hit the ground.

“I want answers,” I said coldly. “Now.”

She froze.

Then, she straightened and looked at me with dark, frustrated eyes.

“Fine,” she spat. “You want the truth? You’re here because you are the king’s betrothed.”

The room tilted. “King…as in my supposed father?”

She threw her hands up. “No! Your father is the King of the Southern Realm. This is the Central Realm. Your mate is the King of the Central Realm.”

I swallowed. The psycho with fangs?

Great.

I had so many questions to ask her. What’s a mate? And why are we running away from him, but she slung the bag over her shoulder before I could put the words together.

“Now can we go?!”

“Where are we going?” I asked, not (this time) to be difficult but because being clueless and kidnapping is how people die in horror movies.

“Anywhere but here!”

“You said my father is a king,” I said carefully.

She nodded.

“Then take me to him.”

She stared at me.

Her face changed so fast it scared me.

Confusion. Shock. Then rage.

Her eyes narrowed to slits and before I could react, she slammed me into the wall, her hand closing around my throat.

“You’re not Abby. Who the hell are you?” she growled.