Chapter 3: Evan
"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about." My voice sounded foreign in my own ears, lighter, the notes all wrong. "Where's my mom? I thought she was supposed to be here."
The man—Gregory—ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated.
"Oh, Evan, don't even try it! What is it this time? Pretending to drown wasn't enough. Now you're pretending you lost your memory too?"
Anger flared in my chest, hot and sudden. I'd just opened my eyes to this angel, devil, or whatever the hell he was, and he was accusing me of things I knew nothing about. The confusion mixed with fury until I couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I snapped.
Gregory's mouth fell open. Nobody had ever spoken to him that way before. The shock in his eyes would have been funny if I wasn't so pissed off.
"You're the one speaking nonsense here. You keep yelling and yapping, and I'm supposed to understand what any of this means."
I pushed myself up bit by bit. My whole body hurt, and dizziness threatened to send me tumbling back down, but my stubbornness wouldn't let me give up.
Not in front of this guy.
However, something was still off with the movement again. My limbs moved too easily, and there wasn't enough weight to them.
This body responded differently than mine ever had. Lighter, more fragile, but also… more sensitive to everything around me.
When I reached out to steady myself against what I thought was a nearby rock, my hand grasped at nothing but air. My sense of balance felt completely abnormal; I was operating a body I'd never lived in before.
When I finally rose, I was looking directly into those glowing blue eyes, and something strange happened. Warmth built in my chest, spreading outward through my veins.
A strange tingling started under my skin, growing stronger until I felt I might burst from the pressure. Then came the scent, something intoxicating that seemed to emanate from my own skin. It overwhelmed my senses, a heady mix of bliss and the earthy smell after rain.
My body was doing this on its own, responding to something I didn't understand. Whatever was happening, it was completely beyond my control.
Gregory's eyes went wide, his nostrils flaring as the scent hit him. He took an automatic step back, his jaw clenching like he was struggling against something. For a moment, his stiff posture wavered, his shoulders slackening before he regained control and stood tall with a visible effort.
My feet took me forward without my say, and I was suddenly standing right in front of Gregory. Every step felt clumsy, like I was walking on stilts I hadn't quite gotten the hang of, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. Our chests were almost touching, and I had to tilt my head up to meet his gaze.
The height difference was ridiculous. Either this guy was massive, or I was a lot shorter than my usual six-two. Both possibilities made my head spin.
"I think you're taking this too far, and I'm getting tired of it." My words came out steady despite the way my heart hammered against my ribs. "So tell me, am I dead, or is this just another kind of hell?"
Gregory's eyes blazed, burning even brighter than before. A red rim formed around those blue orbs, making them look almost demonic. That scent hit me again, a mix of musky forest and smoldering sandalwood, scorching and overwhelming, jolting my system.
Before I could react, Gregory's hand closed around my neck. He lifted me off the ground with one hand, effortlessly, as if I weighed nothing. I swung a fist at him, fighting back with everything I had, but he didn't even flinch.
Our faces were inches apart now. I could see every detail of those terrifying eyes when he spoke.
"You think a pathetic omega can make an alpha submit with your disgusting pheromones?"
Omega? Alpha? I had no idea what those words meant, but something deep in this body seemed to recognize them. An instinctual fear that wasn't mine.
His hand around my neck started to burn, scorching my skin. Then he shoved me backward. I landed hard in the mud and dirt, my rear colliding with the ground with a jarring impact. Pain surged through my body, but the sharp pain in my head was even worse, so intense I felt like I was going to vomit.
I pressed my fingers against the side of my skull, expecting to feel warmth, but instead I found something wet and sticky. When I pulled my hand away to look, I saw blood on my fingertips. I gagged at the sight.
Everything hurt. My head throbbed, my neck still burned from his grip, my body ached from the impact, and my rear felt bruised.
If I was dead, why did everything hurt so much?
As the pain started to fade, I finally took in my surroundings. The sky had shifted from bright to overcast, with the threat of rain looming. A forest clearing opened up around me, with a lake in front and a wooden dock jutting out into the water.
This wasn't New York. This wasn't anywhere I recognized.
The trees were massive, towering things that seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction. No buildings. No streets. No civilization at all. Just wilderness, unlike anything I'd ever known.
Gregory's face went blank, all the anger disappearing. He took a step toward me, leaning in with his hand extended.
"I'm sorry, Evan, I… I don't know what happened. I'm sorry…"
Pushing past him, I ignored his outstretched hand and his words. I didn't need help from the man who had just tried to strangle me.
This wasn't heaven, and he definitely wasn't an angel.
I stumbled towards the lake, desperate to see my face and understand what was happening. This felt too real to be death. My knees hit the dirt at the water's edge as I leaned forward, bracing my hands against the muddy shore to get a glimpse of my reflection.
The man staring back at me wasn't me. Same green eyes, yes.
Definitely male. But his features were softer, more feminine. Ginger hair fell in waves past his shoulders. Freckles scattered across his face like constellations.
This was someone else entirely. Someone younger, prettier, more delicate than I'd ever been. Someone who looked nothing like the hardened executive who'd climbed out of the slums.
But I recognized those eyes, that hair, those delicate features. My mother looked back at me through this stranger's reflection.
For the first time in twenty-three years, tears burned my eyes. The only thing I could do was scream.