I opened my eyes slowly, blinking away the blur as the morning light slipped through the curtains. For a moment, everything felt normal, soft sheets, a familiar scent, the quiet hum of the pack house around me. I turned to the other side of my bed, stretched my stiff limbs, then pushed myself upright.
But the moment my feet touched the floor, something felt… wrong.
I walked to the window and looked out. The view confirmed it, I was home, in the Green Lineage Pack not in the darkblood pack. The training grounds,the familiar landscape in the distance… everything was exactly where it should be.
And yet, I felt a creeping discomfort, like a subtle shift in the air.
I turned back to my room, scanning everything carefully.
This was my bedroom. I knew the layout by heart. The corner where my bookshelf should be, the spot where my dreamcatcher once hung, the little crack near the closet door… all of it matched.
But the details were wrong.
Very wrong.
The walls were decorated differently, with soft floral wallpaper instead of the deep green paint I had chosen myself. The picture frames I hung, photos of me, my father, old pack members were all gone. The notes and sticky reminders I always kept plastered on the wall were missing. Even the bedsheet beneath me was different...white, patterned, and definitely not mine.
My heartbeat picked up as I moved toward the wardrobe.
I swung the doors open.
Clothes I didn't recognize filled the racks.Simple dresses, long skirts,… nothing like the jeans and hoodies I usually wore. The style didn't match me at all. It looked like someone else's wardrobe entirely.
A strange tightness squeezed my chest.
I stumbled toward my mirror drawer next. The vanity was arranged neatly, but all the items scattered across it were foreign powder boxes, brushes I'd never owned, hairpins shaped like tiny flowers.
Then I caught sight of myself in the mirror.
I froze.
I wasn't wearing my pajamas. I wasn't wearing anything that belonged to me.
I was dressed in a simple black-and-white outfit…
A maid uniform.
A soft gasp escaped my lips.
"Anna."
The distant voice echoed down the hallway just a second before the door burst open. I flinched as a woman stepped inside, her steps quick despite the gentle roundness of the baby bump beneath her dress.
"Anna," she repeated, her tone laced with impatience. Her emerald green eyes fixed sharply on me. "Where have you been? Where's the perfume I asked you to bring from my room?"
Her room?
Was she talking about this room?
But this was mine.
Or… it used to be.
She walked farther in, her beauty becoming even more striking the closer she got. Her features looked almost unreal...smooth skin, delicate lips, long lashes. She looked ethereal, almost glowing.
She grabbed a bottle from the table apparently the perfume she had been waiting for and sighed dramatically.
"I've been waiting for you for minutes, Anna."
Her frustration chipped away at the little stability I had left.
"I… umm… I…" I stuttered, my mind scrambling for sense.
She frowned. "I know you're new to this job, but you shouldn't be this slow."
Job?
What job?
Why was she calling me Anna?
Who was she?
My throat tightened. I had no idea what was going on, and something deep inside whispered that if I didn't respond, things might get worse.
"I'm sorry, ma," I managed. "I'd forgotten."
She let out another long sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose. But then, just as suddenly, her expression softened. A warm, dazzling smile replaced her irritation, lighting up her entire face.
"It's alright," she said gently. "I know it can be hard adjusting to the environment especially when it's a house full of werewolves. But don't panic. You have me here." She placed a hand on her chest. "We humans should stick together, right?"
So she was human.
But she was too breathtakingly perfect to look like one. There was something almost magical about her elegance, her glow. But she spoke so casually, so kindly, as if she belonged here.
She reached out and grabbed my hand, her touch soft.
"Come," she said. "Let's go downstairs. I really need to rest my feet. This baby won't stop kicking."
She guided me toward the door, her hand still wrapped around mine as if we had known each other for years. I glanced back at the room...my room once more, trying to find something familiar. But everything inside it felt borrowed, repainted, rearranged.
Everything felt like someone else's life.
We stepped into the hallway, and even here the strangeness grew worse.
Yes, I was in the pack house I could feel it in my bones but the decorations lining the corridor didn't match any version of the house I remembered. The paintings were different. The carpets were darker. Even the lighting had changed, giving the hallway a warmer, old-fashioned glow.
My chest tightened again.
Nothing felt right.
As we walked, the woman kept her hold on my hand, guiding me gently as if afraid I would trip.
"I know it's overwhelming at first," she said casually, unaware of the storm brewing inside me. "Everyone says the Green Lineage Pack is intimidating, but once you settle in, you'll find the people here can be very kind."
Kind?
Kind?
The same Green Lineage Pack I grew up in?
The same pack that had always felt cold, distant, and intimidating even to me who lived here since birth?
We reached the end of the hallway, and she let go of my hand to support her back.
"I'll need you to help me down the stairs," she said with a soft groan. "These ankles of mine are not cooperating."
I nodded even though my heart was pounding loudly in my ears.
Something was wrong with this place.
Something was wrong with my reality.
But I swallowed my questions for now and reached out to steady her.