Pure Gold

Amira’s POV

I stared at the bathroom mirror, trying to process what Aurelia had just asked me. “Are you serious? We’re not shifting in here! There’s barely enough room for me to turn around without knocking something over.”

‘You’re worrying about space right now?’ She laughed.

“Yes, I’m worrying about space! What happens if I break something? Luna Carol will have a fit if I destroy half the bathroom.”

‘Then we should probably get started before you have time to worry about anything else.’

I opened my mouth to argue, but the pain hit before I could get another word out. It tore through my body so suddenly that my knees buckled. I reached for the edge of the counter, but my fingers slipped, and I crashed onto the floor. A scream ripped from my throat as another wave of pain rolled through me, forcing me to curl into myself. “What the hell is happening?” I gasped.

‘Our first shift. Breathe, Amira. Give me control. I will lead us.’She said in a soft voice.

“Breathe? You want me to breathe?” I clenched my teeth as my bones began to move beneath my skin. “You could have warned me that it would hurt this much!”

‘I did warn you. I asked if you were ready.’ She said matter of factly.

“That is not the same thing!” I screamed. My back arched as the transformation took hold. I could barely think through the pain, let alone come up with another argument. Every part of me seemed to be changing at once. My hands pressed against the floor, my fingers shifting, my nails becoming claws as a thick coat of fur spread across my skin.

I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the urge to scream again. Then, just as suddenly as the pain had begun, it started to ease.

I lay on the floor, panting, my heart pounding so hard I could feel it throughout my body. For several seconds, I didn’t move. I wasn’t entirely sure I could.

‘Open your eyes.’ Aurelia ordered.

I did. Two enormous paws rested in front of me. I stared at them, blinking several times before lifting one paw and turning it from side to side. Golden fur covered it, thick and gleaming beneath the bathroom lights. I raised my other paw, then looked down at the rest of my body. My coat was a deep, rich gold. Not yellow, not pale blond, but a beautiful, pure golden color that seemed to shine even without the light catching it. I sucked in a breath. “Oh no.”

‘What?’ She sounded confused.

“Aurelia, what color are we?” I had to ask. This couldn’t have been right. My eyes must be playing tricks on me.

There was a pause, and for the first time since she’d appeared, I thought I heard something almost like pride in her voice. ‘We’re the last Golden Wolf.’

“No. No, no, no, no, no!” I scrambled backward, my claws clicking against the floor. “We’re not! We can’t be! That’s impossible!”

‘And yet, here we are.’ She chuckled.

“You can’t just say something like that and expect me to be okay with it!” I yelled in disbelief. How could she.

‘I didn’t say you had to be okay with it. I told you what we are.’

I stared at my golden paws again, hoping that if I looked long enough, the color would somehow change. It didn’t. The fur remained exactly the same, and no matter how many times I blinked my eyes, I was still looking at a wolf whose coat looked as though someone had dipped her in liquid gold.

The last Golden Wolf. I’d heard stories about Golden Wolves, of course. Everyone had. They belonged in ancient legends, stories about powerful bloodlines and wolves that had supposedly disappeared generations ago. They weren’t the kind of creatures people expected to find living in an ordinary pack house. And apparently, I was one of them.

“Okay,” I whispered, although nothing about this was okay. “Okay, we can figure this out. We just need to…” I stopped when I realized I was still sitting on the bathroom floor.

First, I needed to get out of here before somebody decided to check on me. Then I needed to understand what Aurelia meant by calling us the last Golden Wolf. I had approximately a thousand questions, and she had answered exactly one of them.

‘You’re forgetting something.’ She laughed out.

“What now?”

‘The mirror.’

I looked toward the full-length mirror beside the bathroom door. Until that moment, I’d been too busy panicking to think about what I actually looked like. Curiosity finally managed to push its way through my fear.

Carefully, I got to my feet. The movement felt strange at first, but my body adjusted quickly. I took a few tentative steps toward the mirror, watching my golden paws move across the floor. My tail swayed behind me, and I turned sideways to see how the light caught my coat.

When I reached the mirror, I stopped. For a moment, I genuinely forgot how to breathe. A beautiful golden wolf stared back at me. Her coat was thick and deep gold, her body sleek and powerful, and her eyes were a brilliant emerald green surrounded by a golden ring. She looked nothing like the wolfless girl everyone had spent two years mocking. She looked extraordinary.

I moved closer to the glass, examining my reflection from every angle. I turned to one side, then the other, lifting my head and straightening my posture. I even tried standing with one front paw slightly forward, just to see how it looked.

‘What are you doing?’ Aurelia asked.

“Posing.” I turned slightly once again. “Look at us!” I turned back toward the mirror, admiring the way my fur fell along my shoulders. “You’re beautiful. You’re really beautiful.”

‘Yeah. I know. We are beautiful.’ She said with pride.

I laughed, the sound coming out as a soft wolfish huff. “You could at least pretend to be humble.”

‘Why would I do that when I’m right?’

I shook my head, still smiling, and turned my face toward the mirror again. That’s when I noticed it. The scar. It crossed the same area around my right eye, running from above my eyebrow down beneath the eye and onto my cheekbone. I stared at it, suddenly forgetting about my beautiful coat and the impossible revelation that I was the last Golden Wolf.

I lifted one paw toward my face, hesitating before gently rubbing the fur around the scar. The reflection did exactly the same. “You have it too,” I whispered.

‘We do.’

I touched the scar again, following its path with the edge of my paw. I’d lived with mine for seventeen years. It was part of my face, a reminder of the accident that had left me in the woods when I was only one year old. I’d never known what my mother had looked like or where I’d come from, and nobody had ever been able to tell me why I’d been abandoned.

But now I was looking at my wolf, and she had the same scar. “Why do we have it?” I asked quietly.

‘In due time, Amira.’

I lowered my paw, studying our reflection. For once, I didn’t immediately wish the scar would disappear. It was strange seeing it on another face, even if that face belonged to me. Somehow, it made Aurelia feel more real. We weren’t just two voices sharing a body. We were connected in ways I didn’t yet understand.

A knock sounded at my bedroom door. I jerked around so quickly that my tail struck the side of the counter. “Oh, shit!”

‘Graceful.’ She laughed.

“Not now, Aurelia!”

Another knock followed. “Amira? Are you in there?” It was… Valerie.

I looked toward the bedroom door, then down at my golden body. There was no way I could let my best friend walk in and find me like this. I hurried away from the mirror, trying to remember how I’d managed to shift in the first place. “I…I…I’ll be a minute!” I called out.

‘We need to shift back.’ I blurted out frantically.

The return to my human form was no less startling than the first transformation, but at least this time I knew what was happening. A few moments later, I was sitting on the floor again, human, breathless, and reaching for the towel hanging beside the shower. I wrapped it around myself and hurried into the bedroom just as Valerie knocked again. “Girl, it’s me! Are you going to let me in?”

I opened the door a crack, then stepped aside to let her in. Valerie swept into the room, already looking impatient. “Amira, you’re not ready yet! The celebration is starting soon. You need to get dressed.”

I glanced at the dress draped over the chair beside my bed. Luna Carol had sent it up earlier, along with a message that I was expected to attend Edward’s homecoming celebration. “I’m not going.” I shrugged my shoulders.

Valerie stopped and stared at me. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” I rose my brow as I stared back at her.

“Amira, you have to go. Your mother even sent you a dress.” She motioned her hand towards the chair.

“That isn’t my mother.” I pointed my finger at her.

Her expression softened for a moment, but I turned away before she could say anything about it. I wasn’t in the mood to discuss Luna Carol or the complicated feelings I had about the woman who’d raised me. “Why should I go?” I asked, gesturing toward the door. “So everyone downstairs can laugh at me? Lena will be there, Edward will be there, and they’ll probably spend the entire evening reminding everyone that I’m the girl who couldn’t even get a wolf.”

Valerie’s face hardened. “They don’t get to decide whether you deserve to be there.”

“Apparently, they do. They’ve been doing it for years.” I reminded her.

“And you’re going to let them keep doing it?” She shook her head. Her voice lowered slightly.

I didn’t answer. Instead, I picked up the dress and examined it. It was beautiful, far nicer than anything I’d normally wear, but that only gave Lena another reason to target me.

Valerie folded her arms across her chest. “Look, I’m not saying they’ll suddenly become nice people. We both know better than that. But you shouldn’t have to hide in your room because Lena can’t stand the sight of you.”

I glanced at her. “You’re making this sound easy.”

“It’s not easy. I’m just tired of watching them treat you like you don’t matter.” Her words settled between us. Valerie had been beside me through enough humiliating moments to know exactly why I hated these gatherings. She was the only person who consistently chose to stand with me, even when doing so made her a target too.

I sighed and looked at the dress again. “Fine. I’ll go. But if Lena starts anything, I’m leaving.”

Valerie smiled triumphantly. “Deal.”

Getting ready didn’t take long. I slipped into the dress, fixed my hair, and checked my reflection one last time. The scar remained visible, just as it always did. I considered covering it for a moment, then decided against it. I wasn’t going to spend the entire evening trying to hide my face.

When Valerie and I finally left the room, the pack house was already filled with guests. Music drifted through the halls, voices mingled beneath the high ceilings, and the scent of food carried up from the lower floor.

As we descended the staircase, another scent slipped through the air. Musk and cedarwood.

I slowed, drawing in another breath before I could stop myself. It was unfamiliar, but there was something about it that caught my attention. I glanced toward the crowded room below, trying to work out where it was coming from.

“Amira?” Valerie asked.

“Nothing.” I shook my head and continued down the stairs.

I had barely reached the bottom when Lena noticed me. She stood near a group of girls, dressed as though she’d been preparing for this celebration for weeks. Her eyes traveled over my dress, and the smile on her face sharpened into something unpleasant. “Well, look who decided to come downstairs.”

I kept walking, hoping she’d be content with a comment and leave me alone. That hope lasted all of three seconds.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Lena demanded, stepping directly into my path.

“I’m going to enjoy the celebration. You know, the one everyone has been preparing for.” I waved my hand in the air as I rolled my eyes.

She looked me up and down again. “In that dress?”

I glanced at myself. “Yes, Lena. That’s generally how dresses work.”

One of the girls behind her snickered. Lena’s eyes narrowed. “That dress is far too good for you. Who do you think you are, dressing like that?”

“Someone wearing a dress.” Beside me, Lena chuckled.

“Don’t get smart with me.” She shoved me backward, making me stumble a step. “You’re not an Alpha’s daughter. You have no idea where you came from, and you certainly don’t belong in something like that.”

I caught my balance and stared at her. Around us, conversations began to fade as people noticed the confrontation. Nobody stepped forward. Nobody ever did.

Lena reached for the fabric near my shoulder and tugged hard. “Take it off,” she snapped. “You don’t deserve to wear it.”

“Get your hands off me.” I smacked at her hands.

“Or what?” She gave the fabric another sharp pull, and I heard a seam tear. “What are you going to do, Amira? Cry? Run back upstairs? That’s what you always do.”

Valerie moved between us, knocking Lena’s hand away. “Get the fuck away from my friend!”

Lena stumbled backward, her face twisting with fury. For a moment, she looked almost too shocked to speak. Then she straightened, her eyes moving from Valerie to me. “Who the hell do you think you are?” she hissed.

“Someone who’s sick of watching you bully people who won’t fight back.” Lena stood her ground.

Lena’s expression darkened. She stepped toward Valerie, raising her hand. I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate. I shot forward and caught Lena by both wrists before she could strike my friend.

The room fell silent. No one said a word. I’m not sure if they even breathed. Lena stared at me, her mouth parting as she tried to pull free. I held on, barely aware of the strength in my grip. Something surged through me, hot and powerful, and I felt a strange pressure behind my eyes.

Then I saw Lena’s expression change. Her anger gave way to something else. Fear.

I didn’t understand why until Valerie looked at me, her eyes wide. She wasn’t looking at my hands or the way I was holding Lena. She was staring into my face.

I caught my reflection in the surface of a nearby mirror. My eyes were glowing. Not green. Not hazel. Not the familiar emerald color I’d seen every morning of my life. They were… Pure gold. And I couldn’t make them stop.