Chapter Twenty-Three: The Name in the Flame
The council chamber was divided.
Literally.
Half stood with Kael — the seasoned warriors, those raised on tradition, who believed leadership was won through blood, strength, and the will of the Moon. The other half stood behind Rina — healers, younger wolves, and those who had felt her fire not as destruction but as mercy.
"Enough!" Kael barked, his voice thundering through stone. "This division weakens us. While we argue, they come for our young. Our Alpha—" he hesitated, just for a second, "—our Alpha-mate needs our unity."
All eyes turned to Rina.
She stood tall, eyes calm, fire flickering just beneath the surface of her skin. She did not shout. She did not plead.
She simply said, "Then stop tearing the pack down by refusing to accept that I am both wolf and flame."
Silence.
It was the oldest wolf, Elder Maeven, who broke it.
"There is precedent," she said slowly. "One Ravenspell once led a pack. Long before the Purge."
Everyone turned toward her.
Maeven's ancient eyes rested on Rina. "Your great-grandmother. Sira."
Rina froze. "I was told the Ravenspell line died with the Purge."
Maeven nodded. "That's what the Council wanted everyone to believe. Because Sira wasn't just powerful—she frightened the other Alphas. She could bind memory. Split a soul. And she loved a wolf who betrayed her."
Kael's expression shifted, barely perceptible. "What was his name?"
Maeven looked away.
Then whispered: "Thorne."
The name echoed like a ghost through the chamber.
Rina's knees nearly buckled.
Thorne was the name her mother whispered in nightmares.
Thorne was the name carved into the hidden pages of her mother's journal—always written in blood-colored ink.
Later, alone in the temple, Rina summoned the flame again.
This time, it didn't fight her.
Instead, it danced in the air, swirling like a memory made real. And inside the fire…
A face.
Sharp. Beautiful. Cruel.
Thorne.
His voice came with it — like smoke sliding down her spine.
"Hello, little spark. I've waited a long time for you to wake up."