he sun hadn't even cleared the horizon when the door to Kael's war chamber slammed open so hard one of the guards flinched.
"ISKA," Kael growled, rising from the table. "Do you have a death wish or are you just being dramatic again?"
She was out of breath.
Hair wind-tossed.
Eyes lit like someone had handed her a match and dared her to burn history down.
"Oh, you're gonna want to sit for this," she said, yanking a canvas satchel off her shoulder and tossing it onto the stone table. "Actually, no. Stand. It's better when you're on your feet for what I'm about to say."
Vireya leaned forward, arms folded on the table. "What did you do?"
"Not what I did. What Grams did," Iska snapped, pulling out the first scroll. "She's older than the council's memory. Wasn't supposed to be left breathing this long, but she's clever and mean as hell, and she's been collecting."
She laid out three scrolls.
None of them were marked in the language Vireya had seen before.
The ink shimmered green. The edges looked half-burned, like they'd survived a fire meant to erase them.
"These came from the crypts beneath the Hollow," Iska said. "I told you the forest was alive. But it's not just that—it remembers. And apparently, so did Grams."
Kael crossed his arms. "What are they?"
"History," Iska said. "The kind they don't want written."
She flattened one of the scrolls with her palm. "This one's about the Flameborn bloodline."
Vireya's pulse jumped.
Iska's voice lowered. "They didn't fear the Flameborn because they were wild. Or unstable. Or cursed."
She looked directly at Vireya.
"They feared them because they were the only ones who couldn't be controlled."
Silence.
Then Kael said, "Elaborate."
Iska grinned like she'd been waiting to be asked.
"The Flameborn could connect with the realm directly. With the land, the elements, the veil between worlds. Most wolves need conduits—rituals, the bond, the moon. But Flameborn?" She tapped the parchment. "They could bypass all of it. And when paired with a soulbonded mate? They could ignite dormant power in others."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Meaning?"
"Meaning," Iska said, "that if enough Flameborn were left alive, they could unseat any Alpha. Any bloodline. They didn't need politics. They were a revolution built into fur."
Vireya sat slowly. "But I don't... feel that. Not fully."
"You wouldn't," Iska said, already unrolling the second scroll. "Because your mother sealed your potential. And not just yours. Hers. The entire bloodline. It was the only way to keep the Council from sensing you."
Kael's jaw ticked. "The council wiped them out."
"Not all of them," Iska said. "Just the ones they could track. But your mom?" She was smart. And connected. She ran. Gave birth on sacred ground. Bound you to the Hollow. You weren't just hidden, Vireya. You were veiled."
"Until Kael bit me."
"Until Kael chose you," Iska corrected. "His bloodline has always been tied to prophecy. The curse they whisper about? It wasn't a punishment. It was a fail-safe. It made sure the next time a Flameborn rose, she'd be tied to the one wolf strong enough to protect her."
Kael stared at the scrolls like they'd personally betrayed him.
"So this whole kingdom," Vireya said, "this council, this court... all of it... was built on a lie."
"Not a lie," Iska said, rolling out the final scroll. "A cover-up."
This one was different.
The parchment was darker. The ink was faded like it had been bled into with sweat and time.
And in the center, burned into the skin of the page, was a name:
ASHIRA.
Vireya's breath caught.
Iska looked at her. "That name didn't come from your dreams. It came from your blood."
Vireya reached out slowly, fingers brushing the edge of the page.
"Who was she?" she whispered.
Iska's grin disappeared.
"She was the first Flameborn to walk this land. And the last one the council couldn't kill. They didn't erase her because they beat her. They erased her because they couldn't. She vanished. Left no trace. Some say she split her soul and fled into the veil."
Vireya's voice was barely audible. "So how is it my wolf's name?"
Kael's eyes met hers. "Because you are her."
The room fell silent again.
Iska leaned over the scroll, pointing to a phrase scrawled in the ancient tongue.
"I can't translate all of it," she said. "But this line here? It says: When the Flameborn awakens once more, so shall the storm rise to meet her."
Drekken snarled low in Kael's mind.
And Vireya?
She sat very still, staring at the scroll bearing her wolf's name.
Ashira.
The soul that had waited lifetimes.
Not just to return.
But to finish what she started.