All Chapters of LOST AND FOUND: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The council hall smelled faintly of smoke, the stone walls still holding the chill of the night. Torches burned low in their iron sconces, their flames spitting against drafts that slithered down from the rafters. Wolves in human form filled the chamber, their eyes restless, voices already sharpening before Kaelen even spoke.He stood at the head of the long table, scar catching the torchlight along his jaw. Broad-shouldered, unyielding, he let the room settle into silence with the weight of his gaze. But silence here was not peace—it was teeth bared behind closed mouths.“The border villages are gone,” one of the elders muttered, breaking the stillness. His hair was white, his voice cracked like dry wood. “Eryndor’s fire spreads because we allow it. And still—” his hand cut toward the far side of the chamber where Serenya sat, pale and small among them—“we shelter her.”A rumble passed through the council. Agreement. Resentment. Fear.Serenya’s fingers clenched in her lap. She had ch

The highland winds carried the acrid sting of smoke long after the flames had been smothered. Charred beams jutted from blackened earth like broken ribs, and the once-proud hall stood hollow, its roof caved, its banners burned to threads. Wolves padded silently among the wreckage, some in human form, others lingering in their fur, noses low to the ground as if the scent of ruin might explain how it had come to this.Kaelen stood at the center of it all, his arms braced against the weight of silence. He had been through battles before—raids, feuds, border wars—but never had the quiet after felt this heavy. Never had the eyes of his own wolves cut so sharply at him.“They’re saying it was her,” murmured one voice from the shadows of the broken wall. It wasn’t shouted, but it carried.Serenya heard it. She had been kneeling near the fallen stones, her hands streaked with soot as she tried to help an elder salvage what little remained of his home. Her head lifted, the words searing her ch

The wolves staggered through the highland pass as dusk gathered, their bodies carrying the weight of both wounds and silence. Kaelen walked at their head, his shoulders squared, though blood stained the sleeve of his tunic. Behind him, the pack dragged themselves onward, some limping, others carrying the fallen between them on makeshift stretchers of branches and cloaks.The wind cut sharp through the mountain heather, carrying the metallic tang of blood and smoke. It pressed against them, as though the highlands themselves demanded to know why they had returned fewer than they had left.From the stone steps of the stronghold, Mireya appeared first, her cloak snapping in the wind. Her eyes swept the returning company, narrowing when she counted the gaps. She called out, voice sharp, “What happened? You were to intercept a raiding party, not a full battalion.”Kaelen halted at the foot of the steps, his chest rising heavily. His reply was steady, clipped. “We were led into an ambush. S

Kaelen pushed the heavy oak doors of the council chamber open with more force than necessary. The wood banged against the stone walls, and the gathered elders startled. Every face turned toward him—wary, judgmental, some edged with resentment. The storm of the night before had done little to wash the blood from his memory. He could still see the eyes of the fallen, still feel the heat of battle burning in his chest.He strode to the head of the long table, his cloak dragging behind him like a shadow. Serenya lingered by the threshold, hesitant, her presence like a whisper of wind in a room suffocating with tension.“Kaelen,” one of the elders began, a lean man with gray hair bound back tightly. “We cannot keep this path. Too much has been lost. The pack bleeds.”“The pack bleeds because we are hunted,” Kaelen shot back, his voice deep, carrying. “Because our enemies are relentless.”Another elder, broad-shouldered and scarred, slammed a fist against the table. “And because you shelter

The council chamber smelled of pine resin and smoke, the long hearth spitting sparks as if echoing the tempers inside. Kaelen stood at the head of the table, jaw set, the flickering light cutting sharp planes across his face. Around him the half-circle of elders shifted restlessly, their voices a low growl before breaking into open clamor.“They’ll slaughter us if we defy him,” snarled Garron, his scarred hands gripping the table edge. “Eryndor’s already burned three villages in the north. You’d have us wait for his hounds to tear through the rest of us?”“Better ash than shame,” Mireya shot back, eyes flashing like steel. “Bow to him, and we might as well slit our own throats. You know what he does to those who kneel.”The chamber filled with overlapping voices—fear, rage, and weariness tangling in a storm that rattled the timber walls. Kaelen raised a hand for silence, but it went unheeded. His authority, once unchallenged, was crumbling under the weight of terror.At the far end of