All Chapters of The Lost Heir: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The council arrived before the coalition wolves had risen from their knees. Alec heard the vehicles before he saw them — six engines on the mountain road, one for each pack that had answered the summons, arriving together in the grey before dawn. He watched them crest the hill and stop. Cedric of Southern Ridge stepped out first. He took in the fifty kneeling wolves, the small barefoot child at the center of them, the Luna he didn't recognize holding her hand, and said nothing for a long moment. The others filed out behind him. Cara of the Eastern Marshes. Ronan of the Western Vale. Stephan of Ashford. Soren of Ironfeld. All of them reading the scene with the focused attention of people trying to understand something they hadn't been prepared for. Soren’s gaze cut to Alec. “Explain.” "Come inside," Alec said. "All of you. There's a lot to cover." They crowded into the Stonehaven meeting room — council members at the table, Nix and Dylan standing, Maya beside Alec with Ivy in the

The day had passed in pieces—people sleeping in shifts, supplies being sorted, the coalition setting watches around a compound that felt too quiet without the main house standing. By the time the sun set, Ivy had been asleep for hours, exhausted in a way that went deeper than one bad night.Alec stood in the doorway of the guest room and watched her breathe. She looked small in the unfamiliar bed, her face finally peaceful. He closed the door quietly and went to find Maya.Celeste's house sat apart from the compound, surrounded by pine trees that muffled the sounds beyond the ridge. It was small but intact—one of the few structures the battle hadn't touched. Someone had already been through it, clearing the most obvi

Dylan had learned a long time ago that the weight of a thing and the size of it had nothing to do with each other.The house they'd been given was small and clean, tucked at the edge of the compound where the pines started and the noise of the cleanup crews faded into something manageable. Someone had put food on the table that nobody had touched. A fire had been laid and lit. Small courtesies from people who had their own grief to manage and had found the time anyway.Godric was already inside when they arrived, his big frame folded into a chair by the fire, his expression carrying the particular blankness of a man running on fumes and discipline. Their beta had been with them for fifteen years — had stood at Dylan's left shoulder through every territorial dispute and every hard decision the Northern Coalition had ever made — and Dylan had learned to read his silences like other men read words. This silence meant he'd made it through the day and had questions.Fallen stood at the wind

Alec had been driving for three hours and Maya had opinions about the music."This one," she said, scrolling through her phone."You said that about the last four.""I meant it." She hit play. Something with a slow beat and a warm melody filled the car. She settled back into her seat with the satisfaction of someone who had made the correct decision.From the back seat Ivy said, "I like this one.""See," Maya said.Alec glanced in the rearview mirror. Ivy was watching the trees go past, her blanket pulled up to her chin, her small feet not quite reaching the floor of the car seat. She caught him looking and waved. He smiled and turned back to the road.The convoy moved through the pre-dawn dark in tight formation. Inside the car it was warm. Outside the world was still mostly dark and quiet. He checked his mirrors. The vehicles behind him were where they were supposed to be. He checked again anyway.Maya changed the song."You just put that one on," Alec said."I changed my mind.""Tha

The dress was deep green, cut simply, and it fit her well.Kendra worked the buttons at her back with quick, practiced fingers. She was good at this — present without intruding, efficient without coldness. Celeste watched her in the mirror and thought that there were worse ways to spend a first week than learning who moved through a place like this. The help always knew everything. Who ate together, who avoided each other, which corridors stayed busy after dark and which ones went quiet. You learned more from a maid in three days than from a month of formal introductions."How long have you been here?" Celeste asked.Kendra's eyes stayed down. "A while.""And before?"A small pause. Her fingers moved to the next button. "Somewhere else."Celeste studied her in the mirror. Young — twenty, maybe. Dark eyes that gave very little away. There was a quality to her stillness that felt practiced rather than natural, the stillness of someone who had learned it rather than been born to it. She