The territory woke up differently the next morning.
Not fractured.
Not united.
Alert.
Aurelia felt it as she moved through the outer paths—the way conversations stopped when she passed, not out of fear, but recalibration. Wolves weren't watching to see what she would do anymore.
They were watching to see what would be done to her.
"You shouldn't stay visible today," Mira said quietly, falling into step beside her. "If the council can't control you, they'll try to provoke the world into doing it for them."
"They already have," Aurelia replied.
Mira frowned. "What do you mean?"
Aurelia didn't answer immediately. She slowed near the eastern ridge, gaze lifting toward the horizon where the land dipped into distant valleys. The bond beneath her skin had been restless since dawn—not pulling, not warning.
Tracking.
"They didn't lose authority quietly," Aurelia said at last. "They signaled."
"To who?" Mira asked.
