The pack did not disperse after Aurelia left the council chamber.
That, more than anything else, told her how deeply the balance had shifted.
Wolves lingered in the corridors, in the outer courtyards, near the watch towers and the training grounds—standing too close together, speaking too quietly. Some watched her openly as she passed. Others looked away too quickly, as if afraid of being seen thinking.
Following her.
Questioning.
Reconsidering.
Mira stayed close at her side, posture rigid, eyes constantly scanning. "They don't know what to do anymore," she murmured.
Aurelia nodded. "Neither do I."
That was the truth she would not soften.
She had refused to kneel. She had spoken the first rule aloud. She had disrupted something old and deeply embedded.
But leadership was not a moment.
It was a consequence.
