"You think just because the Keep voted, the wolves outside will obey?" Beckett's voice echoed through the cold strategy chamber, sharp with disbelief.
"I don't expect obedience," Camille replied, not looking up from the old scrolls she was reviewing. "I expect resistance. And I'm ready for it."
Magnolia leaned against the edge of the long stone table, arms crossed over her chest. "They've already started pushing back. Three outer settlements have refused to take the new seal. One burned the emissary's banner."
Camille looked up at her. "Did they burn the wolf beneath it?"
"No," Magnolia said. "But the message was clear."
"They're not rejecting us," Rhett added from the window, where frost gathered like memory on the old iron lattice. "They're rejecting what they don't understand."
