Morning did not break the tension.
If anything, it sharpened it.
The two groups that had formed the night before had not dissolved with sleep. They had simply spread through the territory, carrying their convictions with them like quiet fire.
Aurelia felt it the moment she stepped outside.
The bond beneath her skin no longer hummed with simple awareness. It moved in pulses—subtle currents shifting through the territory as wolves chose where to stand.
Choice had weight.
And now the pack was learning how heavy it could be.
Mira joined her at the edge of the clearing.
"They didn't disperse," she said.
Aurelia nodded.
Across the open grounds, wolves stood in clusters again—some facing toward the western boundary where the carved line remained, others angled toward the council hall.
No shouting.
No fighting.
Just the slow gravity of belief pulling them into alignment.
"This was inevitable," Mira murmured.
"Yes."
"But inevitability doesn't make it easier."
