When Institutions Strike Back
They did not celebrate the release.
Not in Iron Claw.
Not in North Ridge.
Not anywhere that had walked out of Black Hollow under the eyes of a shaken Council.
Because everyone understood one truth.
Institutions do not forgive humiliation.
They retaliate.
Three days after the tribunal, the first strike came.
Not with soldiers.
With ink.
A decree was delivered to every registered pack across the territories.
Signed by unanimous High Council seal.
Emergency Unity Mandate.
All packs were ordered to suspend independent coalition gatherings.
All trade routes were to be re-certified through Council authority.
Any Alpha or Luna participating in unauthorized Sovereign assemblies would be classified as insurgent leadership.
Lucien read the decree twice in silence.
"They're centralizing," he said flatly.
Cassian nodded from across the war table.
"They're locking the system."
Darius scoffed.
"Let them try."
But this wasn't brute force.
