External POV - Deephowl
There was no coup.
No one declared Aurora deposed.
No one stripped her title.
No one touched the crescent mark she carried or challenged the bond she held with the land.
That would have been too obvious.
Too violent.
Instead, Deephowl began operating as if leadership were a distributed responsibility.
And distributed responsibility had a way of diluting accountability.
Stefano noticed first.
He said nothing.
That, too, was adaptation.
Elsewhere, the Ripples Spread
Messengers left the mountain carrying carefully worded updates to allied packs.
Nothing alarming.
Nothing actionable.
Just enough uncertainty to invite questions.
Witches outside Deephowl reported strange fluctuations not raw surges, but a sense of something settling where it shouldn't.
A minor pack along the southern routes invoked an independent defensive protocol without consulting Aurora or the council.
No one corrected them.
