Inclusion is not free.
It never has been.
⸻
The decision is made without ceremony.
Zane does not call a council.
Does not issue a decree.
Does not negotiate with the world.
He simply opens the circle.
⸻
Jason feels it first.
The lattice loosens—deliberately, painfully—as Zane steps into the center of the territory and releases the quiet constraint the bond has begun to enforce.
Not all at once.
Not recklessly.
Enough.
Enough for the edges to feel the pull again.
Enough for the ones left out to be seen.
Jason’s breath shudders.
“He’s overriding the efficiency bias,” he whispers.
“The system won’t like this.”
⸻
The wolves feel it immediately.
The warmth spreads outward—not clean, not even.
Messy.
Unequal.
Heavy.
The elders stiffen as the ache returns.
Healers gasp a
