the only reason any wolves get indoctrinated into the cult during woolhaven is because Savan was urged into following Inez around constantly. she would choose to kill most of them if he'd not gotten to them first.
except Hagar, that one is a complicated situation, but Inez sees a bit of herself in her (partially due to the voices in her head that havent been leaving her alone...)
pre-schism, and even pre-bishops Yngya existed. the bishops left her alone when going through and establishing the lands of the old faith because Leshy hadn't stepped up to claim his own land yet (Narinder was over Darkwood), the only followers of Yngya were the lambs, and they didn't exactly think it wise to kill a season. they had an agreement with Yngya to leave her alone.
an agreement they went back on.
at first Yngya didn't know they'd broken their deal. this was because the bishops had enlisted the aid of the wolves to take out the lambs. in S&B we have something we call the Natural Predator/Prey instinct. basically in a dynamic such as a wolf and a sheep, the sheep have this natural prey instinct even being close in proximity to wolves or hearing them howl. it puts them into a flight or freeze mode, while the wolves grow more aggressive and focused. basically the predator of the relationship gets a vast advantage. The bishops knew this, so they hired the wolves to do their dirtywork. it wasn't until the word of the prophecy finally travelled to woolhaven did Yngya realize it wasn't just the wolves being assholes. She went to confront the Bishops, and they knew she was coming.
now keep in mind, some of the wolves had to be getting something out of their deal with the bishops. while some of them did it purely for the thrill and the fun of it, the rest did it for something in exchange:
the mountain lands were promised to the packs, once they'd rid it of all the sheep. the lambs fled from their homes on Ewefall, and unable to find Woolhaven without being summoned, they went instead to the lands of the old faith, where the prosecution was just as bad. they were left with nowhere to run, their flocks dwindling.
Inez' flock was focused on survival, and her aunt and siblings taught her how to fight to protect herself. they also taught her something vital;
how to turn that freeze/flight instinct into a fight instinct.
her first follower fell victim to that training as soon as they reached for her attention. ratau only avoided the same because he was fast and reactive.
when she first ventured into Ewefall as a god it was explosive. wolves had retreated to the mountain after the genocide was over, content and growing their free packs. she showed up and although they still have the instinct to attack her immediately, a hundred years without sheep have softened their blows.
but Inez had never been stronger.
her training snaps out at the first howl, it breaks trees, leaves immediate dents in the pack that even Marchosias notices. instead of anger though, Marchosias is impressed. he humors the little lamb that overrode her own instincts, he respects it just a little bit.
Inez doesnt care. she doesn't care that most of these wolves werent the ones living when her people were massacred, just that the blood is on their ancestors paws. she doesn't care that Marchosias isn't attacking her, just that he's toying with her and her cult for his own amusement and curiosity. half the time she doesn't even care what Marchosias has done to his own pack, the experiments and mutations, only that there is more terror happening on her people's land...
only about the voices in her head calling her home.
