The messenger arrived at the southern gate at dusk.
Not a wolf — a human courier, the kind that crossed between pack territories without triggering jurisdiction complications, carrying a sealed letter with the Ironveil Pack crest pressed into black wax. Rook brought it to the meeting building where Caden and I and Maren and Lyra had spent the last two hours processing everything Cira had given us, spreading it across the table between us like a map of everything we hadn't known we were dealing with.
Caden broke the seal. Read it once. Set it down on the table in front of me without comment.
I read it.
Alpha Blackthorn —
The formal claim you have placed on my daughter is not recognized under the terms of inter-pack law applicable to a wolf publicly disowned and therefore without pack s
