The envoys from the Aethon Lycan territory reached Blue Rock borders just after sunrise. Even before they arrived, the pack lands gave off an uneasy stillness. Blue Rock was usually loud at this hour with trading chatter, training drills, and the sound of pups chasing each other under the watch of tired mothers. All these sounds could be heard from the borders by lycans whose hearing superseded that of werewolves. But that morning, after the envoy had been allowed in, the settlement met them with a strange quiet, as if the whole territory could find no reason to be merry.
Luna Aria stood waiting at the entrance with her guards arranged in two lines behind her. She wore her most composed smile, soft at the edges and deferential in all the places that mattered. Werewolves bowed to no one ex
