The message arrived before the riders did, and that alone told Cassian the visit had not been improvised.
A single wolf crossed the eastern boundary at dawn beneath white-flag protocol, keeping a measured pace all the way to the outer patrol line and stopping exactly where discipline required him to stop.
He did not take wolf form, did not bow, and did not offer the kind of unnecessary explanation lesser packs often used when they hoped courtesy might soften suspicion.
He delivered the sentence he had clearly been given, and he delivered it with enough control that the meaning carried without decoration.
"Alpha Ronan of Black Hollow requests entry to speak."
He said nothing else.
Black Hollow did not share a direct border with Grimridge, but its lands curved wide through the northern valleys, rich with timber, iron, and the kind of steady resources that let a pack grow patient instead of hungry.
