The report came in at midmorning from one of the Ember Pack members she had assigned to the eastern boundary rotation.
He had it in writing, which meant he had thought about it before bringing it to her. She read it at her desk while he stood in the doorway, weight distributed in the way of someone who was not sure whether to stay or go, waiting to be told.
The questions had been coming for three days, he said. From different directions — not from the same person, not in the same context. At a Pale Court suppliers' event, someone had asked a purchasing contact how long Ember Pack had been established in the LES. At a Gray Zone neutral meeting point, a Crescent Fang-adjacent wolf had mentioned, conversationally, that she had heard the new Alpha had come from Europe. At the Vault's public
