The invitation had arrived two weeks ago.
Annual Vault Reception — Spring Cycle. Mandatory attendance for active Pack representatives, Vault contractors, and council-affiliated observers. Neva had read "mandatory" and filed "requires appropriate preparation" in the same motion. She'd confirmed her attendance, selected what she would wear, briefed Priva on the logistics, and moved on.
She arrived twelve minutes late.
Not because she was managing anything. Because Bram had asked, at the exact wrong moment in the evening's timeline, why some people had eyes that changed color and she had required four minutes to construct an answer that was technically true and would not require follow-up questions she wasn't ready for tonight.
The reception was on The Vault's first basement level — the o
