Her name was Idra Mael.
Not Idris — different person, same opening sound, the universe's idea of a joke. Idra Mael was a pack negotiator from the western outer territories, twenty-eight, with the kind of face that made people look twice and the kind of competence that made them look a third time.
She arrived at the Hold on a Wednesday to negotiate a territorial resource agreement.
I found out about her from Cael Orin.
Not deliberately — he mentioned her in an administrative update, the way he mentioned all relevant arrivals. Routine. Professional.
"The western outer negotiator," he said, "requested the Alpha personally. She said she prefers to deal directly with leadership."
"Fine," I said. I was at the Hold's archive table reviewing records with the specific focus of someone three h
