Meryn moves her belongings from the Strategos bunkroom to her new private room, trying to avoid drawing attention. On her way, she spots Izabel straddling a Rawbond named Roddert and pulls her aside. When they reach the private room, Tomison also appears and is impressed. Meryn explains that Egith assigned her the room for safety reasons after the attack. Izabel speculates the king may have taken an interest in Meryn at Presentation, which disturbs Meryn, though she privately suspects Killian is more likely responsible. She keeps Killian's name to herself, unwilling to reveal their year-long secret relationship.

When Meryn asks how to prevent the room assignment from worsening her standing among the Rawbonds, Tomison bluntly tells her she can't hide it and should own it. Izabel reluctantly agrees. The next morning at breakfast, Perielle—the Strategos beauty queen—publicly confronts Meryn, demanding to know who she's sleeping with to earn special treatment. Perielle announces she has found her wolf's mate in Jonah, a cruel Daemos Rawbond, and then sweeps Meryn's breakfast plate off the table. When Meryn bends to clean up, Perielle tries to kick her, but Meryn dodges easily and threatens to cut off Perielle's foot if she tries again. Perielle whispers a threat to lock her door before stalking away. Izabel offers quiet support, but Meryn knows the confrontation has made her even more conspicuous.

Later, the Rawbonds attend a wolf communication class taught by Gamma Samson Whyte. Samson explains that the bond between rider and direwolf is an ongoing exchange of thoughts and emotions, not true mind-reading, and that the strongest bonds are selective—both parties can raise and lower mental walls. The class does a guided meditation to practice manipulating their connections. While most Rawbonds seem to have open channels with their wolves, Meryn finds Anassa's wall completely impenetrable. She spends the entire session physically and mentally exhausted from battering against Anassa's cold defenses, making no progress. Afterward, Meryn silently vows to Anassa that she will never stop trying to break through, driven by her determination to find Saela.