During the Proving period, Strategos and Daemos packs train together daily. Meryn has been privately training with Stark for two weeks and is improving, but her new Gamma instructor, Daegan Prak, is ineffective because he constantly defers to her alpha status instead of teaching her properly. During a joint exercise in the Daemos training yard, both packs practice their respective powers—Daemos unleashing devastating battering rams of energy while Strategos uses foresight to dodge. Jonah, who has been antagonizing Meryn since Perielle's death, deliberately rams his wolf into her and disrupts her position, causing her to be caught in the crossfire.

Meryn is thrown from Anassa's back and struck by a full-strength Daemos blast while on the ground. Her nose is broken and she screams in pain. Before the situation escalates further, Stark intervenes with terrifying power, hurling Jonah across the training yard into a wall. Stark publicly berates Jonah for disobeying the order not to use full-strength magic on Strategos, and threatens to cull him if he touches Meryn again. Izabel and Nevah help Meryn up, and Nevah—who has been warming to the pack since the Purge Trial—jokes with her. Stark then orders Meryn to his office.

In Stark's office, Meryn braces for harsh criticism. Instead, Stark acknowledges she is a poor Alpha but promises he will never lie to her. He offers to re-break her crooked nose so Anassa can heal it properly. In an unexpectedly intimate moment, Stark kneels between her legs, places her hands on his chest, and carefully resets her nose. The pain is excruciating, but Anassa immediately heals it. The charged moment passes as Stark retreats to the other side of the office.

Stark then delivers his real lesson: Meryn must learn to lead Daegan rather than expecting Daegan to lead her. He explains that good leaders learn from subordinates while still maintaining authority, and that she needs to clearly tell Daegan what she needs from him as an instructor. Meryn connects this to her past experience running the laundry and agrees she can do it. She thanks Stark—something she has never done before—for both the advice and resetting her nose, and leaves feeling an unexpected and confusing sense of disappointment and shifting feelings toward him.