Meryn wakes on the arena floor in her nightclothes, shaken by her sleepwalking episode. As she creeps back to her room, she reflects on how her mother had identical episodes—wandering at night, hearing voices—and fears the same madness is overtaking her. Anassa senses something through the bond and asks if Meryn is well, but Meryn lies and says it was only a nightmare. The walk back is haunted by shadows and memories of her mother's bloodied mouth, and Meryn privately dreads that her deteriorating mental state will cost her everything: Anassa, Killian, and any chance of saving Saela.

The next day, exhausted and off her game, Meryn joins a grueling pack formation drill led by Stark and Egith. The exercise involves three concentric rotating circles of wolf-rider pairs, designed to simulate battlefield coordination. After an hour of practice, something shifts—Meryn feels the crackling electric current of true pack unity for the first time. She senses each rider's mind: Izabel's knife-edge focus, Tomison's intoxicating confidence. For a few breathtaking moments, she feels like she belongs, part of a singular entity of twenty-three wolves and their riders.

But as Meryn leans deeper into the connection, darkness creeps in. Whispers rise, drowning out all other sound, and she sees blood seeping down the arena walls toward her. She nearly screams, her concentration shatters, and she stumbles out of formation, causing a cascading disruption across the pack. She manages to recover and resume, but Stark watches her with cold, calculating eyes, and her packmates shoot her frustrated looks.

After the session, Egith pulls Meryn aside. The beta acknowledges Meryn's bond with Anassa has improved and that Meryn touched true unity—but warns that her single moment of weakness disrupted the entire pack. With the Purge Trial only a week away, Egith tells Meryn bluntly that she must maintain the connection or be culled. Egith admits she'd hate to lose Meryn, but urges her to try harder: unity is survival, and the pack won't forgive a second failure when lives are at stake.

Afterward, Meryn reaches out to Anassa over the bond and asks whether the wolf can sense her visions. Anassa confirms she can but says she cannot—and would not—stop them, suggesting the visions may hold meaning. Frustrated, Meryn protests that the episodes are a sign of madness and a threat to them both. Anassa calmly counsels Meryn to focus on their connection, breathe, and open herself to the power within her, insisting they have more control over their minds than they realize. Meryn resolves to trust Anassa's centuries of wisdom and try harder.