On the drive back to the Southwest pack, Serena is startled to find Koen calmly listening to classical music after killing the Vampyre who attacked her. Koen immediately questions why Serena did not shift into wolf form to escape. Serena explains that weak moon phases prevent less powerful Weres from shifting, but Koen reminds her that she was able to shift under similar conditions when they first met, making it clear that he suspects she is hiding something.

When Koen presses Serena about disappearing to the cabin, Serena deflects with humor and lists the upheavals of the past year: learning she is a Human-Were hybrid, being imprisoned by Vampyres, killing in self-defense, and being exposed publicly as the first known hybrid. Koen then explains how he found her. Lowe warned him that two Vampyres had tried to breach Southwest systems; Alex traced their search to Serena and Ana, and Bob used Serena's satellite phone to track her into Northwest territory. The other Vampyre was lured deeper into Southwest land, where Lowe killed him after Misery used thrall on him long enough to learn that a member of the Vampyre council is offering enormous sums for a hybrid.

The conversation turns sharper when Koen mocks Serena's lies, isolation, weakness, and refusal to shift. Serena asks whether he is accusing her of something, but Koen says he prefers to force a confession rather than state it directly. Serena then shifts focus to Ana's safety, worried because Ana is a seven-year-old hybrid. Koen insists Ana is better protected than Serena is, because Ana has Lowe, Misery, and an entire pack guarding her, while Serena has no family, no pack, no stable home, and a public identity that makes her easy to find.

Koen's frustration peaks when he tells Serena bluntly that she is the more vulnerable target and says, "I will take care of you." Serena realizes that, regardless of Koen's emotional distance, he feels responsible for her and rushed to save her as soon as he learned she was in danger. The intensity of the exchange leaves Serena in tears from exhaustion, which visibly alarms Koen far more than violence does. He orders her to sleep, and their argument softens into teasing conversation about Were bedtime stories and Koen's damaged personality.

As Serena drifts off, the tension between them turns flirtatious and abrasive again. Serena demands an apology for the way Koen stared at her chest in the woods, and Koen counters that Serena owes him an apology for how distracting her body was. The chapter ends with Serena falling asleep smiling despite herself, while privately acknowledging the darker truth she has not told Koen: she believes she has little time left to live.