Koen’s pack members begin arriving at his house earlier than Serena expects, starting with Colin and Pavel, who burst in naked and joking until Amanda intercepts them. Serena insists they stay, then cooks for them and the other seconds who follow. When Koen returns, he is irritated that Serena has been feeding and hosting his people, because he meant only to introduce them as contacts she can rely on, but the gathering continues without incident and Serena enjoys the warmth and camaraderie of the pack.

As more pack members and relatives fill the house, Serena notices Koen keeping an eye on her from a distance. Needing a break from the crowd, she slips outside and overhears Saul and another Were discussing how completely Koen has fallen for Serena, while also hinting at some unresolved question involving whether Serena might be one of the Favored. The conversation confirms that Koen is hiding important information and deepens Serena’s uncertainty about what he feels and what he knows.

Back inside, Brenna’s brother Boden confronts Serena and tells her she does not belong in the Northwest because she is half Human and connected to Vampyres through Misery. Serena refuses to back down and defends both herself and Misery. Koen arrives during the exchange and shuts Boden down, first with mockery and then with a blunt public warning: Serena is his mate, and anyone in the pack who harms her will answer to him. His declaration both protects Serena and establishes, before hostile pack members, that he is willing to stand against his own people for her safety.

Afterward, Koen and Serena speak more privately. Serena asks whether he fears being challenged as Alpha, and Koen explains that he does not see the pack as something he owns; to him, an Alpha serves the pack and should step aside if a better leader appears. Wanting to imagine a future for him beyond leadership, Serena offers to teach him piano as a hobby. In front of the open bedroom door, she settles with him at the piano, and their lesson turns charged when his touch on her thigh and the closeness between them make it feel as if they are about to kiss.

The moment breaks when Mai, Koen’s eldest second, interrupts. Koen abruptly tells Serena he is not interested, then shifts into business as Mai reports that his border team has killed eleven Vampyres trying to enter the territory for the bounty on Serena. Later, lying awake, Serena realizes the Northwest pack is unusually young. After texting Misery and learning Koen has been Alpha for twenty-one years, Serena pieces together that he became Alpha at only fifteen, likely after some catastrophic event killed or removed the older dominant Weres and much of the pack’s history. She falls asleep convinced that a major hidden disaster shaped both Koen and the Northwest.