Serena is shaken awake in the night for what Koen expects to be another dangerous fever episode, but this time she realizes she does not feel sick. When Koen brings her toward a cooling bath, Serena rejects the cold and instead becomes intensely fixated on his warmth, scent, and body. Her sudden arousal escalates quickly, and although she tries to initiate sex, Koen does not simply follow her lead. He questions her symptoms, tastes the glands at the back of her neck, and realizes she is not dying in that moment but entering a Heat.

When Koen says he has to leave, Serena panics, feeling both desperate and out of control. She worries that he does not want her and even asks whether someone else could help, but the thought clearly disturbs both of them. Koen carries her to the bed, restrains her from grinding against him, and firmly explains that she is on the brink of a Heat and cannot safely treat this like an ordinary sexual choice, especially with an Alpha. He promises to help, but only if Serena obeys his instructions.

Koen makes Serena use her own fingers instead of touching her sexually himself, refusing to take advantage of her altered state. While guiding her, he teaches her about the five scent glands in her body, including the special gland at the back of her neck where a mate would bite her. His touches to those glands intensify her pleasure, and their conversation turns emotionally revealing: Serena asks where she would mark him, and Koen admits that after years of hoping never to find a mate, he would change nothing about her and regrets nothing about knowing her.

Even with Koen's guidance, Serena struggles to climax and feels an aching emptiness, so Koen identifies what she needs and directs her to lick the gland at the base of his throat while continuing to touch herself. The exchange heightens both of them, and Koen's explicit desire for her, despite invoking the covenant that restrains him, finally pushes Serena into a powerful orgasm. Afterward, once her mind clears, Serena is horrified that she might have forced him into something improper, but Koen immediately reassures her that she did not. Still holding her close, he admits he is not sorry, and they fall asleep together.