Bryce returns home from work to find Danika's Pack of Devils already at the apartment, fresh from watching Ithan's sunball game. Connor lounges on her favorite couch spot, and the pack settles in for their mandatory night off. Bryce exchanges flirtatious banter with Connor, whose feelings for her are well known, and learns that the Briggs situation didn't go well by reading Connor's subtle cues.

In the kitchen, Danika reveals what happened at the meeting: Briggs has been officially released after Micah, the Autumn King, and the Oracle couldn't find a legal way to keep him imprisoned. Ruhn's tech expert Declan also turned up nothing. The Scythe Moon Pack and the 33rd Legion are assigned to watch Briggs. More troubling, Sabine publicly humiliated Danika after the meeting, blaming her for the deaths of two CCU research students who were brutally killed and partially eaten near Luna's Temple during the blackout—on Danika's patrol shift. Danika admits she was only three blocks away and didn't detect the attack. The wolves' aging Prime slept through the meeting, leaving Sabine unchecked.

As Bryce prepares for a dinner date with her boyfriend Reid Redner—a human whose father runs a major magi-tech company, Redner Industries—the pack teases her about the relationship. Danika originally set them up through her part-time security work at Redner Industries. Bryce privately acknowledges the sex with Reid is mediocre and her preparation time reveals her lack of enthusiasm. Bryce's bedroom walls are covered with ballet posters, reflecting her unfulfilled dream of dancing professionally—a dream her friend Juniper, a faun, achieved at the Crescent City Ballet.

Connor corners Bryce in the kitchen and formally asks her out. Bryce refuses, citing her rule against dating wolves and her fear of possessive Vanir males—rooted in trauma from her biological Fae father's controlling behavior toward her mother Ember. Bryce also reflects on the painful knowledge that, having inherited her father's Fae longevity, she will outlive her human mother and stepfather by centuries. Connor retreats, frustrated but undeterred.

As Bryce leaves, Danika tells her "Love you"—words Danika uses sparingly—signaling how deeply Sabine's cruelty affected her. Bryce considers canceling her date to comfort Danika but ultimately heads out into the bustling streets of the Old Square, taking in the sensory richness of Crescent City at night as she walks toward the restaurant.