After Max attacks Misery, Lowe pins Misery against the wall to stop the fight and shield her from the furious Weres gathering in the hall. Juno and Max immediately accuse Misery of trying to drain Max, but Misery argues that attacking a Were on her first day in pack territory would be suicidal and politically disastrous. Lowe ignores the crowd’s demand for punishment, grabs Misery, and takes her into his office to question her privately.

Inside the office, Juno keeps pressing the accusation and insists that Max could not have attacked Misery, especially if the alternative suggests any connection to the mysterious Loyals. Misery says she does not even know what the Loyals are and repeats that Max came in angry about her family and Lowe’s marriage, then attacked her. When Juno calls Misery a liar and demands punishment, Lowe sides with neither woman openly but asserts his authority by ordering Juno out.

Alone with Misery, Lowe and Misery trade sharp, flirtatious barbs while trying to determine where they stand. Lowe admits he saw Misery’s fangs near Max and is worried less about Max than about Misery getting herself killed. Misery pushes back about being housed beside Lowe’s room and jokes about marriage expectations, while Lowe asks where Misery learned to fight. Misery reveals that she and her foster sister took self-defense classes because repeated attempts had been made on Misery’s life.

The conversation turns serious when Lowe tells Misery that there can be no fighting in Were territory and that, as long as she lives there, she is under his protection and his authority. Lowe’s Alpha force unsettles Misery enough that she has to resist the instinct to obey him automatically. Before leaving, Misery realizes Lowe is physically tormented by her scent even after her bath, which exposes a volatile attraction between them. She then asks about her cat, and Lowe allows the animal free run of the house, ending the confrontation on a dry, uneasy note.