Shaken by the seaside painting at General Redden’s Sanctum Point estate that mirrors Wolf’s descriptions, Wren wrestled with the idea that Cross Redden might be Wolf. She reasoned through genetics and coincidence, searched Nexus for images of Vinessa Redden to contextualize her disappearance, and struggled to find a way to confirm the truth without revealing her telepathy.

While Cross was away on assignment, Wren moved through routine: meals with Lyddie and with Kaine, Ivy, and Lash, a recon mission with Kaine, and the observation that Lash and Ivy appeared physically close. She continued to question whether Roe or Ivy knew about Vinessa’s condition and isolation.

Cross returned to base with Xavier and informed Wren of a next-day briefing. He invited her to his quarters that night, and when she arrived he briefly mentioned a successful op discovering a Faithful camp near D that likely had city-supplied goods connected to Jasper Reed. He avoided details, preferring intimacy.

In Cross’s quarters, Wren and Cross had sex; Cross pressed Wren for eye contact and emotional openness, calling their connection unique and admitting he thought about her constantly. Afterward, Wren gently asked about Vinessa; Cross said Vinessa was eating again and that he planned to visit and walk with her, thanking Wren for her kindness.

Determined to test her suspicion without disclosing her telepathy directly, Wren shifted the conversation to sleep and nightmares. She then narrated, as if her own, a detailed drowning-in-a-cave nightmare identical to the one Wolf had often described to her. As Wren spoke—losing orientation underwater, lungs burning, inhaling water—Cross’s body language shifted from relaxed to tense.

When Wren reached the moment of inhaling water, Cross exploded into action, flipping her onto her back and pressing a knife to her throat. His eyes blazing and muscles coiled, he snarled, “Who are you?” making clear the nightmare had touched an intimate, secret trigger and that he suspected Wren’s hidden identity.