Meryn wakes with a start from her nightmare. Izabel hurries her to get ready, emphasizing that looks matter in the castle. During breakfast, Meryn meets an old friend of Izabel and Venna, Tomison Thorne, and befriends him. Egith shows them through the castle, pointing out training areas, and on the way, Meryn notes passages and servants’ entries. In the courtyard, she spots the direwolves’ mountain terrace and sees Anassa, who ignores her. They join the other packs at an auditorium, where Stark and other instructors wait for them. Meryn overhears the respect and adulation of the other Rawbonds for Stark but remains wary of him despite her budding attraction to him.

One of the instructors informs them that their training will last four months and that interspersed between those months will be the Voice Trial, which tests communication with one’s direwolf; the Purge Trial, in which the packs cull the weak from their ranks; the Proving period, where packs showcase whether they can coordinate and work together; and the Forging Ball. As they explain the division of classes for their upcoming training, they warn that violence among Rawbonds is forbidden, which Meryn finds ironic. Stark issues a bleak warning that failure to overcome their weaknesses will result in their deaths. Meryn thinks that the comments are directed at her and feels a rebellious desire to prove him wrong. When the meeting ends, Meryn finds Egith and explains how she needs to rescue Saela from the Nabbers. Egith, however, knows nothing about Nabbers plaguing the city’s districts. While she promises to look into the Nabbers, she warns Meryn not to draw more attention than she already has. Since Egith won’t help her escape, Meryn decides to take matters into her own hands.

Meryn returns to her room and packs some bare necessities. She sneaks out, following the servants’ passages until she reaches the courtyard and the gate to the castle. When she attempts to cross it, however, she collapses in searing pain. Izabel and Venna find her and take her back inside the castle. They berate her for leaving and inform her that due to the fragility of her bond with Anassa, physical distance might sever their connection and kill both her and Anassa.

Meryn is thus effectively trapped for four months and won’t be able to reach Saela. Grief overcomes her. When she calms down, Venna and Izabel explain that they feel kindred to her: No one expected them to succeed since Venna is hard of hearing. They recognize Meryn as a fighter. When they return to the common room, their packmates are preparing for the Presentation event. Venna and Izabel offer to lend Meryn clothes and explain that the event is meant to display Rawbonds to nobles for their entertainment.

Meryn takes a bath and is disturbed once again by the opulence and by how it’s a shared bathing room. She feels that her ordeals have changed her. Other Strategos Rawbonds enter the bathroom, and Meryn reflects on how Perielle bullies others. Izabel and Venna help her prepare for the Presentation, and on the way to the event, the twins intimate that displaying themselves to nobles is typically done so that they’ll be chosen by one of them. The king, too, typically picks one of the Rawbonds for the duration of the Trials, which is considered an honor. Meryn is revolted at the prospect. When she sees herself in a mirror, she doesn’t recognize herself but still feels “defective” compared to the unparalleled beauty of the other Rawbonds.

In the arena, Meryn and the others are lined up for appraisal. As she stands in line, Meryn hears voices from the gaps in the arena where the blood drains. The direwolves enter. Anassa remains indifferent to Meryn, maintaining the mental blockade in their telepathic communication. When the king appears, Meryn is unimpressed, but she notices the Diren Blæd, the fabled sword that allows the king (who is unbonded) to control all direwolves. When Killian Valtiere, the crown prince, enters, Meryn is shocked to see that he’s Lee.

Furious at Lee’s lies, Meryn struggles through being examined and dehumanized by the nobles. As the king assesses the women, Killian secretly passes a message to Meryn. At Stark’s suggestion, the king orders the direwolves and the Rawbonds to find and kill their weakest recruit. At this command, the direwolves aggressively converge on a young Rawbond. When Meryn screams for them to stop, they attack her instead. Anassa, however, defends her, and they relent, returning to their first prey and gruesomely killing him. As the crowd cheers, Meryn is horrified. When she finds Stark staring at her, she’s convinced that he wants her dead. The king calls off the direwolves, and the Presentation ends.

Upon returning to her dorm, Meryn opens the message that Killian gave her. He has asked to meet her that night in a garden. Confused and unable to confide in anyone, Meryn feels alone.

After cleaning herself up, Meryn goes to find Izabel and Venna in the common room, where the Rawbonds celebrate surviving the Presentation. Meryn is unable to reconcile the horror they witnessed with the sex and elation she now sees. Izabel believes that the party relieves stress and that engaging with different sexual partners helps one find their wolf’s mate. A mate bond, she explains, affords riders extra powers. Meryn refuses to engage and instead goes to find Killian.

When she arrives, he calls out to her using his usual nickname for her, “kitten.” She confronts him for lying, and he implores her forgiveness. He attempts to justify his choice to lie to her, as he believes that she would have never engaged with him had she known his identity from the start. Meryn doesn’t agree and confronts him about his inaction against the Nabbers, given his power as the crown prince. He argues that he has been addressing the problem by sending knights to find the Nabbers. He takes responsibility for Saela’s kidnapping.

When he professes his love for Meryn and his willingness to abandon his position for her, Meryn says that she’s only there for Saela. He leaves. As Meryn returns to the common room, she’s attacked by a Rawbond and kills him in self-defense. From afar, Anassa approves, which Meryn rebukes. She wonders if her sister will even recognize what she has become when she finds her again.

The next morning during breakfast, Meryn struggles with the events from the night before. Her friends express concern when Stark enters, demanding to know who killed a Rawbond. Meryn confesses and explains that it was self-defense, defiantly describing how she was attacked, which infuriates Stark. He claims that she considers herself above the rules and calls her “princess.” He attempts to intimidate her, but she stands her ground. He takes her to the front of the room and tattoos her kill on her neck. He explains that while tattoos on Bonded arms or torsos represent a killed Siphon, those on a Bonded’s neck memorialize Bonded comrades they killed.

When (per custom) he licks the tattoo after completing it, she’s both horrified and aroused, while incapable of pushing him away. He leaves, and Venna confirms that licking each other’s tattoos is an instinct in the pack. Later, Meryn trains with the other Strategos Rawbonds on how to ride their direwolves. Anassa, however, won’t cooperate, and Meryn must force herself onto Anassa’s back. After class, Egith takes Meryn to a new, private room. Meryn initially refuses the room but ultimately must accept it. When she looks at her new tattoo, she thinks it’s the start of a collar.

Meryn finds Izabel in the common lounge and takes her to her private room. Tomison follows. They wonder who had the authority to give her a private room, and Meryn thinks it must be Killian. She worries that the private room will make her more of a target. The next day, her worries are confirmed when Perielle demands to know who she’s sleeping with for the private room. As they argue, Perielle destroys Meryn’s breakfast, and Meryn threatens her. In class, the other Rawbonds are taught how to filter the open channel they have with their direwolf. Meryn has no use for the lesson since Anassa hasn’t yet spoken to her. She asks Anassa to let her in and tells her that she doesn’t intend to give up.