Direbound

Anassa checks in with Meryn since she’s rattled from sleepwalking. As she returns to her room, Meryn wonders how she’ll save Saela if she has the same illness her mother has. The next day, the Rawbonds run drills under Stark’s supervision, and during the training, Meryn perfectly synchronizes with Anassa. In addition, her awareness of others expands through pack unity. She taps too far into the bond, however, and sees voices, moving shadows, and an onslaught of blood. After class, Egith tells Meryn that her bond with Anassa is still too weak because her distress broke the pack unity bond. Egith warns that the Purge Trial is only a week away and that Meryn may be identified as the weak link in their pack and killed. Meryn contemplates the pack unity bond and how she felt she belonged for once in her life. She asks Anassa if she witnessed the visions she saw when she went too far in the bond, and Anassa confirms that she did. However, Anassa believes that the visions have meaning and advises Meryn to work at controlling her thoughts.

For days, Meryn trains and goes to Killian for comfort in the evenings. The night before the Purge Trial, Meryn, her friends, and the other Rawbonds are all on edge. Worried that she might die and never tell Killian that she loves him, Meryn asks for privacy from Anassa, which she reluctantly grants. Meryn finds Killian and professes her love for him. They have sex and fall asleep, but she’s jolted awake by screams, which he doesn’t hear. She wrestles with the thought that even if she survives the Purge Trial, she might not survive much longer if she inherits her mother’s mental illness.

The next morning, Meryn arrives at the arena with the other Strategos. The king and the nobles are in attendance. The king displays his chosen Rawbond, Audelie, and has her perch on his lap. When Meryn sees Stark, she wonders whether he hopes she’ll die. Anassa directs Meryn to stay on her back no matter what happens. The king starts the Purge Trial, and the wolves decide whom to cull. Meryn is chosen, but she and Anassa defend themselves. The wolves revise their choice to Perielle since she radiates arrogance, signaling incompatibility with pack unity.

Meryn and Anassa are so synchronized that when Perielle is chosen, Meryn speaks aloud the wolves’ choice to kill her. The wolves converge, brutally killing Perielle and her direwolf, and then converge against another Rawbond, Nevah. Meryn disagrees with their assessment, however, and she and Anassa, along with their friends, defend Nevah. Two other bonded pairs die before the culling in the Strategos pack ends. Meryn looks up and smiles at Killian. However, she notices that Stark saw their exchange.

Later, as Meryn changes in her private room, Stark arrives to tattoo her for Perielle’s death. Meryn doesn’t fight him, but she can’t help but antagonize him. Stark confirms that she isn’t the only person he’s tattooing: Anyone who made the final call in Perielle’s death will get a tattoo.

Meryn reflects on the three people she has now killed since arriving at the Bonded training center. When she voices skepticism about seeing her tattoos as achievements, Stark corrects her: The marks are reminders of the sacrifices they must make to maintain the strength of their pack. The admission makes Meryn reconsider Stark as someone who has grown accustomed to cruel necessity. She asks for a third tattoo but doesn’t identify the person. When Stark is finished, he once again licks the tattoos, which causes a visceral reaction in Meryn.

The next day, Meryn prepares to visit her mother. Before she leaves, Izabel reminds her about the Forging ball and promises to help her dress. On her way to her house, Meryn reflects on how they’re all just toys in the king’s palm. Anassa intrudes on her thoughts and tells her that there’s someone better for the throne, but Meryn dismisses it. When she arrives at her home, she notices that repairs have been made to the house, and she suspects Killian’s involvement.

When Meryn enters her home, her mother is happy and lucid. Meryn introduces her to Anassa, who shows deference to Meryn’s mother. Her mother confirms that Killian has been visiting and taking care of her house with Igor. She then explains that the symptoms of her illness have receded recently. Igor arrives and tells Meryn that more children have been kidnapped than ever before. Meryn is furious and confused. When she mentions her disdain for the upcoming ball, her mother gifts her the opal necklace she tried to give her before she left for the Ascent.

She tells Meryn that the necklace must be seen, and her gaze becomes hazy but then clears up moments later. When Meryn wears the necklace, she believes that it’s alive. They share a meal, and Meryn returns to the castle, feeling as if her mother’s house will never be her home again, given how much her circumstances have changed as a Bonded.

Everyone is getting ready for the ball. Izabel and Venna prepared a dress for Meryn, but when she enters her private room, she finds a beautiful, perfectly fitted, and more modest dress, which she believes is a gift from Killian. She puts it on along with her mother’s opal necklace. The Rawbonds go to the royal wing of the castle to attend the ball.

Meryn sees Stark first, once again feeling a pull toward him. She searches for Killian and finds him among the nobles. When Meryn is announced and enters the room, Anassa warns her to watch her back. Audelie, the king’s companion, enters in a translucent gown that leaves little to the imagination. Meryn is revolted. When the ball begins, nobles surround Meryn, making crass, invasive comments about her and her body. A man stands behind her. Meryn thinks it’s Killian, but it’s Stark, and he scares off the nobles. He asks her to dance and won’t let her refuse. He comments on her necklace and warns her to read the history of the opal before parading it. Killian arrives and takes hold of Meryn, despite Stark’s protests. Meryn announces that Killian has claimed her and leaves with him.

Meryn dances with Killian and thanks him for the dress. He takes her to the king and presents her as his consort. The king’s appraisal of her is crass and diminutive, but he approves of their relationship. Meryn and Killian then leave the ball. She expresses how disturbed she was when the king commented on Perielle’s death as something he enjoyed watching. Killian claims that he wants to change the whole system, with her by his side. They have sex in his room.

Returning to her room, Meryn reestablishes her mental connection to Anassa, and grief floods her senses. Egith finds her, clearly distraught, and informs her that a Siphon killed the Strategos Alpha that night. When Egith comments that Meryn was too busy “entertaining” Killian to attend the briefing, Meryn realizes that everyone in her pack believes that her relationship with Killian is no different from Audelie’s relationship with the king.

For days, many mourn the Alpha’s passing. Anassa and the twins barely speak to Meryn, and during practice, many target Meryn. They discuss potential Alphas, and Egith is deemed the most likely candidate. During Meryn’s sparring match with Izabel, she accuses Meryn of being a poor friend. After practice, Meryn finds Izabel with Venna, apologizes to them through sign language, and explains that she never had friends before and is unfamiliar with how friendships work.

She explains her relationship with Killian, which mollifies the twins. Anassa suddenly warns her to prepare herself when a messenger arrives with a summons from the Sovereign Alpha, Siegried. Anassa joins her, and together they meet with Siegried. Meryn thinks that her initial contempt is about her relationship with Killian. However, Siegried says that the direwolves convened and decided to name Meryn and Anassa as their new leaders.

Shocked, Meryn questions the decision, but Siegried claims that the choice is definitive. Egith arrives, and she, too, questions the decision. Siegried turns to Meryn for a course of action. Anassa suggests that Egith lead the pack for now, and Meryn agrees, explaining that she knows she isn’t ready to take on the responsibility yet. They make arrangements to replace Egith as a Rawbond instructor. Meryn convenes with Anassa, who assures her that she was born to lead. After apologizing to Anassa and promising not to shut her out again, Meryn gathers the Strategos Rawbonds and tells them that she’s been chosen as Alpha. Meryn addresses their concerns, but when one of them questions whether she’ll privilege the Crown over the Bonded, Stark answers that they’re the same. He dismisses everyone and tells Meryn to meet him the next day at dawn for her new alpha lessons.