The chapter shifts to Ascher’s point of view, with Ascher in the alpha quarters trying to recover from the encounter with the two beta women. He is disturbed to realize he had mentally replaced them with Sadie, and the lingering scent of cranberries, her alpha scent, in the room intensifies his obsession and irrational anger. He joins Jax and Cobra in the dining hall, where the sight of cranberry sauce on Cobra’s plate briefly tricks him into thinking Sadie is nearby, marking what he considers a personal low point.

The three alphas discuss their collective concerns about Sadie, who they all call “princess”: her inability to run without visible distress, her habit of hiding her injured voice and her body, her recurring nightmares, and Cobra’s suspicion that she may be a spy. Their shared jealousy over her closeness with the blue-haired beta Aran nearly drives Ascher and Cobra to violence against him, but Jax intervenes, arguing that harming her only friend would permanently turn her against them.

After an exhausting training run ordered by Cobra, Sadie returns to the shared room depleted and in no mood for the alphas’ demands that she eat. When Ascher pushes her too far with an insult about her physical condition, her anger drives her to transform into a massive saber-toothed tiger. 

In beast form, she defies Jax’s alpha-bark commands—a deliberate act of will rooted in her determination never to be controlled again—and she corners each alpha in turn. Her confrontation with Cobra escalates into a standoff in which she bites his neck and draws blood while he deploys his shadow snakes against her skin. She detaches herself and stumbles to the bathroom, shifting back and collapsing. 

The venom produces an unexpected effect: Rather than simple sedation, it triggers an overwhelming physical fever and intense involuntary arousal, alarming all three alphas. Cobra admits he does not understand why his smallest dose is causing this reaction. As the alphas argue over how to help her, Ascher moves to intervene physically, but Cobra slams into him and throws him across the floor, and a fight breaks out between the two. Jax soothes Sadie briefly but refuses to act on the situation, stating it would be wrong. Unable to resolve the crisis any other way, Jax uses a powerful alpha-bark command to force Sadie into unconsciousness.

A week after being bitten by Cobra’s shadow snakes, Sadie confides in her new friend, Aran, about her bizarre, feverish reaction. Aran compares her symptoms to an omega going into heat, which confuses Sadie, since she is an alpha. Their training is interrupted by an alert for a fae breach, and they head out in beast form to confront four spider-like creatures in a severe snowstorm. Cobra orders the betas to stay with the alphas and each alpha to take one fae. 

All four alphas initially run together in pursuit of the first spider fae that comes into view; when three others break away toward the mountain, the group splits, with the betas helping Jax battle one creature while Sadie, Ascher, and Cobra pursue the remaining three up the mountain. Jax signals that he wants Sadie to stay behind him, but Cobra treats her as an equal, and she outpaces the others in the icy terrain. As she leaps to attack a spider fae, she realizes too late that she has flung herself directly into a camouflaged web, becoming trapped.

While she is trapped in the barbed spiderweb, Sadie is attacked by three spider fae. Ascher leaps over her and engages the fae behind her, while Cobra watches her predicament. When a spider injures Sadie from behind, Cobra reveals a new power, merging his shadow snakes into one massive, three-dimensional snake that shares his eyes. 

One spider fae jumps over the web, cuts its sides to fold it inward, completely ensnaring Sadie, and carries her down the mountain. Despite being wounded by the web, Sadie manages to bite the creature’s leg, causing it to lose its grip. She and the spider both cling to the cliff edge. As Sadie feels a strange urge to help the injured fae, Cobra’s giant snake reappears and knocks the spider to its death. The three injured alphas then regroup to reconnect with Jax.

Jax orders Cobra and Ascher to join him for recon and Sadie to escort the betas back to the fortress. Alone in the locker room, Sadie shifts back to her human form; the embedded spiderweb slices her skin, and the agony causes her to knock herself unconscious. 

She awakens to being dragged naked through the snow by John, a beta she thought was a friend. He reveals that he is taking her to the fae queen for a reward, and he is using a fae enchantment to block her ability to transform. Weakened and freezing, Sadie fights back, striking his arm with a branch, but he overpowers her, cryptically stating that he is “rescuing” her because their realm is a lie. As he carries her toward the fae portal, Sadie screams for help. Jax arrives unexpectedly, knocks John out, and rescues Sadie, who passes out from relief.

Sadie is suffering from severe hypothermia; to save her life, Jax places her against his bare chest for warmth and carries her back toward the compound. As she recovers her senses, Sadie tells Jax that John was taking her to the fae queen for a reward. She also tells him about John’s comment that the realm was a lie. 

Jax, who has now seen her scars, asks whether they have something to do with her situation, prompting her to confess she was an abused indentured servant who grew up believing she was a null. She begs Jax not to tell the other alphas about her scars, fearing she will lose their respect. He agrees not to reveal her scars but explicitly states that he will tell the others everything else about the kidnapping. 

Jax leaves to capture John, and Sadie returns to the alpha room, where she is met with Ascher’s worry and Cobra’s suspicion. She locks herself in the bathroom to take an agonizingly painful healing bath.