Ox turns 17 the summer before his junior year begins. When Jessie says that she and Ox should have sex—he’s surprised, but she seduces him, and they have oral sex. Ox feels bliss afterwards but is shocked back to awareness when Jessie picks up Joe’s wolf. Ox takes it from her. Jessie says she wants to meet Joe. Joe agrees, so Ox brings Jessie to Sunday dinner. She is nervous because they’re Ox’s family. Joe is polite, though Ox can tell he’s not happy about Jessie.

Jessie is obviously confused by how often the Bennetts touch Ox. Joe is on his best behavior, but he growls once and is obviously forcing himself to smile. After the dinner, Jessie tells Ox the Bennetts are weird. He gets defensive. She says Joe is pretty great but doesn’t like her. Ox denies this, and Jessie revises it to say that Joe is protective of Ox.

Mark calls Ox at 2 AM to tell him that Joe is having a nightmare and can’t be calmed down. Ox goes quickly and hears Joe wailing, begging his parents not to let “the man” take Ox (68). Ox goes to Joe and holds him until the boy calms down. Joe explains that in his nightmare, the man had taken Ox—and that if Ox can be found in his dreams, then he can be found in real life. Ox vows to protect him.

From then on, whenever Joe has a nightmare, he cries for Ox, and Ox comes to comfort him, “rubbing soothing circles” on Joe’s back until he falls back asleep (69). The chapter ends by noting that three weeks later, Ox finds out the Bennett family’s secret.

Gordo appears in Ox’s bedroom in the middle of the night and shakes him awake, telling him that Joe needs him. As they walk into the woods, Gordo explains that Ox is going to see unbelievable things but that he is safe because Gordo will protect him. They hurry to a clearing in the woods; on the way, Ox notices that Gordo’s tattoos are glowing and moving on his arms. Gordo tells Ox that he is a witch. They hear howling as they walk. Ox asks for the source of it. Gordo says, “Your pack” (73). He tells Ox that monsters and magic are real and that the world is a dark and frightening place. Ox hears wolves singing and hears love and need for him in the song. He runs to the clearing and finds a group of wolves. Gordo calls the largest wolf Thomas. Two other wolves approach; Ox recognizes them as Carter and Kelly. Another wolf, Ox knows, is Mark.

Gordo says that some “he” can’t attach to the other Bennetts as a tether and accuses Thomas of already knowing that. Ox asks where Joe is. They tell him that it’s Joe’s first “shift” and that he’s not handling it well. Gordo protests that this is too much to ask of Ox, and Thomas grabs him by the throat and that Gordo chose not to be pack anymore and that Joe will be the next Alpha and should be respected. Ox spots Joe and Elizabeth deeper in the clearing behind a magical ward that blocks out all sounds and smells.

Gordo explains to Ox that “we”—meaning witches and werewolves and perhaps other magical creatures—need “something. Anything. A thing that keeps us holding onto our humanity” (79). He explains that Joe will go “feral” without a tether (80). Ox realizes that he is Gordo’s tether; Gordo confirms this and says it happened when he gave Ox the work shirts with his name embroidered on them. Ox asks if he can be tether for both of them. Gordo isn’t sure but he thinks if anyone can, it would be Ox. He emphasizes that Ox has a choice; Ox says he knows and that he’s already made it.

Gordo allows Ox into the magical circle. Joe pounces on him as soon as he realizes he’s there. He is in constant flux, shifting back and forth. He tells Ox that it hurts. His eyes shift colors—orange and red and blue and green and violet. His claws dig into Ox’s chest, alarming the others; Ox senses they’re about to be separated and starts talking. He tells Joe that his father left when he was 12, tells the whole story about what his father did and how his father thought he was stupid. He says maybe he was stupid because he thought his father would come back. When he finishes, he feels Joe tethering to him. It feels warm and light. When Ox opens his eyes, he sees Joe as a pure-white wolf. The wolves play together, frolicking and coming back to Ox to rub against him or push their noses into his hand or his back. When the reality of it all hits Ox, he angrily yells: “Why the fuck did you keep all of this from me?” (83). Ox’s mind fragments as he tries to process everything, to fit this information into his memories. Gordo shakes him back to himself. Ox becomes aware of the bonds between them all and hears “singing” in his mind—comfort from the wolves and Joe, the loudest, “you belong to me” (85).

A few days later, Thomas offers to make Ox a wolf after he turns 18. Thomas explains that this town and these woods have been in his family for generations. They had to leave because of “greater responsibilities” (86), but he ached for home every day. Ox knows that he won’t be exactly like the born wolves if he is turned, but says he’ll have something they won’t: a memory of being human. Ox asks why they didn’t tell him about their true natures. Thomas says it was to protect him from dark things in the world.

Gordo tells Ox about his father, a bad and powerful witch. Old packs like the Bennetts have a witch brought into the pack for peace, balance, and to add to the Alpha’s power. Gordo’s father was Thomas’s father’s witch, but when his own tether was killed by a werewolf, he went mad and killed many people. Gordo, age 12, took over as the Bennett family witch. Ox pushes for more, and Gordo admits that Mark had been his tether, that he had loved Mark, but that Mark had left. Thomas had explained to Ox that a tether is very important. It can be a person, a feeling, or an idea—for Thomas, it was simply the pack. He says that when it’s a feeling, it needs to be all-encompassing, which tends to mean anger, which tends to be destructive. When it’s pack, the weight of it is carried by many. When it is one person, the bond becomes possessive.

Ox’s senior year starts, and Joe is finally allowed to attend school with them. The lunch seating changes—it had previously been Ox on one side, with Carter and Kelly flanking him, and Jessie on the other side of the table. Now, Kelly sits on Ox’s left, Joe on his right, and Carter on the other side of Joe. Jessie seems amused by this, but by something else, too.

Ox makes Gordo adjust the wards around his house to allow the Bennetts to come inside. They have Sunday dinner at Ox’s house. The Bennetts come and touch everything, trying to leave their scent everywhere. Joe demands to see Ox’s room. Once there, he mutters about other scents but is deeply touched to see that Ox still has the wolf. When they touch, something between them burns very bright.

Ox begins training for combat with the werewolves. Thomas explains that they do so for when they have to defend the pack or territory against those who mean it harm. Gordo confesses that he was offered the bite, too, but lies when he says he doesn’t regret turning it down.

Ox sees Jessie less and less. At school one day, Ox feels something dark and angry in his connection with Joe. He leaves the classroom and tracks it to the restroom, where he finds Joe cornered by three bullies. Joe is not scared, but he is trying to control the wolf inside him. Ox attacks them and uses his training to fight them off. Carter and Kelly arrive and seem satisfied—but not surprised—to find the bullies incapacitated on the floor. The principal tries to suspend Carter, Ox, and Kelly for five days, but Thomas and Elizabeth exert their influence and the suspension is dropped. Thomas tells Ox he is proud of him. Joe says that he didn’t need help, that he could handle himself, and Ox tells him that he’s just glad he was able to protect him and that he always will.

Ox and Jessie fight about the Bennetts. She knows he’s keeping something from her. She says Joe hates her, but Ox disagrees; she tells Ox he’s blind when it comes to Joe. After Thanksgiving, they get word that Ox’s father died. When Ox’s mother, Maggie, tells him, she assures him that they’ll always have each other. Ox doesn’t want to let her think they’re alone when they don’t have to be, so he takes her outside and sings for the wolves. The wolves howl back and run to the house, showing comfort and love through their bonds with Ox. In wolf form, they comfort Ox and Maggie.