Haunted by his past, the memories of Ted and Skorzeny echo through Eric’s mind. Walking the busy streets, he stops short when a sudden camera flash blinds him. The photographer, Dianne, asks if he’d ever consider modeling. Eric declines, takes her card, and moves on. He later approaches a street pianist, slipping a bill into the man’s jar and asking if he has seen Skorzeny. The musician answers in melody, suggesting Eric speak with the woman behind the camera—the very one he just left. As Eric turns to search for her again, he freezes. Rogan sits on a bench, silently watching the crowd, hunting in plain sight. Eric moves away before being seen.

In a dark room far from the street’s noise, Nicholas Remy waits as Skorzeny enters. Remy once forbade him from returning, yet takes pleasure in the deference shown when Skorzeny kneels, kissing his ring—a beta wolf acknowledging his alpha. The hierarchy is unmistakable, and the threat of it hangs thick in the lamplight.

Later, Dianne is startled when Eric appears at her studio, having tracked her down from her business card. Inside, she speaks of the modeling work Skorzeny once did for her and shows Eric a photo taken at a nearby warehouse. The moment he sees it, he leaves to investigate.

Dianne arrives again at the warehouse—fortunate she isn’t mistaken for the beast Eric expects. Together they search the space, uncovering Skorzeny’s belongings: relics from another life, another time, proof that he too had been turned, not born into the bloodline. The disease had long been eroding what remained of his humanity.

When Skorzeny’s wolf finally strikes, Eric meets him head-on. It is brutal, final, and leaves no room for escape. Eric kills him—once and for all—but the victory turns hollow. The curse remains.

Dianne takes Eric to a secure pit to confine him for his own approaching change. There, her fangs reveal the truth he failed to see: the alpha was never Skorzeny. It is Remy.