A fisherman on the Clark Fork River finds a skull along the riverbank, and a door that linked Creede's pack in the Bitterroot Valley to Mitch Phillips -- lifetime criminal and one-time werewolf -- is opened once more.
The pack doesn't need the trouble: Creede is up to his eyeballs in his studies, and Rosemary feels like a Law School Widow. They're worried about the chance of discovery, but determined to go on as if everything is perfectly normal, including socializing with Creede's friends from the university. Unfortunately, a young local boy goes missing on a camping trip, and the wolves are left to make a choice:
Do they preserve their secret, or do they lend their talents to the search?