What happened in Direbound by Sable Sorensen - Recaptains

The basics

Title: Direbound

Author: Sable Sorensen

Series: The Wolves of Ruin #1

- Dire Bound (2025)
- Fury Bound (2026)
- Book 3

Add it: Goodreads

Goodreads Summary:

Meryn Cooper has never dreamed of being one of the Bonded, the King’s elite warriors who form mental links with massive, vicious direwolves. She’s made peace with her life scraping by in poverty in the shadows of the castle. But then her younger sister Saela is kidnapped, stolen across the border by the immortal monsters her country has spent centuries fighting. And Meryn’s world falls apart.

Desperate to cross the front and save her sister, Meryn enlists in the army—only to discover that there are Bonding Trials this year, where all soldiers are forced to risk their lives in an attempt to connect with a direwolf. It’s too late to turn back; Meryn is thrown into the deadly competition against her will.

Now, she’ll need to survive the next four months of training at the castle if she wants a chance of finding Saela. Everything here is a test, from the brutal classes where one mistake means death, to the glittering court parties where every smile hides a knife.

Read a full summary of Direbound by Sable Sorensen below. If you can’t remember what happened in Direbound and you need a refresher, then you’re in the right place.

What happened in Direbound?

• Meryn is taking part in an illegal fighting ring. She’s very good, so she wings a lot of her fights. She is trying to win money for her mother, who is mentally unwell.
• Lee, Meryn’s boyfriend, comes to escort Meryn home. Along the way, someone tells Meryn that another child has been abducted by the Nabbers and it might be her sister, Saela.
• Meryn rushes home and finds that her sister is fine, it’s her friend who was snatched.
• Meryn discusses the abductions with Igor the following day. They’ve been happening for years, and the theory is that the Nabbers are Siphons (basically vampires). Meryn and Igor have been training the children of the neighbourhood to fight so they can stand a chance against the Nabbers.
• Meryn sees a Bonded man called Stark dragging away another guy – one who argued with Meryn at the fighting ring. Stark kills the man.
• Lee and Meryn plan to go on a date. Meryn’s mother is surprisingly lucid that evening, until she accuses Lee of being a traitor. Meryn gives her mother her medicine and helps her to bed.
• Saela is abducted while Meryn is out for a walk with Lee. Meryn goes searching for her but she can’t find her.
• Meryn recalls how depressed her father was when he returned from fighting in the war against the Siphons.
• Meryn decides to enlist in the army so she can get to the front and find Saela.
• Lee tells Meryn that the Bonding Trials (an opportunity for soldiers to bond with direwolves) are about to happen. Meryn is determined to bond with a direwolf so she will be sent to the front.
• Igor promises to look after Meryn’s mother while she is away.
• Meryn heads to the castle and is told that in order to pass the trial, they must ascend Mount Wolfsbane and meet the direwolves there. If there’s meant to be a bond, it’ll happen. Recruits are allowed to kill one another along the way, of course.
• Meryn meets Alessandra and Henrey, who are also recruits from the slums.
• The trial begins the following day. Stark shows up and introduces himself as the Alpha of the Daemos pack. His pack will find anyone who quits halfway up the mountain.
• Meryn wants to partner with Alessandra, but the offer is declined. Instead Meryn helps defend two twin sisters, Izabel and Venna, and they journey up the mountain together.
• Izabel and Venna explain that the children of Bonded families are specifically trained for this, which gives them an unfair advantage.
• Meryn saves Izabel from falling, and they help her along the way in return.
• The group is attacked by Jonah. They fight back and Venna is injured. 
• They eventually reach the top of the mountain. People are starting to bond with direwolves, and when they do a strand of their hair changes colour.
• Meryn is forced to bond with a direwolf called Anassa. All of her hair turns silver, rather than just a strand. Meryn doesn’t want to bond which immediately upsets Anassa.
• Stark instructs the Bonded to reach the training centre before sunset, or they’ll die. Meryn stumbles down the mountain. Anassa follows at a distance.
• Meryn learns that the Strategos pack are leaders, Daemos are warriors, Kryptos are the spies, and Phylax are the guardians.
• Meryn has a nightmare about someone called Lumina, which she has heard her mother say before.
• Meryn makes a friend called Tomison.
• Meryn is told that the training will include several trials.
• Meryn speaks to Egith about the Nabbers, which is something Egith has never heard of. She promises to look into it.
• Meryn tries to escape the castle but collapses in pain when she reaches the threshold. She is taken back inside by Izabel and Venna.
• Meryn gets ready for the Presentation with the help of the twins. They’ll try to impress nobles so they can be sponsored.
• At the presentation, the king shows up and Meryn notices his sword that he uses to control all the direwolves. His son, Killian, enters after him. It’s Lee.
• The king orders the recruits and direwolves to kill their weakest recruit. They all go after a man, who Meryn tries to defend and they attack her instead. Anassa defends her. The Presentation ends when the young man dies.
• Izabel explains mating bonds to Meryn. Apparently riders get more power if their wolves can find their mate.
• Lee asks Meryn to meet her that night. He asks her to forgive him for lying. He tells her he loves her.
• Meryn has to defend herself against a Rawbond who attacks her. She kills him.
• Stark finds out and demands to know what happened. Meryn explains it was self defence but he doesn’t seem to care. Stark tattoos her kill on her neck then licks the tattoo to seal it.
• Meryn tries to learn to ride Anassa, but Anassa is having none of it because Meryn is disrespectful.
• Meryn is given her own private room. She thinks it must be a gift from Lee. Perielle asks who Meryn is sleeping with to get the private room. They argue.
• Meryn learns that Stark’s mother, Siegrid, is the Sovereign Alpha, which allows her to communicate with all wolves at once.
• Henry has never heard of Nabbers either, it turns out.
• Anassa doesn’t help heal Meryn either so she gains a lot of cuts and bruises from training.
• Lee tells Meryn about a secret passage which connects their rooms.
• Meryn dreams of her mother with a twisted crown on her head.
• The Voice Trial happens. Anassa absolutely crushes it, and the two of them communicate just enough to get through it.
• Meryn is taught about how the Siphons use blood magic to control minds and create illusions.
• Anassa explains that Meryn’s attitude is a problem. Meryn apologises to Anassa for her behaviour.
• Lee tells Meryn that he has an update on the Nabbers. She goes to his room, and along the way she thinks she hears voices in the shadows. She passes out and wakes up in Lee’s room.
• I don’t know whether to call him Lee or Killian, but he’ll be Killian from now on, I guess.
• Killian tells Meryn that he found her down a hallway. Killian tells Meryn they’ve caught a Nabber, and he takes her to him. The Nabber isn’t a Siphon, just a regular man. He tells Meryn that he was ordered to kidnap kids by a masked man. Killian tortures him.
• The Nabber admits that he takes the children to a warehouse in the Southern Quarter. Meryn asks him about Saela, and he denies ever seeing her. Meryn kills the man.
• Meryn and Killian sleep together.
• Anassa and Meryn argue some more. Anassa tells Meryn that she has found her mate and doesn’t need Meryn’s help. She won’t say who her mate is though.
• Meryn has another nightmare about her mother. In this one her mother tells her that Nocturn is calling.
• Meryn sleeps with Killian again and is woken up by screams that no one else can hear. She’s now very worried about developing a mental illness like her mother.
• The king and Killian are watching the Purge Trial. The wolves want to cull Meryn but Anassa defends her again. They go after Pereille instead and kill her. Before they can then go after Nevah, Meryn and Anassa defend her.
• Stark tattoos Meryn for Perielle’s death. Meryn asks for a third tattoo but won’t tell Stark who it is for.
• Meryn heads home to see her mother. Anassa suggests that someone else could be a good ruler, rather than the current royal family.
• Meryn finds her mother lucid. She introduces her to Anassa. Igor tells Meryn that more children have been abducted.
• Meryn’s mother gives her a necklace for the upcoming ball. Izabel prepares a dress for Meryn, but Meryn is gifted another one. She believes it’s from Killian.
• Stark and Meryn dance at the ball. He comments on her opal necklace, which seems to have a history attached to it.
• Meryn then dances with Killian. He introduces her to the king. Then they leave the ball together.
• Egith tells Meryn that a Siphon killed the Strategos Alpha while Meryn was with Killian. The pack are all upset.
• Meryn and the twins have a brief falling out but she apologises and they make up. She tells them about her relationship with Killian.
• Siegried shows up and tells Meryn that the other wolves have named Meryn and Anassa as their new leaders. This wouldn’t have been my first choice.
• Anassa allows Egith to lead for the time being because Meryn is so not ready.
• Meryn meets Stark for “Alpha Lessons”. They spar. He wins. They train over the next two weeks.
• Another recruit attacks Meryn and breaks her nose. Stark breaks it again to heal it later.
• Meryn finds Killian waiting for her in her room. Meryn asks Killian what’s beneath the arena because she found something weird while sleepwalking. He won’t tell her anything.
• Meryn asks Venna to keep an eye out for weird things that are going on.
• The missing children have been found in Grunfall. Meryn wants to go but Stark and Anassa don’t want her to. Eventually Stark agrees that she can come with him.
• They stop at an inn in Linsfall. They hear a bard singing a song about Stark, who saved Linsfall from Siphons a few years ago.
• There’s only one bed, of course.
• They reach Grunfall. Egith is already there. She tells them that children have been sighted in a Siphon outpost. Egith shows Meryn a picture of the Siphon king, Lucien Brightbane, and Meryn thinks she might recognise him.
• Stark and his team attack the outpost and they’re ambushed by Siphons. They fight them off eventually. They don’t find any children.
• They capture a Siphon guard, who Meryn kills after some interrogation.
• Stark and Meryn nearly kiss.
• They return to Sturmfrost. They stop at Meryn’s house, and Igor tells her that the guards had to kill her mother while she was having an episode.
• Meryn goes to find Killian for comfort. Killian chooses this moment to propose. Meryn accepts.
• The funeral is held in the Garden of Eternal Rest. The whole pack attends and Meryn gives a nice eulogy.
• Meryn goes to pack her mother’s belongings. Meryn finds journals and pictures under the floorboards. Anassa tells Meryn to hide them from Killian but she won’t tell her why. She tells Meryn to start doing her own research.
• Meryn starts reading Stark’s books. She learns about the history of Nocturna and the Sturmfrost Queens who ruled it before the king’s bloodline took over. Meryn starts to question whether the king’s bloodline is truly blessed. She spots a drawing of the crown that she has been seeing in her visions.
• Stark notices that Meryn is engaged. Meryn asks him for information on the kingdom’s history but he can’t tell her anything. Meryn is upset that he and Anassa are keeping things from her.
• Izabel throws a little engagement party for Meryn.
• The Unity Trial begins. Meryn and Anassa lead an attack on the Daemos pack. Jonah sends wolves after Henrey, who Meryn then has to mercy-kill.
• Servants take Henrey’s body under the arena.
• Venna and Meryn talk about the servants’ strange behaviour. Venna goes to find out what’s under the arena.
• Killian enters Meryn’s room through the secret tunnel. Izabel interrupts them and insists on Killian playing a card game.
• Stark asks Meryn when the wedding is happening. They argue, of course. 
• Venna asks to speak to Meryn immediately. She takes her under the arena, and when they reach the bottom Meryn finds a marbled room full of cells. There are children in the cells. Saela is one of them.
• Saela tells Meryn that she has been there the whole time. She says the king comes and chooses a child, who never returns to the cells.
• Meryn has to leave before the guards return, but promises to come back for Saela.
• Meryn goes back and tells Killian immediately. Killian promises to help, and they should take down the king at the graduation ceremony. Anassa clearly hates this plan.
• The king makes a speech at the ceremony, and then announces that there’s going to be one more culling.
• Meryn directs her pack to help her take the blade away from the king. She beheads the king with it. Killian pretends to be shocked, and tells the guards to seize Meryn. The guards knock her out.
• Meryn wakes up in the dungeons. Anassa has been caught as well. She is wearing a collar which stops her from reaching out to the pack.
• Killian shows up and asks Meryn why she killed the king. He tries to gaslight her into believing she has a mental illness like her mother.
• Meryn asks Anassa if she knew Killian was an arse, and Anassa doesn’t respond.
• Meryn orders Anassa to reach out to her mate so they can contact Venna. Meryn wants Venna to grab the crown.
• Stark arrives with the crown and Meryn finally realises that Anassa and Stark’s direwolf, Cratos, are mates. Anassa drops all her shields and Meryn starts to feel a bond with Stark.
• Meryn inspects the crown and notices that the opal matches the one on her necklace.
• Meryn puts the crown on her head. She has a vision of the last queen, Chiara, who had to hide away her child (along with the opal necklace) in order to fight off a Siphon attack. The Siphons were being led by a guy called Alistair Brightbane, who looks a lot like Killian. Chiara is killed.
• A voice in Meryn’s head announces that Meryn Sturmfrost has returned. Meryn finally realises that she’s the rightful queen of Nocturna.
• Meryn is upset that Anassa and Stark didn’t say anything. Stark explains that he wasn’t allowed because of a Siphon blood curse on the Bonded. While the true history was written down by Stark’s ancestors, who were loyal to the crown, they weren’t allowed to speak of any of it out loud.
• Meryn asks Stark to keep the crown safe, and to go and free Saela and the other children.
• Meryn begs the guards to meet with Killian. They take her to his room. Meryn pretends to be weak but then punches Killian in the throat and takes the blade back.
• Killian admits that he knew who she was all along. He also admits to killing her mother so that Meryn would take her mother’s power before she becomes queen.
• Alistair Brightbane then possesses Killian’s body. It turns out that the king serves as Alistair’s vessel. Killian is a Siphon.
• Killian uses shadow powers to hold Meryn down. Meryn calls for Stark and Anassa. Stark gives Meryn the crown. Killian now knows that Anassa’s mate is Cratos.
• Killian flees after kissing Meryn and thanking her for his new power.
• Meryn can’t take her engagement ring off.
• Stark tells Meryn that Saela and the others have been rescued. Stark takes Meryn to Saela, who hugs her. Meryn notices that Saela is very cold and pale.
• Meryn fills Saela in on what has been going on and their family history.
• Meryn orders Anassa to fill in all the other direwolves on what has been going on. The Bonding trials will no longer take place.
• Saela starts to convulse. She then attacks an attendant with her new fangs. Killian turned Saela into a Siphon before he ran off.

That’s what happened in Direbound! Check out our recap list for more recaps. If you can’t find what you need, you can request a recap from us!