He uses a branch of the wood to pierce both Alina and Mal, giving him control of the darkness again before he escapes under the guise of Yuri Vedenen to assemble supporters of the Starless Saint. The Darkling brokers a deal to let him meet with Alina Starkov and in return he will lead them to the thornwood that will allow the obisbaya to take place. Zoya Nazyalensky mourns her mentor Juris's death but feels incompetent to wield his dragon powers.

he works closely with David Kostyk to develop nuclear warheads and together with Nina's messages from inside Fjerda they are able to triumph over Fjerda and reclaim their Grisha using antidotes to jurda parem. He has developed a control over his demon but depends on doing another obisbaya to rid himself of the darkness inside of him, kill the Darkling, and prevent another Shadow Fold from being formed. Nikolai struggles to hold the throne due to the accusations of his bastardry. Nina and Hanne develop a romantic relationship and plan to run away after converting the Fjerdans to realizing the Grisha are not abominations. Torn between loyalties and morals, Nina almost blows her cover to Jarl but manages to keep herself together.

Nina also discovers that Rasmus's bodyguard, Joran, killed Matthias Helvar in Ketterdam. Hanne and Rasmus grow closer but Rasmus is revealed to be a power-hungry tyrant who feels satisfaction at other people's misery. She discovers that Jarl Brum has kept Nikolai Lantsov's birth father, Magnus Opjer, under prison and plans to use letters between him and the former Ravkan queen to get Nikolai deposed. Nina aids the Ravkan war effort by turning the Fjerdans to worship the Grisha saints, creating divide in the ranks of the drüskelle. She gains the favor of Fjerda's Prince Rasmus when she uses her Grisha healing power to lessen his chronic illness. The pair decide that Hanne must enter herself into the Heartwood, a competition between women to decide who they will marry. Nina Zenik has successfully infiltrated the Ice Court under the alias Mila Jandersdat, serving as Hanne Brum's courtier. Shu Han's ruler, Queen Makhi Kir-Taban, plots to kill her sister Ehri from taking the throne when a blot of darkness with a likeness to the Shadow Fold spreads past the Unsea and into Shu Han. The story takes place several weeks after the end of King of Scars and follows the third-person perspectives of Nikolai Lantsov, Zoya Nazyalensky, Nina Zenik, Mayu Kir-Kaat, and the Darkling (referred to as 'The Monk.') Plot It is the seventh overall novel in Bardugo's Grishaverse and the final novel in the King of Scars duology. Rule of Wolves is a fantasy novel by American author Leigh Bardugo published by Imprint in 2021.

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo