diff --git a/src/pg.rs b/src/pg.rs
index dcf257b..29ab8bb 100644
--- a/src/pg.rs
+++ b/src/pg.rs
@@ -17,8 +17,9 @@
 //! group it touches first — draining each membership's monitor with a
 //! non-blocking `try_recv` — and on the first sign of death sweeps that pid out
 //! of *every* group via the predicate primitive. So the set is self-pruning on
-//! contact rather than filtered on read; Phase 3 adds a generation-checked
-//! liveness read as a belt-and-braces backstop on the read path.
+//! contact rather than filtered on read; the read path additionally applies a
+//! generation-checked liveness backstop so a member already dead but not yet
+//! reaped is never *returned*, even though eviction remains the monitor's job.
 //!
 //! [reap]: ProcessGroups::reap_group
 //!
@@ -231,9 +232,9 @@ impl ProcessGroups {
         self.remove_where(|m| dead.contains(&m.pid))
     }
 
-    /// Raw enumeration of a group's members — no liveness filtering (Phase 3
-    /// layers a generation-checked backstop on the public `members`). Absent
-    /// group → empty.
+    /// Raw enumeration of a group's members — no liveness filtering. Used by
+    /// tests to assert storage state independently of the read-path backstop.
+    #[cfg(test)]
     fn members_of(&self, group: &str) -> Vec<Member> {
         self.groups
             .get(group)
@@ -241,10 +242,22 @@ impl ProcessGroups {
             .unwrap_or_default()
     }
 
-    /// The first member of `group`, if any — backing the stateless first-live
-    /// `pick` without cloning the whole group.
-    fn first_member(&self, group: &str) -> Option<Member> {
-        self.groups.get(group).and_then(|v| v.first().map(|e| e.member))
+    /// Live members of `group`, in insertion order. The `is_live` oracle is the
+    /// read-path backstop (Phase 3): a member whose slot is already dead is
+    /// dropped from the *result* even if its `Down` has not been drained yet.
+    /// Backstop only — the entry stays in storage; eviction is the monitor's
+    /// job (`reap_group`).
+    fn members_where(&self, group: &str, mut is_live: impl FnMut(Pid) -> bool) -> Vec<Pid> {
+        self.groups
+            .get(group)
+            .map(|v| v.iter().map(|e| e.member.pid).filter(|&p| is_live(p)).collect())
+            .unwrap_or_default()
+    }
+
+    /// The first live member of `group` in insertion order — stateless
+    /// first-live `pick`, with the same read-path backstop as `members_where`.
+    fn first_member_where(&self, group: &str, mut is_live: impl FnMut(Pid) -> bool) -> Option<Pid> {
+        self.groups.get(group)?.iter().map(|e| e.member.pid).find(|&p| is_live(p))
     }
 }
 
@@ -253,6 +266,14 @@ fn member_for(inner: &crate::runtime::RuntimeInner, pid: Pid) -> Member {
     Member { node: inner.node_id, incarnation: inner.incarnation, pid }
 }
 
+/// Is `pid` a live actor right now? Generation-checked atomic slot-word read,
+/// no lock — identical to the registry's guard. The read-path backstop: a
+/// generation is never reused, so a dead member is detectable independently of
+/// whether its monitor `Down` has been drained yet.
+fn live(inner: &crate::runtime::RuntimeInner, pid: Pid) -> bool {
+    inner.slot_at(pid).is_some_and(|s| s.is_live_for(pid))
+}
+
 /// Add `pid` to `group`. The same pid may join many groups; within one group a
 /// pid is a member at most once (idempotent). Returns `true` if this call newly
 /// added the membership, `false` if it was already a member.
@@ -316,15 +337,16 @@ pub fn leave(group: &str, pid: Pid) -> bool {
 /// Fan-out read: every live member of `group`.
 ///
 /// The touched group is reaped first, so dead members are evicted before the
-/// read rather than filtered out of it. Phase 3 adds a generation-checked
-/// liveness read as a belt-and-braces backstop.
+/// read. The generation-checked liveness read is a belt-and-braces backstop:
+/// even in the finalize window where a member is already dead but its `Down`
+/// has not yet landed, it is dropped from the result.
 ///
 /// Panics if called outside `Runtime::run()`.
 pub fn members(group: &str) -> Vec<Pid> {
     let (pids, reaped) = with_runtime(|inner| {
         let mut pg = inner.process_groups.lock();
         let reaped = pg.reap_group(group);
-        let pids: Vec<Pid> = pg.members_of(group).into_iter().map(|m| m.pid).collect();
+        let pids = pg.members_where(group, |pid| live(inner, pid));
         (pids, reaped)
     });
     drop(reaped);
@@ -332,16 +354,17 @@ pub fn members(group: &str) -> Vec<Pid> {
 }
 
 /// Pool/discovery read: one live member of `group`, or `None` if empty.
-/// Stateless first-live selection (the touched group is reaped first, so the
-/// first surviving member is live; smarter routing is an explicitly later,
-/// clustered concern per RFC 010).
+/// Stateless first-live selection: the touched group is reaped first, and the
+/// generation-checked liveness backstop skips any member already dead but not
+/// yet reaped. Smarter routing is an explicitly later, clustered concern per
+/// RFC 010.
 ///
 /// Panics if called outside `Runtime::run()`.
 pub fn pick(group: &str) -> Option<Pid> {
     let (picked, reaped) = with_runtime(|inner| {
         let mut pg = inner.process_groups.lock();
         let reaped = pg.reap_group(group);
-        let picked = pg.first_member(group).map(|m| m.pid);
+        let picked = pg.first_member_where(group, |pid| live(inner, pid));
         (picked, reaped)
     });
     drop(reaped);
@@ -495,4 +518,26 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(evicted.len(), 1);
         assert!(pg.members_of("a").is_empty());
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn read_backstop_hides_a_member_the_monitor_has_not_yet_reaped() {
+        let mut pg = ProcessGroups::new();
+        // Both senders held: reap_group would see Ok(None) and evict neither.
+        let (a, _ta) = synth(1, 0);
+        let (b, _tb) = synth(2, 0);
+        pg.join("g", a);
+        pg.join("g", b);
+
+        // The slot-word oracle already reports pid 1 dead (finalize window),
+        // ahead of any Down delivery.
+        let dead = Pid::new(1, 0);
+        let oracle = |pid: Pid| pid != dead;
+
+        assert_eq!(pg.members_where("g", oracle), vec![Pid::new(2, 0)], "dead pid filtered from read");
+        assert_eq!(pg.first_member_where("g", oracle), Some(Pid::new(2, 0)), "pick skips the dead first member");
+
+        // Backstop does not evict — that stays the monitor's job; raw storage
+        // still holds both until reap runs.
+        assert_eq!(pg.members_of("g"), vec![member(1, 0), member(2, 0)]);
+    }
 }