Luna POV
Luna stood at the border with her shoulders back.
Dark Moon Pack was leaving. Warriors gathered their things. Professional. Controlled. Nothing like the chaos inside Luna's chest.
She'd positioned herself away from the main group. Not close enough to look like she cared. Not far enough to look indifferent. Just far enough that she could watch without being obvious.
Except everyone already knew.
The whispers had followed her all morning. Warriors pretended not to notice her. Marcus had looked at her at breakfast like he was still waiting for her to explain something. Elena had asked three times if she was alright and Luna had said yes three times, each one more unconvincing than the last.
Grayson emerged from the forest with the other Dark Moon warriors.
He wasn't looking at her. He was talking to the older delegation leader about something. His expression was neutral. Professional. Like the last three days hadn't happened. Like he hadn't touched her in a hallway. Like he hadn't kissed her in the garden.
Luna's hands clenched into fists at her sides.
Then he glanced toward her. Just a small movement. Just a turn of his head. But their eyes locked across the distance and the world stopped.
Everything else disappeared. The other warriors. The trees. The sound of pack members moving around them. There was only him and her and the bond burning between them like something alive.
He told her without words that this wasn't over. That one week apart meant nothing. That he was already planning his return. That she was his and he wasn't letting her go no matter what happened.
Luna felt him in her chest like he was already part of her soul. Like the mating bond had wrapped around her heart and anchored itself there. Like removing him would mean ripping out a piece of herself.
He looked back once before turning and disappearing into the forest with his pack.
Luna watched until the trees swallowed him completely. Watched until there was no chance of seeing him again. Watched until her eyes burned and she realized she was crying.
She wiped her face quickly. Forced her expression back into professional blankness. Turned and walked back toward the pack houses like her insides weren't falling apart.
Marcus caught her before she made it ten steps.
"Luna." He said her name like a question. Like he wanted her to explain something. Like he was still waiting for her to tell him what was happening.
"I'm fine," Luna said. It was the third time she'd lied that morning.
Marcus studied her face for a long moment. Then he nodded like he understood something. Like he wasn't going to push. Like he was giving her time to figure out what she needed to do.
It was worse than if he'd yelled at her.
One week passed.
Luna stopped sleeping properly. She'd lie in bed and count the hours until she could get up and go to the training yard. The exhaustion made everything feel like she was moving through water. Made her feel like a ghost haunting her own pack.
She trained until her hands bled. Until her muscles screamed. Until her body hurt so much that maybe it could distract from the ache in her chest.
It never worked.
At night, she'd stand in the window of her quarters and stare out at the forest. The same forest where Grayson had disappeared. She'd wonder if he was thinking about her. Wonder if he felt as hollow as she did. Wonder if the mating bond felt different on his end or if they both felt this same broken emptiness.
She talked to Marcus about company strategy. About border patrols and warrior rotations and the supply routes to other packs. Anything that required her brain to focus. Anything that didn't involve thinking about storm gray eyes or the way his hand felt on her face or how it felt to kiss him like he was her last breath.
Work was the only thing that didn't remind her that she'd fallen in love with someone from an enemy pack.
Elena tried to corner her three times.
"Talk to me," Elena said in the training yard one afternoon. "You look like you're dying."
"I'm fine," Luna said. She hit the dummy harder.
"You haven't slept. You're making mistakes in strategy meetings. You look like you're going to break," Elena said. "This is about him, isn't it. The Dark Moon warrior."
Luna didn't answer. She hit the dummy until Elena left her alone.
By day six, Marcus asked her to come to his office.
Luna sat across from him and waited for the judgment. Waited for him to tell her that she'd betrayed Silverwood. That she'd compromised her position as Beta. That she needed to choose between the pack and her own heart.
Instead, Marcus just looked at her like he was seeing something he didn't want to see.
"He's coming back, isn't he," Marcus said. It wasn't a question.
Luna's hands went tight on the armrests of her chair.
"Yes," she said. The word came out rough. Honest. Finally true.
"And you're going to let him," Marcus continued.
"I don't know," Luna said. And that was true too. She didn't know what she was going to do. Didn't know if she was strong enough to push him away. Didn't know if she was brave enough to choose him.
"Love is complicated," Marcus said. His scarred face looked sad. "I'm not going to tell you not to feel it. I'm not going to tell you to choose the pack over your heart. But I need you to understand that whatever you choose, the consequences will be real."
Luna nodded. She understood. She'd been living in the consequences for days.
Day seven arrived and Luna felt raw. Like her skin had been peeled off and her nerves were exposed to everything. A week of wondering if he'd come back. A week of wondering if she'd pushed him away for good with her hesitation. A week of not knowing if they had one week or forever or nothing at all.
She was in the training yard, hitting a dummy with more violence than strategy, when Elena ran toward her.
Elena was breathing hard. Her eyes were wide. She looked like she'd run the entire way from the border.
"Luna," Elena said. "There's a wolf at the border."
Luna's hands froze mid-swing.
"He's requesting entry," Elena continued. "He says he's looking for pack alliance, but Luna... it's him. It's the Dark Moon warrior. And he's alone. He came without his pack."
The dummy fell from Luna's numb fingers.
Grayson had come back.
He'd left his pack. He'd come back to Silverwood completely alone. No warriors. No delegation. No plan except getting to her.
Elena was staring at her like she was waiting for an explanation. Like she wanted to understand what was happening. Like she could see Luna's entire life was about to change in the next few minutes.
"What did Marcus say?" Luna asked. Her voice sounded strange. Distant. Like it was coming from someone else.
"Marcus is waiting at the border," Elena said. "He's waiting for you. He said you needed to be there before he makes a decision."
Luna dropped her training gear and started walking toward the border.
Her wolf was singing. Her heart was thundering. Her hands were shaking.
Grayson had come back. He'd come alone. He'd put himself in danger by entering Silverwood territory as a single warrior from a rival pack.
He was choosing her.
The question now was whether she was brave enough to choose him back.