Luna POV
Grayson waited until they were alone in her quarters.
Luna was still riding the high of her public declaration. Still floating on the feeling of choosing him in front of everyone.
Then he looked at her and everything shifted.
"The weekly visits are torture," Grayson said. Just tired. "Every seven days. Counting down the hours. I can't do this anymore."
Her chest tightened.
"I need to know," he continued. "Are you choosing me or not. If you're not, I need to know so I can stop coming back."
Luna opened her mouth to speak and nothing came out.
She loved him. She'd known it for weeks. But loving him meant betraying her pack. Meant choosing a warrior from a rival pack over her Alpha's wishes.
"I'm not brave enough," Luna whispered. Her eyes were filling with tears because the truth was that she didn't know how to choose. Didn't know how to balance what her heart wanted with what her pack needed.
Grayson stepped closer. He took her face in his hands.
"You are," he said. His voice was steady. "You're the strongest person I've ever met. You've held an entire pack together through discipline. You've denied your own heart for duty. That takes real strength."
Luna closed her eyes. She couldn't look at him while he said things that made her believe in herself.
"Open your eyes," Grayson said softly.
She did.
"I'm going to tell you something," Grayson continued. "And it's going to change everything. But you need to hear it."
Luna's heart was already thundering. She could feel what was coming. Some shift in the ground beneath them.
"I'm going to leave Dark Moon," Grayson said. "I'm going to ask Marcus for entry to Silverwood. I'm going to ask to be one of your warriors."
Luna's entire world tilted.
"What?" she whispered.
"I'm choosing you completely," Grayson said. "I'm not asking you to leave everything. I'm building a third option. I'm becoming part of your pack."
Luna pulled away from him because the emotion was too much. Too intense. Too overwhelming.
"You can't do that," she said. Her voice was shaking. "You can't make that decision for us both."
"Why not?" Grayson asked.
"Because it's too much," Luna said. "Because you're giving up everything. Because if Kade finds out you're planning to leave, he'll destroy you. He'll make sure you can never show your face in Dark Moon territory again."
"I know," Grayson said calmly.
"And because it puts Marcus in an impossible position," Luna continued. "If he accepts you into Silverwood, it looks like he's harboring an enemy warrior. It looks like he's taking sides. It could start a war."
"Marcus is smart enough to frame it as a trade," Grayson said. "I bring strategic knowledge of Dark Moon Pack. I bring resources. I bring a warrior who will protect Silverwood with his entire being. It's not taking sides. It's gaining advantage."
Luna's hands were shaking now. She was terrified. Terrified of what his choice meant. Terrified of what it would cost him.
"You're talking about losing everything," she said. "Your pack. Your position. Your identity as a Dark Moon warrior. How can you be willing to do that?"
"Because my identity isn't Dark Moon," Grayson said simply. "My identity is you. Everything I am is tied to you now. Dark Moon was just something I did before I knew what it meant to have a reason to live."
Luna turned away from him because she couldn't handle the intensity in his eyes. Couldn't handle the way he was looking at her like she was worth every sacrifice.
"Grayson," she said quietly. "You can't make this choice for me. You can't decide that leaving Dark Moon is worth it. That's my decision to make."
"It's not your decision," Grayson said. He was moving toward her now. "It's my decision. I'm choosing what I want. I'm choosing freedom from Kade. I'm choosing a pack that values loyalty over fear. I'm choosing you."
Luna spun around to face him.
"No," she said. The word came out like a command. Like the Beta was taking over. "You don't get to do this. You don't get to make yourself responsible for my happiness. You don't get to sacrifice your entire life and then expect me to feel grateful."
"I'm not expecting you to feel grateful," Grayson said. "I'm expecting you to accept that I'm choosing this. That I'm choosing freely. That nobody is forcing me."
"But if you leave Dark Moon because of me, and it goes wrong," Luna said, "the guilt will destroy us both. You'll resent me. You'll wake up one day and realize you gave up everything and it wasn't worth it."
"That won't happen," Grayson said.
"You don't know that," Luna said fiercely. "You can't promise that. Nobody can promise that."
Grayson reached out and pulled her toward him. She tried to resist but he was stronger. He held her close while she fought him.
"Luna," he said into her hair. "Stop fighting. Stop trying to protect me from my own choices. I'm not a warrior you need to save. I'm a male who's made a decision. Let me have that."
Luna went still in his arms.
"If you do this," she said slowly, "there's no going back. You understand that, right. If you leave Dark Moon, they won't take you back. Kade doesn't forgive defection."
"I understand," Grayson said.
"And if Marcus rejects you," Luna continued, "if he decides it's too risky to have you here, you'll have nowhere. You'll be a rogue wolf with no pack."
"Then you'll have me," Grayson said. "You'll choose to have me. And that will be enough."
Luna pulled back and looked at his face. Storm gray eyes. Complete certainty. No doubt. No hesitation.
"This is insane," she whispered.
"Yes," Grayson agreed. "It's completely insane. But it's what I'm doing."
Luna wanted to tell him no. Wanted to push him away and tell him to go back to Dark Moon and pretend this never happened. Wanted to protect him from the consequences of loving her.
But looking at his face, she realized something. This wasn't about protecting him anymore. This was about respecting his choice. This was about letting him decide his own fate.
"Talk to Marcus tomorrow," Luna said. "Before we leave. Before you make any official moves. Give him a chance to tell you yes or no before you burn all your bridges."
"I will," Grayson said.
"And if he says no," Luna said, "if he tells you he can't accept you into Silverwood, we'll figure it out. We'll go somewhere else. We'll build a new pack from nothing. But you don't leave Dark Moon until we know."
"Okay," Grayson said.
Luna was still terrified. Still certain this was going to end badly. But she was also beginning to understand that fear was just part of loving someone this much. That loving Grayson meant accepting his choices even when they scared her.
"You're really doing this," she said.
"I'm really doing this," Grayson confirmed.
Luna took a breath and made a decision of her own.
"Then we do it right," she said. "We tell Marcus in the morning. We ask properly. We give him the chance to decide. And whatever he decides, we accept it."
Grayson nodded.
But Luna was already thinking ahead. Already running through scenarios. Already wondering what was going to happen tomorrow when she walked into Marcus's office and told him that the Dark Moon warrior wanted to join Silverwood Pack permanently.
She had no idea how that conversation was going to go.
And that terrified her more than anything.