Chapter 4 New Beginnings

Nyssa POV

His hands gripped my thighs, holding me open. When his lips closed around my clit, sucking with just the right pressure, stars burst behind my eyelids.

I moaned, loud and unfiltered, and my body trembled under the onslaught. He didn't rush, didn't devour, he savored, alternating between long, languid strokes and focused pulls that had me writhing. Pleasure crested in waves, each one higher than the last, until I was gasping, with my fingers fisting the sheets.

"Please... oh, God, Adrian..."

He lifted his head just enough to murmur, "Let go for me, beautiful."

Then he returned, sucking harder, one hand sliding up to tease my entrance with a single finger before slipping inside, and curling just so.

I shattered, and the orgasm ripped through me like wildfire. He worked me through it, gentling his touches until the aftershocks faded, kissing his way back up my body with murmured praises that made my heart stutter.

When he reached my lips, I tasted myself on him, salty and intimate, and pulled him down fully. Our bodies aligned, and his clothes were a frustrating barrier.

"Off," I demanded, tugging at his shirt, and he obliged with a chuckle, stripping efficiently, to reveal a chest dusted with gold hair, and lean muscle honed by discipline. His pants followed, and then he was bare against me, hard and hot, his length pressing insistently at my thigh.

He paused, fishing a condom from his wallet with a sheepish grin. "Prepared, but hoping."

I watched, with my pulse racing, as he rolled it on, his eyes never leaving mine. Then he was over me again, bracing on his forearms, and kissing me deeply as he notched himself at my entrance.

"Ready?" he asked, his voice strained with his own need.

"Yes." The word was barely out before he pushed in, slow and steady, filling me inch by inch. He was thick, stretching me in the most delicious way, and we both groaned at the completeness of it.

He stilled when he was fully seated, with his forehead pressed to mine, and our breaths mingling. "You feel... incredible."

We moved together then, in a rhythm that started languidly, but built inexorably. His control was a thing of beauty, passionate thrusts that hit deep, but always checking, always attuned. I wrapped my legs around him, urging him faster and harder, and he gave it, the bed creaking under us, and our skin slick with sweat.

The room filled with the sounds of us, gasps, whispers, and the slap of flesh. He buried his face in my neck, kissing the mark Cassian had once left there, a scar of possession now overwritten by Adrian's lips.

"Nyssa," he groaned, and his pace quickened, and one hand slid between us to circle my clit. It tipped me over again, the pressure coiling tight and snapping free. I cried out, clenching around him, and he followed with a guttural sound, thrusting deep as he came, our releases mingling in a shared blaze that left us trembling.

He collapsed beside me, pulling me into his chest, and our limbs tangled in the rumpled sheets. His heartbeat thundered against my ear, slowing gradually as we caught our breath.

"That was..." He trailed off, pressing a kiss to my temple.

"Perfect," I finished, tracing lazy patterns on his skin.

Exhaustion tugged at me, warm and welcome, and as his fingers stroked my hair, sleep claimed us both.

~~~~~

The next morning....

Sunlight filtered through the curtains when I woke, and the lake was a glittering expanse beyond the glass.

The bed was vast and empty beside me, and the sheets were cool where Adrian had been. A pang of something, disappointment...or Relief?....twisted in my chest, but it dissolved when I spotted the note on his pillow, scrawled in neat, confident script on the hotel's embossed stationery.

Nyssa,

Last night was a revelation. I expect you Monday at 9 AM sharp. Don't make me wait.

Apex Systems HQ

247 State Street

Albany, NY 12210

(518) 555-0192

-Adrian

Albany. Two hours down the road, in an even bigger world of glass towers and ambition. I traced the numbers with my fingertip, and a smile curved my lips.

I stretched then, with my arms overhead, my spine arching like a cat in the sun, and every muscle humming with a languid satisfaction that bordered on bliss. No soreness, no regrets, just a deep, satiated glow that radiated from my core. God, he had been thorough. Attentive. Human, but in the ways that mattered most.

Vianna stretched in my mind too, a lazy rumble of contentment. "He was great for a human. Who needs fangs when they've got that tongue?"

I giggled, the sound bubbling up unbidden, light and free in the quiet room. It echoed off the walls, chasing away the last shadows of the night. Rolling onto my stomach, I buried my face in the pillow that still held his scent, cedar and clean soap, and let the laughter fade into a soft hum.

Freedom. The word settled over me like the morning light, warm and unyielding. For years, I'd been Luna, chained by vows that bound me tighter than silver, and by a pack that saw me as vessel, not a woman. Cassian's touch had been ownership, and his gaze had been a cage. Every decision was filtered through the lens of duty, and every breath was measured against the weight of expectation.

But here, in this suite with its view of endless water, I was Nyssa Blackwell.

Unmarked. Unclaimed. The woman who'd walked away from ashes and into a night that tasted like possibility.

Adrian hadn't known my history, my secrets, the wolf coiled beneath my skin, or the power that hummed in my veins. And yet, he'd seen me. Listened. Touched me like I was fragile glass and fierce fire all at once.

Tears pricked my eyes, not from sorrow, but from the sheer relief of it. I was free to choose, the job, the city, the man who left notes instead of ultimatums.

Free to build something that was mine, strategies that shaped markets, not wars, equations that predicted profit, not peril. No more hiding the strategist behind the mate.

No more burying my fire under obedience.

I sat up, the sheets pooling around my waist, and glanced at the mirror across the room.

My reflection stared back. My blonde hair was tousled, my lips were swollen, and my green eyes were bright with a spark I hadn't seen in years.

Vianna's approval thrummed low. "We burned it all down. Now we rise."

"Yes," I whispered aloud, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. The carpet was soft under my feet as I padded to the balcony, flinging open the doors. Cold air rushed in, crisp with pine and promise, ruffling my skin like a lover's breath.

Monday. Albany. A new kingdom to conquer.

I laughed again, louder this time, letting it carry over the lake. The stars from last night had faded, but the spilled light in my chest? That burned brighter than ever.

I turned from the balcony, the lake still glittering behind me, and started moving. The energy that had simmered under my skin since dawn needed direction, and momentum.

I packed quickly but methodically, folding every piece of my old life into the duffel. The red dress went in last, still smelling faintly of perfume and rebellion.

“A trophy,” Vianna purred. “Proof we survived.”

“Proof we began,” I corrected.

I showered, dressed in jeans, a soft gray sweater, and heeled boots, then pulled my hair into a loose twist. Simple. Clean. Professional enough to walk into any office and look like I belonged there.

Phone in hand, I opened the maps app and searched apartments near 247 State Street, Albany. A dozen listings appeared, brick buildings with iron balconies, and modern glass towers with skyline views.

One caught my eye: The Artemis Lofts, a restored textile mill turned into luxury apartments. High ceilings, sunlight, steel beams, strong bones, reborn. I liked the symbolism.

A few quick calls later and the property manager, a woman named Elise, was already promising to have a furnished unit ready by evening. My deposit hit her account before we hung up.

“That was fast,” Vianna murmured.

“I’ve wasted enough time waiting for men to decide what comes next.”

"True."

I zipped my bag, grabbed the room key, and gave the suite one final look. The unmade bed, the half-empty wine glasses, and the note still resting on the pillow, proof that last night had been real, not a fantasy. But the girl who arrived here crying in a red dress wasn’t staying.

Downstairs, the lobby hummed with morning activity, couples checking out, skiers dragging gear, and staff moving like clockwork. Heads turned as I crossed the marble floor. Myy boots clicked loudly, and my chin was held high. The concierge smiled politely, unaware that the woman passing him had burned an entire world to the ground less than twenty-four hours ago.

I left the key on the counter.

“Thank you. It was exactly what I needed.”

Outside, sunlight cut through the cold. The doorman whistled for a car, and within moments a sleek black sedan slid to the curb. I handed the driver my destination, Albany, and climbed in.

As the hotel receded in the rearview mirror, I rested my forehead against the cool glass. The forest rolled past in shades of emerald and gray, and snow dusted the mountaintops. Every mile felt lighter.

"What will you build now?" Vianna asked softly.

“Something better,” I said. “Something mine.”

Images flickered in my mind like sparks: offices filled with screens and data streams, my name etched on glass doors, LUNARIX Industries, a company that would marry instinct and intelligence, intuition and numbers. Wolves called it prophecy. Humans called it prediction. I would master both.

I imagined conferences, contracts, and entire markets bending because I’d learned to read them the way I once read shifting pack politics. No blood, no hierarchy, just power earned by wit and vision.

“Do you think Adrian will expect us to follow orders?” Vianna mused.

I smiled faintly. “He’ll learn I don’t take them. Not anymore.”

The driver glanced at me in the mirror. “First time heading to Albany?”

“Yes,” I said, watching the mountains blur into highway. “But I think I’m going to like it there.”

He nodded, turning up the radio, a quiet jazz tune that filled the silence between dreams.

As the road curved south, I reached into my bag and found the hotel stationery. On the back of Adrian’s note, I wrote a single line in my neat, deliberate hand:

From this day forward, we rise.

I folded it and slipped it into my wallet, a promise, not a souvenir.

Outside, the highway opened wide, and sunlight gleamed on the hood of the car. Freedom stretched ahead in endless miles of asphalt and possibility. I leaned back, closed my eyes, and let the hum of the engine lull me into a calm I hadn’t felt in years.

By the time we hit the city limits, I already had a plan. A new name, a new home, and a new empire waiting to be born.

And somewhere deep inside, Vianna purred her agreement. "Let’s make the world remember who we are."

“Deal,” I whispered, smiling as the skyline of Albany rose before us, and the steel and glass caught the morning sun like a crown.