Chapter 6 The Moon Calls

Chapter 6 The Moon Calls
Nyssa POV

She hesitated, and in that pause, I caught the faint scent of pine and smoke, Moonfang memories stirring like ghosts.

“The pack needs you,” she said finally. “He’s ruined it, Nyssa. Cassian’s ruined everything.”

The words cracked the air between us.

My stomach dropped, and the noise of the gala faded into static. I hadn’t heard that name in five years, and still it could burn.

“Why would you come here?” I asked quietly. “Why now?”

“Because there’s no one left who can save them,” Greta said. “And the Moon Goddess… she hasn’t stopped watching you.”

Her hand trembled as she reached into her coat and pulled out a small silver token etched with the crescent mark of Moonfang. She pressed it into my palm. It was warm, and almost pulsing.

“Come home, Luna,” she whispered. “Before there’s nothing left to come back to.”

I didn’t wait for another word. I turned on my heel, with my skirts whispering against the marble, and my heels striking like gunfire. The corridor blurred as I pushed through the doors into the lobby, light and noise spilling over me.

“Nyssa!” Greta’s voice chased me, too loud, and too familiar. “Please, don’t walk away!”

I didn’t stop. Not until the cold night air hit my lungs like ice. Cameras still flashed outside the gala entrance, the press drawn by champagne and celebrity. I needed air, distance, and silence, but Greta was right behind me.

Her fingers caught my arm, shockingly strong. “Luna, you can’t ignore us forever!”

I spun, and fury broke through my restraint. “Don’t call me that!”

The words cracked through the street like thunder. Heads turned. Somewhere behind me I heard Adrian’s voice....“Nyssa?”...and the quick click of Clara’s heels. Even Kyle had followed, with confusion written all over his polished face.

Greta stepped closer, her tears spilling freely now. “Luna, we need you. The pack is dying. Cassian, he’s drunk and violent, half the warriors have deserted. The borders are open. We’re being slaughtered.”

Her voice shook. “I know what was done to you was awful, but please don’t let the whole pack suffer for the mistakes of a few. The Moon Goddess would be ashamed.”

The pendant burned in my palm. Something inside me snapped.

“You don’t know what I walked in on, Greta!” I shouted. “You don’t know what I saw!”

The crowd froze. Even the traffic seemed to hold its breath.

“My own staff,” I hissed, my voice trembling now, “the girls I fed, clothed, and trusted, naked, in bed, with my husband. The Alpha who pledged his love to me!”

Gasps rippled through the bystanders. Greta’s hands went to her mouth, horrified. Adrian looked as if someone had struck him. Clara’s eyes glistened. Kyle muttered something under his breath, but the words were drowned by the weight of mine.

Tears blurred the streetlights into halos. “You want me to go back to that? To pretend it didn’t happen? To lead the people who laughed behind my back while he destroyed everything we built?”

Greta took a step toward me, shaking her head. “Not him. Them. Us. The ones who still believe in you.”

I couldn’t answer. My throat closed around every word. Greta’s shoulders slumped, and she turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd.

I stood there, clutching the silver token until its edges bit into my skin, the city spinning around me, half wolf, half woman, caught between the empire I’d built and the ghosts I could no longer outrun.

The street had gone quiet except for the whisper of tires and the dull throb of the city beyond the barricades. Cameras clicked in the distance, vultures scenting drama, but no one dared approach us. Adrian, Clara, and Kyle stood in a frozen half-circle, staring at me as if I’d just announced I was from Mars.

Clara was the first to break the silence. “What the hell is a Luna?”

Adrian blinked. “And who was that woman?”

Kyle just looked between us, with his brows furrowed. “Should I…be here for this?”

I groaned, pressing a hand to my temple. “No. Kyle, thank you for the drinks and the tux. I’ll call you later.”

He hesitated, clearly wanting to stay but not enough to get caught in whatever storm was brewing. “Right…text me when you’re less…uh…famous.” He gave a weak grin and ducked back toward the gala.

That left the two people who actually mattered.
Adrian’s eyes softened, but his voice was steady.

“Let’s get you out of here before the press starts asking why the queen of Wall Street is crying on a sidewalk.”

I nodded mutely, clutching the pendant so tightly my fingers ached. Within seconds, he had the car brought around. I slid into the back seat, Clara following close behind, her questions already spilling over.

“Nyssa, talk to me. That woman called you Luna. Like, capital-L Luna. What does that even mean?”

Adrian glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “And why did she look like she’d seen a ghost?”

I stared out the window as the city blurred past. “Because, in a way, she did.”

Neither of them spoke, waiting.

The words came slowly at first, cautious and heavy. “Before LUNARIX. Before Albany. Before this life, I belonged to a place called Moonfang.” I laughed bitterly. “It sounds poetic until you realize it’s a pack of wolves, born and bred.”

Clara frowned. “You mean like…motorcycle gang wolves or...”

“Actual wolves,” I interrupted. “Teeth. Fur. Howling at the moon. The whole fairy-tale nightmare package.”

Silence.

Adrian blinked once. “You’re serious.”

“As a heart attack.” I turned toward them. “I’m not human, not completely. I was the Luna, the alpha’s wife, the queen of my pack. The woman you saw was Greta, my head housekeeper back then. And the man she wants me to save? My ex-husband, Cassian Holt.”

Clara gave a disbelieving laugh. “You’re messing with us. I’ve seen you code in six languages and negotiate with billionaires. You don’t...”

“Growl at the moon?” I finished for her. “Not in the city. But it doesn’t mean I can’t.”

Adrian’s knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. “If you’re telling the truth, prove it.”

The words hit like a challenge. Vianna stirred instantly. "Let them see. They’ve earned it."

When we reached the building, Adrian parked without a word. The elevator ride to the penthouse was silent except for Clara’s quick breaths.

Inside, I slipped off my heels and walked toward the center of the open living room. The city glittered beyond the floor to ceiling windows, a halo of human noise and light.

“Lock the door,” I said softly.

Adrian did.

I faced them both. “No cameras, no tricks, and no illusions. You wanted proof.”

Vianna’s presence surged like wildfire through my veins. The shift rolled over me before fear could stop it, and my bones crackes, my muscles stretched, and the silk of my gown tore as fur burst across my skin. Heat and power rippled through every nerve, and my heartbeat synced with the pulse of the moon beyond the glass.

When it was over, I stood on four paws where I’d been moments before, my black fur glossy, and my eyes gold and glowing in the reflection.

Clara screamed and stumbled back, clutching Adrian’s arm. He just stared, slack-jawed, his rational mind scrambling to rewrite every rule it knew.

“Holy...” he started, but couldn’t finish.

I padded closer, lowering my head, and my breath misted against his hand. Vianna rumbled low, and pleased. "They needed to see."

Adrian reached out slowly, and his trembling fingers brushed through my fur. “You’re…real.”

Clara’s voice cracked. “She’s beautiful.”

I shifted back, the transformation quick and fluid now. One moment fur, the next flesh and breath and trembling knees. Adrian turned away, gentleman enough to avert his eyes as I wrapped a blanket around myself.

“Now you know,” I said quietly. “That’s who I really am.”

They both stared, stunned, pale, and utterly silent.

Vianna purred in satisfaction. "Let’s see if they still follow you once the moonlight fades."

I met their eyes, steady and unflinching. “So…still want to work for me?”

No one answered. The city hummed below, oblivious to the fact that its most powerful woman had just shattered the boundary between myth and man right in her living room.

I crossed the room, still clutching the blanket, and poured two fingers of whiskey into a glass. My hands didn’t shake, but my pulse thundered in my throat. The first sip burned like the truth.

Greta wouldn’t have come unless it was real. She’d been proud, too proud to beg. And yet I could still hear her voice echoing off the concrete outside the gala, Luna, we need you.

Vianna prowled just beneath my skin restlessly. "They’re dying, Nyssa."

“I know,” I whispered.

"We were their protector once. You can’t ignore the call forever."

I poured a second glass, shoved it toward Adrian, and dropped into the chair across from him.

“If half of what she said is true, Moonfang is collapsing. Cassian’s made enemies, or maybe just invited the wrong ones inside. Either way…they’re being slaughtered.”

Clara sat gingerly on the edge of the couch, still staring like she might wake up any second. “You’re saying....what? You’d just go back? After everything he did?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “Part of me wants to let it burn. But Greta wouldn’t lie, and there are good wolves there, innocents. If I can stop a massacre, I have to try.”

Adrian leaned forward, with his elbows on his knees. “You’d risk everything for them? LUNARIX, your reputation, your life?”

I met his gaze. “I already did once. I survived. I can survive again.”

The whiskey caught fire down my throat, grounding me in the present, the skyline outside, and the pulse of my empire. Everything I’d built was balanced on this decision.

I stood, looking out over the lights of the city. “If I leave, it won’t be for long. But I’ll need both of you to hold everything together. Investors, contracts, press, all of it.”

Clara blinked, stunned. “You’re serious.”

“Completely.” I turned back to face them. “Can I trust you to run the company in my absence?”

Adrian exchanged a glance with her. “You built an empire out of nothing,” he said quietly. “The least we can do is protect it while you save your people.”

Clara nodded, still pale but determined. “We’ve got you, boss.”

I smiled faintly, though it didn’t reach my eyes. “Then it’s settled.”

Vianna stirred again, fierce and ready. "The moon calls, Luna."

I tipped back the rest of my drink, the burn turning into resolve. “Then we answer.”