His Forgotten Demon Luna

Freya's POV I sigh out loud and scrub the bartop harder than I possibly need to. The worn-out rag rubs harshly on my calloused palms, and I welcome the discomfort; anything to take my mind off the crippling sadness and angst that weighs more on me each day. My mind flashes back to the past as it has frequently been doing. It goes back to the time when my home was in the dark forest, acting as bait and helping my father to capture children, which he used for his rituals. It didn't matter how hard I fought against him. My father always had a way of bending me to his will, and I had been forced to play my part in his atrocities. It had continued until three years ago. When I had defied my father's authority and helped a little girl to escape. I wasn't sure she would survive the journey through the dark forest, but she did. She ran back to her pack, Moonrise Clan, and led her pack's warriors back to my father's hideout. That was the end of his reign. Even at his last moment, my father still managed to prove just how little he cared for me. He injected me with wolfbane and used me as a shield. I lost my wolf that day, and I would have probably lost my life as well if Ryker, my mate and the Alpha of Moonrise Clan, hadn't marked me. The mark had given me some of his strength and saved my life. No one believed that I had been forced by my father to assist in his rituals. All they saw when they gazed upon me was a demon's daughter, his accomplice, and a threat to their Clan. So I had been thrown into the dungeon, and I've lived there for three years. Being the Alpha's fated mate hadn't changed a thing. The sound of the front door opening puts an end to my musing. My brows furrow and my gaze turns to the door, wondering who could have walked in when it clearly states that the bar has been closed. My breath hitches, and my spine stiffens as the bar owner walks in. I have worked under Jude for three years, and for those three years, I have strategically avoided him like my life depended on it. Frankly, because it did. Jude doesn't bother hiding his deprived interest in me. I always ensured we were never alone in a room, and it has been working for a while. Until now. "Freya, you're still around?" he asks, acting surprised as though he wasn't the one who fixed my closing time at ten pm even when we never had a customer at that time. "I'm done with cleaning. I was just on my way out," I reply. I wasn't done with cleaning, but his presence had put an end to me being here. I head straight for the door, but I don't get far because Jude grips my upper arm and pulls me closer. "Are you trying to run away from me, Freya?" He asks darkly. "I wasn't trying to," I grit out through clenched teeth, fighting through the pain in my arm. His touch leaves my arm and turns into a hard grip on my chin. He shoves his face into my neck, and I shudder, goosebumps breaking out across my skin. "What do you say we head up to my office, and I'll see if there's a way to get you on the payroll? No one would have to know." Ryker didn't think that I was deserving of a salary, so I've been working at the bar as free labor. I didn't have an issue with it. I didn't have any luxuries to indulge in. "I'm not interested." I try to pull my chin out of his tight grip and fail. "L-let me go." I hate the fear that I hear in my voice. Jude straightens his head and holds my gaze with his cold eyes. "What are you going to do if I don't?" He smiles darkly, his gaze leering at me. His other hand slides down my body and grips the edge of my dress, trying to pull it up. I don't think, I just act. My right knee comes up, and I land a solid kick between his thighs. I make contact, and Jude instantly lets go of my face, folds in half, and lets out a thunderous bellow. "You f*****g b***h!" He screams, his face flaming red. I run. I run out of the bar. I run towards the woods and I run into the dark forest. The soles of my worn-out, dirty sneakers sink into the wet soil with each step I take. My heart slams fiercely against my chest, each beat feeling like it will be my last. If I still had my wolf within me, she would be trying to convince me to turn around and go back to Moonrise Clan. She was always so rational and practical. Always trying to get me to do things the right way. But even if she had begged me to go back, I wouldn't have. I always listened to her but not on a matter like this. This isn't the first time that Jude has pulled a trick like this on me but this is the one that pushed me to the brink. Before, it had been a subtle touch on the butt, a grope, or a forced attempt at a kiss. This time he took it so much further. I don't have it in me to go back there and pretend that it never happened when he would definitely try again. I tip my head back and gaze up into the dark sky, wondering how my life turned into this s**t. My life has never been something that I was proud of. In fact, it was far from it, but I have never felt as hopeless and drained as I feel at this moment. I feel like there's nothing left here for me. If something were to happen to me right now, would anyone even care or would they all be happy to finally be rid of me? I could run away. I was already in the dark forest, a few more miles and I should find myself heading into another pack boundary. Besides, it's not like I have anything keeping me here. The snap of a twig pulls me out of my self-loathing and pity. My spine stiffens as my senses become hyper-alert. I whip around just as a weight crashes into me and sends me straight to the ground. A huff leaves my lips as I slam into the hard ground and get pinned down by the force of that weight. Just when I think that Jude has caught up with me and is about to put an end to me, the weight crushing down on me mumbles a curse, and the voice sounds nothing like Jude's. I blink, disoriented for a few seconds. It takes a while for the face above mine to come into focus. A face belonging to none other than Ryker, my fated mate and the person who has ignored my existence ever since he found me.