Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 78 : As Soon As Possible

*Eliza*

The elder women led me away from the village into the woods a little way. I glanced back, but Jared was already out of my eyesight.

They brought me to a sacred temple. There were statues of the Moon Goddess in the doorway.

Mesmerized by the temple and the carvings, I totally forgot about Jared being far away.

“What is this place?" I gasped, placing my hand on one of the carvings.

“A holy, sacred place of the Moon Goddess," one of the elders said.

I sighed and shook my head. Well, that was obvious. I was kind of hoping for a little more than that.

Inside the temple, at the center, was a large opening in the floor. Water bubbled up from a natural spring underneath.

“You can bathe here. We have fresh clothes when you're ready."

I nodded but walked around the pool to the shrine at the head of the temple. There was a statue in the shrine that looked like it was meant to be the Moon Goddess. She had features that seemed familiar but that weren't usually associated with the Moon Goddess.

Where had I seen this woman before? It felt like a distant memory or a dream, something I should remember but couldn't quite grasp…

There was a stone placard in front of the statue. It read, “Luna of Blackfire."

“Miss Eliza," an elder called to me.

“I'm coming."

I stripped down and got into the pool. The women came in with me. They washed me and tamed my hair. Once I was dried off, they handed me a gorgeous dress, nicer than anything I'd seen or worn in a long time.

It was satin, dark emerald, and perfect for this kind of tropical night warmth.

“These tattoos," one of the elders said, running her fingers up my arm with the curse marks. Her eyes were distant and glazed over as she studied them.

“What about them?" I asked, creasing my brow.

The elder frowned and ran her thumb over my arm. “Is this a place in the Light Realm, a map?"

“A map?" I gasped.

The elder nodded. “It is familiar to me, like the lines of a map, something from the Light Realm."

All I could do was shrug.

I turned my arm toward

far as I could, without getting my hair pulled out, and saw the lines from a different

right… it looked like a map of an area in the Light Realm. How had I never

the key to

and my stomach fluttered excitedly. I wanted to get back to Jared and tell him about this

seen the connection before. Maybe it was because I'd been looking at it upside down all this time. If I'd seen the marks in

to get back to Jared," I said, too eager

had to wait for them to change into dresses that

the village. There was a bonfire crackling away and the delicious, mouthwatering scent of roasting meat filled the

My stomach growled.

meal. We'd just been

elder women brought me around the fire and got me a plate full of delicious feast food. I tucked right into the lamb shish kabob. The meat was so tender and juicy, I couldn't stop eating. It hit my stomach so satisfyingly that my toes

up with

shish kabob at him. He grinned and took

best food I've had

Jared sucked some stray juice

playing on the other side of the bonfire. They played slow, soft music at first and the village leader told a story about

stories, though most were embellished or exaggerated, did have

were hunted and

was an interesting

through, I glanced at Jared

leader stopped talking, the musicians began playing a louder,

and tightened his arm around my shoulders. There was a new look of fierce determination in his

“What's going on?"

me against him and kissed

you?" I

this festival."

was more to his enjoyment and determination, but we were here

with the music while the villagers danced around the fire. Eventually, the rest of the

with me," I pleaded with

and pulled him out into the twirling figures

around each other and got caught up in the fray of villagers as they danced and

skipped and hopped, feeling like I was floating over the

dance. I felt like I could just run

dance. I felt like I could just run

and then, I looked at

thought my legs would

drink," I said, fanning myself with my

bodies and we headed to a table with drinks on it. He grabbed a