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.

my hair, I turned my arm toward the

far as I could, without getting my

it looked like a map of an area

be the key

to get back to Jared and tell him

Maybe it was because I'd been looking at it upside down all this time. If I'd seen the marks in a mirror, then I probably would have made the connection. But being

to Jared," I said, too eager to

had to wait for them

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

My stomach growled.

like ages since I'd had a good meal. We'd just been eating quick snacks here and

into the lamb shish kabob. The meat was so tender and juicy, I couldn't stop eating. It

up with

kabob at him. He grinned and took

best food I've had

Jared sucked some stray juice off his

side of the bonfire. They played slow, soft music at first and the village leader told a

listened intently. Local stories, though most were embellished or exaggerated, did have some

about witches and how Saboreef had been a place witches were hunted and somehow one

was an interesting

through, I glanced at Jared and saw his

as the village leader stopped talking, the

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

“What's going on?"

Jared pulled me against him and kissed me hard on the

gotten into you?"

just enjoying this festival."

determination, but we were here to have a

got some more food and I clapped along with the music while the villagers danced around the fire. Eventually,

me," I pleaded with

out into the twirling

We spun around each other and got caught up in the fray

smiled. I skipped and hopped, feeling like I was floating over the grass as

dance. I felt like I could just run and spin around with the

felt like I could just run and spin around with the rest

and then, I looked at him and saw that he was

I thought my

to drink," I said, fanning myself with

the dancing bodies and we headed to a table