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.

turned my arm toward the

as I could, without getting my hair pulled out, and saw the

right… it looked like a map of an area in the Light Realm. How had

be the key

get back to Jared and tell him

upside down all this time. If I'd seen the marks in a mirror, then I probably would have made the connection. But being out in the wilderness, I didn't have a lot of mirrors to look

I said, too eager to wait

I had to wait for them to change into dresses that

back to the village. There was a bonfire crackling away and the delicious, mouthwatering

My stomach growled.

I'd had a good meal. We'd just been eating quick snacks here and there while

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

up

shish kabob

swear, this is the best food I've

some stray

playing on the other side of the bonfire. They played slow, soft music at first and the village

listened intently. Local stories, though most were embellished or

a place witches were hunted and somehow one of the

was an

through, I glanced at Jared

village leader stopped talking,

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

“What's going on?"

words. Jared pulled me against him and kissed me hard on the

into you?"

enjoying this

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

while the villagers danced around the fire. Eventually, the rest of the Saboreef missionaries joined in the

dance with me," I pleaded with

twirling figures as they moved around the fire in a rhythmic

laughed and held my hands tightly. We spun around each other and

cheeks stung as I smiled. I skipped and hopped, feeling like

to the dance. I felt like I could

like I could just run and spin around

hand tightly in Jared's. Now and then, I looked at him and saw that

thought

need something to drink," I said, fanning myself with my

out of the dancing bodies and we headed to a table with drinks on it. He grabbed a beer and handed me