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

of an area in the Light Realm. How

could be the

heart raced and my stomach fluttered excitedly. I wanted to get back to Jared and tell him about this new map. New hope swelled in my

that I hadn't 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 a mirror, then I probably would

back to Jared," I

though. I had to wait for them to change

There was a bonfire crackling away and the delicious,

My stomach growled.

like ages since I'd had a good meal. We'd just been eating quick snacks here and there while we worked on repairing

into the lamb shish kabob. The meat was so

up with

was full, so I shoved the shish kabob

is the best food I've had in

some stray

of the bonfire. They played slow, soft music at first and

were embellished or exaggerated, did have

Saboreef had been a place witches were hunted and somehow one of the witches

an interesting

through, I glanced at Jared and saw his eyes glazed

the village leader stopped talking,

and tightened his arm around my

“What's going on?"

against

you?" I asked

enjoying this

we

more food and I clapped along with the music while the villagers danced

with me," I pleaded with

pulled him out into the twirling figures as they moved around the fire in

held my hands tightly. We spun around each other and got caught up in the fray of villagers as they danced and

hopped, feeling like I was

no real pattern to the dance. I felt like I could just run and spin around

I felt like I could just run

I looked at

I thought my legs would

to drink," I said, fanning myself with my

and we headed to a table with drinks