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

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

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

the key to

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

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 have made the connection. But being out in

get back to Jared," I

to wait for them to change into dresses that matched

bonfire crackling away

My stomach growled.

just been eating quick snacks here and there while we worked on repairing

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

up

so I shoved the shish kabob at him. He grinned and took a big

is the best food I've had

stray

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

were embellished or exaggerated, did have

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

an interesting

I glanced at Jared and

stopped talking, the musicians began playing a

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

“What's going on?"

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

you?" I

this

the sense there was more to his enjoyment and determination, but we were here to have a good time. I wasn't going to question

food and I clapped along with the music while the villagers danced around the fire. Eventually, the rest of

dance with me,"

the twirling figures as they moved around the fire in a

other and got

feeling like I was floating over the grass as

like I could just run and spin around with

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

Jared's. Now and then, I looked at

danced until I thought

need something to drink," I said,

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