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.

hair, I turned my arm toward the light and

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

map of an area in

the key

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

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 the wilderness, I didn't have a lot of mirrors

I said,

ready, though. I had to wait for them to change into dresses that matched mine in

a bonfire crackling away and

My stomach growled.

been eating

full of delicious feast food. I tucked right into the lamb shish kabob. The meat was so tender

met up

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

is the best food I've had

stray juice

the bonfire. They played slow, soft music

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

was talking about witches and how Saboreef had been a place witches were hunted and somehow one of the witches survived and

was an

at Jared and saw

soon as the village leader stopped talking, the musicians began playing a louder, faster

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

“What's going on?"

words. Jared pulled me against him and kissed me hard

you?"

enjoying this festival."

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

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

dance with me," I

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

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

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

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

pattern to the dance. I felt like I could just run and

kept my hand tightly in Jared's. Now and then, I looked

I thought my

need something to drink," I said,

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