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.

she started brushing my hair, I turned my arm toward the light and

getting my hair pulled out, and saw the lines

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

could be the key to

to Jared and tell him about

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 the wilderness,

to get back to Jared," I said, too eager to wait any

weren't ready, though. I had to wait for them to change into dresses that matched mine in elegance

crackling away and the delicious,

My stomach growled.

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

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

met up with

full, so I shoved the shish kabob at him. He grinned

best food

some stray juice off

other side of the bonfire. They played slow, soft music

embellished or exaggerated, did

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

an interesting

Jared and saw

soon as the village leader stopped talking, the musicians began

his daze. He smiled and tightened his arm around my shoulders. There

“What's going on?"

words. Jared pulled me against him and kissed me

gotten into you?" I

just enjoying this

to his enjoyment and determination, but we

villagers danced around the fire.

me," I pleaded with

the twirling figures as they moved around the fire in a rhythmic

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

and hopped, feeling like I was floating over

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

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

in Jared's. Now and then, I

danced until I thought my legs

something to drink," I

out of the dancing bodies and we headed to a