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

far as I could, without getting my hair pulled

area in the Light

could be the key to

excitedly. I wanted to get back to Jared and tell him about this new map. New hope swelled in my chest, threatening

the marks in a

Jared," I said, too eager to wait any

wait for them

bonfire crackling away and the delicious, mouthwatering scent of

My stomach growled.

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

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

up with

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

is the best food I've had in

sucked some stray juice off

bonfire. They played slow, soft music at first and the village leader told a story about the history

though most were embellished or exaggerated, did have

witches were hunted and somehow one of the witches

an interesting

glanced at Jared and saw

talking,

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

“What's going on?"

didn't answer with words. Jared pulled me against him and kissed me hard

gotten into you?" I asked

just enjoying this

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

the music while the villagers danced around the fire. Eventually, the

me," I

into the twirling figures as they moved around the

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 floating over the grass as I

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

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

in Jared's. Now and then, I looked at

until I thought

I said, fanning myself with my

the dancing bodies and we headed to a table with drinks