Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 872

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.

As she started brushing my hair, I turned my arm toward the light and I studied the lines.

I tilted my head as far as I could, without getting my hair pulled out, and saw the lines from a different angle.

The elder was right… it looked like a map of an area in the Light Realm. How had I never seen it before?

This could be the key to everything....

My 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 chest, threatening to take over.

I still couldn't believe 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 have made the connection. But being out in the wilderness, I didn't have a lot of mirrors to look into.

“I want to get back to Jared," I said, too eager to wait any longer.

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

They led me back to the village. There was a bonfire crackling away and the delicious, mouthwatering scent of roasting meat filled the air.

My stomach growled.

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

The elder women brought me around the fire and got me a plate full of delicious feast food. I tucked right into the lamb shish kabob. The meat was so tender and juicy, I couldn't stop eating. It hit my stomach so satisfyingly that my toes curled in the grass.

Jared met up with me.

My mouth was full, so I shoved the shish kabob at him. He grinned and took a big bite.

“I swear, this is the best food I've had in days!"

“Agreed." Jared sucked some stray juice off his thumb.

Musicians started playing on the other side of the bonfire. They played slow, soft music at first and the village leader told a story about the history of the village.

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

He was talking about witches and how Saboreef had been a place witches were hunted and somehow one of the witches survived and became a powerful Luna.

It was an interesting story.

Halfway through, I glanced at Jared and saw his eyes glazed over.