Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 1384 - 139 : A Single Strand of Light

*Zara*

For the first time since arriving at Celestial Valley, I felt hope. It was a small flicker, no more than a single ember, but it was there and bright enough to lead me forward.

It took some time for the elders to prepare for the purification ceremony. For the next few days, while they were getting things situated, I was watched closely by Niva and Noah, who were worried for me and made it appear like they were watching over me. I knew the other half of that truth.

I was being watched for the good of the community. With Malphas’ wicked darkness festering inside of me, I was a threat and a danger to everyone.

There were elixirs and complicated spells that needed to be researched before the ritual could take place. Not only that, but it was also necessary to wait for the next full moon. The goddess was clearly smiling down on us because the next one was only a few days away from when I decided to undergo the potentially dangerous ritual.

On the night of a flowering full moon, I stood inside Celestial Valley’s temple. Priestesses dressed me in gauzy white vestments, murmuring blessed enchantments as they wrapped me up. I kept completely still, trying not to even breathe too much, fearing that doing so would somehow dampen the effect of the fabric and spells being cast.

The ritual had been done a handful of times, successfully from what the elders told me, but that did little to reassure me. It was a complicated ritual that required multiple priestesses and the entire council of elders to complete. Thankfully, Noah would be present as well. I didn’t think I could do this alone.

The elders couldn’t do the ritual in the temple like I thought they would. I was bewildered and even more nervous when we were led into the neighboring forest. We marched in a mob, me in the center with priests and priestesses ahead and behind me. They formed a ring around me. I kind of felt like I was going to be executed. I’m sure that’s how it looked from afar.

Noah was beside me, looking around as if we were going to be attacked at any moment. He stood close to me, our arms brushing every once in a while as we walked through the quiet forest.

It felt like we had walked for hours before the trees parted like curtains, revealing a beautiful clearing with a huge stone altar in the center. I was under the impression that this site wasn’t used very much. There was a strange but mystical aura throughout it that made me think that other rituals had occurred there, and they had all been serious ones.

I stood awkwardly to the side next to Noah as the elders fanned out to prepare the site, waving sage bundles, preparing elixirs, and opening sacred texts. A knot was forming in my stomach when I noticed a couple of priestesses preparing a raised stone platform before the altar that was about the size and shape of a bed.

I swallowed thickly, realizing that that was where I was expected to lie.

“How are you doing?” Noah asked me, wrapping an arm around my waist.

He knew I couldn’t feel the mate bond as strongly as before. It made me hesitant to be close or physical with him, but he didn’t seem deterred by that. He still held me and touched me just as often as before. He did abstain from having sex with me, which I greatly appreciated. I knew it saddened him that our mate bond had been muted, so I allowed him to hold me.

I didn’t hate the warmth that permeated through when he tucked me against his side or chest. I still cared about him and was grateful that I did.

“I’m not really sure I can describe it,” I told him honestly. “I’m nervous, but I’m also excited. I just want this over with.”

Noah’s hold on me tightened. “Don’t be afraid,” he nearly begged. “I’m going to be right here with you. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

I smiled at him, touched by his devotion, but I wasn’t really comforted by it. I felt a little better knowing that he would be nearby, but I doubted he would have control once the ritual got going. We were supposed to use our mate bond to guide me through this, but it was going to be largely up to me to fight the darkness inside of me.

If things went badly, I hoped that Noah wouldn’t blame himself.

“It is time, Zara,” Mathias said, holding his hand out to me.

I sucked in a sharp breath before taking the old man’s hand. It was withered but warm. I suddenly felt a little braver, even though he was currently leading me toward the foreboding stone altar.

“This altar has been moon-blessed,” Mathias explained as he helped me to sit up on the large slab of stone before I laid flat on my back. I shivered slightly. The stone was cold, even through the layers of white fabric covering my body.

I tried to get comfortable, but I just fidgeted nervously. I turned my head slightly and met Noah’s gaze. He stood nearby. His face looked as if it was carved from stone. He was watching the other priestesses carefully as if he wanted to intervene somehow but knew that he couldn’t.

I looked away from him, looking straight up at the full moon, praying to the goddess to watch over me and for this ritual to be a success. I immediately felt calmer after that prayer. My eyes followed the bundles of sage the priestesses were waving about, the movements strangely hypnotizing.

Alethea, the elder high priestess, stood over me, taking my hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “The purification ritual will penetrate your soul, young one,” she said to me in a soft but powerful voice. “The demon lord’s darkness shall be ripped from you where it was embedded during the battle.”

I nodded, my throat closing up. I didn’t know what else to say.

Her light, glassy blue eyes were sad, the wrinkles around them deepening as she frowned. “Though we will contain the released evil into enchanted sigils immediately, the process promises excruciating agony as the demon essence fights expulsion.”

I shuddered but nodded bravely. I had been warned about that beforehand by Mathias and a few of the other elders.

Alethea brushed some of my bangs away from my face lovingly like a mother might. “Do not be afraid. You must focus solely on finding your way back to the light through the mate bond you share with Noah Black.”

I nodded, my eyes again glancing over toward where Noah was standing rigidly, worry etched all over his features. It all melted away when I met his gaze. I was a little breathless when he gave me an intense look. The message was clear. His eyes said I could do it.

“Okay,” I said. My voice sounded steady and strong. “I’m ready.”

My heart rate spiked when mystical chanting commenced as the elders activated the ritual. I debated whether to shut my eyes or not and decided to keep them open, training my eyes on the moon above. I prayed to the goddess again for this to go well and for me to be pure the next time I stood up.

A voice in my head told me to focus on Noah.

I obeyed it, meeting my mate’s steadfast gaze as icy tentacles wrapped around my psyche, threatening to block him out. I locked my jaw and tried to fight it. I felt a scream rip from my throat as the pain started, the excruciating sensation like scorching flames lancing through my veins.

“Focus!” I screamed at myself.

I searched wildly for Noah through the blinding white hot pain. I couldn’t tell if I was screaming anymore. My ears were ringing from the agony. Darkness started to dance around the edges of my vision, but it was different from when I was threatening to pass out. This shadow was sinister.

I saw tiny specks of my mate bond with Noah dancing in the air above me. I thought I might have caught his gaze, but it was gone a half-second later as I succumbed to the darkness, unable to stand the pain of fighting it any longer.

As soon as the black infinity consumed my vision completely, I felt as if I was spiraling downward. The disorientation was fierce as I tumbled through the void. I doubted I was able to scream in this other dimension as frightening images of demon-like creatures materialized, taunting me with their sick grins.

“You’ve failed,” they cackled at me. “You were a fool for believing yourself strong enough to help your mother’s people. You’re nothing but a waste of space.”

“Don’t listen to them,” I said, but fear and self-loathing started to close my throat.

I struggled internally until another figure appeared before me.

“Mother,” I murmured, easily recognizing Amara’s flowing hair and green eyes that were so much like my own.

“You’ve failed me,” she said tearfully before turning away from me. “I was counting on you to pass on my knowledge to our people. Because of you, all will be lost.”

No.

Everyone I’d ever loved started to materialize around Amara. My adopted parents stared at me with hollow eyes, their faces twisted with disappointment. My friends from matchmaking school were there as well, shaking their heads with shame.

I curled in on myself in utter despair, feeling like the failure that they saw me as.

*Noah*

I watched in horror as Zara’s small form started to writhe over the slab of stone. She shrieked in complete agony. It took everything I had not to snatch her off of the altar and run away with her.

I took a deep breath, momentarily tearing my eyes from the horrific scene before me. I needed to focus on connecting with Zara through the mate bond. I felt my eyes flare as I forced my love for Zara to shine forth, plunging my consciousness fully into the mystical bond that was woven tightly between us.

I gritted my teeth together when darkness consumed me. I remained calm and focused, having had a feeling that something like this might occur. I searched the black void, searching for my mate.

I froze when I saw my mother, just as beautiful and strong as the day she was killed by the wicked Devon. My chest twisted when I realized that that’s what I was seeing, that dreadful, tragic day. My mother turned to look at me, and I felt my heart fly into my throat.

“You didn’t protect me,” she whispered before Devon advanced on her.

“No!” I roared, rushing forward, but I was too late.

I fell through the blackness, away from the awful image of my mother being torn to shreds. All my fears flashed in front of me, threatening to consume me. I relived the agony of losing Merida, my first love lost at sea, as well as the devastation of finding out that Zara and Briella had been abducted by Malphas.

I lost everything over and over in an agonizing replay that seemed like it was never going to end.

Amid the chaos of my fears being thrown into my face, I saw a sliver of gold. Using what little energy and hope I had left, I reached out and grasped it. The single strand of light multiplied into tangles of golden strings, and I felt Zara’s warmth as I followed the bright beams.

I whirled around to see Zara standing there waiting for me, a warm smile on her face.