The sun blanketed the sky like a giant furnace, its hot breath wrapped around every inch of Amy's body, and the sand and dust from the back wheels of the truck poured brutally into Amy's nose and throat.
Amy felt hot and thirsty.
Amy tried to swallow, but the dust clung to Amy's throat and made her feel worse, as if she had swallowed a handful of coarse sand. Amy coughed in agony, and the other slave, who was sitting next to Amy, gave her a look of disgust, and reluctantly moved to the other side of her, as if Amy's breath might transmit a deadly virus.
The truck continued to move. The guards would not give the slaves food or water until they reached their destination. If there is a disturbance, they strike the slave on the head with the hilt of their gun as a punishment.
Slaves are at the lowest level of the werewolf world. Not only were they the weakest in strength, but they could not even have mates. Slaves must work for higher-ranking werewolves and even serve as sex tools. Even if the ability of slaves to reproduce was preserved in the penal system, the children born could only be considered illegitimate, with no inheritance rights and no special treatment.
Omega werewolves are born with slave blood and are destined to be slaves for the rest of their lives. Another class of werewolves were relegated to slavery for breaking the law. Unfortunately, Amy is the werewolf who is punished by the law and has to become a slave.
Amy remembers that when the Royal Army broke into Amy's home, they claimed that Amy's father was a rebel. They separated Amy and Amy's father and threw them into a military vehicle. Amy screamed and desperately tried to tear the arms off the guards, and when one of them was about to shoot Amy, Amy's nanny, Susan, shielded Amy with her body.
Amy heard the shot graze her ear. Susan shielded Amy with her hands so tightly that her blood dripped on Amy's forehead.
"Don't say a word to them." Those were Susan's last words to Amy.
Amy never said another word to any one after that. The judge was not going to waste his time on Amy after not being able to get any useful information out of her in prison.
The red-bearded judge takes Amy to the prison where Amy's father is being held, and he forces Amy to look at the dying prisoner tied to a rack, who Amy cannot believe is Amy's father, his face covered in wounds and blood.
"If you don't want to be like him, do as I say." Judge Redbeard threatened Amy, "If you testify that your father was involved in the mutiny, you will be free!"
Amy trembled, and Amy's heart felt as if it had been cut with a knife. Amy wanted to kill those who had hurt her father. Amy wanted to kill the man who had hurt her father, but two strong soldiers held her by the shoulders and Amy could not move.
Amy wanted to kill those who hurt her father! We Pack didn't betray the King, we were wrongly accused.
It was the last mental link that Amy's father sent to Amy with all his might.
Amy was painfully silent until the guards took her away, unaware that this was the last time she would ever see her father.
The evil, red-bearded inquisitor took Amy's head and slammed it against the wall before he left, Amy staring at him with wide-open eyes, Amy's wolf growling inside her.
At last, as Amy watched the villain depart, she remembered that face for ever.
Guards read the charges against Amy's father in jail, and they tell Amy that her father has been secretly executed. They inject Amy before taking her out of the prison.
After mixing with a group of slaves, Amy realizes that the clear liquid in the tiny syringe is a depressant drug. Not only does this weaken the werewolf's powers, it also cuts the bond between mates.
This was done to better control the slaves.
Amy was not quite sure that the slaves in the car were all of the same family as the rebels, and Amy chanced to catch a glimpse of some of them with the marks of another tribe stamped on their bare arms. This suggests that they once belonged to an Alpha tribe and may have been abandoned again because of their mistakes.
Susan had told Amy that slaves who had been abandoned twice could not remain with the tribe, and no one knew what would happen to them.
The truck stopped at the side of the road and a guard held up a list of names and read them aloud. One by one, the slaves whose names had been called were pushed out of the truck. Amy noticed that those were the second-time abandoned slaves.
The slaves waited by the side of the road for about 10 minutes with frightened eyes. Another truck came up from the front and picked them up. Amy saw the words "Argyle Mine" written on the back of the truck. They had been sent to work as laborers in the mines.
Now Amy was glad she was not one of them, but who was to say that Amy would not be like them next time?
The truck was empty, though not as crowded as it had been when they first boarded. But the remaining slaves were still reluctant to move half-way.
It was getting hot, and as the temperature rose, the atmosphere in the truck became more somber. The truck stopped for a few minutes at a guard post ahead and two more slaves were pushed out of the truck. Amy peeked in and saw them being picked up by an SUV. At least it was not going to the mines, though they had to get into the trunk.
Amy saw that the car had regular license plates and was supposed to be a commercial vehicle belonging to one of the tribes. Amy's father used to have an exclusive commercial vehicle that he used to drive to meetings and conventions.
Amy's heart sank into an abyss as she thought of her father. The dust in her nose seemed to run into her eyes, and Amy wanted to cry out. Amy wanted to cry out, but she knew that to make a sound now would only bring a merciless scolding from the guards.
Amy wrapped her arms tightly about herself and buried her head between her knees, while silent tears trickled into the little space between them. One, two, three, until the truck stopped again and Amy hastily gathered her tears.
"Amy·Boleyn," the guard was calling Amy's name, but Amy looked up only to realize she was the only one left in the truck.
"You!" One of the guards said, pointing at Amy indifferently, "Get out of the truck and crouch down on the ground."
Amy did as she was told, and the guard whispered something to a short, middle-aged man in a black suit, who then produced a document for the middle-aged man to sign. Eventually, the man took Amy by the collar and shoved her roughly into the trunk of a car.
The moment the trunk was closed, Amy's world was plunged into instant darkness. The car started slowly. Amy was curled up in a stuffy, hot, cramped space, and the heavy smell of plastic made her sick to her stomach. She resisted the urge to vomit and prayed in her heart that it would all be over soon.
At last the car stopped. Someone opened the trunk and Amy jumped out before she could see the face of the person, and all of a sudden Amy's stomach churned and she had to bend over and vomit.
Amy had to bend over and vomit. The vomit soiled the grass by the roadside, and the middle-aged man gave Amy a look of contempt. When Amy finally emptied her stomach, Amy noticed the car was parked in front of an estate house. A woman in a high bun and a black dress stepped out from behind the door.
"Is that her? The slave."The woman's tone was condescending.
"Yes."replied the man simply.
The woman walked up to Amy and she immediately wrinkled her nose, "Damn, how long has it been since you've bathed? Your body smells worse than a drunk man."
Amy did not answer her, but kept her head down as she silently wiped the saliva from the corners of her mouth with her sleeve. Then Amy heard the woman's voice complaining.
"Damn, Is she mute?"
"The medical report said she was normal." The man said, "Linda, I don't have time to waste on you.I have to wash the car. She's stinking up Alpha's car."
The woman named Linda gave Amy a scornful look, then held her nose and said, "Follow me!"