Chapter 1: The New Destination

Kara’s POV:

“Remember this… whether you get to live or die will be decided by your Master from now onwards. Don’t dare to be in the same space as him. Make sure you never show your face to him. The chance is rare but if he asks you to strip, make sure you warm his bed without a second delay! You must satisfy his every need if you wanna stay alive at least a few more days…do you get it?”

‘GASP!’

I woke up from a sudden jolt of the car, reminiscing the words that were thickly engraved in my head by the owner of the Slave market before he sent us away in this car. Along with me, inside this huge black car, there were more than 20 slaves, most of them were around my age of 18.

Most of them were weak omegas, but I was the only wolfless one who couldn’t initiate a shift at the age of 17. Other than me, there was only one girl who seemed a bit younger, but she was also a ‘black slave’ but an omega unlike me.

After the amendment of the constitution by the Queen of our Rock Crescent pack, slaves were discriminated against based on their hair color, and we, the black slaves, were treated as the lowest class among all. We don’t even possess any minimal citizenship rights like the other slaves.

In the worst circumstances, black omega slaves who were rare in the pack were captured by the slave market. Most of them were sold in brothels at a high price or as breeders in heir-less noble households where they would be abused to death.

But my life wasn’t always as shitty as it is. Abandoned since birth, if my pitiful red slave omega mother hadn’t picked me up, I would have frozen to death on a cold winter night. She loved me dearly and never looked down upon me, even though I had pure black hair and dark onyx eyes which was considered as a disgrace in the pack.

My mother used to serve a noble beta official of the royal family, who was always considerate to her and as her daughter, even I was granted the basic rights to live. Since I was a child, I could visibly see the hatred towards the black slave children, but still, I was allowed to go to school despite the opposition our kind Master had to face from others.

But fate had cruel plans reserved for me.

When I turned 17, my life fell apart when my mother suddenly passed away from an illness, but her kind Master couldn’t take the shock and soon died after her. Thus losing both of them who stood behind me as a rock pillar, I was immediately sold away to the slave market by the Master’s remaining family just so they could eradicate our entire existence from their household.

When my wolf didn’t awaken either from facing these turbulent events, the slave market owner labeled me as a useless ‘black slave’ before confining me with other slave children in the dungeon. I was brutally beaten and often left to starve whenever I defied them until I finally submitted.

This drastic ill-treatment quickly transformed my beautiful self into a haggard, anemic, sickly pale girl who wasn’t even brought by any customer when they tried to sell me in several brothels since virgin black slaves like me were extremely rare.

Meanwhile, when the war with the Western Deccan Pack had ended and our Rock Crescent pack conquered victory, we remaining slaves were summoned by the Queen to be gifted to the noble officials who brought victory to the war.

I had a faint hope like always, that nobody would show interest in me until I learned the Alpha of our Pack, Grand Duke Edmund Orville had picked me, among hundreds of other beautiful slave girls!

Since the royal family of Rock Crescent had no heir to continue their bloodline, highly impressed by the gallant, fearless Alpha Orville who had vowed his loyalty to the royal family from his early teen years, Queen Maria decided to grant Duke Orville the title and authority to rule the Pack as the Alpha after the demise of Queen.

Even though Orville had initially refused it first, after persuasion from all the pack members, he ultimately agreed.

But as far as I knew, not only did Duke Orville who was almost twice older than me, around 35, belong to a dominant pure-blood Alpha lineage, but he was also named as a ‘cold-blooded beast’ for his ruthlessness and crazy bloodthirst in wars.

With his scary temperament, I knew he had a serious despise for weak people, but I couldn’t figure out why would he choose someone as weak and sickly as me!

~ “Her Majesty has been quite generous with the distribution of all these slave girls to the different noble households. But I am most shocked by Alpha Orville’s choice.”

I suddenly heard the driver speaking with another guard in the front seat of the car, which quickly piqued my interest as soon as I heard the mention of him. Pretending to doze off behind, I continued hearing their conversation.

~ “Yeah, I am shocked by his choice too. I couldn’t believe he chose a black-slave for his manor, despite knowing how terribly undervalued they are! Besides, the one he chose is not much pretty either…she is just 18, but a sickly pale girl, and she didn’t awaken her wolf either.”

~ “Don’t you know why? Sir Orville wanted to pick the slave with the shortest life-span so that he wouldn’t have to bear with her for long. Thus that sickly black-slave was decided to give to him because considering how anemic she is, probably she won’t last long.”

~ “Oh, then until when do you think she will last there?”

~ “Until tonight? Hahaha!”

Their sarcastic laughter sent frightful shivers down my spine as soon as I learned the real reason behind choosing me. I knew Alpha Orville was a cold-hearted man who lacked empathy but to think that he hoped for my early death in his manor soonest among the other slaves hurt my heart badly.

I hugged my knees in fear and burrowed my face to hide my tears from the other slave children surrounding me. With every passing second, I felt too stifled inside to breathe. When my onyx eyes were squinting hard to hide my tears, the car halted with a big jolt this time.

Before anyone could figure it out, the driver announced loudly, “We have arrived at the Thorn Birds Manor. Black-slave Kara, this will be where you will spend the rest of your life. Make sure to treat your Master well and don’t dare to tarnish Her Majesty’s name.”

Just catching a glimpse of that giant entrance gate of the manor through the car window shuddered me in fear. Saying those words, the driver stepped outside but before he was about to take me out, the other young black-slave girl nervously whispered to me, “K-Kara…will you be alright there?”

From her nervous mumble, I realized like me, she had also heard the driver’s conversation which caused her worry about me. Tears glistened in my black orbs as I smiled, “I don’t know what kind of fate awaits ahead me in there. But right now, you aren’t in a position to worry about me, Lilia. Stay alive, and if possible…let’s meet agai—”

But before I could finish greeting her for th last time, the driver opened the car door and forcibly yanked me outside.