Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 570

Chapter 570

Natalia’s POV

By the end of the first hour, my shoulders were burning and my palms had gone from sore to numb. The rock I’d been assigned to break with a heavy pickaxe was dense and black, and I was expected to break it into small pieces, then place them on a large wagon. One of those awful gray things was standing by the wagon, watching everything with an expressionless face and eyes that saw everything.

To my relief, Max was still alive. He’d been assigned to another group of workers. I’d caught sight of him moving planks of wood. Already, he looked exhausted and haggard, his lips and skin cracked and red from the heat and dust.

There had to be a way out of here.

But the shackles on my wrists made it difficult. They contained small spikes on the insides that were designed to hurt if I moved too quickly.

Eventually, a bell clanged. The slaves all dropped their tools and shuffled over to the water trough, some pushing and shoving, others too broken to bother fighting for scraps. I pushed my way to the front, searching for Max.

I couldn’t get to him, but I saw him take a piece of bread and walk away. The crowd swallowed him up after that.

At least he’d gotten something to eat. I managed to take a bit of bread and a cup of water for myself, then looked around. A woman was crouching nearby, leaning her back against a wall, her cheeks already stuffed full with her food. She was looking warily at me, like I might try to steal it from her mouth.

“Can I sit with you?” I asked, walking over to her.

She chewed and swallowed slowly, eyes narrowing. “You’re new.”

“Is it that obvious?”

She glanced at my palms, which were already blistered. “Give it a week. You’ll get calluses.”

I looked at her wrists. She wore the same shackles as everyone else. The skin around her wrists was red and hard, like it had formed a second skin where the spiked dug in. “How long have you been here?” I asked

She thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “Hard to say. Maybe three months. Maybe more.”

I lowered my voice. “Is there a way out?”

She snorted. “Not that anyone’s found yet.”

“What about shifting? If we could shift-”

“Too tired. Too hot.”

I nodded once, knowing she was right. My wolf was currently panting and exhausted. This damn heat wasn’t suitable for wolves. It wasn’t suitable for anyone.

“What is this place?” I asked, sitting beside her.

“You’re a curious one, aren’t you?”

“I need all the information I can get if I’m going to get my son out of here.”

She looked at me in shock. “You’ve got a kid here?” I nodded once, and she huffed, shaking her head. “I had a kid back home, too. Thankfully, she wasn’t taken when I was.”

“Where were you taken from?”

“One of the packs. Most of us were rogues, but not me. I was taken from Green Ridge.”

Chapter 50

+25 Bonus

My brows shot up. Green Ridge was one of the packs on that list of missing people. One from each pack in the area.

Curious, I asked, “Do you know why you were taken?”

“Information, I guess. They asked questions about everything. Patrol schedules, the Alpha’s habits, weak points in the border, who the senior warriors were.” She shrugged. “Once they decided they’d gotten everything useful out of me, they sent me here.”

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