Howl (BW version)

Rescue without an alpha (Part 2)

Chapter 18:

Bright stepped into the warehouse. Thick dust coated the floor, barely any light filtering through the windows. The room was still, empty boxes piled around the place in hollow towers. He took a breath, separating the different scents in the room. Mouse droppings were the most prevalent odor, followed by dust and the musk of unwashed bodies. All the scents were dated however, except for two. Immediately, Bright picked out Win's scent from among the offensive odors. The other scent he knew had to be Belial's. The Council member's odor was strangely faint compared to Win's but Bright wasn't worried. All the Council members he'd ever ran into knew there were techniques for dampening one's scent. He turned in the direction of the scents and walked further into the warehouse, taking each step silently.

Green was right beside him, his footsteps echoing in the empty room. Bright ignored the hybrid, his mind concentrated on the scents weaving around the place. He frowned. Instead of moving in a straight line, the body odors of Win and Belial weaved drunkenly throughout the room, avoiding invisible obstacles. Stepping directly in the path of the scents, Bright carefully followed the trail laid out before him.

He stopped moving, confused for a second. Belial's scent suddenly split, one going straight, the other weaving around crazily. They both led to a small doorway a couple of yards away, the room beyond hidden by plastic flaps hanging from the ceiling. He inhaled, trying to differentiate between the newer and older scent but both paths had been made too closely to each other to make the distinction. He stooped down and peered at the ground, trying to see the surface of the dust in the gloom.

Green walked up beside him, directly in the path of the straight scent.

He gestured to the doorway. "I think they might have gone through—"

Bright saw it too late. The thick dust coating the ground was imprinted with the footprints of Belial on the curved path. On the straight path, however, the footsteps disappeared, the layer of dust slightly higher than the surrounding level. He watched as Green took a step forward, his foot landing in the steel trap laid beneath. There was a sickening crunch as the mouth of the trap snapped shut around Green's leg, the teeth digging into his calf. The smell of blood filled the room.

Green froze, his face going white.

Bright stood slowly. "Don't move."

No sound came from Green.

Following the twisting path, Bright walked up beside the hybrid. Green was absolutely still, the image of a statute, except for his hands, which were shaking uncontrollably. His bloodless lips were clenched shut in pain. Slowly, his eyes rotated to look at Bright. Bright knelt before him.

"I'm going to take it off, okay?" He looked up at Green, who was back to staring straight ahead. "It's going to hurt like a bitch, I promise you that."

As he spoke, he placed his feet on either side of the trap. He'd seen traps like these before and had experience with getting out of them. There were little flaps on either side of the mouth where he could brace his feet and force the trap open. Stepping on the sides, he pushed downward. Nothing happened for a moment, then slowly, the jaw opened to free Green's foot. Green gasped, his eyes rolling back in his head for a moment.

Bright smoothly lifted Green's foot out of the trap, throwing the metal jaws away in the same motion. A quick flitter of surprise filled him when Green didn't immediately collapse to the floor. Instead, the hybrid stood in place, taking deep breaths. It took a number of tries before he could speak.

"How bad is it?" His speech was slurred.

Bright studied the leg in his hands. The jaws had made a clean bite thankfully, so most of the flesh was in place. However, even Bright could tell it didn't look good. The bone was most likely broken. If not, it would be splintered in places.