Under A Latent Moon (A Werewolf Tale)

Chapter 30

Ben's claw snapped. He cursed under his breath, pulling his hand tight to his chest. Motherfucker.

That was the second broken claw, and each time it felt like agony.

He grit his teeth and called on his wolf to grow the third claw on his right hand. "This better work."

The rusted hinge put up one hell of a fight. He sawed at it with both hands, putting his left thumb over the top of the claw to (hopefully) prevent it from shattering like the others. The claw curved, so he could only pick at it with the sharp edge.

The dark trailer began suffocating him. He thought of getting out, of feeling the breeze against his face and the sun on his fur. He wanted it with an ache that pierced his chest.

Freedom is just past these bars.

He had to keep going, had to get out and warn Will. Had to get Harley to safety.

The rusted screw slowly chipped away. He picked and sawed, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the collar of his shirt. The box heated up almost unbearably in the day time, especially with the door closed. That was the only way he could tell time passed--based on the temperature in the trailer.

The trailer hadn't collected heat--the sun had risen but had yet to heat up. When the temperature rose enough that the heat was a literal weight on him, it was around noon. Right now, it had to be early morning.

He sawed and sawed. After this, he'd always carry a swiss army knife around--no matter what. Even if it wasn't going to be strong enough to slice through things, it had to be better than using one of his nails.

He pushed on his claw with his thumb, urging it to cut faster.

The rusty screw dropped with a small clink.

Thank Luna. Ben braced his shoulder on the bars and pushed at the hinge. When it didn't work, he kicked at it.

The hinge dropped.

He picked the other screw out of the discarded hinge, then threw the hinge to the back of the trailer--where his captors wouldn't see it.

The only thing keeping him in the cage now was the other hinge and the outside latch. The outside latch he couldn't do anything about.

But the hinge... he stood and shoved at the bars with his wolf strength.

The bars began to give.

Perfect.

Ben sat down against the wall. "Hey, Dominic."

A weak, "Yeah?" came back.

"Do me a favor?"

A low groan from the other trailer. Dominic struggled to stay in his human form since Ben got here. From the sounds of it, he didn't have much time left.

"I need you to Change into your wolf. And when they come with our breakfast, cause a distraction."

"Can't...Change."

"You can. I know you're scared. But at this rate, you won't last much longer if you don't make a deal with your wolf. He's not trying to hurt you. He's trying to help you."

"You...better not..." his breath caught as surely another wave of pain hit, "be lyin'."

Dominic wheezed, barely drawing in breaths. After a few minutes, there was a distinct sound of bones snapping.

Ben waited.

From the other trailer, a wolf growled. Paws thumped against the ground as Dominic paced.