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.

"...just don't see why we're keeping the other one," a man said. His voice grew louder as he closed in--no doubt he'd been put in charge of breakfast duty.

Ben scooted closer to the bars and pulled his knees up, draping his arm over them--a picture of ease.

"Dominic is Selene's son. He's the reason we're doing this in the first place," another man said. His voice sounded raspy like he smoked two packs of cigarettes a day.

I can do this. Ben took a deep breath. Will would be able to do this. Channel your inner Will.

"He's not the only reason, dumbass. He's just the catalyst. These mutants need to be taken out."

"I still don't think she can do it. Scientist or not. These beasts will only ever be beasts." Raspy said.

The first guy, Mr. Egotistical Asshat, laughed. "And that's why you and I do the grunt work."

The latch on Ben's trailer opened, and with a tick-tick-tick, the door slid upward. Ben winced and used his arm to block the sudden brightness.

A grubby middle-aged man peered in from the other side. He shoved a tray of bread and oatmeal under the four-inch gap at the bottom of the bars. "Enjoy the fresh air while you got it," he smirked. So this was Mr. EA, "you've got fifteen minutes."

Then he left to give Dominic his.

Only, when Dominic's trailer opened, the wolf on the other side snapped and growled. A loud bang sounded.

"Shit!" The men jumped back. "Fucking rabid beast."

"Ain't no way I'm getting close."

"Yeah, screw that."

"Do we shut it?"

Ben channeled his wolf, asking for strength. When he felt the answering call, he pushed at the bars, bending the metal. His eyes kept shooting to the side. Please don't see me.

Dominic continued snapping, hissing, growling, throwing himself at the bars. Anything to keep their attention.

"Damn, that is one large beast."

"I told you. A fucking aberration" Mr. EA said.

"Fuck you and your goddamn Scrabble words."

Mr. EA laughed. "Aberration is too many letters. Can't use it."

"Yeah, well, fuck you anyway."

Ben shoved at the bars. Come on. Come on.

It wasn't going to work. They would see him, and then it'd be all over. Dominic turned for nothing and now they were going to--

The bars bent further. Far enough for a skinny body to fit through.

He'd never been so happy to be lanky. Finally, his little Omega wolfness paid off.

Ben didn't think. Within seconds he slid through the gap, sucking in his stomach and turning his head to the side to avoid getting stuck.

"What the--? Fuck!"

Ben flew at the one closest to him. He plowed his shoulder into Raspy's stomach, taking him to the ground with him. The guy wheezed and stayed put.

He jumped at the other one. Mr. EA had pulled a gun out, but Ben spun and used his forearm to knock the gun aside. Then he planted his foot into Mr. EA's stomach.

Incapacitate. He had to get rid of them. Otherwise, the escape would fail before it even started.

Mr. EA fell back, grabbing Ben's wrist on the way down.

Ben kicked him in the balls, then used his left arm to punch him in the throat.

The second guy fell down gasping.

"Stop!" The first guy, Raspy, had gotten up. Ben slowly raised his arms--a sign of surrender. The muzzle of a gun pressed into his lower back. "If you want to keep your intestines, you'll get back into the fucking cage."

The best part of being a wolf?

The speed.

Ben ducked and whirled before the human could react. He twisted Raspy's wrist. The man cried out and dropped the gun.

And Ben still moved, coming around to wind his arm around his neck.

Cut off his oxygen. Will's voice coached in his head. If you can get your attacker completely unconscious, you'll be better off.

"Go to sleep," Ben said, holding onto the guy's throat. Raspy scratched at his arms and threw wild, unaimed punches at Ben's head.

He landed one right at Ben's temple.

Ben refused to let go. He kicked with his right leg, sweeping the guy's feet from under him.

He went down, and Ben sank with him until his body went limp.

Two bodies laid on the grass. The adrenaline was molten fire in his veins.

He ran to Dominic's cage.

Then stopped cold. "Fuck."

The key. He didn't have a key to Dominic's bars.

Dominic whined and pointed with his muzzle towards the edge of the camp. A line of trees stood there. Freedom.

"I can't leave you," he said.

Dominic whined again.

"No. I'm going to figure this out." He had to do it soon though because in five minutes, the camp would realize their men were missing.

Key. Where would the key be?

Selene. Selene would have it in her tent. No way she'd leave a key to her son's cage in the open.

Ben searched the area. The trailers had been situated at the very edge of the camp. Away from the people.

They probably didn't want to get eaten by the big bad wolves.

He flicked his gaze to the tents in the distance. No one had sounded any alarms yet. But they were bound to notice soon.

Mr. EA groaned.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

The trailers were connected to trucks. Think Ben. He could literally drive Dominic away but then he'd have to hotwire the car--which would take time--and everyone would notice a truck speeding out.

There wasn't...

Ben ran to the truck and opened the door--unlocked, thank Luna. His eyes darted around the seats. Shit, it wasn't here. He was just going to have to cut his losses and hope to Luna Dominic survived.

There. Under the seat on the passenger's side.

A crowbar.

Back at Dominic's cage, he wedged the bar between the lock and pushed. These obviously weren't the most sturdy bars if he'd been able to bend them earlier. Hopefully, they had shitty locks too.

If he ever got the chance, he'd tell them to invest in some better bars.

Ben shoved.

Behind him, Raspy moved and let out a pain-filled sound.

Then--miracle of miracles--the lock snapped.

Dominic jumped from the cage.

"Time to go," Ben said.

The two of them sped for the trees.

~

Will

One of his trackers gave a high whistle.

"You find something?" Will called out. They'd started their search along the treeline of the meadow, and followed Ben's scent trail for miles until it cut off. It was at that point that his kidnappers had probably realized that dragging a tranquilized wolf around with them wasn't a good idea. They must've found some type of transportation for him.

They'd combed the area for days and...nothing. But then they'd found a discarded piece of cloth in a bush thirty minutes from where Ben was kidnapped.

Normally they didn't bother picking up trash, but this cloth had some of Ben's scent markers on it.

And someone else's.

If they couldn't track Ben, tracking one of his kidnappers was the next best option.

Will followed Henry's whistle and stopped under a large oak. Henry grinned down at him from one of the branches. "Thought you might like to see this," he pointed at a spot in the oak, near where the trunk separated into branches.

There, in the dark, jagged bark, was a red smear. "Is that--?"

"A blood smear? You bet your pretty ass it is," Henry said.

"Warren!" Will called.

They'd decided it would be better to have a few trackers in wolf form while they followed the trail, in case they ran into the people that kidnapped Ben. If they'd kidnapped him because he was a wolf, or they thought he was a wolf, then it might be easier to have a few humans in the mix. That way if they came upon the camp--a camp filled with people who might be out to kill--they'd act like lost hikers.

Lost hikers with some rather large pet dogs.

Warren had offered to Change. While Will's nose worked pretty well in human form, especially if he called on his wolf's skills, there was nothing like actually being the wolf. In wolf form, his senses so heightened he could smell the tracks of each animal as they maneuvered the forest.

Warren put his paws high on the tree to sniff at the smear. Then he pulled back and sneezed.

Will laughed, "a smoker?"

Warren shook his body, ruffling his fur.

Nicotine covered every part of a smoker--even their blood. When your sense of smell was enhanced the smell overwhelmed. However, it was easy to track.

"Which way are we going?" He had a feeling they'd be traveling west. Even with the breeze, it was obvious the smoker headed that way.

Warren led them west.

They trekked through the trees, the leaves and discarded twigs crunching under his boots. The vibrant plants and tiny low branches scraped at his clothes as he weaved through the area.

At this rate, it'd take them forever to get Ben. The wolves had gotten pretty far ahead--they could easily duck, dodge, and zigzag through nature. Will and the rest in human form were large. It would take them a lot longer to find their way.

They couldn't have hiked more than twenty minutes when Warren gave a sharp bark.

Will planted his feet, his gaze flickered through the area. But there wasn't anything out of the--

There. The steady thump of someone running. And with them...paws?

Another bark. Warren and the other wolves came dashing back.

"Warren? What the hell? You're supposed to be--" Will cut himself off as someone else broke through the trees.

Ben stopped in front of him, his hands on his knees. A cut near his hairline leaked blood down his temple, and dirt caked his shirt and jeans. He gasped for breath.

Behind him, an unfamiliar black wolf whined, wheezing, his tongue hanging out.

"Ben?" Will blinked. "How did you--?"

"We have...to...go," Ben wheezed.

Will didn't remove his gaze from the wolf behind Ben. Another mystery wolf? In less than a month? How did Ben escape? Did it involve the wolf? Did he--?

Ben grabbed Will by the shoulders. "Harley is in trouble."

Will's attention hyper focused on Ben. "What?"

"The camp," Ben said, "they're going to go after Harley."