Stuck in the Middle (MxMxM)?

The ties around Ryder's hands were digging into his wrists. The more he struggled against them, the deeper they dug. Were it not for his healing powers, he'd probably be bleeding by now.

So much for getting werewolf strength.

After Axel left, he yelled for help, desperate to try anything. Delilah remained on the floor, having woken up and looking pitiful as she sobbed against her gag.

"I'm so sorry." He apologized. "I thought if I turned myself in, you'd be safe. I didn't think that asshole would draw this out if I didn't let him..." He couldn't finish as the memory made him want to gag. "Delilah, I know this will sound insane, but he was telling the truth. When he comes back, he's going to let you go, and you'll need to run as far away from here as possible."

She had an unreadable expression and Ryder assumed it meant she didn't understand how he could trust the man.

What was he going to tell her? That he had the power to detect lies? There was no point in elaborating now. What was most important was making sure she got out of there safely.

He sighed angrily, hating the zip ties that kept him bound. Then a new, very bad thought occurred to him.

Since he was able to heal ridiculously fast, it shouldn't matter how damaged his hands got...

Unable to think of another plan, he held his breath and braced himself as he yanked his hands up against the zip-tie. He felt it dig dangerously into his skin, but failed to make progress.

After a minute of this, he gasped for air. The movies made it look much easier to endure pain. The heroes would somehow smash their knuckles or rip off the skin from their wrists to escape their handcuffs with ease.

Ryder could do the same and be fine in less than an hour. The problem was that even though he healed quickly, he just couldn't handle pain. Like earlier when he was shot in the leg. He could have put up a much worse fight with Axel if the agony hadn't overwhelmed him.

Another sigh, and he tried again.

At first, his hands grew numb. Then he felt the pinching around his wrists, followed by pain as blood dripped from the cuts.

Ryder's eyes watered, and he relented a little, unable to endure. But if he took too long of a break then his wrists would heal and he'd be right back at square one.

That's right. If he could do this quickly, then he'd be fine. Just like ripping off a Band-Aid. A painful Band-Aid.

Delilah's eyes widened in horror when she noticed the blood dripping from behind the chair as he continued to tug against the ties. He was gritting his teeth, leaning forward, and closing his eyes so tight that he could see spots. Just when he thought he wouldn't be able to handle it anymore, his hands slipped through.

Holding them out to his sides, he held back an agonizing scream. He could feel his wrists throbbing as the burning turned to tingling. His healing powers kicked into full gear while he sat in shock at his own accomplishment. Once the feeling had calmed down to a manageable level, he willed himself to look.

By this time his hands didn't look so bad, and he tested them by wiggling his fingers. A few more moments in, and he could almost ignore the pain.

Hurriedly he tried to remove the zip ties from his feet but was unable to. So, he knocked himself onto the side, along with the chair that his legs were tied to, and slid across the floor toward the tools on the wall. There, he found a crowbar. Unfortunately, there were no scissors, so he had to make do with this alone and jammed it into the space between his ankle and the chair leg, then twisted until the plastic snapped. He did the same with the other leg and was freed.