Escaping Dominance (Heart of a Wolf Series - Trina's Tale) (2 page)

Dean held her hand through the relentless agony. Talking to her, soothing her through the process of her bones cracking and popping, her skin tearing.

The material of her undergarments splitting was the last thing on her mind. Trina cried out when her back began to arch, throwing her forward. Panting and gasping for breath, her head hung towards the ground. The skin on her face ripped apart, the muscles tearing and contorting throughout her body. She screamed when the burning inside became unbearable, writh
ing
on the ground in agony.

At the last minute
Dean got up and moved away.

She heard the vague sound of howling and realized it was coming from her own throat. Throwing her head back, a long soulful cry echoed through the trees
.
T
he
howl of her wolf.

Staring out into the night, her eyes flashed yellow. From where she lay on her belly, she watched the large grey wolf padding silently towards her. He drew closer and she stood with her head down low, waiting for him to initiate contact with her. When Dean nuzzled her, she moved forward and r
ubbed her shoulder against his.

You ready for this?

Her light tan and grey wolf snorted
. I have wanted this for years!

Then what are you waiting for?

Dean shot past her.

Trina pushed with her powerful hind legs and took off, giving chase.
She ran
deeper into the woods, eager to hunt
.
H
er nose caught scent of the weasel scampering across her path
and s
he pounced
, h
er front paw nearly land
ed
on its tail,
but
it slipped away.
She had
misjudged the distance
, stumbled and almost fell over in her eagerness.

Dean’s wolf trotted back to where she clumsily chased after the long tailed weasel. He stood, his mouth hung open slightly in a grinning pant, watching her.
Let’s get you something bigger before the
bloodlust kicks in.

Trina gave him the equivalent of a huff in his mind, but turned and followed him through the Douglas fir and Spruce trees. Hanging back when he scented their prey, she watched him lower his powerful body into the stalking stance
. With h
is ears pitched forward
,
he began to move silently through the dense brush
.

The reddish female elk stood inside the thicket of trees with her calf. Her ears twitched, listening for any type of sound. When the softest hint, a slight rustle of leaves
,
reached her
she
vocaliz
ed
her warning
and
the rest of the herd took off running through the darkness. The mother stuck close to her calf
,
which was nearly half her size
, i
ts white spots
visible
in the
light of the moon.

Dean rushed forward, lunging, barely missing her back end. The mother’s twisting and turning leaps avoided the jaws of the werewolf, but the baby was not so lucky.

Trina watched his teeth sink
easily
into the calf’s neck.

The mother
,
screaming her displeasure at the wolf stealing her child from her
,
pawed the air and charged at him, before veering off and out into the woods.

Lowering her head, her lip lifted
,
baring her teeth. A growl resonated from deep within her.
With h
er ears
flattened against
her head, Trina stalked towards the
captured prey
.

There was nothing the
baby elk
could do with the large wolf latched onto its throat and the smaller one stalking towards it. The calf whimpered, kicking its feet
,
trying
with all its strength
to push away from the wolves.

When
Dean’s canines clamped down
,
the struggling ceased.

Trina’s nose twitched
. T
he
coppery
smell of blood flooded her sense
s
and she lunged. Tearing into the hind quarter, her vision going to red, her wolf’s bloodlust
taking
over.

T
he meal was
small, but
enough to satisfy both wolves.
With her bloodlust satiated,
Trina was ready to run free. When Dean’s shoulder leaned heavily against hers, she pushed back and they took off running. Leaping and bounding over fallen
logs
, cutting in and around bushes,
darting in and out of the trees
until she was tired. Plopping down in the tall grass near the edge of the trees, her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth, she lay on the ground panting. Trina felt more alive and freer than she ever had.

Dean rubbed his nose against her neck, licking her snout and face bef
ore he moved to
lay
beside her.

Trina was enjoying the closeness when a sharp pain slammed into her body and she yelped. Bones began cracking and popping, muscles shifting,
they began
stretching and shrinking. Her wolf released its hold and forced her body to shift
, returning to
its natural form. In the back of her mind she realized they were changing miles away from where they had shed their clothing. All thought fled when the horrific pains racked her body, twisting her insides, reshaping w
hile she writhed on the ground.

Dean had run off once again to make his shift in seclusion and returned naked in his human form
.

She felt more connected to him since spending the night
,
and most of the day
,
with him in her wolf form. Her own nakedness didn’t bother her.

When he helped her to her feet, his hands went to her hips.
His f
ace lowering slowly toward hers
, giving
her the option to pull away.
When she didn’t,
h
is lips softly caressed hers
.

Dean had kissed her before, but somehow this time it felt different. She was different. The kiss made her feel like a woman and sh
e pressed her body against his.

He responded immediately
by
wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her body close to his.

T
rina hesitated only briefly before
letting
her animal instincts t
ake
over
,
allow
ing
Dean to
lower her to the bed of leaves.

131

ESCAPING DOMINANCE

CHAPTER
two

I
n the days that followed, Trina rode the high of shifting for the first time and being with Dean.
He was the
perfect boyfriend
and
everything she
had ever
dreamed of
, h
andsome, sweet, and attentive. He hung out with her every day for the following two weeks, bringing her flowers, making her smile and laugh at his jokes.

Then, something changed. He started hanging out with his friends more, barely seeing her. When he did meet her, all he wanted was sex. They no longer sat and talked
,
or laughed
. H
e stopped being the person she knew him to be.

When t
he next full moon phase came around
,
Trina went out into the woods
,
hoping Dean would meet her like he promised. She waited, pacing among
st
the trees, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. She wasn’t cold,
but
her senses were on edge.

Dean never showed up. Even more troublesome, her wolf didn’t show either. She hoped the stress of her relationship with Dean caused her wolf not to emerge. Deep down though, Trina knew the problem. She couldn’t go to her aunt and uncle
or
tell any of her friends
,
S
o her logical answer
was to
talk to Dean.

The next day
,
when she made the trek up the long driveway to Dean’s place, he stepped out on
to
the porch. His friends stood just outside the door
,
snickering when he jumped from the porch and walked out to meet her.

He stopped a few feet in front of her and she took the last few steps to meet him, worry on her face. “Dean, I’m pregnant.”

He jammed his hands in
to
his pockets and stared out into the woods over her shoulder. “Are you sure?”

Tears filled her eyes. She nodded.

“Is it mine?”

Without thought, Trina stepped forward and slapped him.

The group on the porch laughed when they heard the resounding smack.

“I was a virgin!”
s
he hissed between clenched teeth.

Dean glared at her but didn’t make a move to retaliate.

Her voice quavered, holding on to her emotions by a thin threa
d. “How could you ask me that?”

He closed his eyes when so
meone from the porch chimed in.

“We told you she was the pack whore
.”

Dean didn’t respond to the comment, only opened his eyes and stared down at her before shaking his
head, turning and walking away.

Trina’s feet were rooted to the spot in consternation and fury all mixed into one
,
he didn’t stand up for her. But she had no recourse. Forcing herself to turn away, she ran from the sounds of them patting Dean on the ba
ck and laughing at her expense.

It was then that
Trina quickly realized just how low her status in the pack
was
. Clan Catan allowed each pack in their region to set their own rules as long as they abided by the overall governing laws. The rules were the same, laws protected the male members. Politics between the leaders meant women were forced to conform no matter what. It didn’t matter that he was an adult and she a minor in the human world. In werewolf packs, once the female made the change
at sixteen
they were considered consenting adults and
could make their own decisions.

When Trina pushed for him to take responsibility, a
meeting was called between the councils
of pack
Crawford and Whitma
n
. Trina’s life was laid out in front of the councils, Dean, his family, Sam and Paula
,
and whoever in the community wanted to sit in on the
so called hearing.
The burden was on her shoulders to prove Dean was the father.
To her consternation, Trina
pleaded her case, looking to her aunt and uncle for some kind of support. They were no help at all. In fact, Paula painted a nasty picture of her. Pointing out the times she stayed out all night, never coming home. They brought up her days missed at school. Trina was appalled at the audacity of Paula
,
talking
as if she had done her best to make her a part of her family and Trina refused to be a part of the family.

S
he s
tar
ed
at Dean,
but
he would not meet her eye. He knew what was happening and it tore at her heart that he would betray her this way.
The council declared Trina answerable for her own actions
, but t
hat wasn’t the point. She knew
what her
obligations and responsibilities
were. She
wanted Dean to be accountable for his.
But he got off easy.

Since they never completed the mating ritual, the councils granted him the choice to perform the ceremony, or not. To top it all
off
, he also had the option of
whether or not he wanted the
responsibility
of becoming the baby’s father.

To her horror, Trina
was informed that if he didn’t
claim her, then she would be turned out to be used by the pack when there were no other females available. It was barbaric and she was outraged at the lack of protection for the females.

Dean’s father
,
being a member of pack council
,
allowed him to bend the rules in his favor. He chose not to claim her and complete the mating ritual, although he did want to claim the child as his. However, this came with
a
stipulation
;
only if it the baby turned out to be a boy.

Trina had no choice. Once again, pack laws did nothing to protect the female and they forced her to keep the baby. Not that she would
have
give
n
it up or gotten rid of it in any way. It was her mistake for trusting Dean, not the child’s. It was her mistake for not even thinking about using protection. She would figure out a way to take care of them both and not rely on anyone. Her plan of leaving the pack to start a new life was gone. Since she was pregnant, they had a tighter hold on her. Running away was not an option. Birthing while out of pack territory ran the risk of them hu
nting her down and killing her.

Trina often wondered how the males of the wolf packs could run around acting like animals most of the time. It was acceptable for them to sleep around
,
y
et females were not allowed to give in to their animal instincts. If they did, as she found out for sleeping with the person she loved, they were branded
, l
abeled as the pack
’
s whore
. It just wasn’t fair.

After the council meeting was over, Paula refused to allow Trina back in their home. “You are a disgrace to the family. I won’t have you influencing my daughters by whoring around and birthing unmated.”

Trina seethed in anger. She wanted to rip the woman’s hair out, to scream at her
.
T
o do something besides stand there with tears running down her face while Paula called her names and thre
w her stuff out the front door.

Staring at her fifteen year old cousin
,
Joanna, it would be so easy to tell her dear old aunt just how disgraceful her own daughter was acting.
Instead,
Trina wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand
and
s
traighten
ed
her shoulders,
turning
her back o
n
the only family she had left. Everyone went inside
, leaving
her alone in the yard. Gathering her things, she stuffed what she could into her small backpack. Another bag landed on the ground next to her and she whipped around to see Joanna standing on t
he porch.

With the lift of her chin, Joanna st
epped back and closed the door.

Trina stared at the pack. Her cousin’s way of saying thank you for not ratting her out. Sucking in a shaky breath, she picked
it up and began shoving the rest of her things into the bag.
S
he saw a piece of paper sticking out the side pocket. Fishing it out, she glanced at the note her cousin had scrawled in her immature handwriting. “Dean is on his way to pick
you up.”
Trina glanced over her shoulder
and saw
the curtain to Joanna’s bedroom drop back into place. S
he really didn’t want to go with
Dean
, but
there was no place else for her to go.  Her mother had no family that she knew of and Sam was her father’s only brother. She was stuck.

One pack over each shoulder, Trina started off down the road. If Dean didn’t pick her up, then she would keep walking until she got far enough away that the pack didn’t matter to her any more. Even though it was forbidden to have her baby outside of pack territory, her aunt kicking her out gave her reason for leaving. If
he
did come, then she would stay with him
until she could figure out what to do
.

After walking for a little over two miles, the red and white
pickup truck rattled down the road towards her. With a resigned sigh, she tossed her bags into the bed of the truck when he
slid to a stop a little past her.

Dean didn’t bother getting out
to
open her door like he used to
do
.
He stared straight ahead, h
is fingers strummed on the big steering whee
l,
while she climbed in and
closed the door behind her
.
Putting
the truck in gear
, he
took off without a word between the two of them.

Life with Dean became routine and a living hell knowing he didn’t want her there. He
didn’t take her as his mate
, but a
t least he didn’t allow other males to use her like they could have. Of course he took advantage of her being there
. He spent his days drinking with his friends, then each night he would crawl into bed with her and take what he wanted.

Afterwards Trina would turn over and cry herself to sleep
,
d
isgusted with him touching her
.
O
ne night she refused to get into bed with him because he was so drunk.

Grabbing her shoulder, he spun her around. His face red, he leaned down
and
roughly
grab
bed
her chin. “I own you. I take care of you and your kid.” He motioned towards her swollen stomach and glared back up at her.

The look on his face scared her to death. She didn’t want him hurting the baby, so she nodded her head and crawled into bed
. Turning her mind off while he pawed at her, she tried to think of what she would do once she got out and away from him and the pack.

After Toby was born, she half expected him to turn her out and take the baby from her since she had given him the boy he wanted. She wondered what would have happened had it been a girl. When he kept her around
,
she quickly realized why. She was
once again
a live in maid
, t
here to take care of his old four bedroom trailer. She spent every weekend cleaning up after him and his friends and their wild parties.

Dean was not the leader she imagined him to be. In less than a year he went from a responsible
,
caring person to being a total loser. Allowing his friends to run his life, he had turned into a drunken follower. The only person he controlled was her
and only then because she didn’t want to risk her child being hurt
.
He was so controlling, he would
n’t
even allow her to go into town for shopping unless he took her. The entire time was spent with him scowling and complaining about how much money she spent.

Most days Dean ignored her and the baby. For those days she was thankful and did her best to keep Toby out of his way. On the days he didn’t ignore them, he became abusive. In the beginning it started with a shove
.
T
hen a slap because she overcooked his food. The slaps turned into punches and once he even kicked her in the side after knocking her down, cracking her ribs.