Escaping Dominance (Heart of a Wolf Series - Trina's Tale) (3 page)

F
or f
ive years Trina tried to keep her and her son safe. She had no other choice but to stay, she didn’t know what
else
to do. Twenty one years old, no skills other than cooking and cleaning, no money, she had noth
ing and nowhere to go.

One evening, Dean came stumbling through the door
. B
eer bottle in hand
,
he tripped over a toy
Toby had left on the floor.

Trina hadn’t expected him home so soon. She rushed forward to grab the toy and the beer bottle he had been holding in his hand a moment before
it
landed upside her head
,
and then fell,
shattering
on
the floor.

Toby cried out and ran to her when she fell to the ground
. He
then screamed in pain when the glass cut a
gash on the instep of his foot.

Dazed, Trina heard him cry and Dean yelling at him to shut up. She crawled over to Toby
,
b
lood dripped down the side of her head
and
down her jaw
.
B
ut s
he ignored the pain and soothed her son.

Pressing the palm of her hand to his foot to stop the bleeding, Trina lifted him into her arms and stood
. She,
w
obbling a little, the room sp
inning
for a moment
, then
headed towards the bathroom with Toby cradle
d
in her
arms, his head on her shoulder.

While c
leaning the
small
cut,
she
realize
d
it was one thing for Dean to use her as a punching bag
, but
h
er son was a different story. With Toby’s foot cleaned and bandaged, she leaned forward and inspected her head in the mirror. She probably required stitches. No way in hell she would ask him to take her to the hospital
,
h
e probably wouldn’t take her anyway. Sucking in a breath, she released it slowly and stared at her drawn features in the mirror. It was time for her to take her life back.

It was the week of the full moon phase. While Dean and his friends wore themselves out running through the wild Oregon pine wood forest, Trina secretly planned their escape.

****

Trina g
lanc
ed
quickly at Dean lying beside her in bed, listen
ing
for the snore she knew indicated he slept. She
had
plied him with enough alcohol throughout the evening
, or so she had thought
. When he came to bed she was amazed he could even get it up with
all
the sleeping pills
she had slipped into his beer.

After grunting for a few minutes, Dean half fell, half rolled off the top of her with a satisfied groan. Within moments
she was rewarded with his
snores echoing through
out
the room.

His feeble attempts at lovemaking did little for her after nearly six years of putting up with his crap. With him fast asleep, Trina jumped in
to
the shower
,
quickly scrubbed her skin until it was almost raw then hurried and dried off. Tip toeing through the room she grabbed the clothes she had folded neatly on the dresser. Glancing quickly in his direction, she slipped into her under garments, and then pulled on the faded denim jeans and black t-shirt. Walking lightly to
the
end of the bed, she lifted the wallet from the back pocket of his discarded jeans and pulled out the hundred dollar bills. Looking nervously back to where he lay sleeping, she shoved most of them back into the brown leather
wallet
, tucking the rest into her front pocket.
She g
rabbed the bottle of alcohol from her dresser drawer and dump
ed it onto his shirt and pants.

As her h
eart pound
ed
in her chest, she reminded herself why she had to do this. Standing at the foot of the bed, staring at him, she bit her bottom lip
, lowering
his jeans to the floor
. She
winced when the change jingled in his pocket
.
H
er eyes sought his
. releasing
a silent breath
when she found that
his
were still closed.

The snores resonated through
out the room.

She wondered if he would miss her at all and a light sheen of tears misted her eyes.
She turned away with a frown, silently chastising herself for stupidly thinking he might eventually change.
Looking over her shoulder once more, she slipped out of the room, pulling the door closed softly behind her.

Trina dashed down the hallway and into the room where her son slept soundly. His bag
was
already packed and ready to go, waiting by the door. Slipping the backpack over her shoulder, she hurried over to the bed. Without waking him, she lifted Toby into her arms.
She stopped
at his bedroom door,
peeking
out before hurrying down the hallway towards the laundry room. Sucking in a shaky breath, she rushed by the room she had shared with Dean for the past six years.
S
he nearly grinned
as she
headed towards the back door
, she was finally getting away from him.

The voices resonating from the living room and surrounding bedrooms were loud, but the music was louder covering any sound her steps might make on her way down the hallway. Suddenly there was
a thud of someone falling, vibrating the floor. Cussing and uproarious laughter filled the house.
W
hen it sounded like someone was coming towards the hall,
Trina gasped,
look
ing
over her shoulder.
N
o one seemed to be paying her any attention
, b
ut that could change at any second if someone decided to go to the bathroom.
She needed to hurry.
Grabbing
t
he bag she had stashed in the laundry room earlier in the evening, she slipped it on as quietly as possible.
S
he juggled Toby in her arms
while
adjust
ing
the pack on her back and the one on her shoulder.
Creeping out the back door, she held her mouth slightly open, breathing shallowly,
as if breathing would wake Dean.

S
lipping out of the house unnoticed
seemed t
oo easy
.
S
he expected to hear yelling or even the sound of a gunshot
s
resonating through the dark night.
Keeping
a watchful
eye over her shoulder,
she ran
.
The heavily clouded skies matched the fear in her heart
,
n
ot a star shined through the thick clouds
.
S
he didn’t dare to allow hope to shine through just yet that she would make it to the edge of the yard
without being discovered.

All out running now, she reach
ed
the tree line. The shadows of the forest would only hide her so much. She could see well into the night, but so could anyone who took chase. She debated if she should have done something more to Dean to
en
sure he didn’t come after her. Frowning at the thought, she shook her head and r
an silently through the forest.

The Full Moon Phase had just passed, so there was no fear of them coming after her in their wolf form. But the fear was there none the less. Trina had to push herself to run faster. She still had a long way to go before she and Toby had any chance at freedom.

131

ESCAPING DOMINANCE

CHAPTER three

T
rina carried
Toby
for miles while she alternated between running, jogging
,
and walking through the never
-
ending forest. Even though he was only five, Toby was built solid and heavy. His bulk
,
combined with two backpacks
,
weighed her down. She wasn’t used to running this far in her human form. Dean allowed her wolf to run because he knew if he didn’t her wolf could turn on him during the blood lust. The runs had not been enough. She was tiring quickly and stopping was not an option, she had no choice
but to reach their destination.

If Dean caught her now, he would kill her. He’d told her so
,
many times
,
and she didn’t doubt it. Toby was getting old enough that he didn’t require constant supervision and he had started spending a
little
more time with him. With Dean, there was no telling what he was going to do and she wouldn’t put it past him to get rid of her when they no longer needed her around. Too many females had come up missing over the years and she didn’t want to be a
nother
statistic.

The lights of the small town showed through the thick bra
n
ches of the trees twisting in the wind. The storm had moved in and quickly picked up strength. The wind whipped around, blowing her hair across her face. A little further and they would be there.
Her l
egs ach
ed and
her arms fe
lt
like rubber,
but
she pushed on into the night. She had to get them to the bus stop. Both
of
their lives depended on her getting them away from Dean, awa
y from the pack.

Toby stirred in her arms, blinking in confusion when she sat him down in the worn leather chair. They had finally reached the Ontario County bus stop, where too many people seemed to mill aimlessly around. Trina had never been outside of the pack’s land and
she
was scared to death. Not wanting Toby to be afraid, she did her best to calm her nerves. Kneeling down to where he sat, Trina whispered softly
,
“Stay right here and don't move. I’m getting us a ticket so we can take a fun trip, okay
?”

Toby rubbed his eyes and nodded.

Trina left him to go stand in line
,
n
ervously glancing over her shoulder to where he sat staring out at the people
.
Waiting in line, she g
lanc
ed
around the terminal
.
S
he spotted
a
police officer standing by the wall and
watched him for a moment.

He nodded in her direction.

Two more officers were outside the door by
the bus, talking to the driver.

Trina didn’t bother hiding her scared expression. She returned his nod timidly, allowing her eyes to break away immediately and scan the bus stop. She counted on the officer reading her body language
, h
oping if Dean showed up the officer would res
pond the way she needed him to.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, she turned back once again to face the window where the ticket agent stood shielded from the public. She wondered briefly why there would be such a thick piece of glass between him and his customers. Apprehensively, Trina looked over her shoulder. Her eyes met the officers and she stared for long moment, breaking contact
she turned
to Toby
, confirming he
was still sitting in th
e chair where she had left him.

He had propped himself up on their backpacks and fallen back to sleep
, p
oor thing
.
H
er lips pressed together, the corners of her mouth turned down at the thought of dragging him from his b
ed in the middle of the night.

Finally, she was next in line. The sign on the overhead announcement board told her the bus she wanted would be pulling away from the station in a few minutes. Passing the money to the ticket agent, Trina breathed a sigh of relief when he accepted the money without question and handed her two stubs. With tickets in hand, she turned around with a triumphant smile that quickly slid from her face. Her heart leapt into her throat then stopped for a long moment. The room became a blur and she thought she was going to fall over. Her stomach heaved, she wanted to throw up.
Here we go
, she thought to herself when she met his eyes.

Dean stood looking at her, his brows furrowed, his bloodshot blue eyes as stormy as the night outside. Somehow, he had
awakened
from his drunken stupor and followed them.

Really scared now, Trina wasn’t certain she could pull this off. The bus to Texas she and Toby were supposed to be boarding at that very minute had
started its engine
a few moments earlier. They needed to be in their seat when i
t pulled away from the station.

Glancing around the terminal, Trina didn’t see or smell any of the other pack members. Surprisingly, Dean had come alone. Seeing the frightened look on Toby’s face made Trina even more determined to get him away from the pack. She wanted Toby to grow up to be a real man, not the shadow of one Dean had allowed himself to become.

Dean leaned down
to pick Toby up from the chair.

Trina went into action. Screaming like a madwoman, she ran towards Dean and started pummeling him on
his back and when he swung around, his
chest.

He reared back to slap her, but the hand was caught mid
-
swing by the large police officer who suddenly appeared beside Dean.

Giles was the name tag on his uniform. She’d heard one of the other officers call him Frank. He had read her expression of fear and stuck around instead of leaving, watching her closely, responding the way she had anticipated.

Intervening, Officer Frank Giles moved quickly and blocked the blow from landing with his nightstick, hitting Dean’s wrist. “You okay miss?” Frank glanced
down into Trina’s worried face.

Trina nodded and stepped safely away from Dean. She snatched Toby into her arms and close to her body, pressing his head to her shoulder so he didn’t look at Dean. Reaching for their backpacks, worry still etched on her face, she glanced from the officer to the exit where her escape opportunity would not be waiting much longer. The driver finished his smoke break
from
behind the bus and walked towards the front.

“Don’t miss your ride
,
ma’am.” Officer Giles gave her an encouraging smile and motioned w
ith his head for her to go on.

Trina gave him a quick frazzled smile, turn
ed and rushed Toby to the door.

Dean made a lunge to grab her when she was close enough, cussing loudly
,
“You fucking bitch! You are not taking my son from me.”

Giles grabbed Dean’s arm and twisted it behind his back. His knee pushed into the back of Dean’s, forcing him to the floor.

Trina ran with Toby tucked safely against her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Dean struggling
and was
happy to see the second and third officer moving in to help restrain him. Before she made it out the door, she heard one of the policemen asking Dean if he had been drinki
ng.

The bus driver, seeing the ruckus and her being the cause, shook his head. He motioned urgently for her to get on the bus. “Hurry, take your seat so we can get out of here before he gets loose.”

Trina hurried Toby on
to the bus and stared out the window
,
watch
ing
as the
officers
wrestled Dean
into the back of the police car.
Leaning
back in the soft leather seat, Trina released a slow breath. Rolling her neck to relieve the tension, she closed her eyes for just a moment
.

For a week she had planned her get away. It was dangerous for her to run like this, but a risk she willing
ly
took. She knew there was a possibility the alcohol and sleeping pills would not remain in his system long. Once he woke up and realized her and Toby
were
gone
,
all hell would break lose. He would come after them
,
tracking her scent. Her plan of sticking to the forest would make it impossible for him to take the truck. Throughout the week she kept her thoughts blocked. Even so, she’d pull the wires from the distributor caps on all the vehicles in the driveway, just in case.

When he showed up alone at the bus station it surprised her because he never did anything without the pack. This worked in her favor.
R
elief
had
washed through her
w
hen she stepped through the doors
and
saw the
police
officers hanging around.

Luck on her side, she heard Officer Giles call in to dispatch that his domestic dispute case had been resolved. He was getting ready to leave, when she caught his eye. She kept looking at him nervously
,
hoping and praying he would catch the stress signals she was sending his way
;
glancing over her shoulder, constantly keeping eye contact with Giles while he stood by
the wall watching her and Toby.

Taking one last precaution at home, she had counted on knowing Dean. When he woke up and saw her not in bed, his immediate response would be to come after her, throwing on the first pair of jeans and shirt he came across, which happened to be the ones on the floor. Pouring tequila on his clothing, the
liquor
dried quickly, but the
odor
lingered. Dean wouldn’t pay attention to the smell. She knew if officers were involved,
alcohol
would give them a reason to detain him
,
even if only for a little while. It
had
all f
allen
into place nicely.

Staring at the schedule in her hand, Trina realized the bus ride was going to take two very long days to get to Texas. Dean had seen wh
ich
bus she and Toby were boarding. He could connect with his pack and easily send them after her in a matter of moments. They would chase her down. She smiled, that is after they got their wiring situation straightened out. She needed to think quickly and have a backup plan in case they did show up
though
.

Looking around at the people on the bus,
she saw that
everyone was busy doing something. Some had their noses stuck in a book, their overhead spotlights shining down. Others had earphones in, jamming to tunes or trying to drown out the constant murmur of people talking and laughing. Some drifted off to sleep the moment the bus pulled out of the station. Trina envied them being able to close their eyes without worry.

Their escape would be short lived if she didn’t figure out how to outsmart Dean and quick. Wracking her brain, a thought floated across her mind
and
her eyes flew
to
the schedule in her hand. He would never think to look for her so close to home. After the forty
-
five minute ride, the
y slowed and
pulled
in to the
next stop
,
a handful of the riders got off.
Trina
gathered their things and
joined those exiting the bus.

Hurrying into the station
,
she ran up to the ticket window. “I bought these tickets to Texas. I changed my mind and want to go to California instead. Can I get a refund?”

The agent frowned slightly and shook her head. “Sorry, I can’t give you a refund.” Glancing down at Toby
,
her face softened. “I’ll tell you what
though
,
I can give you a reduced rate
.
W
ould that work?”

Trina nodded. “Anything you can do would be great.” She handed over the money with one hand while keeping Toby by her side with the other. Her eyes constantly scanned the exits.

“You’re lucky, the next bus leaves in about ten minutes.” The woman smiled and slid a sucker through the small opening of the window for Toby.

****

The early morning sun leaked through the branches of the tall pine trees. The hues of pink and orange mixed with shades of blue shimmered in the distance. The bus pulled to a stop and the sound of air brakes hissing in the morning hours stirred the
riders awake, including Trina.