Escaping Dominance (Heart of a Wolf Series - Trina's Tale) (5 page)

If they forced her to go back, Dean would kill her for running off and taking Toby, and especially for getting him in trouble with the police. Her heart pounding, heat flooded her face, and her body started trembling. During her escape from Dean she had been afraid. Now she was terrified. Her voice shook with fear when she whispered hoarsely, “I don’t want to go back to the pack.”

“What are you talkin
g about? I just want my stone.”

“I saw him outside. You are here to help them take me and my son back!”

It was the woman’s turn to look confused. She frowned and shook her head. “I’m not here to help anyone take you back
anywhere. What’s your name?”

Trina frowned. Why would she ask for her name? If she was part of the council she already knew it.
“Why does that matter?”

“It doesn’t really. I’m Amber. I don’t care where you’re from or why you are running. All I want is my stone and I’ll be outta here.”

If Amber was there to take her back, she would have already connected with the pack member outside. Her tension eased slightly when she thought about it. If Amber had sounded the alarm, the guy would have already been crashing through the door. Lifting her chin a notch, she looked into the dark brown eyes that watched her cautiously. “Trina Rivers, this is my son Toby. We are from Pack Whitman, Oregon.”

Amber nodded. “Trina, it appears that we’re both trying to avoid people we don’t want to run into. The man outside is from my mother’s pack down south. He’s not here for you and Toby, so you should be safe. Just stay out of his way. Now, I really do need that stone, so I can be on my way. This is partially my fault, I left my door unlocked.”

Trina nodded her understanding. Turning to Toby, he had remained quiet through the entire ordeal and back
ed
away from her slightly. It was then that she realized he had lied to her and that frustrated her. Grabbing his arm, she pulled it from behind his back
,
f
orcing him to open his hand and show what he kept hidden there.  To her dismay, her eyes landed on a beautiful black stone with blue and white veins running through it. She groaned out loud, bending down
to
star
e
him in the face with a stern look on hers. “How did you get this?”

“I found it beside the bed,” he mumbled defiantly, refusing to meet her eyes.

She was flabbergasted at her son’s actions. “You went into her room and took this?” Embarrassment flooded her features. Snatching the stone from him she turned back to Amber with her hand outstretched. “I am so sorry!” An apologetic half smile on her face, she hoped Amber would understand he was just being a kid and not make a big deal out of it or go to Mable. It could cause her to lose her job.

Amber quickly grabbed the stone from her and tucked it into her pocket. Without looking at them again, she mumbled before turning away. “Good luck to you and your son. Please stay safe.” The
n she disappeared out the door.

Surprised at her sudden departure, Trina turned her attention to her son. Upset he would do such a thing, she grabbed him by the chin sternly, making him look at her. “Why in the world would you go into her room and steal from her? Don’t I give you everything you need? Everything you want?”

He nodded. “I’m sorry, Mommy.” A big crocodile tear slid down his cheek.

Trina’s heart melted. He really was a good kid. It didn’t make sense why he had taken it. His big blue eyes stared up at her
,
us
ing
the pad of her thumb
she
swipe
d
away the tear. She went down on her knees and pulled him to her, fighting a lump in her throat
as
she nodded her head. “It’s okay baby. You can’t take other peoples stuff just because you want it.” She leaned back, her hands on his shoulders. “I can lose my job if you steal something
, then
we won’t have a place to stay. Do you understand?”

He nodded. “I don’t know why I took it, I just did.” His little eye
brows drew together in a frown.

Trina kissed him on the cheek. “Baby, you can’t do that again. If you see something and it’s not yours, you ask before you touch. You don’t take it.”

“Ok, Mommy.” He gave her a big smile. With her kiss on the cheek, everything was o
kay as far as he was concerned.

Trina smiled sadly. Ah, to be five again. She thought of how her mother had told her those exact same words when she had taken a necklace from her parent’s bedroom. She wasn’t stealing it
,
she just wanted to wear it. She really missed her parents.
Being
a
n only child like Toby, they had doted on her and she never wanted for anything. When they were ripped from her life and she had to go live with Paula and Sam, her world had turned upside down. Sniffling, she hugged Toby to her again. “I love you,
baby. I always will.”

“I love you too, M
ommy.”

His innocent soft voice soft made her want to cry
, but she fought
the tears
as
she gathered their things. “Let’s get your stuff to the room and go have lunch.”

With her heart in her throat, Trina realized it had been too close of a call. She knew there were other werewolves around, had seen them coming and going in the diner and the motel. She
had
panicked
earlier
, thinking that s
he recognized the
guy
as Clan Catan
, a
utomatically assuming he was there to take her and Toby back to Dean. Not paying attention to the different scents of the packs, which should have told her right away he wasn’t from her pack. She had simply become frantic and responded
.

A big lesson she needed to learn, not to panic and be ready if she had to escape. The mental connection with her son had not formed so she couldn’t speak to his mind yet. It would be another year or so before that developed and this meant she had to figure a way to communicate with him, yet not freak him out if they had to make a run for it.

131

ESCAPING DOMINANCE

CHAPTER five

T
oby kept her mind occupied through lunch. Once back in their room, Trina started thinking about her encounter with Amber; the woman was on the run and appeared to have been for a while. She wondered if she would talk to her, maybe she could give her some pointers. Having access to the list of patrons occupying the rooms, Trina quickly headed to the office to find
out what room Amber stayed in.

All
of
the rooms were filled. S
he s
cann
ed
the list,
but
didn’t see Amber’s name anywhere. Checking back through the past couple of days, it never showed up. Scowling, she stared down at the roster, running her fingers across the page. There were three rooms with single occupancies and two of those were women. Her brows wrinkled in thought. Thinking back to her cleaning schedule earlier in the day, she remembered that there was only one room she
had
n’t clean
ed
. The ‘Do Not Disturb’ tag had been on the door. A smile grew across Trina’s
face;
she knew what room Amber was in.

Swinging by her own room, she checked on Toby.

He lay stretched out on the bed, his head on the pillow. His feet, crossed at the ankle, were swinging back and forth while watching his favorite cartoon. His nearly white hair was mussed from rolling around on the bed in wha
tever game he had been playing.

Trina couldn’t help but grin at her precious little boy. She sat down on the bed beside him, making sure to be on the side that didn’t block his view. “I need to go talk to Amber real quick. Will
you be okay for a few minutes?”

Toby didn’t take his eyes off the television. “Sure, Mom.”

Trina snorted a silent laugh and stood. He was growing up fast and becoming independent. “Make sure you don’t leave the room and if someon
e knocks, you ignore it. Okay?”

He nodded. “I know, Mom.” His eyes were still glued on the cartoon.

She kept telling her self she was lucky to have such a good kid. The stone thing was the first time he had ever done anything to really upset her. She still couldn’t help but frown at the thought of him going into Amber’s room. She wondered what had gotten into him, but let it go. She had already gotten on to him about it and he understood he did wrong. She remembered making little mistakes here and there when she was younger and her aunt going on and on for days about the smallest things. Trina was determined not to make the s
ame kind of mistakes with Toby.

Making sure the door closed soundly behind her, she headed around the backside of the building and saw the curtain move slightly in the window to Amber’s room. Somehow, she had sensed her coming.

Before her knuckles landed, Amber pulled the door open slightly, glancing around with a frown, motioning for her to hurry into the room. “Where’s your son?”

“He’s in our room.”

Amber’s brows knitted but cleared when she shook her head and moved away from the door.

Trina watched her for a moment. Amber’s dark hair was beautiful, hanging in waves down her back. She was tall and lean, moving silently around the room while she gathered her green backpack and slipped it on. “Are you leaving?”

“Yes
. W
ith my pack chasing me, I don’t want them to find you here
too
.
” Amber didn’t pause, but grabbed her black
bag and started for the door.

Trina couldn’t let her leave, not yet anyway. “I know you said it’s not safe for us to be caught together, but I need some advice. Mable is great help, but she is not wolf and I can’t talk to her about, you know, us.”

Amber stood staring at her. “I don’t know how I can help you.” The scowl back on her face, she looked towards the door. “If that guy gets my scent, it will be trouble for you if you are here. I really need to go.”

“I can’t smell you. I just need to know how you do it so I can avoid them
,
too.” Trina ran her hands through her hair in nervousness. “From what you said earlier, I’m guessing you have been on the run most of your life?”

“Yes, but to me it’s just common sense. What you are doing is dangerous. Staying in one place like this will make it easier for them to find both of you, especially since you are not far from your packs land
. I
f you stick around, it’ll only be a matter of time before they find you.” Amber turned towards the door
, her back to Trina
. “I don’t know why you can’t get my scent.”

“Can we go with you?”
The question was out of her mouth before she even thought about what she was asking.
She didn’t know what else to do. She had saved a little money, but couldn’t keep moving Toby from place to place. She needed a
steady job to take care of him.

Amber
turned back towards her, but her
eyes darted to the door. “It’s really not a good idea. But if you want to go somewhere, there is a place I know
that
takes in
wolves in need.  I was there for a while and hated it, but you might like it.
”
Looking around the room, her eyes lit up when she
spotted the motel’s paper and pen set sitting on the desk. She moved quickly, jotted down an address and handed the paper to Trina. “This is a shelter dow
n south that will take you in.”

Trina could see Amber was anxious to get out the door and away from the area, away from her. “The one you are hiding from is on the other side of the motel on the second floor. If you don’t have a vehicle, he won’t scent you if you sneak out through the trees.” Trina realized the woman probably already had an escape route and became silent.

Amber nodded and headed towards the door, stopping with her back to Trina. Her hand stilled on the door knob. Her shoulders lifted and fell when she released the deep breath she had sucked in. She didn’t turn around, but spoke with a resigned voice to the back of the door. “Okay, I will take you. But it will be a long drive.” She turned back around and faced her. “Is the boy good on trips, will he get car sick?”

Trina’s voice showed her excitement when she spoke quickly. “Toby will be fine. He’s resilient and pretty smart for a five year old, he never gets sick.” Glancing down at her hands she thought of him taking her stone. Looking back up, her face was drawn with worry. “Abo
ut earlier, I really am sorry.”

Amber shook her head. “It happened for a reason.” H
er eyes went to the door again.

“Can you give me five minutes? I can’t just leave without telling Mable.”

Amber shook her head adamantly. “You want to know how to remain on the run?” Her brows arched in question.

Trina nodded, listening intently.

“Then remember this. If you tell people you are leaving, you put them in danger. If you have to, leave a note and tell her thank you for helping you, but don’t tell her where you are going or sign it. Never mention names, never sign anything. Mable will know it’s from you.”

Trina’s eyes misted with tears. In the short time she had been working there, she and Mable had become close. Mable was like a mother and Trina regretted having to leave. But to protect Toby, she had to move on. She asked this woman for help, so she should listen to her advice. Nodding, Trina grabbed the notepad and jotted down a note. “Give me one minute to leave this for Mable, get Toby and our stuff.”

Amber nodded
. “I’ll pull around the front.”

Opening the door, Amber cautiously looked around. The two women separated
,
Amber head
ing
towards her car while Trina trotted towards her room.

In her room she hunkered down in front of Toby. “You ready to go on another trip like we talked about?”

He stared at her for a long moment then nodded.
Jumping
off the bed
, he
helped her put his things in his backpack and slipped it onto his back.

“Can I still do my school work?” His face showed his worry.

Trina smiled, “Of course
,
baby.” She tucked the packets in the side pocket of her bag. “I
’m glad you like your classes.”

They talked about his assignments while she hurried and packed. Looking around the room, she didn’t realize she had accumulated so many things. Unfortunately, she couldn’t take everything with her
on such short notice. The
y
were material things anyway, stuff
they didn’t need to survive on.

Trina opened the door and noticed Amber’s hands tapping on the steering wheel
. S
he looked anxious. Stepping out the door with Toby at her side, her heart flew into her throat and her stomach flipped, making her
nauseous
. Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone walking across the blacktop.
S
topp
ing
dead in her tracks
, she
stared
,
t
he bag dropped from her hand
while she
instinctively pull
ed
Toby close. When she felt him peek around her hip,
she pushed him back behind her.

Seeing the terrified look on Trina’s face, Amber turned and saw a man s
talking across the parking lot.

He was tall with broad shoulders, typical for the werewolf’s male human form. His dark blonde hair was cut short, his skin tanned. His long strides bringing him quickly across the parking lot, his eyes glued
on Trina. He was on a mission.

Trina’s heart was gripped with terror like none she had ever known. The wind brought his familiar scent to her and her body responded. He was supposed to be her mate
,
h
er wolf was drawn to him, yet she was repulsed by him at the same time. She couldn’t forgive what he had done to her. She
stood
frozen in place. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amber’s response to Dean’s presence
and heard her hissed response.

“Dammit!” The palm of Amber’s hand struck the steering while.
D
ropp
ing her head
back against the head rest
, she closed her eyes
for a moment. Opening them, she watched Dean s
talk past the front of her car.

Dean didn’t notice Amber in the car
, h
is gaze too intent on Trina
. H
e glanced down at the backpacks she
had
dropped to the ground
then
back to her face. His lip snarled a
s
he lengthened his stride.

Behind him, Amber slung open the door to her old beat up car and quickly climbed out. Leaving the car running and the door open, she rushed Dean’s
back.

Trina
was rooted to the spot, watching everything in front of her like it was on a movie screen
,
everything was
in slow motion and all she could do was watch.

Amber’s foot found the only loose gravel on the parking lot
ma
king
a crunching sound when she took off running hard and fast, leapi
ng into the air at Dean’s back.

His head swiveled, his body began to crouch and turn around. Halfway through his turn, the ball of her hiking boot st
r
uck hard against his ribs.

With her weight, Amber shoved hard and Dean went slamming into the side of
a
ca
r parked in front of the motel.

The moment Amber’s foot connected, Trina went into action. Grabbing the backpacks
and
scooping Toby up in her arms
,
she rushed forward.

Amber’s attack surprised Dean and he didn’t have time to ready himself. The impact into the car caused him to stumble and trip over his own feet. He tumbled to the ground, hitting his head
with a loud cracking sound
against the curb where he slumped forward, not moving.

Trina didn’t give Dean another look where he lay in a heap, half on the sidewalk
and
half on the parking lot. She knew if she glanced at him the urge to stop and see if he was okay would kick in and she couldn’t afford to let him pull at her heart strings any more. Swerving way out of his reach in case he tried to grab for her, she took off running for Amber’s car. On her way past, the smell of alcohol was strong. It didn’t surprise her,
and was
probably the reason Amber
had
got
ten
the drop on him.

Seeing Trina running towards her,
Amber turned and ran back towards the car, jumping in and slamming the door shut.