Escaping Dominance (Heart of a Wolf Series - Trina's Tale) (7 page)

ESCAPING DOMINANCE

CHAPTER seven

T
he motel only had one room left. Trina peeked at Amber and was glad to see that she only frowned slightly over the news, not making a big deal out of it. Luckily it had two double beds.

Once in the room, even though he had slept in the car, Toby curled up on the bed and watched television, his eyes drooping
.

Once they were settled in, Amber
shoved
a card key in her back pocket, grabbed her backpack and slipped quietly out the door.

Trina figured she was used to being alone.
If it weren’t for her leaving her computer and the small black pack,
she
would have thought
Amber
was leaving them. With a little peace of mind that she had no intentions of abandoning her, she laid on the bed by the wall. Positioning Toby in front of her, she could lie on her side and watch the door.
H
er fingers
absently
sifted through his fine hair while he watched cartoons. Glancing at the clock
, she found that
it was only ten. Wide awake, she lay there wondering what to do with her life.

Late into the night she was startled awake when the door opened. Her hand covered her mouth to keep from screaming
. W
hen she realized Amber came through the door, not Dean
, Trina dropped her hand, breathing deeply she closed her eyes in relief
. “You scared the shit out of me
,
”
s
he whispered loudly
,
h
er heart
still pound
ing
in her chest.

Amber grinned and tossed the green backpack onto the floor next to the computer and sat down on the edge of her bed. “I scoped out the area. There’s a lot up the road where I can get another car in the morning.” At the suspicious look on Trina’s face Amber actually laughed. “I’m not going to steal if it that’s what you are worried about.”

“
Sor
.
.
.
”
She clamped her mouth shut when one of Amber’s eyebrows rose slightly. Trina realized she did say sorry an awful lot. Years of being dominated and abused most of her life, always apologizing, had become engrained in her behavior. There were things she had to fix about herself. She just wasn’t sure how to go about making those changes. Shrugging
,
she got up from the bed and glanced out the window. “Can you tell me anything about this shelter you are taking us to?”

“I don’t know specifics, just where it’s at.”

“So I’m not going to say I’m sorry, but I hate that you have to get another car.”

Amber shrugged again. “On the run, you learn to not get attached to things or people.” She lay back on the bed and closed her eyes.

“With how you kicked the shit out of Dean, I take it you know how to take care of yourself.” Trina looked at the floor, then back up and was startled when Amber jumped from the bed
and stood staring down at her.

“Surprise is your best defense. If I’m right, Dean won’t expect you to fight back.” She raised her brow in question.

Trina nodded, staring at her.

“I told you to stop saying sorry because some things are just out of yo
ur control and not your fault.”

“It’s habit.” Her lips pressed together, the corners turned down
,
fighting
the tears that
seemed to
always
be
just under the surface. With a slight frown she nodded ag
ain, looking down at the floor.

Ignoring her obvious emotions, Amber continued. “Know your surroundings and your best escape route. But first
,
”
s
he lifted her hand quickly.

Trina flinched, a slight whimpering sound escaped
.

Amber stepped back
,
giving her breathing room. “
k
eep your head up, that will help you stop jumping at every sound or movement because yo
u’
ll see what is going on around you. I know you are taught to lower your head to your dominant.
Don’t lower your head to
me;
I am not your dominant.
I know he hit you all the time and it’s a reflex to try to dodge, but seriously, it shows people you’re scared and intimidate easily. If you want, I can show you a few defensive moves.”

Trina looked at her with a hopeful nod. “Yes, please.”

“Okay, remember, he is coming after you to hurt you. So don’t be afraid to injure or maim him first, strike fast and
strike
hard. Then run like hell. If he keeps coming after you, Trina, you may have to kill him.”

Her eyes widened. She didn’t want to kill anyone. “Have you?” Staring at her, she waited for Amber to respond.

“No, but there is one person I thought I was going to have to, but like I said, run
like hell. That worked for me.”

The two women stayed up most of the night. Amber showed Trina how to defend herself from several different types of attacks. Not getting into anything too drastic, just simple techniques to help her get away if Dean
,
or any other man
,
were to get his hands on her.

“You must be getting tired.” Trina yawned and giggled when Amber yawned too
.

“Yeah, another long day ahead of us, I need to grab a couple hours.” Amber picked up the green backpack and took it into the bathroo
m with her and closed the door.

Trina’s brows drew together. She wondered what was so important about the pack that she never let it out of her sight. When Amber crawled into bed, she noticed the bag was right next to her side of the bed, close to the door. The woman
seemed to always be
ready for a quick escape.

****

Two hours later
,
she woke to find the other bed empty. Trina jumped up and looked around the room, pe
er
ing in the bathroom, nothing. Amber’s things were all gone. Plopping down in the chair, her back hit the hard cushion with a thump.
She ran
her hands through her hair, the palm of her hand against her forehead, she leaned forward
,
placing
her elbow on her knee. Closing her eyes to fight the frustration she wondered what the hell she was going to do now. S
he s
uck
ed
in a deep breath, releas
ed
it on a sigh, straightened and started to get up when she heard a quick honk. Sneaking a pe
e
k through a crack in the curtain
,
a
wave of relief washed over her.

Amber jumped out of her new black jeep, new to her anyway, and headed towards the room with a satisfied grin on her face. The older model wrangler
looked to be in good condition.

Trina opened the door a
nd walked outside. “Nice ride.”

Amber bobbed her head, walking towards Trina with a grin her face. “Good deal
,
too. They’re picking up the car tomorrow so I don’t have to worry about it. You ready to head out?
”

Trina nodded,
went back in and quickly woke Toby,
rushing him through dressing and brushing his teeth. They followed Amber outside, loading their bags in
to
the small
cargo area in the back.

With the top off, Amber sat in the driver’s seat, her dark hair pulled back into a braid, a grin on her face. Trina couldn’t help but think, for someone who doesn’t get attached to things, she sure seemed to be h
appy about her new acquisition.

After securing Toby in the back seat, she had to lift her foot high to the frame and pull herself up into the tall four by four. Settling into the black leather seat, she pulled the seatbelt across her lap, snapping it into place. Her hair wasn’t long enough to braid, but she did pull it back into a ponytail at the base of her skull so the wind wouldn’t whip it around. The welcoming warmth of the sun sh
o
ne down on them in the early morning hours. She’d been stuck indoors cleaning rooms
and
teaching Toby whenever possible
, so s
he had
n’t
t spent as much time as he had outside and she needed it. The rays felt good on her skin. 
A
smile on her face, she nodded when Amber started the jeep and turned the radio up. Pulling out of the parking lot, they took
off
towards the highway and headed to Las Vega
s.

A couple hours into the drive, she could tell Amber was tired. “If you want to teach me to drive, I can relieve you.
It doesn’t look too difficult.”

Amber cut her eyes over at her, weighing the thought, then shook her head. “Not a good idea to have you behind the wheel if Dean shows up. Learning to drive a stick is easy, but not when you’re trying to avoid someone. But thanks for the offer.”

Trina nodded, disappointed, but understanding her reasoning. She sunk back into the seat. The thought of learning to drive was exciting, but she hadn’t considered what would happen if Dean
had shown
up. She would probably freak, run off the road and kill them all. She
had once
considered asking Mable to teach her to drive, but she had done so much for her that she didn’t want to keep asking for things. Then Trina noticed Amber watching the mirrors constantly. She looked over her shoulder.
“Is he following us?”

Amber shook her hea
d. “Not that I can see anyway.”

After a few moments of silence, other than the radio, Trina glanced at Toby in the back. “Can we stop at the next gas station so I can get him something to eat?”

“Of course. I’m used to being alone, so you will have to speak up if you two need anything.”

Trina nodded and smiled over her shoulder at Toby, who grinned back at her. Her heart swelled with pride and amazement every time she looked at him. Even though getting pregnant with him had changed her life completely, she loved him dearly. She didn’t understand how some people could take their anger out on a child. They didn’t ask to be brought into the world. On the long drive, Tr
ina had a lot of time to think.

Wind whipping through the jeep, it was hard to hold a conversation. Not that Amber was inclined to anyway. At the next small town they approached, she began to slow down. “There’s a store instead of a gas station if you prefer to stock up on a few things. We st
ill have a ways to go.”

“Sounds good.” Trina mentally checked to make sure she had everything with her. She had repeatedly checked her back pocket when leaving the motel
, e
nsuring the money was still there. The pay wasn’t great, but Mable had taken care of their needs, making sure they were fed and had a place to live. She was able to save a small sum of money. It would hopefully be enough to tide them over until she could get a real job and take care of her son the way she really wanted to.

****

After driving for hours, Amber exited the highway
and
p
ull
ed
into a deserted rest area
,
stopp
ing
by the curb.
The intense heat of the sun was beating down on them so Trina helped put the soft top
on the jeep and fasten it down.

Amber rubbed her hand across her face. “I need to rest my eyes for a few minutes.” She yawned, her hand covering her mouth
;
stretching in the seat, she turned and hop
ped out.

“I was wondering if you were going to get tired or not. You didn’t sleep much last night.”

Amber’s shoulder lifted slightly. “I usually survive on a couple hours at a time.”
L
ifting her arms above her head,
she did a few stretching
exercises
to get the blood flowing again
. Without another word she turned and headed towards the building with the restroom.

Trina shook
her
head and smiled. The woman really didn’t like to interact much with people. She wasn’t rude
.
W
ell, kind of, but she was there under her reluctant protection, for lack of better words. Turning to Toby, he had already taken off his seat belt and jumped from the jeep. She realized that Amber had actually left her bag in the back
instead of taking
it with her. Hmmm, maybe she was beginning to trust her? She turned to Toby. “You need to go to the bathroom?”