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. He stopped being the person she knew him to be.
When the next full moon phase came around, Trina went out into the woods, hoping Dean would meet her like he promised. She waited, pacing amongst 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, So 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 into 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!” she 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 thread. “How could you ask me that?”
He closed his eyes when someone 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 back 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 Whitman. 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.
She stared 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 that 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 given 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 hunting 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, yet 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, labeled 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. To do something besides stand there with tears running down her face while Paula called her names and threw 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 straightened her shoulders, turning her back on 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 the porch.
With the lift of her chin, Joanna stepped 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. She 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. She 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, his fingers strummed on the big steering wheel, 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 at least he didn’t allow other males to use her like they could have. Of course he took adv
antage 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, disgusted with him touching her. One 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 grabbed 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, there 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 wouldn’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. Then 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.
For five 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 nothing and nowhere to go.
One evening, Dean came stumbling through the door. Beer 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, blood dripped down the side of her head and down her jaw. But she 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, wobbling a little, the room spinning for a moment, then headed towards the bathroom with Toby cradled in her arms, his head on her shoulder.
While cleaning the small cut, she realized it was one thing for Dean to use her as a punching bag, but her 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, he 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 glanced quickly at Dean lying beside her in bed, listening 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 throughout 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 into 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 grabbed the bottle of alcohol from her dresser drawer and dumped it onto his shirt and pants.
As her heart pounded 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. Her eyes sought his. releasing a silent breath when she found that his were still closed.
The snores resonated throughout 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. She 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.When it sounded like someone was coming towards the hall, Trina gasped, looking over her shoulder. No one seemed to be paying her any attention, but that could change at any second if someone decided to go to the bathroom. She needed to hurry. Grabbing the bag she had stashed in the laundry room earlier in the evening, she slipped it on as quietly as possible. She juggled Toby in her arms while adjusting 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.
Slipping out of the house unnoticed seemed too easy. She expected to hear yelling or even the sound of a gunshots resonating through the dark night. Keeping a watchful eye over her shoulder, she ran. The heavily clouded skies matched the fear in her heart, not a star shined through the thick clouds. She 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 reached 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 ensure he didn’t come after her. Frowning at the thought, she shook her head and ran 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
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 another statistic.
The lights of the small town showed through the thick branches 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 legs ached and her arms felt 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, away 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?”
Escaping Dominance (Heart of a Wolf Series - Trina's Tale) Page 2
