Escaping Dominance (Heart of a Wolf Series - Trina's Tale) (10 page)

Sebastian looked down at her, then over to De
an. His eyes squinted slightly.
“I don’t get the feeling
that
you
’
re okay.” He shook his head, clear
ly
staying between her and Dean.

Dean laughed and stood,
dropping his arms to his side.

He was taller and larger
, yet Sebastian
didn’t let his size intimidate him. “Can I help you?”
he repeated.

“Nah.” Dean shook his head with a snicker, turned and walked away.

That completely threw Trina for a loop. She hadn’t expected him to simply leave. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him get into a grey truck parked at the end of the parking lot.

Dean gave her an evil grin and
wiggled his fingers at her in a wave
when he drove
slowly by, staring at her menacingly, on his way to the exit.

Trina stood with her hands hanging loosely by her side. She realized her body appeared to be relaxed while her insides raged. Her wolf beat against her, wanting to get out, to attack the man
who had abused her for so long.

“Trina?” Sebastian looked at her, worry on his face. “Who was that?”

Inhaling slowly, Trina leaned against the car then jumped up on the fender. “That
’
s my son’s father.”

“Your son?” He frowned. “You never told me you had a son.”

“Yeah, I keep my life private
for that very reason
.” She wasn’t sure if his stare was accusing or if he felt betrayed. He was human, she couldn’t tell him everything. “I don’t date because of Dean. I don’t introduce my son to anyone other than close friends.”

“I thought I was your friend. You never told me you were married.”
Sebastian’s feelings were hurt.

“We never married.” Trina looked around at the people getting into their cars and pulling out of the lot. “It’s really a long story. I really like you a lot and didn’t want you to get mixed up in any of this. I only agreed to dinner and movie because you said as friends.”

Sebastian leaned against the car. His hip settled alongside her thigh. “I offer friendship
,
but I will be honest with you
,
I would like more.
”

“Thank you for being honest. Right now, until I can keep him out of my life
,
I’m not sure I can offer any more than friendship.” Trina felt a lump form in her throat.
She really did like Sebastian, but she couldn’t allow herself to be sucked into so easily. She had to think of Toby now, not just her own emotions.

“Then friends it is. If you want me to kick his ass, just say the word. He’s big. I’ll have to go get a few friends to help me out.
But I’m sure we could pull it off.”

Trina laughed. “Yeah, a small army.”
With a
smile on her face
,
she touched his shoulder and he looked back at her with a grin. “Promise me, whatever happens
,
you
’
ll let me handle it.”

“I won’t stand by and let him abuse you.” He continued looking at her over his shoulder. “Yeah, I can tell, he looks like a classic dick.”

“He can be, promise me
Sebastian, you won’t go after him.
”
Trina was really worried he would get hurt.

Nodding
,
he agreed.

“Thank you for dinner and the movie. I had fun.”

“Yeah, me too, up until the end anyway. Kind of killed the romance.”

Trina grinned. “Friends, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He turned around and quickly kissed her on the cheek. Grabb
ing
her by the hips
, he
pulled her from the car. “Will you be okay going home alone?”

Trina grinned and shook her head. “I’m not
inviting you over.
”

“I’m not trying to get invited over. I just want to know
that
you are safe. You can come to my place.” At her warning look he lifted his hands away from her. “I
’
ll take the couch.”

She shook her head
. In the past she would have taken him up on his offer for protection, not any more. “That’s very sweet of you, but I assure you, I will be okay.
”

Sebastian cocked his head slowly, his lips compressed. “If you say so, I don’t want to get a call from you tomorrow telling me you’re dead.”

Trina laughed and
back handed
him in the arm. “Good night Sebastian and thank you for being a good friend.” She leaned up on the tips of her toes
and
kissed him on the cheek before turning and getting into her car. She waved when he stood staring at her and
pulled out of the parking spot.

Inside she was twisted. She was enjoying spending time with Sebastian but she didn’t want to jump into another relationship. She knew Dean had done a number on her and she would never allow herself to be i
n that kind of situation again.

Dean was back and now she had to deal with him. She wasn’t going to rely on anyone else to help her out. She would take care of him. Like Amber had said when teaching her to defend herself, Dean would attack to hurt her. He
r best bet was to attack first.

Watching the mirror, s
he noticed
the grey truck
fall in behind her a couple car lengths back
. From what she could see, there was a passenger in the truck with him this time.
Trina
had to think quickly. He would never expect her to be on the offensive. Checking to make sure her gym bag was still in the back seat, a thought hit her and she stepped on the gas.

There was no real secluded area other than going out into the desert and Trina didn’t want to go out of town. Pulling into the park, she grabbed her pack out of the back seat and pulled
out
the two sticks she had been practicing with. Her Karate instructor had been impressed with her ability to pick up the
skills
so quickly.
Her werewolf genetics helped and in less than
six months she was already getting re
ady to test for her black belt.

She knew the techniques, but if he ever got his hands on her for real he could easily overpower her
. Although there were ways to get out of every hold, she just had to remember her training and not allow him to grab her. Her mind made up, she was no longer going to run away.

He could scent her no matter where she went in the park so she walked calmly to the middle of the grassy area and dropped
the gym back
,
tuck
ing
the sticks into the waist of her jeans. She stood
and waited for him to show up.

Dean pulled into the parking lot and
sat in the truck for a moment.

Trina knew he was trying to intimidate her and it wasn’t going to work anymore. She was ready for this and stood with her hands
hanging loosely at her sides
. Her legs shoulder width apart
, she waited.

Opening the door, he slid out of the truck and walked towards her. His eyes flashed yellow and he grinned. “You afraid I’m going to hurt your little boy toy so you send him home to m
o
mma?”

Any other time
Trina would
have
be
en
bowing her head to him.
At his approach this time she stood tall, shifting her stance to be able to move quickly if he lunged
;
h
oping he would. She smiled. “He’s just a friend.
I still prefer my girlfriend.”

That was
a
ffective in getting a response from him. His lip lifted in a slight snarl. “Don’t push me
, bitch.”

“Can’t fight the truth
,
babe.” Trina shrugged. Her cocky attitude was rubbing him the wrong way. She waited for the moment when he would come after her, already planning the steps in her head with what
she was going to do.

Dean looked around the park, out into the sprinkling of trees in the distance. “Did you lure me here for a reason?”

“You were the one following me. I came out for a run and saw you pull up.”

He still scanned the area.

“You look a little tense
,
Dean.”

His head whipped in her direction. “You have gotten too big for your little britches.”

She rubbed her hands along her hips. “No, the
y
feel just fine to me and if you are afraid I have someone hiding in the woods with a gun trained on you
, you
’
ll never know it.”

Dean crouched low, his head whi
pping around, sniffing the air.

Trina th
rew her head back and laughed and as she expected, when he lunged, her hand
dipped behind her back
, stepping slightly to the side.

His hands reached for her.

She spun away, pulling her weapons from the back of her pants. She did a quick and hard rata
-
a
-
tat
-
tat across his back with the cherry woo
d sticks when he flew past her.

He fell to the ground from the blows
.
R
olling to his knee
s
, his hand braced on the ground in front of him, he lifted his head and stared at her in disbelief.

The only sound she heard was him growling before he lunged again. This time
he had
his hands wide,
so
she stepped into him in a low crouch and jammed the stick into hi
s stomach before spinning away.

His arms grasping nothing but air, he doubled over, gasping for breath.

Trina didn’t give him time to breath
e
. A spinning back kick landed across his shoul
der blades and he fell forward.

Landing on her feet, she turned and brought the stick up across his chest with a resounding thud, followed by her right foot
slamm
ing
against
his jaw.

Dean’s head snapped back. In slow motion, his large frame fell backwards
; h
e looked like a tall tree being felled in the woods. He landed
hard
on the ground
.

Trina didn’t relent. Stepping into him, the heel of her foot c
ame down full force in
to
his gut.

Dean scissor lifted his legs and his shoulders off the ground, his hands grasping his stomach
a
s
he
continued to gasp
for breath. His eyes open wide
,
he stared at her in complete surprise, blood running down his face
. His chest and stomach burned.

All
of
the anger and frustration of being a victim rushed through her and she fought back
. The
twirling
stick land
ed
on the inside of his thigh
with
a hard whack
ing sound. Her foot stepped forward, pivoted, she spun around and the blunt end of the stick landed just above his groin
,
she jabbed hard, pushing down, pinning him to the ground.

His eyes filled with tears,
Dean
couldn’t move.

Working out on a daily basis, this was nothing
.
Trina wasn’t even winded
. “You ever come near me again I will kill you. If I even catch a glimpse of you in town I will hunt you down.” Her lip lifted in a snar
l, her eyes swirled with color.

Dean couldn’t speak.

She pushed hard on the stick causing him to gasp. “Do you understand?”

He nodded, still fighting to breath
e.

She spoke up, never taking her eyes off of Dean. “You got that
,
Dave? Any of you come near me or my son again, I will kill you.”

Dave leaned against the car. His arms across his chest, one leg crossed over the other
.

Trina acted like she was going to kick
Dean
again and was rewarded with a whimpering sound. “You can tell your p
ack that you are my bitch now.”

With the full moon the next night, Trina knew Dean would shift and repair the busted nose, his broken jaw and ribs.
If he was smart,
he wouldn’t come for her again.