Free Escaping Dominance (Heart of a Wolf Series - Trina's Tale) by Marylynn Bast Page A

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?”
    “Yep.” He skipped out in front of her, heading towards the building and held his hand up for a high five when he passed Amber on her way out.
    A grin crossed her face. Amber lightly slapped his hand , meeting Trina’s eyes and inclined her chin slightly before continuing towards the jeep.
    Trina returned her smile, half expecting her to ignore his hand up in the air. She definitely couldn’t predict anything about the woman.
    Amber moved the jeep, backing it in to the spot under the tree, the ideal location. All she had to do was lift her head slightly from her reclining position and see both entrances into the rest area.
    Trina took note of Amber’s actions. She was either very paranoid or overly cautious. Always prepared for a quick escape, something Trina knew she needed to start preparing for. Leaving the security of the pack, if it could be called that, she had exposed her son to more dangers in the world and wondered if maybe she had made a mistake by taking him away. She hugged Toby to her.
    “Mommy?”
    She s troked his head absentmindedly.
    “Are you okay?”
    “Yes , baby, why?” Leaning back, she held his shoulders and looked down into his tanned face, staring into the bri ght blues that matched her own.
    “You were squeezing me too tight.” He peered up at he r, his face looked so innocent.
    “I’m sorry. I was just thinking of what we need to d o when we get to our new home.”
    “Is it scary? Will D addy be able to find us there?”
    “I hope not , baby, I hope not , ” she murmured softly . H earing him talk about Dean made her heart clench and brought tears to her eyes at the word daddy. She knew there was no turning back now, but she did wonder if she