Welcome back to Tuesday Tales!  This weeks prompt is Satin.

It’s time for Leilyn to have a turn. She’s in a strange place…that doesn’t feel all that strange. Let’s see what she thinks about Dell, and what about that curly blond klutz, Byron?:

Leilyn buttoned the last button on the blouse, smoothing the plain brown calico along her stomach. The matching simple skirt settled more on her hips than her waist, but it would do considering she had no other clothes or means to get them.

Dell had left her alone to get dressed, out of propriety more than need. Were’s didn’t know the meaning of the word shy, and the man seeped Were out of his pores. Every inch of her body wanted to cave in to his alpha power, even as her mind screamed her toward caution.

Even now, she could sense his presence right outside the back door. The strength of his magic drew her stronger than the tides had dragged and pushed her down the river.

There was no delaying the inevitable. She had to face him, as well as the pack’s alpha. They would want her story, but if experience taught her anything, she could escape the alpha draw. After all, she’d walked away from her own uncle and his alpha orders to remain and mate with her own cousin.

Instinct told her to run, and so she had.

Now she was trapped in another pack’s lands. The most confusing part was that instinct wasn’t telling her to run. She wanted to stay. The further she had gotten from home, the less she felt the urge to return.

As confusing as that was, she had to face her current situation and deal with the rest as it emerged.

Without further ado, she threw open the back door to find herself face to face with Dell. Instinct made her bow her head, and her acquiescence to the action turned her stomach.

“You should probably remain inside, Leilyn. My father will be along soon enough. We can wait inside.”

“No. I’ve never liked being trapped inside.” She stepped under the cover of the lean-to. “I’m back to full health, the cold doesn’t bother me.”

“You were down for three days,” He objected. When she glared at him, he shrugged and leaned against the house. “Ready to tell me where you’re from now?”

“Where am I now?” She stared across the open field behind the house. A light layer of snow covered the ground, but children ran willy-nilly. The Were’s were easy to pick out by their bare feet.

“Indiana.” He glanced her direction. “East or West?”

“East,” she allowed. On the edge of the field, just before the woods started sat the small rise of a hill.

Just before she turned away, a tall lanky blond man came over the rise. He carried two large buckets on a yoke over his shoulders. When he reached level ground, a group of children tore past.

Beside her, Dell chuckled. She didn’t understand why at first, when the man took one step. The next step wavered, and then man stumbled forward three steps. He tilted almost completely sideways. The bucket landed flat on the ground before he righted himself, only to fall flat the other way.

Leilyn covered her mouth in a failed attempt to cover her laughter, but it spilled from its seams. Her giggled floated out to mix with his laughter.

“That’s Byron.”

“Cute.”

A low growl hit her ears and Dell tensed beside her. Her insides twisted at the sense of jealousy she got from the growl. He snarled. “Clumsy.”

She smirked. While she wasn’t attracted to the man with crazy curls and an unsteady gait, it was fun to make this powerful man beside her sweat. “Clumsy is cute.”

*~*

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