Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Several pack members were outside, dancing and celebrating the storm passing. A few were removing the boards and barriers from around their cabins, but most of them were rejoicing at the lush, fertile land that probably appeared in better condition after Notalus touched it than before the storm came. Dustin’s farmhands who’d come to the cabin with the healers waved to them from across the yard, and Dustin nodded back, but he seemed glad that they didn’t try to come over.
Notalus kept his eyes on Dustin as he surveyed the fields that looked unharmed and ready for working. Dustin’s eyes blazed with appreciation as he turned toward him and gripped his shoulder.
“I can’t thank you enough. The pack owes you a great debt.”
Notalus shook his head slowly, not taking his gaze off Dustin. “I didn’t do it for them.”
Dustin stared hungrily, desire evident in his vivid eyes as he stammered for his words. “I need to shift. My wolf is killing me inside. He’s eager to meet you.”
Notalus turned up the right corner of his mouth, pleased to hear it. “Likewise.” He didn’t have a lot of experience with shifters, not in the Realm of Autumn, but what he did know was to never challenge an alpha. However, Notalus was a titan and didn’t cower to anyone, no matter their size or station. He could only hope he’d pleased the wolf’s master enough to have earned its respect.
They walked a considerable ways past the tree line, up higher into the mountains. Dustin walked the path as if he knew it well, bypassing towering red spruces and American beech trees that were holding on to their dried brown leaves like stingy thieves while the maple and dogwood shed beautiful orange and red leaves that painted the grounds. The two of them walked in comfortable silence, both content to simply enjoy the beauty of fall.
“I have not sensed my titan brother here. His west winds are very distant,” Notalus told Dustin. “You all know him by Adres, but he’s the Lord of the West Wind, and his birth name is Orestes, the inescapable.
“He and his mate, Macauley, are still in the fairy lands. They left on vacation last year soon after the attack, and they haven’t returned since. Needless to say, Mac’s family is livid that he shirked his pack responsibilities here for so long.
“Time moves slower in the fairy lands. So what feels like half a year to you, it only feels like a week to them. It’s all bliss, romance, and tranquility there, so I can see why they have not returned.”
“That doesn’t sound good for Mac.” Dustin chuckled.
“I’m sure Adres and his beloved are fine. The fairy lands is a magical realm that makes us forget about the world we left. Kind of like Tir an Fhomair,” Notalus said, glancing up at the cloudless sky. “I’m sure their time is coming to an end there. Very few are allowed to enter the fairy lands, but no one is permitted to live there except fairies.”
“Tir an Fhomair.” Dustin frowned. “You mentioned the Realm of Autumn in the cabin—is that where you live? Is that where you’re from?”
Notalus’ heart rate sped up. “Yes. High above the clouds to the most southern hills of the immortal realms. Where fall is the season year-round. Where inspiration and appreciation of the harvest are born.”
“It sounds beautiful,” Dustin mused. “Fall is my favorite of all the seasons.”
Of course it is.
Dustin sighed. “I could live in a world where the harvest moon bathes me to sleep every night and I’m awakened each morning to brisk air, wood-burning chimneys, and dew on freshly sprouted crops. That sounds fuckin’ magical.”
“Really, you think so?” Notalus had been basking in Dustin’s generous praise.
“Hell yeah.” Dustin glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “I wish I could see it.”
That was all Notalus needed to hear. You can, and you will.
Dustin stopped walking at a clearing almost to the top of Mount Lafayette and began to strip off his sweats and T-shirt. Notalus perhaps should’ve turned and given Dustin some privacy but wasn’t bashful, and it didn’t appear Dustin was either until he hooked his thumb in his long johns. He paused a moment before tugging them down to his ankles. With heat rising up his barrel chest toward his throat, Dustin turned and yanked his underwear down and from around his feet. Notalus frowned at the behavior, but he didn’t have a chance to overanalyze it before the air shimmered around him like heat waves, and a huge, sienna-brown wolf appeared in front of him.
“By the gods.” Notalus couldn’t believe his eyes, unsure if he was hallucinating. Dustin was huge, his large head coming up to his waist. Notalus had seen a lot of common wolves in his long lifetime, and their lean bodies, short snouts, and one-inch claws were nothing compared to Dustin’s incomparable size. “You are remarkable.”