Lords of the Wind Omnibus

Chapter One

Dustin

A Memory That Came with a Storm

Dustin sat in his oversized recliner in front of his television watching National Geographic while he ate his dinner alone.

His lip smacking and finger sucking was loud enough to drown out the depressing silence as he devoured his platter of beef tips, grilled prawns, and stewed vegetables.

Vegetables that came from his garden, his fields.

The pumpkins were especially flavorful this harvest, and so far, Henry, the king’s house chamberlain, couldn’t thank him enough for how well his soups and stews were turning out lately.

Dustin provided Henry with the best farm-to-table, organic crops he could never get from a supermarket and the handsome vampire always made sure to prepare Dustin a heaping platter each evening for him to take home for dinner.

He set his empty plate and glass in the sink, then stared out of his small kitchen window that overlooked his south fields.

He was glad his one-room cabin was on the outskirts of the massive property because he couldn’t hear when the pack would congregate in the community yard and enjoy each other.

Some went for a run, some stayed in the courtyard and made a ruckus, while others returned to their cabins to spend the evening alone with their partners.

Dustin couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to have someone to come home to after a long day in the fields.

He’d tried to convince himself that he preferred the solitude, and his life was far more peaceful without a mate to care for, but deep down in his soul, he knew he was lying.

After fifty years of traveling the country and visiting as many pack lands as he could, Dustin had never scented his true mate.

He’d given up searching years ago because apparently it was destined for him to be alone the rest of his days.

It was exhausting moving from state to state only to have his hopes diminished with each empty disappointment.

He wasn’t a snob either—his mate didn’t have to be fated.

Dustin attempted to date several men over his years—betas, an alpha, and even a few humans—but he often encountered complications in the bedroom that left him unsatisfied and mildly ashamed.

It would take a considerably strong man to be his mate… or his lover.

The winters were brutal in the White Mountain Forest, and the nights were long and cold in his king-sized bed with only his old kerosene heater and his deceased mother’s handmade quilt to keep him warm.

He’d lived over half his life searching for companionship, but he was too old to keep that up.

Now, he chose to live out his years in peace within the Volkov stronghold, where he could best use his talents and where they were most appreciated.

Dustin watched the sun set and darkness cover the sky as he thought about what he could do to pass the time this evening.

Maybe he could let his wolf out for a run since his animal loved the cool night air ruffling through his fur while he hunted and chased small creatures.

Actually, that sounded like an amazing idea.

Dustin kicked off his hiking boots and was unbuttoning his suspenders when the National Geographic documentary he’d been watching on television began to blare a weather warning signal across the bottom for all of western Maine, from Conway to Portland.

“Oh no,” he groaned. “Gods, please don’t let this storm shift in our direction.

” Dustin dropped down on the oak coffee table in the center of his small den and stared at the alert scrolling by with both fingers crossed.

Which was silly because he knew exactly what the notice was informing him: the huge windstorm that was ravaging the northern states was shifting and aiming in their direction.

It wouldn’t be a direct hit, but they would get some of the disastrous outer bands of a storm that was building in devastation every hour.

“Damnit, damnit, damnit,” Dustin cursed on his way to the closet to get his heavy boots and weather gear.

He closed and locked his storm shutters over his living room window, locked away his couple of patio chairs and mini fire pit in the shed, then turned off the gas just in case they had any lightning strikes.

Justice, the AZ, texted him to be sure he saw the warning and asked Dustin to protect the harvest as best he could, but most importantly, he told him to stay safe.

The leader of the pack said that whatever happened, they’d be okay.

Dustin shook his head as he shoved his cell phone back into his pocket.

The Alpha Zenith and his betas were miles away visiting another pack, but Dustin and his hands knew what to do in his absence.

Everyone that lived on the pack lands had a duty to fulfill, and none of them needed micromanaging to do it.

Dustin flung his front door open and found three of his gardeners already standing on his porch.

“Boss, did you see that warning? The storm is coming right at us,” Jerry blurted, already panicking, and the weather wasn’t supposed to reach them until late tomorrow morning.

Dustin nodded and put his hand up to cut off whatever the other two were going to say. “I saw it. Like I said yesterday, it looks like we’re gonna get some wind and rain, but it appears we’ll be getting more than we anticipated.”

“Why can’t these damn meteorologists get the fuckin’ weather reports right?

Isn’t that what they went to college for?

Shit! They said Maine and New Hampshire were in the clear.

Now, fourteen hours later, they say, ‘oops, our bad, take cover because it’s coming right for your asses,’” Mark complained.

Dustin wanted to chuckle at Mark’s anger, but he was too nervous himself.

Outside, the air was humid, and the temperature had warmed considerably since he’d left the fields and gone home for dinner.

Gray clouds drifted across the dark sky like shadows, moving swiftly as if the thunder and lightning couldn’t wait to make its entrance.

“Guys, calm down. We’ve been clocking this storm for days, and I know the news station said we were gonna be safe, but you know what I always say.

” Dustin closed and barricaded his front door, then began to walk the distance to the fields and greenhouses at the edge of the property.

It would’ve been a lot faster if they could’ve used the golf carts, but they were already secured inside the sheds.

“It’s best to be prepared… and we are. So, let’s get the property ready the best we can and make our AZ proud. ”

“Damn,” Jerry exclaimed after a moment, elbowing his brother, Joseph, in his side.

“What if it’s bad, man? What if we have to start all over again like we did last year?

I don’t know if I have the energy to repair a ruined land again, even with the magical help we had the last time from Adres and his brothers. ”

Grrr. Dustin tried to not think of the attack that happened almost a year ago on the Volkov alphas by an evil force that had almost succeeded. It took all of them coming together and fighting as a pack, but Dustin’s fields and crops had suffered the most damage.

“If it hadn’t been for that titan and his magic, we would’ve never been able to rebuild as fast and as successfully as we did. We even added two more greenhouses after that to keep up with the overflow,” Joseph grumbled. “But that guy is long gone. It must’ve been a one-time courtesy.”

Dustin was silent while he walked with long strides, his wolf restless inside of him.

He didn’t want to hear or speak about him anymore.

About Notalus, the titan that had shown up in spectacular form and fought alongside his three brothers, shifters, and vampires to save them.

He was a man Dustin couldn’t forget, no matter how hard he tried.

And it hadn’t stopped the titan warrior from occasionally visiting him in his dreams. Vivid ones that made him relive the most intense, devastating… and erotic moments of his life.

No matter what he did or how much busywork Dustin used to occupy his mind, he remembered how Notalus had appeared before him when he’d been on his knees in one of the scorched fields, his fingers buried in the six inches of ashes before he could feel the disintegrated soil beneath it.

Dustin held in his need to scream and rage at the devastation around him as he struggled to breathe through the putrid smoke that’d settled over the entire pack land like a dense cloud. The ground trembled under his knees until he felt an approaching presence that was too powerful to ignore.

He sat atop a massive stallion that was three times larger than any horse Dustin had ever seen in his world.

A regal, emerald-green robe was clasped over his broad shoulders and held together by two leaf-shaped medallions.

The heavy cloth trailed the ground behind his horse, which he dismounted with grace while still in mid-gallop before it disappeared into the gray smog.

Dustin blinked up at a man so striking and magnificent that he found it difficult to stare directly into his eyes.

A deep, mossy-green gaze that was the perfect blend of jade and peridot.

He looked ten feet tall when he’d been on the back of that stallion, but now, staring up at him, he appeared more around his own height.

Dustin inhaled sharply as a rough hand cupped his chin, and fresh air flowed down his lungs.

A gust of wind caught beneath his legs and raised him off the ground.

“The pack will starve. How can we live off the land when there is no land?” Dustin had never felt so defeated in all of his life. Raw agony tore into every fiber of his being as failure settled into his bones.

“Fear not.”

Dustin didn’t know that a simple touch and two words could provide such comfort.

The man’s voice and language sounded ancient, as if he was far wiser than his years.

Dustin stood to his feet before a hero, a titan, feeling unworthy in his soot- and grime-covered overalls, but he didn’t care as he got lost in that concentrated glare.

The titan was a remarkable man to gaze upon but even harder to look away from.

Dustin stood in the middle of disaster and ruin, years of his hard work and dedication wiped out within minutes.

The titan was standing far closer to him than he should a stranger, but Dustin didn’t move, and he didn’t dare object.

The man flung one side of his robe off his shoulder, and Dustin got a whiff of his scent over the scorched land.

He smelled like the woods on a warm autumn afternoon.

He began to repeatedly move his muscular arms around in a circle until the ashes began to rise and spin into a cyclone, gathering until all of the land was clear of the ashes and ruin.

The titan opened his arms wide, his eyes closed as if he was waiting for a hug as he whispered words Dustin couldn’t hear.

The wind picked up, warm and damp like the start of a fall rain shower.

By the time the warrior was finished, Dustin was left speechless.

He didn’t know what to think or feel as raw emotion burned in his center.

A confident, calloused palm touched his jaw, thick fingers pressing into the scruff of his beard.

Dustin had a sudden urge to clamp both of his hands over the titan’s where it held him so he could keep him from moving, ever. But he remained still, mesmerized.

“Calm your mind, beautiful human.”

Dustin gasped at the honey-coated words and chanced a look up, the vision before him almost knocking him on his ass. It’d been years for him, but Dustin had no doubt that he saw desire and appreciation in the man’s green gaze.

“Your fields will blossom again at first light. Plant your new harvest, and you will see bountiful rewards. Your pack will eat and be healthy.”

It was a small relief that the spring and summer months had been so warm, and now that autumn was upon them, their fields were primed for their fall crops.

Neither of them moved, and the titan didn’t speak for a long moment, nor did he step away as his thick eyebrows dipped low like he was confused.

Or curious, Dustin couldn’t tell. The man’s large hands cupped his face, then slid behind his head to the nape of his neck.

Dustin’s heart beat a bass drum behind his rib cage, his wolf pacing and howling for him to get closer to absorb more of this man, this earth soldier’s potent energy.

The touch was intimate, close, their bodies only inches apart, the hulking man’s glare lingering on his mouth before slowly traveling back to his eyes.

“Who are you? What is your name?”

It took Dustin a minute to find his voice.

He’d just seen this godlike man come through the clouds on a horse not of this world.

He didn’t exactly know who or what he was, but the fact that the beast of a man called him “human” had to mean that this warrior wasn’t.

Dustin didn’t even know what direction he’d come from, only that he fell from the sky like an angel.

Is that what he was? Dustin had never seen an angel decked out in so much suede and leather with a four-foot sword that shimmered bronze when it was in his hands.

“My name is Dustin Constus Hill,” he finally managed on a husky whisper. “I harvest the land for the pack.”

“Noble indeed,” the man rasped, his voice lowering to a puff of air that brushed across Dustin’s forehead. “I too, harvest for my lands.”

To Dustin’s absolute dismay, the sexy man oh so slowly dragged his hands down his cheeks until they were gone and back at his sides.

“My brother has found his true love here and has decided to make these pack lands his home instead of in the western realm. I will always come to his aid if he calls. And if you ever need me…” The titan placed his hand in the center of Dustin’s chest and closed his eyes, making his wolf go insane with want.

The man spoke to Dustin without opening his mouth, but he still heard the words as clearly as if he’d spoken them aloud as a damp breeze touched his earlobe.

“I am Notalus Cavalerie, Lord of Tir an Fhomhair. Do not forget me, handsome mortal. Whisper my name on the south winds, and I will come for you.”

Shifters began to come out of their cabins when the darkness lifted and the moon broke through the clouds, casting a light on the land they’d feared was gone forever. Dustin waved the shifters over to let them know it was okay—they were all going to be okay.

But when he turned back to Notalus to thank him for his help… he was gone.