In the silvery waterfall of moonlight, Jonathan Aztec, my second in command, holding rank as Beta of the Northridge pack, was something to behold. His powerful shoulders seemed to carry the waning gibbous, and the shadows that devoured the vast grounds of Battleridge manor granted him a wide berth.
He was a superior specimen. He was a male worthy of the ranking he'd been bestowed. But like all creatures, he wasn't born perfect, and his character flaw was a fault that bled out into the night like a severed artery: Concern.
It charged the air between us, a thick blanket that settled against the lungs like a boa-constrictor's loving embrace.
"What did you find?" I asked. The perverse silence that had entombed the dilapidated courtyard, screaming so loud it rang through my ears like a twisted lullaby, was shattered upon his approach. His boots smacked against the waterlogged ground, echoing in a way that spoke of his failures before he'd even opened his mouth. 
"Nothing,"
.......
"Until I can figure out what's going on, nobody finds out about the boy. Understand?"
"Understood."
"You're not going to ..." The pause that followed dragged out. "He's just a baby, Sterling."
"You're dismissed."

The Littlest Light

Oliver Brand was not an unreasonable man, and as though to emphasise that point, he slid me a finger of whisky over the bar counter, offering a somewhat nervous smile, his eyes bouncing around at the mass crowd that had gathered behind me.

Without turning, I necked the liquid, savouring the burn. /"Hit me again,/" was my only command as I slid the glass back across the counter. Adhering my request, another was soon poured. I didn't turn, despite the hundred-plus people that waited for me to; true power lay in the subtle details, and making sure they were all aware that they were on my time was a method I often enjoyed.

Their emotions stained the air of the large, somewhat dingy, bar, burning across it in such a multitude of variety. It seemed to alternate and adapt with each person, but still, the base emotions were the same.

Chapter14