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

I told him about the fiery-haired demon.

I told him how he claimed to be Lumen's biological father.

I told him how he had claimed to have led me to Lumen through a game of chase; he insisted that he had been checking out multiple Alphas, testing their strength and their character, deciding which one would have been best to assign to protect his child.

He claimed that he was neither good nor evil, just a force that was interpreted by the eye of the beholder. He did both acts of hero and sinner, yet claimed to be neither. Lumen, he swore, would hold the same potential. He didn't have to be evil any more than he had to be good. Nurture would triumph nature, the demon had reassured.

I told him of how the demon had warned me, of how he had spoken of forgotten enemies, creatures lost to time and legend. They were coming for us; they were coming for Lumen.

Chapter38