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

/"Lumen,/" Star said in his deep, scary cross voice. I think he was mad because he had folded his arms over his chest and was pulling that face he always pulled just before he told me off. It looked like he had bited the sour yellow thing in the food box. /"What did you do?/"

/"I no do nothing,/" I said, frowning as I tucked my pretty pink scribbly pen into my pocket. I was stood in the feed me place, or the 'itchin' as Star called it, and I was only coming to give him nuzzlies because I had missed him. But he didn't seem very happy to see me. He had pulled a mean face.

/"You've done nothing?/" He had placed down my juicy on the side, the sucky bit not yet screwed on. He had my cheesey sticks too. Tongue poking out, it swiped across my lips, already knowing how yummy it was going to be when Star stopped being mean and gived it all to me.

Chapter45