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

It was still dark when the car came to a stop. Surrounded by a ferocious terrain that was foreign to all of us, and with little clue where exactly we needed to go to find our accused nemeses, it was a mutual agreement that we would wait until daybreak until we began our search.

Which was fucking suicidal. Entering uncharted territory with nothing more than our noses for guidance, a name, Axe Custer, for distinction, and a tall-tale as our sales pitch . . . well, even as Clarke made little work on catching some Z's, propping his seat back and out like a light as soon as his peepers closed, I couldn't.

As much as I tried not to, my thoughts eventually turned to Lumen. I had spent hours trying to avoid thinking about him, but as soon as the car had drolled to a stop, all bets had been called off and his stupid little face kept flashing before my eyes.

Chapter48