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 wasn't sure what the fuck had happened. I wasn't sure if I wanted it to happen again. And before I had made up my mind and wrapped everything up in a neat little bow, I didn't want to expose what had happened between us. Especially if I ended up deciding it was nothing.

To look at him, to hold his gaze, I felt that everyone in the room would have been instantly aware of how we had spent the night in one anther's arms.

/"I like my tweasure, daddy,/" Lumen murmured.

/"I can tell. It's all around your face./"

The treasure had been a pit stop before picking Lumen up. Refusing to go in empty-handed and disappoint him, we had hit up a toy store until we had found a box that resembled a treasure trunk, and then hit a supermarket for the chocolate coins. It was a good job that bankcards were waterproof, cuz all the bills that had been stuffed into my pocket along with my phone had taken a one-way trip to the land of the mush.

Chapter63