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

The danger presented itself much like quicksand: It was only once it was too late and the first foot had already sunk that it become apparent.

There was murder in his eyes and a deadly calm to him that was more terrifying than had he been to snarl and puff out his chest. There was no curl to his lip, nor any sign of refuting to his stance.

I had seen Sterling so mad that the furniture had ended up in splinters, and I had seen him so mad that he had run for miles just to outpace his anger.

But this was a different breed of anger entirely; this was when he was at his most dangerous.

Chapter74