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

His little heart had simply broken when I had only laughed at him. Johno, who had the audacity to claim that I was the whipped one, ended up sat in the back with him, offering his shoulder as a place to snuggle, and his phone as a boredom killer.

Clarke had offered to come with us, but I gave the kid a break and told him to take a day. Jonathan was worried about him. He hadn't been his usual pain-in-the-ass self since we had come back from the land of pussies. I was hoping that a day off would cure him, because otherwise I knew that I would eventually have to talk to him and that sounded about as appealing as skinny dipping with piranhas.

It was a three and a half-hour drive to the sequestered property that Jonathan had found. It was near enough smack bang central between our two provinces, and if it looked good, it would be left with little choice but to be our temporary accommodation.

Chapter79