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 cried when Jonathan left to go and get his Pooh bear — which had actually been at King Lou's demand — and only settled once his mama returned, Pooh in one hand, and the vial of fuck-knows-what in the other.

/"My littlest light,/" Jonathan said as he dropped down, adopting a cross-legged position in front of Lou, who was on my lap. /"This is the medicine that Kenai needs you to taste. It will make your hand all better, and it will mean that the nasty doctor man doesn't have to give you any more injections./"

/"Daddy say jection dis big./" Lumen spread his arms as wide as they would go, mimicking the threat I had made to him a while ago. /"And nastee man stabby Lou with jection dis big./" He spread his arms out just as wide, because he was a fucking drama queen.

/"Beebee,/" Lumen corrected Jonathan. /"I daddy and mommy beebee./"

Chapter90