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

/"Isolate the younglings,/" I said at last. /"Make it so that their routes never cross with one another's. The fight was started by those barely out of their cub-years, Star. Our young can be just as aggressive as his during that stage./"

/"But his younglings are the ones who can't be controlled. They started it./"

/"Allegedly,/" Custer snapped back. /"There's no proof that-/"

/"It doesn't matter. We're working together now, no? So there aren't fingers to point. We can't pass the blame to each other. We just deal with it. The fact of the matter is that younglings, from both sides, trashed the village last night by getting pissed and fighting. I say that anybody under twenty-five is restricted from consuming alcohol, and kept separate. The lions young do not mix with our cubs, and vice versa. It keeps the peace. We have bigger issues to worry about./"

Chapter95