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

Curls still damp, pink, and somewhat sticky, it sprayed me as his head whipped up to meet me. His eyes still looked sore, but it seemed almost unnoticeable beneath the way his eyes went wide as he looked at me. /"No showty?/"

/"No shouting. No telling you off. Didn't you know, Lou?/"

Thinking back to that dumb film that Johno had once made Lumen watch, the one that Lumen had once quoted himself, I said, /"You're a wizard, Harry./"

And like the fourth of July, his face became a display of excitement. /"I a wizzar, 'Arry./"

Chapter119