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

<p>/"And then . . . Clarke is your Beta. That is an important role, and it meant so much to him that you made him your second. I can't take that away from him. But I want to be with him. I asked Axe permission to ask you first, and he said he'd be okay with it so long as you were./"</p>

<p>He twirled the apple before placing it on the side, still unbitten. /"I wanted to know whether you would allow me to live within your territory? I know it's a big ask, and I know that there will be a lot of people in your pack unhappy with it, so I can understand if you say no. Axe has said that he has no problem with Clarke on our territory, but as I said, he's your Beta. I can't ask that of him./"</p>

Chapter134