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

/"Some of my pride celebrates Christmas,/" Axe said softly. /"And with the worst of this over, Lavoe was talking about all of us heading back home. I won't keep my people away from their families longer than I have to./" He nudged his head at the two boys who had lost themselves to sticker Heaven, paying us no more mind as they shoved them on one another's cheeks. Lumen tried to eat one and ended up choking until Clarke swooped to his rescue. /"Which leaves us with a problem. How are we going to work this? I think it would be unfair to make them celebrate apart now./"

Jonathan faltered, as though he hadn't even considered that. Clarke looked crestfallen.

/"Can't we all just stay here, even if the packs have to go home?/" Clarke asked in a small voice, sounding quite like a child himself. /"Cuz we're like a family now, so we have to spend it together. Cyrus said he'd be coming back in a day or two./"

Chapter137