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

/"And you think that it will prevent any of them from granting Asher protection?/" Axe said.

/"I think it will work in our favour,/" Clyde countered. /"Nathaniel was more than willing to agree because he was trying to make up for the fact that half of Asher's army had broken away from his pack. He clearly understands how that could put him beneath our scrutiny. He can't afford to lie to us at the moment. Especially not when his pack has been damaged as it is./"

/"I just don't understand what Asher could have said to get so many to join him,/" Jonathan murmured. /"His pack when he attacked that night, it had to have been over a hundred men strong./"

Which still buckled beneath the size of my own, and seemed like a piss stream compared to all Custer's, mine and Lavoe's together, but it was enough to be a cause of worry.

Chapter139