Embraced By Darkness (Riley Jenson Guardian 5)

"Yeah. What's it to you?"

I held my badge in front of her. "I'm here about Adrienne."

She finally looked at me again. "Why? What is she to you?"

The slight edge in her voice had my eyebrows rising, if only because it oddly seemed to hint at jealousy. "Her alpha has asked me to investigate her disappearance."

She snorted. "That bastard didn't give a damn about her, not as long as she obeyed his edicts and behaved like a girl should."

"So he had a suspicion you and Adrienne were lovers?"

She blinked, and for an instant, fear slithered across her face. Not that I blamed her. I'd spent many years afraid of Blake and his get.

"Why the fuck would you think something like that?"

"Because it's true? Few people would try to kill themselves just because they believed a friend was dead."

She looked away and didn't say anything.

"Look, her father thinks she's in serious trouble, so any information you can provide might just help bring her back."

"She won't ever come back."

"And why would you think that?"

"Because she's dead."

I blinked. "Her father doesn't seem to think so."

"Her father is a goddamn moron. He doesn't know Adrienne. He never has."

"He's a clairvoyant. That would give him - "

"Nothing," she spat. "Nothing compared to what I have."

"And that is?"

"Love." She closed her eyes. "She's dead. I can feel it."

The pain in her voice had me wanting to reach out and comfort her, but I had a strong feeling any such move would be rejected. "What story was Adrienne working on before she disappeared?"

"I'm not really sure. It was something to do with the club - something she saw there." Jodie shrugged. "She never really talked about her work much at home. That was our rule."

"What club arc we talking about?" Even though I'd already guessed the answer, I asked the question all the same. Better to get a sure answer than to be proved wrong later. "Mirror Image?"

She nodded.

"So they do allow humans and werewolves to intermingle sexually there?"

"Yeah. There's a no claws or violence rule, though. Anyone seen getting a little too heavy with a human gets thrown out." She looked at me coldly. "Don't tell me you're one of those wolves who believes a no-mingling-with-the-humans rule is safer for everyone?"

"I've seen what a werewolf in a sexual frenzy can do to another wolf. A human wouldn't last."

She snorted. "You misjudge the strength of humans."

"Or you're overestimating it."

If there was one inescapable fact in this world, it was that werewolves were stronger than humans. We might not be able to rip someone apart limb by limb, but we could rent and tear and brutalize. And if we were in the midst of moon fever, we might not even realize we were doing it until it was all too late.