Full Moon Rising (Riley Jenson Guardian 1)

"Then that is confidential information."

"Bastard."

He raised an eyebrow. "For someone who is so concerned, you're doing very little actually looking."

"I intended to look last night, but some moron decided I needed shooting."

The amusement fled his eyes. "What happened?"

"I'd just gotten off the train. He jumped out of the shadows and shot me." I shrugged. "These things happen to wolves."

I wasn't sure whether I was trying to reassure myself or him. After all, that wolf was the spitting image of Gautier, even if he did have a different smell

"And your attacker?"

"Dead." I hesitated. "A train hit him."

"At least it saves on paperwork." He paused, then added, "So, are you going to look for Rhoan?"

"Straight after lunch."

"It'll be interesting to see who tracks him down first - you or Kelly."

I barely restrained my grin. Little did he know that Kelly intended to do that, anyway. Still, the fact that he'd taken that step meant he was taking Rhoan's disappearance more seriously than I'd presumed. "So you are sending her out tonight?"

He nodded, and I felt a little easier. With two of us out there, surely we'd find some clue as to what was happening to him. Because something definitely was, even if the sense of wrongness had yet to peak

"Good," I said, and settled down to do some paperwork. But Jack's gaze was a weight I could almost feel. He was waiting for something, though what that something was, I had no idea

"You planning to party this afternoon, are you?" he said after a while

I glanced up at him, and he indicated the carryall. "Five days to the full moon," I said, by way of explanation

He leaned back in his chair, expression bemused. "How come you wolves never get preggers? I mean, you fuck yourself silly for seven days, and nothing ever comes out of it. And you don't take contraceptives, from what I've heard."

"How can you call a whole lot of satisfaction nothing?" I replied with a grin

He waved the comment away. "Really. I've always been curious about it."

"And you've never thought to ask a wolf? Or taken a wander through their thoughts to find out?"

"Never really cared enough to do either."

"So why ask now?"

"I hate silence."

"Yeah. Right." He hated silences as much as I hated the moon dance. Still, I couldn't see the harm in answering his question - and it wasn't like I hadn't been asked it before. "Werewolves don't take contraceptives, but we are electronically chipped to prevent conception. Don't ask me how it works, it just does. The chips are inserted under our skins at puberty and until they're taken out, we can't get pregnant."

It had been a pretty pointless exercise with me, because apparently I had some weird hormonal imbalances that meant my eggs never made the journey down to my womb. The good thing about it was the fact I didn't menstruate. The bad thing, the fact I couldn't become pregnant without medical assistance. Even then, the doctors weren't sure if I would ever get pregnant or carry to term. Actually, most of them figured I was the werewolf equivalent of a mule - all the right bits but none of the functionality. But rules were rules, and there was no getting around them even if you couldn't conceive naturally

"What happens if you do want to become pregnant?"

"You pay the government medicos five hundred bucks to take the chip out, and you can become pregnant within twenty-four hours."

"And the government forces this?"

"Yep."