Her voice was firm, but I caught the slight tremor underneath. The flicker of fear she couldn't quite hide.
Ula, still hovering at the edge of the room, tilted her head. "The scent at Krystal's house was almost like a wolf's, but wrong. Decayed."
My stomach twisted. "A rogue who doesn't smell right. Who leaves no real trace except for the destruction and messages." I glanced at Gavin, reading the unease in his face. The same unease that had settled like a lead weight in my gut. "We're missing something."
Krystal cleared her throat, drawing our attention. "Then let's stop waiting and make them come to us."
I frowned, not liking where this was going. Not liking it one bit. "What are you talking about?"
Rissa exchanged a look with Krystal, and a silent conversation passed between them. When she turned back to me, her determination was etched in every line of her face. "We should be the bait."
Silence fell over the room like a suffocating blanket. For a moment, no one moved. No one even seemed to breathe.
Then Gavin barked out a sharp laugh, the sound devoid of any humor. "Absolutely not."
I shook my head, my wolf snarling and snapping inside me. "No way in hell."
The thought of Rissa putting herself in danger, of Krystal risking her life, made my blood run cold. Every instinct I had as an alpha and as a man rebelled against the idea.
But even as I opened my mouth to shut it down, to put an end to this insanity before it could take root, I saw the determination in their faces. The resolve. They weren't going to back down. Not from this.
And God help me; a small, traitorous part of me wondered if they might be right. If using themselves as bait, as much as it made my skin crawl, might be our best chance at drawing out the rogue.
Krystal straightened her spine and lifted her chin. "Think about it. The rogue has been circling us, getting bolder. If they want to come after us, let's give them a reason to."
"With proper backup," Rissa added quickly, as if she could read the protest forming on my lips. "We won't be alone."
Gavin slammed his fist against the table, the wood groaning under the impact. "You think I'm going to let my sister and Nathan’s niece be used as bait?"
I leveled them both with a look, pouring every ounce of alpha authority into my voice. "Not happening."
But the women didn't so much as flinch. If anything, their resolve hardened, their eyes glinting with a challenge.
Krystal crossed her arms. "And what's your alternative? Wait around for the rogue to come after us again? What if next time they don't leave a message and just take one ofus?"
The words hit me like a punch to the gut. Because, as much as I hated to admit it, she had a point. We couldn't just sit around waiting for the rogue to strike again. Waiting for them to hurt someone I cared about.
Ula broke the silence, her sharp golden gaze locked onto mine. "They have a point."
I growled low in my throat. "Not helping, Ula."
Caleb shrugged, clearly amused by the whole thing. "She's right, though. If we control the circumstances, we might actually have a chance to catch them."
Rissa leaned forward, her gaze unrelenting. "If we do this, it has to be on our terms. We stay relatively close to the pack house. The enforcers are hidden close by. If anything seems off, we pull out immediately."
I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached. My wolf was practically foaming at the mouth, demanding I shut this down now. Put an end to this madness before it could go any further.
But the logic was undeniable. As much as I hated it, as much as every instinct I had rebelled against the idea of putting Rissa and Krystal in danger, I couldn't deny that they had a point.
That using them as bait, as carefully controlled as possible, might be our best chance at drawing out the rogue, at protecting our pack.
At keeping the people I cared about safe.
I dragged a hand down my face, my mind racing. Trying to find another solution, another way. But I kept coming up empty.
Finally, I let out a breath, the sound harsh in the tense silence of the room. "I don't like this. Not one damn bit."
Rissa's expression softened just a touch. "We know. But it's our choice."
