MATED TO FATHER, FAT Chapter 69: BAIT

Chapter 69: BAIT

ALPHA CORVIN

Amaris voicing out a suggestion was not something I had anticipated. Zoya had always kept quiet in these meetings, yes occasionally she would have a thing or two to say but they were more of motivations than opinions or suggestions.

I looked at her and felt irritation rise in my chest. "You don’t have to contribute, Amaris. This is a pack business that does not concern you."

She frowned and I watched her spine straighten, watched that stubborn defiance I was starting to recognize flash across her face.

"Would you let her talk or does your ego not allow it?" Ryker interjected, his voice rude and lacked any sort of reverence.

I glared at him and then back at Amaris who was now scowling at Ryker. Apparently him defending her did not impress her which was interesting because that was an uncommon reaction to someone siding you.

I sighed. "Fine. Go ahead. What do you mean by making him come out?"

Amaris took a breath and when she spoke her voice was steadier. "Clearly Victor is vengeful because you took his mate. His entire motivation is rooted in that loss." She paused. "What if we use me as bait to draw him out?"

The room erupted.

Sentinels gasped, Beta Marco’s eyes went wide, Cole looked like he had been slapped, and Rowan sat forward looking alarmed.

Ryker was smirking in a purely sadistic way. Sometimes I wonder, who he inherited his sadistic ways from but I had no time to answer that question as my mind struggled to comprehend whatever she was saying.

"Are you insane, woman?" I snapped, my hands slamming down on the table hard enough to make the wood rattle. "What do you mean we use you as bait?"

Amaris did not flinch, just looked at me with those amber eyes that were clearer now, focused in a way they had not been when she first walked in.

"Victor approached me at the engagement party. He was interested in me, wanted to tell me things about you and Freya." She glanced around the table.

He approached her? Why was I just hearing about it now, but I had no time to question as she kept on rambling.

"If he is motivated by taking things you care about, then me being publicly presented as your mate makes me a target he might actually pursue."

"Absolutely not," I stated firmly.

"It is actually not a terrible idea," Ryker mused, still wearing that infuriating smirk.

"Victor does have a pattern of targeting what you value. He tried to destroy the pack to take your legacy. Using Amaris as bait plays into his established behavioral patterns."

"You are not helping," I growled at him.

"I am just saying the logic is sound," Ryker shrugged.

Rowan interjected before I could retort. "The logic might be sound but the risk is unacceptable. Victor is unstable and unpredictable. If he gets his hands on Amaris—" He stopped himself.

I noticed he did not finish that sentence, noticed the way his hands had curled into fists on the table.

"If Victor gets his hands on her he will kill her," I finished for him. "Slowly and painfully. That is what he does. That is who he is." I turned my full attention to Amaris. "You have no idea what you are suggesting."

"Then explain it to me," she challenged. "Because from where I am sitting, I am already a target just by being your intended mate. At least if we use that intentionally we can control some variables."

She was not wrong.

The realization was uncomfortable to bare because I hated when people I wanted to dismiss as naive or foolish said things that were strategically sound.

Victor would come after Amaris eventually regardless of what we did. She was right that being publicly presented as my mate painted a target on her back, made her the next logical victim in whatever revenge plot Victor was constructing.

But there was a difference between acknowledging that reality and actively using her as bait.

"The full moon is in three days," Beta Marco pointed out quietly. "If we were going to attempt something like this, that would be the optimal time. Victor will expect the pack to be distracted by mating rituals and reduced security."

"Which makes it the perfect time to set a trap," Ryker added, his eyes gleaming with approval when he glanced at Amaris.

I looked at her sitting there with her chin raised and determination written across her face.

She was volunteering to be bait.

Volunteering to put herself in danger to help a pack she wasn’t part of, to help me even though I had made it abundantly clear she meant nothing beyond her reproductive capabilities.

Why?

What did she gain from this except the very real possibility of ending up dead or worse?

"No," I stated firmly. "We will find another way."

"There is no other way," Amaris countered. "You said it yourself, Victor is smart. He won’t reveal himself unless he sees an opportunity he can’t resist." She leaned forward. "I am that opportunity."

"She has a point," Cole said quietly, and I turned to glare at him. "I am not saying I like it. But strategically, using known assets to draw out enemies is sound tactical planning."

"Thank you for the combat assessment," I bit out. "But this is not a battlefield exercise. This is a living person we are discussing using as bait for a psychopath."

"I am aware," Amaris interjected. "I am the living person in question. And I am telling you I want to do this."

"We will discuss this further," I announced, standing up to signal the meeting was over. "No decisions will be made until we have concrete intelligence on Victor’s location and capabilities."

I looked directly at Amaris. "And you will not take any action without explicit approval. Is that understood?"

She nodded. "Yes Alpha Corvin."

The room began to empty, people filing out while discussing the meeting in hushed tones.

I stayed seated watching Amaris stand and smooth down her dress, watching Ryker’s eyes track her movements from across the room, watching Rowan deliberately not look at her while clearly being hyperaware of exactly where she was.

Something was happening between my sons, maybe their rivalry was escalating just as it did with Freya. I don’t want another crisis like that.

Beta Marco lingered after everyone else left, waiting until it was just the two of us.

"You are actually considering her proposal," he observed.

"It has strategic merit," I admitted reluctantly.

"It also puts her in direct danger," Marco countered. "And despite your best efforts to remain detached, you care about what happens to her."

I glared at him. "I care about protecting my assets."

"Keep telling yourself that," Marco responded, gathering his folders. "But I have known you too long. You like her, I have seen how you look at her."