it and tried not to think about her going anywhere near the front line in a fight against The Dead Dogs.
“He’s going to strike at The Oasis. One of my men caught a Dead Dog early this morning and squeezed Shawn’s plans outa him. I guess one of Shawn’s little spies heard about our annual summer party there tonight,” Luther said, resting his hands on the desk as his eyes darkened. I’d forgotten all about that, the days having merged together. “And you will all be there when he does.”
“Rogue stays out of it,” I demanded.
“No,” she said simply. “I get to kill Shawn, that’s the reason I’ve got an ugly ass tattoo on the back of my thigh.”
“Which one?” I gritted out and she threw me a death glare.
“She’s not your solider, she’s mine,” my dad growled, pulling fucking rank on me. “And Shawn’s gonna be there tonight, so the wildcat gets her shot at him. That was our deal.”
“And what was the other part of that deal, Dad?” I demanded, still having had no more information on that from Rogue.
“That’s between me and her,” he said. “Now bite your tongue and listen to me.”
I did as he said, but there were still a thousand thoughts going through my head about how I could prevent Rogue from taking part in this fight today without directly ordering it.
“Word is, Shawn’s going in hard tonight. He’s bringing a lot of men and a lot ammo. He wants this war won which means he’s going to be gunning to take me and you out, kid.”
“So what’s the plan?” JJ asked, sounding ready to go in to battle.
“I’ve got scouts trying to track down his location so we can get the jump on him, but his men never seem to take the same roads in and outa town. As you know, Shawn rarely shows his face when his men strike, but I guarantee he’ll show up tonight if he thinks he’ll get a chance to kill us.”
“Well there’s only two roads that lead to the clubhouse,” I said thoughtfully, trying to compartmentalise my concerns over Rogue as I focused on making a plan. “We could try to ambush him before he makes it to The Oasis.”
“Exactly my thinking,” Luther said with a smirk. “But he’ll be cautious, he’ll send scouts ahead to make sure we’re all definitely at the clubhouse before he risks his own neck.”
“So we let them through?” I guessed and Luther nodded, scratching at the ink on his neck.
“Which means you and me will need to show our faces there long enough for the word to get back to Shawn. Rogue too.”
“I don’t want Rogue involved in this,” I said in a growl, my hands balling into fists.
“That’s not really up to you, is it Badge?” she said and anger built in my chest.
“She’s right, and Shawn’s made it clear he’s after the girl, so I want her front and centre, dangling there like a nice juicy apple,” my dad said and anger flashed through me.
“No,” I snapped.
“Yes,” Luther hissed back. “This is happening, son, so get used to it.”
“I’ll make sure I’m the juiciest apple ever, then I’ll poison his ass when he takes a bite,” Rogue said passionately.
My heart beat frantically and I looked from her to my father to JJ whose brows were knitted together. I could see I had no choice in this which meant I needed to take control of it in another way.
“She doesn’t leave my sight and if she kills Shawn, it’ll be because he’s been handed to her on his knees with his wrists bound,” I snapped.
“You’re so ridiculous,” Rogue sighed.
I swung around, glaring down at her. “You think it’s ridiculous to protect you? To stop you from going off half-cocked and untrained to kill the most dangerous enemy we’ve ever faced?” I snapped and she rolled her eyes like I was being dramatic.
“You’ll stay with Fox,” Luther agreed and some of my panic eased, but not nearly enough.
“Great, and by the way I’m not untrained, JJ has been teaching me to shoot,” she said, raising her chin.
“You think shooting at a few glass bottles in the woods can prepare you for facing a man twice your size with years of practice hunting his victims? You don’t know what it’s like to fight for your life in that situation, Rogue.”
“Well I beat a rapist to death with an iron poker when I was sixteen despite him being three times the size of