Page 48 of Unbearable Attraction
The messenger cleared his throat from the doorway. "Miss Carrow? I do require an answer."
"Tell them I'll be there within the week," she said without looking away from Luka.
"No." The word came out as a growl. "Tell them she's declined their invitation."
"It's not an invitation, it's a summons." Leenah's blue eyes flashed with the kind of determined resignation he'd seen in her face when she'd prepared for the dangerous ritual. "And ignoring it will only make things worse."
The messenger departed with her acceptance, leaving them alone with the weight of what she'd just agreed to. Luka could feel her fear, anger, and underneath it all, the bone-deep exhaustion that came from having to fight battles she'd thought were finished.
"They can't force you to go," he said, moving closer. "Whatever threats they're making, we can find another way to handle them."
"Can we? These are people who've spent decades navigating supernatural politics in Salem. They know exactly which pressure points to apply to get what they want." She sank into her armchair, suddenly looking smaller and more vulnerable than he'd ever seen her. "My family never approved of my necromantic abilities. To them, I was always too much like my grandmother—too strange, too powerful, too willing to embrace gifts they thought should be hidden."
"What do you mean?"
"Salem's supernatural community is built on blending in, on being just magical enough to maintain their heritage but not so powerful that they attract unwanted attention. My father and his siblings have minimal abilities—hedge magic, basic protective wards, nothing that would mark them as different from ordinary witches." Her voice grew bitter. "Then I came along withnecromantic gifts that made everyone uncomfortable, including other supernatural families."
"So they tried to suppress your abilities?"
"They tried to pretend I didn't have them. When that didn't work, they sent me away to distant relatives who treated me like a burden rather than family." She looked up at him with eyes that held decades of old hurt. "Even in the supernatural community, necromancy makes people nervous. Too close to death magic, too unpredictable, too outside the normal range of acceptable abilities."
The picture she painted made him angry at people who'd taken a gifted child and made her feel like a freak for powers she couldn't control. "They don't deserve you."
"Maybe not. But they're still family, and family dysfunction can destroy more than just personal relationships. If they follow through on their threats, it could affect every supernatural community I've worked with, every spirit I've helped find peace."
"So you're just going to go back and let them tear you down again?"
"I'm going to go back and handle this before it gets worse." She stood, her posture straightening with grim determination. "Alone."
The word hit him like ice water. "The hell you are."
"This is my family, my problem. I won't drag you into their dysfunction."
"We're bonded, Leenah. Your problems are my problems now, whether you like it or not."
"That's exactly the kind of thinking that will make this situation worse." Her voice carried the sharp edge that appeared whenever her independence was challenged. "They'll see you as proof that I've been corrupted by outside influences, that my 'reckless magical practices' have led me to inappropriate relationships."
"Inappropriate?" His bear surged toward the surface, territorial fury making his voice drop to a dangerous rumble. "There's nothing inappropriate about what we have."
"Try explaining that to people who think necromancy is inherently dangerous and that bonding with a bear shifter proves I've lost all judgment." She moved toward her bedroom, clearly intending to pack. "This is something I have to handle alone."
"No." He followed her, his larger frame filling the doorway. "You don't get to make that decision unilaterally."
"Watch me."
The flat defiance in her voice triggered every protective instinct he possessed. His bear wanted to physically block her path, to make it impossible for her to leave their territory and face people who'd already hurt her once. But his human mind recognized the trap—using his strength to override her choices would prove her family's point about their relationship being unhealthy.
"They're going to try to break you down," he said, forcing his voice to remain calm. "They're going to use every insecurity, every moment of self-doubt, every fear about your abilities being dangerous or wrong. And you want to face that alone?"
"I've faced it alone before."
"That was before you had someone who sees your gifts as precious rather than problematic." He stepped closer, close enough to see the fear she was trying to hide behind stubborn determination. "That was before you had someone who knows your worth and won't let you forget it."
"And what happens when their threats extend to you? When they start spreading rumors about dangerous bear shifters corrupting young necromancers? When they use our bond as evidence that I'm mentally unstable?" Her voice cracked slightly. "I won't let them destroy what we've built together."
"They can't destroy anything we don't let them destroy."
"Can't they? You don't know my family, Luka. You don't understand how they operate." She pulled a suitcase from her closet, her movements sharp with suppressed emotion. "They'll find ways to make our bond look like magical coercion. They'll suggest that my recent activities have been influenced by inappropriate relationships rather than professional growth."
