Page 49 of Unbearable Attraction
"Then we prove them wrong."
"How? By letting them see how possessive you get when someone threatens me? By demonstrating that you're willing to override my decisions when you think you know better?" She turned to face him, tears threatening in her eyes. "They'll take one look at this conversation and declare you a controlling influence who's warped my judgment."
The accusation stung because it held enough truth to hurt. His bear's reaction to threats against her was possessive, territorial, exactly the kind of behavior her family would seize on as proof of their claims. But the alternative—letting her face them alone—felt like abandoning her when she needed support most.
"So what do you want me to do?" he asked, the question coming out more vulnerable than he'd intended. "Stand by and watch you walk into a situation designed to tear you down? Pretend that our bond doesn't make me want to protect you from people who've already hurt you?"
"I want you to trust me to handle this." Her voice softened slightly, recognizing the pain beneath his frustration. "I want you to believe that I'm strong enough to face my family and come back to you intact."
"I know you're strong enough. That's not the point."
"Then what is the point?"
"The point is that I love you, and love makes it impossible to stand by while someone you care about walks into danger."He reached for her hands, relieved when she didn't pull away. "The point is that partnerships mean facing problems together, not protecting each other from the messy realities of family dysfunction."
"Then what do you suggest? Because every option feels like a trap."
"Don't go." The words came out more forceful than he'd intended. "Stay here, with people who value your gifts instead of condemning them. Let them file their formal charges if they want—we'll fight them through proper supernatural legal channels."
"And if those charges stick? If they manage to convince the authorities that I'm a dangerous practitioner who needs oversight?" She pulled her hands free, wrapping her arms around herself. "That kind of judgment could follow me everywhere, affect every community I try to help."
"Or we could call their bluff. Your family doesn't want scandal any more than you do. Public magical misconduct hearings would draw exactly the kind of attention they've spent decades avoiding."
She was quiet and he could feel her internal struggle, hope warring with fear, the desire to stay safe in Hollow Oak battling against years of ingrained obligation to family expectations.
"They know exactly which pressure points to apply," she said finally. "They've had years to perfect their manipulation techniques."
"Then don't give them the chance to use them."
"You make it sound so simple."
"It is simple. You choose the people who love you over the people who've spent years making you feel like you're not enough." He stepped closer, his bear rumbling with protective determination. "You choose the future we're building together over the past that never accepted you."
"And if I'm wrong? If ignoring this makes everything worse?"
"Then we'll handle whatever comes next. Together." He cupped her face gently, forcing her to meet his eyes. "But I won't watch you walk back into a situation designed to tear you down just because they've learned how to weaponize your sense of responsibility."
He felt her love pulse alongside her fear, the two emotions tangled together in ways that made his heart ache for the scared young woman who'd learned to expect rejection from the people who should have protected her.
"I need to think," she whispered. "This isn't a decision I can make while I'm this upset."
"Take all the time you need. But remember that you have choices now that you didn't have when you were younger. You have a community that values you, work that fulfills you, and someone who loves you exactly as you are."
She leaned into his touch, her eyes closing as she absorbed the steady comfort of his presence. But underneath her relief, he sensed the weight of old obligations and the fear that choosing her own happiness might come at a cost she wasn't prepared to pay.
"What if they're right?" she asked quietly. "What if my abilities really are dangerous, and I've just been too stubborn to see it?"
"Then you're the most magnificent kind of dangerous there is," he replied firmly. "The kind that saves people and brings peace to the restless dead and bridges worlds that have been separated for too long."
The words seemed to settle something in her expression, and he felt her fear begin to ease. But the relief was temporary, he could sense her mind already turning over possibilities, weighing options, trying to find a path that wouldn't destroyeverything she'd built while still addressing the threats her family represented.
Whatever decision she made, he'd support her. But he'd be damned if he'd let her face those manipulative bastards without a fight first.
32
LEENAH
The decision to go to Salem alone had taken Leenah two sleepless nights to make, and explaining it to Luka had nearly broken her heart. The hurt in his eyes when she'd told him she needed to face her family without him still echoed through their bond, even now as the train carried her further from Hollow Oak with each passing mile.
