Page 54 of Unbearable Attraction
"How touching," came a new voice from the doorway. "The protective shifter arrives to rescue his bonded necromancer."
The man who entered radiated the kind of polished arrogance that came from generations of inherited power. Tall, expensively dressed, with dark hair and sharp features that might have been handsome if not for the calculating coldness inhis eyes. He moved like someone accustomed to being the most important person in any room.
"Edmund Blackthorne," he said, extending a hand that Luka ignored. "I've heard quite a lot about you."
"Can't say the same." Luka's bear was snarling now, recognizing a threat to his mate. "Who are you?"
"The necromancer offering Miss Carrow protection and resources appropriate to her abilities," Edmund corrected smoothly. "Unlike certain... relationships... that expose her to unnecessary political complications."
"The only complication I see is you thinking you have any claim to her."
"I have an understanding with her family about a mutually beneficial arrangement." Edmund's smile held predatory satisfaction. "One that would provide Miss Carrow with the kind of support network her current choices cannot offer."
"She already has a support network. Me."
"A shifter with no political connections, no understanding of necromantic practice, and no ability to protect her from families who view powerful independent practitioners as threats?" Edmund's laugh was genuinely amused. "How exactly do you propose to shield her from supernatural political retaliation?"
"By making it clear that anyone who threatens her answers to me."
The casual statement made everyone in the room tense. Margaret's face went white, Robert's jaw clenched with barely controlled anger, and Edmund's expression shifted from amusement to calculation.
"Are you threatening established supernatural families?" Edmund asked quietly.
"I'm explaining consequences." Luka's voice dropped to the dangerous rumble that preceded violence. "Touch her, threatenher, manipulate her into choices she doesn't want to make, and discover what happens when you corner a bear shifter's mate."
"Luka," Leenah said sharply, but he felt her relief at his presence despite her words.
"Fascinating," Edmund murmured, studying Luka with new interest. "The bond between you runs deeper than simple magical partnership, doesn't it? You're actually mated to her in ways that go beyond conscious choice."
"What we are is none of your business."
"On the contrary, it's very much my business if I'm to consider Miss Carrow as a potential partner." Edmund moved closer to Leenah, close enough that Luka's bear roared with territorial fury. "Existing mate bonds can be... problematic... for future magical alliances."
"Get away from her."
"Or what? You'll start a supernatural incident in the middle of Salem's most prominent magical district?" Edmund's smile was sharp with triumph. "That would certainly prove Miss Carrow's family right about the destabilizing influence of inappropriate relationships."
The standoff stretched between them, loaded with the kind of tension that preceded either violence or complete humiliation. Luka could feel his bear pushing toward the surface, every instinct demanding he remove the threat to his mate regardless of political consequences.
But attacking Edmund would prove everything her family believed about their relationship being dangerous and uncontrolled.
"Enough." Leenah stepped between them, her voice carrying authority neither man had expected. "Edmund, thank you for the offer, but I'm not interested in any arrangement that treats me like property to be negotiated over."
"Miss Carrow, I think you're misunderstanding?—"
"I understand perfectly. You want access to my abilities and the political advantage that comes from controlling a successful necromancer." Her blue eyes blazed with anger that had been building for days. "The answer is no."
"Perhaps you should consider the broader implications of that decision," Robert said carefully. "Edmund's family offers protection from?—"
"From threats that conveniently appear whenever I don't comply with your demands?" Leenah's sounded of steel that Luka had seen when she faced down ancient spirits. "I'm done being manipulated by people who see my gifts as either shameful secrets or valuable commodities."
"Then you're choosing to endanger everyone without interference?" Margaret's voice held genuine shock.
"I'm choosing to trust that my work speaks for itself," Leenah replied firmly. "And that the people who matter will judge me by my actions rather than my family connections."
She moved toward Luka, and he felt their bond strengthen as she made her choice clear to everyone in the room.
"We're leaving," she said quietly. "Both of us. Together."
