Page 9 of Unbearable Attraction
Bad for ghost tour guides who made their living entertaining visitors with carefully researched stories about the town's haunted history.
The thought of Leenah dealing with supernatural disturbances alone while her income disappeared made his protective instincts flare dangerously. She was too proud to ask for help, too independent to admit when she was in over her head. But pride and independence wouldn't keep her safe if whatever she'd awakened decided to become actively hostile.
Which was why he'd left his business card at her door before returning to his workshop the previous evening. A simple gesture that probably violated a dozen rules about respecting people's boundaries, but his bear had insisted. If she needed help, when she needed help, at least she'd know where to find him.
A sharp rapping on his workshop door interrupted his brooding. Three measured knocks that carried the kind of authority that made his spine straighten automatically. Elder Varric's summons, then. The Council wanted to talk.
Luka opened the door to find a young messenger shifter, probably one of the teenage wolves from the Greenwolf pack, shifting nervously from foot to foot in the cold morning air.
"Elder Varric requests your immediate presence at the Council Glade," the boy said, delivering his message with thecareful formality that suggested he'd been practicing the words all the way here. "He says it's about the disturbances."
"Tell him I'll be there in ten minutes," Luka replied, already reaching for his heaviest flannel. Council meetings in November meant standing around in the woods while powerful supernatural beings debated supernatural politics. Not exactly conducive to staying warm.
The messenger nodded and loped away, probably relieved to be done with his official duties. Luka locked up his workshop and made his way toward the hidden path that led to the Council Glade, his bear growing more agitated with each step. Emergency meetings were never good news, and the timing suggested his workshop wasn't the only place experiencing supernatural interference.
The Council Glade sat deep in the oldest part of Hollow Oak's forest, where ancient oaks formed a natural amphitheater around a clearing that hummed with accumulated magic. Protective wards layered on protective wards, built up over centuries by some of the most powerful supernatural beings in the region. It was neutral ground in the truest sense; a place where disputes could be settled and important decisions made without outside interference.
Elder Varric stood in the middle of the clearing, his long silver braids catching the filtered sunlight as he spoke in low tones with the other Council members. Miriam Caldwell from the Hearth & Hollow Inn looked unusually grave, her half-moon spectacles perched on her nose as she consulted a leather-bound notebook. Elder Bram's expression carried its usual cold judgment, but Luka caught the edge of genuine concern beneath the stern facade.
"Ah, Luka," Varric said as he approached. "Thank you for coming so quickly. I trust you've experienced some unusual activity in your workshop this morning?"
"Tools rearranged, protective symbols burned into my workbench, and a general feeling that something's been rummaging through my space," Luka confirmed. "I'm guessing I'm not the only one?"
"Unfortunately, no." Miriam consulted her notebook. "Three businesses along Main Street, two residential properties near the lake, and the cemetery groundskeeper's shed. All reporting similar disturbances—objects moved, temperatures fluctuating, and what several witnesses described as whispered conversations in empty rooms."
"Any pattern to the locations?" Luka asked, though he was already beginning to suspect the answer.
Elder Bram's cold gaze fixed on him with uncomfortable intensity. "Every affected location was visited by Miss Carrow within the past week. Either for her ghost tours or her historical research."
"It's not her fault," Luka said immediately, his bear flaring at the implied accusation in Bram's tone.
"No one is suggesting fault," Varric said mildly, though his rain-cloud eyes held a warning about letting emotions override judgment. "However, it's clear that Miss Carrow's necromantic abilities have awakened something that prefers to remain undisturbed. The question now is how to address the situation before it escalates further."
"Have you talked to her?" Luka asked. "She might have insights about what's causing the disturbances."
"Miss Carrow is... resistant to authority," Elder Bram said with obvious distaste. "She declined our invitation to this morning's emergency session, claiming she was conducting important research that couldn't be interrupted."
Luka bit back his immediate response, which would have involved defending Leenah's right to prioritize her work over Council politics. Bram's attitude toward anyone who didn't showproper deference was well-known, and Leenah's independent streak would have rubbed him exactly the wrong way.
"So what's the plan?" he asked instead.
"We need someone to monitor the situation closely," Varric explained. "Someone she trusts, who can provide protection if needed while gathering information about the nature of these disturbances."
"You want me to spy on her." The words came out flatter than Luka had meant.
"We want you to protect her," Miriam corrected gently. "And through her, protect the rest of Hollow Oak. You were present during the initial manifestation yesterday morning. You've established a rapport with her that none of the rest of us possess."
"What kind of rapport?" Elder Bram's question carried suspicious undertones that made Luka's bear rumble with territorial aggression.
"The kind where she doesn't immediately tell me to mind my own business," Luka replied carefully. "Nothing more than that."
It was a lie, and probably everyone present knew it. His growing attraction to Leenah Carrow was hardly subtle, especially to supernatural beings whose enhanced senses could detect emotional and hormonal changes with embarrassing accuracy. But admitting his feelings would only complicate an already delicate situation.
"Can you handle the assignment?" Varric asked, his tone suggesting he was already aware of the potential complications. "Watch over her discretely, provide assistance if she requires it, and report back on any significant developments?"
Luka hesitated. Accepting meant spending time around a woman who made his inner animal pace with possessive energy and his human mind spin fantasies about domestic evenings and shared laughter. It meant watching her put herself in dangerwhile fighting every instinct that demanded he sweep her away to somewhere safe and isolated until the supernatural crisis passed.
It also meant being there if she needed help, being the person she could turn to when her pride and independence finally met a problem too big to solve alone.
