Hi Anne ,
Since you are using s.t() in Event based Rules Hence when after loading the page , if you are clicking any of the link , Link Click event is getting tracked as page View and consequently all the custom variables & Events set on the page also getting tracked with link tracking calls.
Please do let us know if you have any questions or queries. Also, Please share your website URL as well as DTM Account login details in a private message if you want us to debug the issue at our end.
Thanks & Regards
Parit Mittal