Page 27 of Sassy Embrace

He grinned, and his incisors appeared slightly elongated. They sparkled in the dim light of the club.

But his statement was irksome. It was the second time he’d used nearly the exact same phrase.

“I know you are, but Aria wants us both in this equally,” Leigh said evenly, stroking his forearm. “It's important that we show that wolves and vampires can co-exist. You know, foroptics."

She said the final word with sarcastic disdain, but Claude didn't seem to pick up on it. He’d returned to his fixation on the door, a frown creasing his generally smooth forehead.

That ominous feeling washed over the wolf again.

"All right, we're good to go,” a reporter said and ushered them outside.

The sunlight was filmy through the gray skies, but Leigh still felt the need to squint. She scanned the crowd to find there were six different news stations that specialized in shifter and supernatural relations, along with reporters.

A nervousness tugged at her gut, and Leigh banished it. She had been the face of many organizations before the Wolfe family had approached her aboutEmbraced.She wasn't intimidated by attention, not even in the slightest.

She took a step forward to the podium, her back as straight as an arrow. She cleared her throat as the light on the cameras flicked from red to green. Then she let go and allowed her effervescence to shine.

"Thank you all for coming today. My name is Shirley Rosario. You will all know me as friends of the generous Wolfe family. Today, I am much more than that. I am here as a part of a union that will send ripples through time, an extension of an olive branch that goes beyond that of opening a club."

The gathered crowd mumbled with curiosity. Leigh looked over her shoulder at Claude and beckoned him with her arm outstretched.

She raised her eyebrows at him as he went to the microphone, pictures snapping.

“My name is Claude. I have worked with Leigh to get this club up and running. That is because Embraced is now not only going to be open to vampires, but to wolves as well."

The crowd gasped, mouths agape. There was no nuance to how he spoke. Leigh felt her heart hammering in her chest as thecamera clicked madly. She stepped next to Claude and laid her hand on his back, stroking it up and down.

She made sure that the cameras saw the intimate gesture. Then she stepped in front of him, and he drifted aside.

“We are a shining example of how vampires and wolves cannot only work together in a professional environment, but within a personal relationship too. Please mark your calendars for the opening of Embraced!”

Leigh began to clap and smile, and eventually a few of the reporters did as well. They all were cheering by the end of the conference, and when the lights switched from green to red, they congratulated her.

By that point, Claude had snuck back inside.

When Leigh was finished shaking hands with every reporter, who all expressed intrigue and interest about the shocking revelation, she went back into the club. She found Claude sitting at the main bar, beneath the smoldering scarlet light.

“What was that?” she snapped at him.

He turned to her, downtrodden. She swallowed and reeled herself back in before speaking.

“What do you mean?"

“I mean, you didn't have much to say and slipped inside too quickly. You have to show your face at these kinds of things and talk to people. I know it's not your thing, but..."

Both of their phones began to chime with incessant notifications. They picked them up at the same time and began to scroll.

What Leigh saw there was mortifying.

“What does this wolf woman think she's doing? Blending wolves and vampires is a terrible idea. I’m kinda interested in watching this blow up in her face though,”a user said.

“A vampire and a wolf fucking? What kind of abomination is this?”Someone on social media wrote.

“Just because you two are in bed together doesn't mean we want to start blending again LOL.”

The more comments on social media Leigh read, the more her stomach twisted. There was not a single positive remark made about the club attempting to mend fences between vampires and wolves.

It made her sick enough to shove the phone away. Claude stared at his, distant.

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