Page 31 of Sassy Embrace

“Barbara, I’m sorry,” Leigh croaked, gathering up the empty wine bottles and glasses hurriedly. “It's been a rough few days.”

“I figured, darling,” Barbara said, sitting on the couch and ignoring the blanket and pillow. “Come. Sit. Talk to me.”

Leigh was reluctant, but Barbara had always felt like a mother to her. There wasn’t anyone else she would have allowed inside with a headache that felt like an ice pick being slammed into her skull.

Barbara gazed down into Leigh’s arms, which were full of the wine bottles and glasses. She then motioned toward the bathroom with her chin.

“Do you have aspirin?”

Leigh nodded.

Barbara went to the bathroom, flicked on the light, and retrieved the painkillers. Leigh put the wine bottles and glasses in the sink, then met with Barbara back on the couch.

“Water,” Barbara said. “Drink some water, darling."

“Oh, yes."

Leigh got water from the kitchen and swallowed three painkillers. She groaned, her throat as dry and gritty as a desert.

“So tell me what’s going on?” Barbara inquired.

They sat on the couch next to each other while yet another storm brewed outside. But the ache in her chest remained. She cleared her throat and spoke toward the floor.

“I’m not happy with the response to the announcement. It’s pretty scathing. I know that it’s going to take time for people to really get on board with the mixture of the two supernaturals, but still. People have been reallynasty.”

Leigh bit into the word with a fury she hadn’t anticipated. Barbara looked at her with a cocked eyebrow, balancing her coffee on her knee.

“That’s not what you’re really upset about though, is it?”

Leigh met Barbara’s eyes. They were smooth and blue like a calm ocean. How could she not confess her deepest secrets to her?

Leigh sighed, then let it all cascade from the well of her soul.

“You’re right. It’s not just because of the reaction to the club. It’s because of Claude… he… I think he’s my mate, Barbara.”

She expected the sage wolf to waiver, but she didn’t. She stared at Leigh, contemplatively.

“Wolves don’t just think they’ve found a fated mate, Leigh, they know it. The way they know the taste of sugary sweetness on their tongue. The way they feel a violent gust of wind. Tell me what you really feel."

Leigh sat up straight. Her headache had nearly dissipated completely and her confidence was rising.

“Heismy mate. Claude, a fucking vampire, is my mate."

“And that bothers you?”

Leigh leaned back against the couch and fixed her gaze on the ceiling. Barbara continued to listen intently.

“I always thought that if I found my mate, it would be a wolf. Finding it to be a vampire has… disturbed me. It doesn’t make any sense. I don’t see how it can work."

Barbara placed a hand on Leigh’s knee, and Leigh looked down. Barbara was smirking, completely unfazed.

“You spend so much time in clubs and bars, honey. It really doesn’t surprise me that someone other than our kind has turned out to be your mate. I get that you weren’t expecting it, but it must feel somewhat refreshing, no?”

Leigh glowered.

“Do you think that a Wolfe pack member mating with a vampire is something that our community is going to embrace with open arms? They’d stop visiting the other clubs because I’d be seen as a traitor.”

Barbara scoffed and cut her hand through the air.

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