Sassy Embrace (Sassy Ever After #11)

1. Leigh

ONE

LEIGH

L eigh tied her dark hair in a ponytail as she walked through the main entrance of the Naked Wolfe.

“Mornin’, boss,” the young woman behind the counter called out to her. Her name tag read Rosie. “Or, evenin’, I guess.”

Leigh smiled at the girl and tapped her fingernails on the countertop. “Any guests giving you trouble yet, today?”

Rosie shook her head. “Pretty quiet so far. Oh, but Hank called out sick, so there’s no one to do the cowboy lasso routine.”

Leigh raised her eyebrows. “What a shame for our paying customers,” she said as she continued walking toward the velvet curtain leading to the dance floor. But she paused, recent events calling out to her.

“Did Hank say what he was sick with?” she asked, a hint of dread in her voice.

Rosie didn’t pick up on it and shook her head with a smile. “Nah. He sounded like he was putting on an act, though. I bet he’ll be down at the Howling Strings concert tonight, right as rain.”

Leigh sighed in relief. “Well, that concert better be damn worth depriving a bunch of horny women of his lasso trick.”

A small group of patrons walked in the door, their IDs ready to hand to Rosie. Leigh silently excused herself, the weight of the conversation not quite leaving her.

It was bad enough managing a male shifter strip club. Leigh was happy to take over management from Nic and Jake since they packed up and moved out to Vegas. But it came with all the trappings of managing any such club. Security, and a lot of it, programming that attracted a very specific audience, and hiring the right kind of guys who understood the role.

She genuinely could not believe just how many times she had to remind her staff that they were dancers, not prostitutes, no matter how pretty or rich the client was.

But on top of that, Leigh was also overseeing the management of The Horny Wolfe since Emma and Mason were tied up leading the Central Pack. A regular nightclub for shifters, it had fewer management concerns when things were smooth in the shifter community.

And she was also still bartending at The Sassy Wolfe and keeping an eye on its management in Nate and Karla’s stead. After all, it was kind of hard to run a nightclub when you had twin infants to take care of.

Leigh silently mused she should get hitched, if only for the seemingly guaranteed vacation that came with it.

“Tonya,” Leigh called out to her head bartender. The woman looked overwhelmed and exhausted, and she was only two hours into her shift. “How’s the newbie?”

Tonya sighed, a big puff of air blowing her bangs out of her eyes. “Not gonna lie, Leigh, he sucks. He doesn’t know how to make a Cosmo. Kept asking the lady if she’d prefer a whiskey neat.”

Leigh closed her eyes and shook her head. She’d been too busy with an inventory issue at the Sassy Wolfe to oversee the new hires at the Naked Wolfe. Now she was paying the price.

“You’re whipping him into shape, though, right?” Leigh asked.

“You know it.”

“Atta girl. Any other issues I need to know about tonight?”

Tonya paused, an ice-cold bottle of light beer dripping condensation on her gripped hand. She chewed her lip a moment, before popping the cap off and sliding it over to a waiting customer.

“Tonya…” Leigh said.

“I heard a couple of the dancers talking about that new drug that’s been all over the news.”

Leigh’s blood went cold. This was exactly what she was afraid of. “Like, taking it?”

Tonya shook her head. “They were joking about finding some and doing it on a dare, just showing off. You know how young wolves are. But they were way too casual about it. So I reminded them that doing drugs on the clock is grounds for termination.”

“I’m sure they called you a buzzkill.” Leigh sighed.

“Among other things. Don’t they teach kids not to do drugs in school anymore?”

Leigh shrugged her shoulders, feeling a slight bit of strain rising from them.

“Look, I just didn’t want to stress you out,” Tonya said. “No one here is stupid enough to actually take it. Probably.” She whispered the last part.

Leigh thanked her for her honesty and moved on, checking on the DJ and the waitstaff to make sure they had what they needed for the night’s events. But her mind was preoccupied with that damn drug.

It didn’t have an official name yet, it was too new. But the effects were already well known. It was supposed to make the shifter stronger and their shifting faster too. Supposedly if two shifters of equal standing were to get in a fight, the drug would tip the scales more than enough.

But there were consequences too. Namely, that overdosing happened quickly and with very little warning. And those that did went rabid, unable to control themselves anymore.

Worse, there was no cure.

Clubs were a popular way to traffic drugs, so Leigh had to keep her ear to the ground in all three to make sure it wasn’t popping up in any of hers.

“Leigh!” A voice cut through her darkening thoughts and ripped her back to the present moment. It was a somewhat quiet moment between acts, and a table full of women were waving at her. “Over here!”

She realized with relief the voice was coming from Barbara Wolfe, matriarch of the Blue Creek pack. And she was joined by Ellie, Karla, Jordan, and the nanny to Karla’s triplets, Beatriz.

“Well, look what the wolf dragged in,” Leigh said with a sly smile. “How in the world did you all give your men the slip tonight?”

The ladies chuckled, sipping on their brightly colored drinks.

“We told them we needed to check on the place, for Nic’s sake,” Ellie said wryly.

“Not that we don’t trust you to do a good job,” Barbara said, carefully placing her drink on a damp cocktail napkin. “But a little peer review never hurts.”

“So, we made the guys take babysitting duty for the evening and planned a girls’ night out,” Karla said.

“Wow. So your guys actually bought that story?” Leigh asked, placing a hand on her popped-out hip. “I thought pack leaders were supposed to have sharp senses.”

They laughed, and the joy on their faces made Leigh feel exhilarated. There was nothing better than seeing a group of women letting loose and having a good time at one of her establishments. Especially ones she cared so much about.

“The guys are jealous, actually,” Karla said.

“But we promised we’d get all hot and bothered watching the dancers, and make it worth their while when we got home. You know, so long as we’re only picturing our mate.” Ellie punctuated her statement with a finger curling innocently in her hair.

“Well, they should be back on stage in about five minutes, so get ready to be plenty riled,” Leigh assured them.

“And where are you going? Come, sit with us,” Barbara said, gesturing at an empty chair at the round table.

“Oh, no, I’ve got to-”

“Sit, Leigh.”

Leigh knew when her pack matriarch was giving an order, not an offer, and did as she was told. The other girls also knew the difference and started to make conversation among themselves to give Barbara and Leigh a moment to talk.

“Something wrong, Barb?” Leigh asked, her cheeks going red.

“Calm down, Leigh. I’m just concerned, that's all. You’re overworking yourself. You have dark rings around your eyes, and that’s no way for a young woman without a mate to look.”

Leigh let a short laugh escape her lips. “Okay, Mom,” she said sarcastically, but with a smile.

Barbara smiled back but lowered her brow in warning to take the criticism seriously.

“Okay, I will admit, juggling three clubs would be a lot easier if it wasn’t for the drug issue,” Leigh said, folding her arms across her chest.

“Ah, yes, I did hear about that. You’re doing a good job making sure those don’t make their way through here. But…it might be easier to handle if you had a partner.”

“Like an assistant manager? Yeah, actually I was thinking that Tonya could-”

“I mean a mate, Leigh.”

Leigh swallowed hard, a rush of frustration shooting through her nerves.

“If you had someone to take half the load, help you relax, you know? It might make all of this easier to handle.”

Leigh, not wanting to insult the matriarch, shook her head shortly. “Sorry but…no way.” She stood, thanking Barbara for her concern, and marched toward the dressing rooms to check on her dancers.

With all this work on her plate –work she was more than happy to handle– she didn’t have time for love. The thought of dating even felt like a nightmare to juggle with everything else going on.

No, Leigh felt she was handling everything perfectly fine. No mate required.