A Helping Hand

LUCAS

It was just morning and Lucas' day was already ruined.

It started when Lucas found out that the werewolves in Wolfborn thought he ditched the Saturday meeting with Jacob Peterson to go to a hotel with Imani instead. Then he found out that three werewolves in Maryland had contracted the virus and he had no idea how which led to Kyle sending him a nasty message. The virus had spiked in Wolfborn overnight and he hadn't heard from Imani. He received a message from Parisa Barnes saying she still hadn't been able to reach Jacob Peterson. Reporters wouldn't stop calling to ask about his relationship with Imani and now, the council was calling too.

He felt like he was going to explode soon and he was sorry for whoever would be around him the moment he did.

He let out an exasperated sigh and declined the call from the council before he leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. He knew what they were going to say and he really didn't want to hear it. Besides, some of them would definitely be pissed because he hung up on four of the council members on Saturday.

He was currently waiting for the infected werewolves from Maryland to get to Wolfborn. Vinay had wanted to be the one to wait for them but Lucas told him to go to Harrison Corp. instead because he needed to move back home today and he also had to address the werewolves.

Frankly, he didn't know what to say to his people. Half of them seemed to believe that he wanted all the werewolves to die from the virus while the other half felt they didn't have an Alpha anymore.

He opened his eyes when a knock came on the study's door before the door opened and Ella came in with a phone pressed to her ear.

"Vinay said he's been trying to call you but your number is busy," she stated as she walked over to where he was sitting and handed him the phone in her hand.

It was busy because of the reporters that wouldn't stop calling and he decided that he was going to change his number. He didn't even know how the reporters got it in the first place and changing it was going to be a hassle.

He collected the phone from Ella and pressed it to his ear. "Yes?"

"Imani Tallerico is here," Vinay said and Lucas slowly sat upright. "She said she's been trying to call you but your number was busy so she decided to come over."

His focus became scattered and the anticipation that tingled through him was a nervous kind of energy as he wondered why Imani was at his company. Was she there to tell him that she was going to help or that she wasn't going to help?

Vinay cleared his throat when Lucas didn't say anything for a while. "She said she'll wait for you to get here," he stated and Lucas took a deep breath.

He quickly got up and grabbed the jacket that was on the back of the chair. "I'm on my way."

------

Lucas furrowed his brows when he saw Vinay leaning against a car the moment his car drove into the company's underground parking lot. The car pulled into a parking space not far from where Vinay was.

"Parking... Arrived at destination, Harrison Corporation. Work."

Lucas got down from the car after it came to a stop and Vinay immediately moved with inhuman speed over to where he was standing.

"Where is Imani?" Lucas asked as he shut the car door behind him.

"She's in her car," Vinay said as he pointed at the car next to the one he had been leaning against. "I asked her to come up but she didn't want to. She seemed... nervous and I stayed here because I thought she would leave if I left her alone."

"Okay. I'll take it from here."

Vinay nodded and sped away before Lucas walked towards the car Imani was in.

"You're fucking insane," Imani's low voice drifted to Lucas' ear as he got closer to the car. "I'm going to kill you. Lucas Harrison is going to kill you. Then he's going to kill me. And this is all because you're a self-serving son of a goddamn whore."

Lucas' brows drew together as he bent next to the slightly opened window and stared at Imani who was facing away from the window with a phone pressed to her ear. "Are we going on a killing spree?"

"Jesus!" she screamed as she turned around to face Lucas and she quickly hung up before pulling the phone away from her ear. "When did you –"

Lucas raised his brows at her when she didn't complete her statement and she shook her head to dispel her thoughts. "Hi Imani."

"Hi Lucas," she said, winding down the window. "Sorry for showing up unannounced but I couldn't reach you."

"It's okay, I don't mind. How's your ankle?" he asked, glancing at her legs.

"Oh, it's fine." She cleared her throat as she sat upright.

"Do you want to come up to my office?"

She nibbled on her bottom lip and fiddled with the phone in her hands. "Uh... no. There's no need. We can... talk here."

"Okay," Lucas muttered as he furrowed his brows in confusion. "Can I come in?"

"Yes, sure." She opened the car's door before Lucas entered and sat in the seat opposite her, shutting the door behind him.

They stared at each other, waiting for the other person to talk first. The silence hung in the air, thick and heavy, like the suspended moment before a falling glass shatters on the ground. The temptation to rupture it became too great to resist after a while and Lucas cleared his throat.

The sudden sound was razor blade to Imani's nerves and she jolted in her seat before she took in a deep breath.

"... I'll help you, Lucas."