37 Where to Stay?

Imani was still conflicted. She really, really didn't want to stay here but she had to and that made her jittery. She started to pace back and forth to get rid of the nerves but that wasn't helping and she let out a groan.

She had already showered and dressed up but she was still in the wash room. She was waiting to hear the door of the wash room Lucille was in open before she steps out. She had done a lot of thinking while she was in the shower about staying here but the more she thought about it, the less she liked it and she really didn't like the idea before.

She let out a groan again as she stopped pacing and hunched over, placing her hands on her knees.

The virus was confined to this town but if she chose to move from home to Wolfborn and back home daily, it might not remain that way for much longer so she had to stay here. Staying here was totally unplanned and thinking of it was a great source of stress. Lola and Desmond don't even know that she left the house to come here so she had to call them to let them know she wouldn't be coming back home for... A couple of months? A year? More than a year?

'Oh God, no. No, no, no.' She had stayed away from the both of them for eight months because of the Sirizan virus and it almost made her go crazy, she didn't want to go through that again.

She stood straight and stomped her foot as she let out a harsh breath. She could still visit them but she would have to isolate herself for five days which meant she wouldn't come to the lab. She felt a little bit better knowing that she could visit them and still help Lucille in the lab through video calls while in isolation.

She didn't even know the reason she'll tell Desmond for why she was staying here but she had to tell Lola the truth because she was the only one Imani knew that could help her get what she needs. Though, she had to first convince Lucas to let her tell Lola.

'Where would I even stay?'

She remembered the two buildings that were across the street and guessed that was where the other scientists stayed. Staying in one of those buildings was a big no-no for her because a forest was basically in the backyard.

"Imani?" Lucille's voice came from the hallway and she glanced at the door. "Are you done?"

"Yes," she called out as she pressed her palm to the panel next to the wall and her ID card came out of the deposit slot she'd kept it in for storage and cleaning before she and Lucille went into the lab.

She grabbed it while opening the door and stepped out of the room. Lucille began to head towards the door at the end of the short hallway after Imani shut the door of the wash room and she followed the woman. The both of them swiped their ID cards through the magnetic reader next to the door and it beeped before the door clicked open.

Lucas was still standing in front of the unbreakable glass but he was talking to someone over the phone with a scowl on his face when the both of them stepped into the main hallway. The scowl instantly vanished when he saw them and he hung up on who he was talking to before turning to face them. His phone began to buzz in his hands when he took a step towards them and he glanced at the phone. He lifted his head to look at the both of them again before he turned around and answered the call.

"I'll be right back," Lucille stated as she began to head down the hallway.

"Oh, Lucille," Imani called out when she remembered that she needed somewhere to stay, making the woman stop and turn around. "Do you stay in one of those buildings across the street?"

"No, I stay in town. Why do you ask?"

Imani pressed her lips together as she weighed the pros and cons; Stay in one of the buildings across the streets that would probably have wolves running in the forest behind them in the middle of the night or stay in the town where most of the werewolves in this state lived. The chances of her being mauled by a wolf in town was lower than the chances of her being mauled while staying across the street and she came to this conclusion because she assumed that the people of Wolfborn don't move about the streets in wolf form.

"No one stays in the buildings across the street," Lucille added and Imani raised a brows. "Their foundations are faulty so they're getting demolished."

"Ah... Can I stay with you?" she asked.

"Oh," Lucille said as she raised her brows. "I'd love that but I live with Lucy and she wouldn't uh..."

Imani didn't need her to complete her statement because she knew what she wanted to say was Lucy didn't like her and wouldn't want her to stay with them.

"Shit," she muttered in a low voice as her shoulders sagged and she rubbed her forehead. She couldn't rent an apartment because she knew there were no apartment buildings in Wolfborn but even if there were, she absolutely wasn't going to live alone in a town filled with werewolves.

"Don't you want to stay with Lucas?" Lucille asked with furrowed brows and Imani's eyes widened while her mouth fell open.

The first thing that popped into her mind was that she couldn't stay with Lucas before she thought, 'Wait... why can't I?'

She didn't want him to leave her in the car when Kyle was outside it and when he had to go address his people because in this place, she felt less nervous when he was close by.

Though she didn't know him that well... or at all, she knew him more than Lucille and she would have moved in with the woman if she could so she should be able to stay with him.

"... I'll stay with him."