It’s Funny How Love Starts (IFHLS Book 1)

*Alexia’s POV*

His breath stayed steady on my skin, inhaling my scent and I found myself doing the same. Although my senses weren’t as heightened as a werewolf, I still smelled a hint of Armani Code cologne, not too strong but soft and lingering. I was definitely going crazy.

I snapped back and pushed him away, avoiding his stretched canines that revealed his set of werewolf fangs, catching him by surprise.

“Alexia,” he growled and I ran for the bed since he blocked the door, the only escape route.

“Why do you even want to mark me?” I said angrily. Confusion and fear consumed my head. Did he have any feelings for me at all?

“Because we have to,” he said. He stayed where he was, his eyes hiding everything. The kiss obviously didn’t mean anything to him and I tried to shake the disappointment out of my head. I gained a new level of hatred towards him but I had to keep the wretched deal.

“Give me a week,” I offered.

He grimaced. “That’s way too long. I’ll give you three,” he said, crossing his arms. When I didn’t agree, he said more harshly, “Consider it as my act of kindness. I could have easily gotten it done right here, right now since you’re stuck in this room.”

I was on the verge of tears not because I was scared but of frustration but I didn’t dare show it. How could he do this to me? I know I had to keep my end of the bargain but what did he want me for? There was no use if he marked me or not but at least he was giving me more time. I wished I asked for a month instead. “Fine,” I finally said. “Three days.”

He retracted his canines back and eyed me suspiciously. He moved away from the door and took something out of his closet. “Here’s your pajama,” he said, throwing a thin silky dress at me hard but I was still able to catch it midair. God, he was bi-polar. One second he kisses me and the next he overreacts and yells.

“Thank you,” I said in a mockingly sweet voice.

*Lucas’ POV*

My God, was she confusing to understand. I know it was stupid of me to kiss her. Heck, I don’t even know why I did it. It was as if something was pulling me towards her that I couldn’t stop myself. My weakness was showing and I hated it. I had to show her who was in charge around here and that I needed to collect our unfinished deal.

I threw the pajamas at her maybe a little harder than I had meant to but she listened and went inside the bathroom, shutting herself in there. I didn’t even know if she had any other feelings besides hatred towards me. She did kiss me back but then it was probably from the pulling feeling we had for being mated and all but it was sad how she didn’t think I had any feelings towards her but was she wrong on so many levels.

Geez, I would get in huge trouble if I don’t mark her soon. She was anyone’s game in the open field and I tried to seclude myself and the house until I knew she would be safe with my marking on her. I couldn’t let someone like Damon smooth talk her into whatever trouble she might get herself into. That Damon knew how to make things messy. He was the trouble maker of my pack and the most hard to control. What an embarrassment that would turn out to be.

I sighed, laying on the bed. I kept my sweatpants on since I didn’t think Alexia would like the idea of me sleeping with my boxers. Man, did she drive me insane! I never had girls disobeying me but she was a completely different case. She knew how to act her mind…except for that kiss.

Shit, I was growing as crazy as mom and dad were when they were in love. I promised I would never be like that because that was the only time I saw my dad’s weakness, when his strong appearance faltered.

That was one mistake I wasn’t going to make so why was I already failing?

Was it possible to hate and love at the same time?

*Alexia’s POV*

“I told you I need more time!” Lucas’ muffled voice was loud enough to wake me. Whew, when I checked my neck, I was still alive and unmarked.

“The Elders are coming tomorrow. You can’t expect me to delay everything!” Jace’s voice rang through the walls. I got up from the bed and regretting to do so. The blood rushed through my head and it was hard to make out what they were saying. When everything returned to normal, I was able to hear.

“…have to,” Lucas snapped. “She’s so stubborn.” I instantly knew they were talking about me.

“Don’t worry Lucas. Just get it done and over with,” a muffled familiar female voice said. It was Phoebe. I crept to the door to get a better hearing.

“I’ll see to it that she fulfills her deal,” Lucas mumbled.

“Do you even like her, Lucas? You can’t just mark her when you don’t even feel anything for her,” Jace chided. There was a pause.

“Oh my gosh,” Phoebe exclaimed.

“Never expected that from you, bro,” Jace said, laughing.

What on earth were they talking about? It was a shame I couldn’t see for myself. I was tempted to sneak a peek but the possibility of me getting caught was too risky.

“Did you find anything else Phoebe?” Lucas said, seemingly ignoring his two friend’s comments.

“No, the fire consumed any evidence,” Phoebe said frustrated. “But don’t worry, I’m still working on it.”

“Is she holding up alright?” Jace asked worriedly.

“I don’t know. You guys know how I’m not good with relationship stuff. You can’t expect me to this perfect guy everyone tries to make of me,” Lucas complained, groaning. That was one thing we could both agree on.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“All the girls are attached to you whenever you attend a party or even step outside a sidewalk on a busy day,” Phoebe laughed. “It’s quite hilarious actually.”

“And you don’t fall for him?” Jace smirked.

“I’ve known him through all this multi stages of his life. Those images disorientate what he is now,” Phoebe joked.

“Please Phoebe, you can’t resist that face,” Jace joked.

“Will you guys stop acting so foolishly,” Lucas cut in but I could hear the laughter in his voice.

“Come on, Lucas. You aren’t fun like you used to be,” Phoebe smirked.

“I’m the Alpha, it’s my job to be this boring,” he joked. I had never heard of Lucas joking and laughing like he did now. It was…different and odd but I felt a smile creep up on my face.

“We have to go out partying like we all used to,” Jace mused.

Before the conversation could go on, I heard a cellphone interrupt their conversation. “This is Phoebe Malones. Yeah. You did? Okay, I’ll be right there. See you,” she said and hung up. “I have to get back to work. They might’ve found something. I’ll text you if I find anything useful,” she said and then I heard the door close and a car crank to life.

“I need you to try and persuade them to come a day late,” Lucas said, going back to the main point.

“I will but it’s not guaranteed,” Jace warned.

“Of course, but try your best,” Lucas said.

The footsteps that came louder and closer told me that their conversation was officially over and I quietly ran back to bed as soon as Lucas opened the door.

“So you’re finally awake,” he said in a neutral tone.

“Yeah, I am,” I replied, getting up from bed as if I had just woken up.

“Do you want to go somewhere today?” he asked suddenly that it had caught me off guard. He sat on the bed and looked at me for an answer. I sat there stupidly mesmerized by his eyes. Damn, screw his eyes.

“What did you have in mind?” I asked, unable to tear my gaze at him. When I did, he lifted my chin back up.

“Don’t let go,” he said and then drew his hands back to himself, surprised of what he had just did. “Uh, I was thinking of the mall. Maybe get you some new clothes.”

“Okay then,” I said quietly. I didn’t have anything else to do and it had been a while since I had actually gone outside.

“Okay? Cool, I’ll be waiting downstairs,” he said. He got up from the bed and messed with my hair. I gave him a narrowed look that I always gave Zane when he did that and Lucas laughed. He actually laughed and I could tell it was genuine. I could get used to that.

When he left, I quickly got ready and I found myself taking longer time than I usually did. I found another nice summer dress already laid out for me and brushed my hair. It was in a mess since I hadn’t really given it a thought for the past days. Why was I spending so much on my appearance? I never really cared for it. Something was definitely wrong with me.

I did a final take on my appearance despite the fact I hated myself for doing so and closed the bedroom door behind me only to bump into Zane. I was crushed into his bear hug. So much for the perfected hair and the smooth, crisp dress.

“Where are you heading off to sis? You look all dressy,” he observed.

“Ah, let me go, Zane. Can’t. Breath,” I said with my last breath of oxygen. He laughed and messed my hair that was in perfect condition just a few second ago. When he finally let me go, I punched him in the arms.

“So what’s the occasion?” he backed off but he still had the mischievous grin that meant the torture wasn’t over yet.

“Lucas is taking me to the mall,” I answered a little hesitantly. He instantly stopped grinning.

 “When did you start calling him by his first name,” he frowned. “And why on earth would he take you to the mall?”

“I don’t know when actually,” I said honestly. I guess it just happened. “But I do need new clothes since I don’t think he’d want me to ruin his sister’s clothing.”

“You don’t plan to get me anything?” he asked, pointing to his hand-me-down and pouting.

“Gosh, you’re sucha kid. I’ll ask Lucas,” I laughed and headed downstairs. I didn’t want to keep Lucas waiting or else who knew what he would do.

“You’re going to leave me all alone?” he said, putting on a sad face.

“Yes, grow up,” I stuck my tongue out at him and continued down the stairs.

*Zane’s POV*

I sighed in relief when Alexia finally exited downstairs. Her presence had taken me by surprise. I tried to act my normal self but it was getting harder these days. Thankfully, Alexia hadn’t noticed yet. Mom and dad’s death made me realize that I needed get my childish act together and act more mature.

Dad lectured me a couple thousand times about taking up his job as Alpha but I thought I had time before my dad would give the responsibility of the pack to me. Knowing that he planned to give the pack to Lucas Slade made me angry but now I accepted it pretty well but I still can’t look at Lucas for a second without loathing him.

I know my actions weren’t really fair because he had been kind to me so far. He was the one who saved me from the fire.

Everything was hazy but I did remember dancing with a beautiful girl with amazing blonde curls. She led me out of the ballroom and into a random room. I thought we were going to have some fun but I blacked out before we were able to do anything. The next thing I knew it, Lucas was shaking me back to conscious and the flames were eating away everything. I didn’t tell Alexia because I knew it would scare her and worry her which was the last thing I wanted to do since she also had so many things going on.

Lucas had also visited me several times but yesterday’s visit was the most surprising. He asked my own opinion on how to get Alexia to stop hating him. I laughed out loud but when he looked at me seriously, I gave him my honest opinion.

I told him to spend time with her and get to know her before he went all ‘I-need-to-mark-her’ mode that he was always in. He seemed like a nice guy except the time he almost killed me but I understood his frustration but I still made sure I was a safe distance away from him. He must’ve been under a lot of stress but then it wasn’t right for him to threaten to kill me. I shuddered at the thought of death. Come on, I was still too young to die.

I walked down the stairs once it was obviously the two left. Yesterday’s conversation had left me confused and I had a favor to ask.

As soon as I descended from the stairs, Travis stood up, rattling the bars. “You better let me go!” he growled. When he realized it was me, he instantly cooled off. “Oh, it’s just you.”

“I can leave if you want,” I offered.

His eyes widened. “Help me get out of here,” Travis pleaded. He looked like a pretty pathetic werewolf hunter.

“You’d kill Lucas. I can’t let you do that,” I shrugged. We both knew his intentions.

“Why are you so protective over him? Even if he’s your Alpha, you know you should have been the next Alpha for your dad’s pack. Kill him and be done with it. Then you’ll be in charge of two packs,” he suggested. He thought he could tempt me but I knew I could never take that huge of a responsibility.

I found a chair and sat down next to the cell. I sighed. “You humans are so simple minded. Honestly, I’m not that responsible nor do I want that kind of responsibility and second, Alexia is mated with him.”

“What the hell? I don’t see any marked symbol on her,” he said, genuinely surprised. Usually werewolves would get marked as soon as they find their mates. I guess Alexia didn’t think she was ready and personally, I agreed. Getting marked at sixteen was pretty fast in the werewolf world.

“He didn’t mark her yet,” I said annoyed. This wasn’t why I came down here. I tried refocusing my true intentions. “Hey, I know you and my dad were pretty close so I came here to ask you for your help,” I said, avoiding the fact that my dad was actually the one who killed his dad, whether it was intentional or not.

“I can’t exactly help you if I’m stuck here,” he frowned.

“If I get you out, will you help?” I asked. A sudden interest sparked in Travis’ eyes when I bribed him with freedom.

“What do you need?”

“The werewolf hunters always take notes on werewolf activities, right?”

“Yeah…” he said slowly.

“I need you to go through their documents and find anything about my parent’s death and who the murderer is.”