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

Alexia’s POV

We entered the mall just in time for the hectic afternoon schedule. People were bustling around, hitting as many stores as they could and it was hard to get around without bumping into them.

“Take my hand,” Lucas said and grabbed it before I could protest. Even with the large, bustling crowd, I still received long, hostile glares at all the women that passed by. Their heads turned around, still staring daggers at me while trying to get an extra glance at Lucas. Maybe it was a big mistake to come.

I instantly let go of his hand, hoping it would stop the glaring but it didn’t stop. “What are you doing? You’ll get lost in this hectic place,” he said, taking my hand again. I decided to look down, hoping it would solve the intimidation I felt from the women. “Are you feeling alright?” he asked, worriedly.

“Just trying to keep the glares off of me,” I said through my teeth, hoping no one would think I was talking to him. Otherwise, I would earn more glares.

“What are you talking about Alexia?” He must’ve been an idiot for not noticing the obvious death glares I’ve been receiving.

“You don’t notice all the women looking at you as if you’re a god and then scorning me as if I’m trash?” I scoffed.

“You’re scared of them?” he smirked. He tilted my chin upwards, his fingertips warm, sending a rush of heat to my cheeks. I received icy glares at various women who passed by and I darted my eyes anywhere but them. He laughed.

“It’s not funny,” I frowned, hating how he enjoyed tormenting me.

“They’re just jealous, relax,” he said in a light voice.

“Easy for you to say,” I mumbled.

He ignored my comment. “Where to first?” he asked.

“Surprise me,” I said since I didn’t know any good stores. Abercrombie was OK except the nude pictures that decorated the walls. I always felt awkward shopping in a store that could most likely pass as a porn shop.

“You asked for it,” he grinned. I didn’t know if I should regret it or not but really, I had no choice now.

He led me to a store with a name I wasn’t very familiar with. At least it wasn’t the porn shop.

As soon as we walked in, beautiful clothing were displayed everywhere, starting with casual clothing to amazing gowns that were to die for. Lucas must’ve noticed my awed face because he laughed.

“You can get whatever you want,” he smiled. I didn’t know what his weekly paycheck or how much he had on his bank account but this was way too much.

“I can’t let you do this,” I said feeling guilty. I know he did so much for me when he saved Zane and me but getting expensive clothes shouldn’t have been on the list.

“I’ll pick it out for you then,” he mused and rummaged around the store until he came back with a big pile of clothes. “Try these,” he ordered and shoved me in a dressing room with the clothes he had picked. Geez, when did he become so obsessed with clothes?

I changed one outfit after another with Lucas observing me. I didn’t open the dressing room door on purpose but Lucas threatened me so I had to oblige. I was on the last outfit he picked when he gave me some dresses to try on.

“Are you crazy? I don’t do dresses,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Well you wore it at the party,” he pointed out.

“That was a party, I don’t really like wearing dresses other than special occasions,” I argued.

“Well you’ll be attending more parties in the future so might as well shop for them while we’re here.” I was going to protest but Lucas didn’t take no for an answer. He really had a way with words.

One of the dresses he picked out was a teal blue that didn’t look too scandalous but it did look nice on my slim body, showing off some skin. It hugged my waist and my stomach in a nice comfortable way and the dress came down to the floor in a majestically. It probably cost hundreds of dollars.

“Are you done in there?” Lucas asked. I hesitantly opened the door and awkwardly waited there for him to asset me but he didn’t say anything. I looked up at him and saw him astonished and in awe, his emotions were very clear then and it was easily etched in his face. He caught me looking at him and he cleared his voice. “That’ll do.” I was disappointed by his lack of positive feedback but I shook my head. Who cared what he thought?

After the end of the shopping fantasia, I remembered that I had promised Zane to get him some new clothes. “Lucas…Zane needs some clothes to,” I said, feeling awful for asking more when he just bought me everything a girl could dream of.

“Ah, of course, always caring for your sibling,” he sighed, smiling to himself. He must have been thinking about Lexi. “We’ll both see what we can find,” he said kindly, shaking his head from the fond memory of his sister.

In one hour, we found a good number of outfits for Zane and Lucas paid for everything with his platinum credit card. The cashier who checked out the items was a tall brunette with flirtatious eyes. The clothes weren’t the only things she was checking out. She glanced lustfully every so often that it almost made me want to bolt out of there and throw up.

“Is this your younger sister?” she asked, barely giving me a second look. Sheesh, how could this woman even think we were siblings? We looked nothing alike except for the black hair.

“No, she’s my fiancée,” he said, wrapping his hand around my waist. Was he drunk? Or was he abducted by aliens and replaced by a psychopath? I didn’t blush at all. I just stood there stunned like the cashier.

The cashier’s smile faltered but she still kept the flirting on. “Well, isn’t that sad. Here’s my number in case you get bored,” she winked, writing down her number quickly on his receipt. Anger coursed through me or was it jealousy? I know I shouldn’t have cared but man, that girl was irritating.

Lucas took the bags and ignored the receipt. “You forgot your receipt,” the cashier said, waving it at him desperately.

“You can keep it, I got what I need here,” he said kissing my cheeks. I flinched but the cashier didn’t notice because she was too busy pouting at Lucas. What the hell was wrong with him today?

When we headed outside, he made sure we were linking arms like actual couples. “What are you doing?” I scoffed, trying to pull away.

“We have to act like couples since this place is crowded with werewolves,” he whispered but made it pretend like he was whispering something seductively in my ear.

“You haven’t marked me yet? What about your ‘reputation’ and pride as being the Alpha?” I said harshly. Apparently it was embarrassing for an Alpha to be mated but had not marked their mate.

“I’m willing to sacrifice my dignity for your happiness,” I said in my ear.

“I’m not that happy when people are giving me dirty looks everywhere I look,” I grumbled.

“We can go to the Starbucks around the corner and hide ourselves in the back,” he offered. I mumbled something unintelligent, very much annoyed with the looks I’ve been getting.

When we entered Starbucks, he ordered me a caramel frappe and a plain black coffee for himself. “You have to try this, I heard it tastes amazing,” he said handing me the frappe. I trusted him and found it to be delicious. The sweet taste filled my mouth, making me reenergized and happier.

“Thanks, I needed that,” I sighed.

“Was this shopping experience terrible?” he asked.

“It was fun while it lasted but the looks from those people kind of killed it,” I said honestly. There was no need to make him feel better by lying. He already knew the answer.

“I’m really sorry. They shouldn’t have done that.”

I shrugged. “It’s OK as long as they don’t attack me. I swear they wanted to pounce on me and see me die,” I shuddered, my mind replaying all those blood thirsty looks.

“Then let’s get out of here,” he smiled, lending a hand to help me up but I didn’t take it.

“I don’t know why you’re trying to be nice but I’m not buying it,” I made sure my statement was clear. That came out harsher than I thought but I couldn’t take back my words once they were out. Everything was confusing and I wasn’t sure of his true feelings for me. Was he nice because he needs me marked to salvage his reputation or did he really have an interest in me?

“Alexia, did you ever think that I might just straight out like you?”

“Highly unlikely,” I lied.

“You drive me insane,” he said, honestly.

“I’m glad I have that affect.”

Lucas sighed. “You’re impossible, you know that?”

“Yes, I’m fully aware.”

Lucas grinned. “I like that about you. You’re so blunt and straightforward.”

“Gee, thanks,” I narrowed my eyes. He just laughed and messed around with my hair which earned him a glare.

Despite our small bicker, we were able to get back to the house earlier than we both had thought. We were just in time for dinner. Cynthia greeted us and told us to wash up for dinner. Lucas gave me Zane’s bag of clothes to give to him.

I knocked politely on his door but there was no answer and when I opened it, he wasn’t in there so I left the bag on his bed. I quickly washed my hands in the hallway sink and rushed downstairs for dinner. When I entered, I landed in the middle of a heated conversation between Lucas, Zane, and Jace.

“You can’t let him out, are you out of your mind kid?” Jace practically yelled, waving his hands to emphasize the craziness.

“But he’s the only way to actually finding the real murderer. They have resources everywhere and they most likely excavated the scene, detailing everything in their documents. That’s how they work,” Zane argued back. Who was this he they were talking about?

“But Phoebe is doing the best she can and we don’t need the human to cause any more deaths in this house. The only thing we can do is keep the human and wait for any news from Phoebe,” Jace argued back.

“He promised he won’t hurt Lucas. He even agreed to blood promising,” Zane spat at Jace.

Lucas raised his eyebrow. “Blood promising. That’s somewhat tipping the scale to this request,” he said thoughtfully. Blood promise was the most sacred promise anyone can make. It was done by both sides letting their blood flow and touching together so that it will mix and bind them of their promise. It was even more serious that a human would promise such thing.

That was it. It was Travis they were arguing about.

“Let’s act like real men and eat properly without any more bickering. We shouldn’t be acting irrationally when we have a lady present,” Lucas said, noticing my late arrival.

Jace and Zane both looked in my direction. I gave Zane a look but he shook his head and put on an easy smile but I knew it was fake. I couldn’t believe Zane wasn’t telling me anything but I trusted that he would later. Fortunately, it was the subject of the dinner topic. Cynthia placed the food on the table nervously, hoping there wouldn’t be any major bickering tonight.

“Please, think on this Lucas. A blood promise will bind him not to cause any harm. He’s agreed to it,” Zane said as soon as he could.

“No, think rationally. You don’t want any trouble to occur. Phoebe is finding out everything she can. It’s best to stay safe and to keep him where he is now,” Jace argued back.

“What is your intake on this Alexia?” Lucas asked me. I didn’t even want to be pulled into this conversation.

I was torn between the two decisions. I wanted to side with Zane because I promised to avenge my parent’s murderers but on the other hand, Lucas was my mate and no matter where we stood at this point, I still couldn’t let him be in a situation where he might lose his life for my own selfish reason.

“Please don’t get me involved,” I said. My food started to look good and I tried to break the tension by eating. The others followed my move and it became silent for some time.

“Zane,” Lucas spoke after the long silence. “I give you my trust and permission to do as you wish. The blood promise will happen after our dinner.” There was a clang of the utensils hitting the table hard.

“Are you crazy?” Jace yelled, his fork pierced the table and it hung there. “You’re risking your life!”

“I trust the human will do no harm but what I’m worried is what his fellow hunters would do if he comes back without fulfilling his mission and then caught looking through their documents,” Lucas said choosing his words carefully.

“Simple. He can tell the truth. That you captured him and took pity and let him go if he agreed to the blood promise,” Zane said with wisdom and determination that I had never seen in him before.

“Well said,” Lucas complimented, “you may do what you want after dinner.”

Jace’s face sulked from his lost case. “You stupid bastard,” he said under his breath, shaking his head.

“Language Jace,” Lucas warned, making a point with his fork.

Once dinner was finished, we were led down to the ‘dungeon’ where Travis laid idly, probably bored out of his mind. As soon as we entered he jerked his head in our direction and scowled but when he saw Zane, a curious and hopeful look spread across his face.

“Little human, I’ve kindly agreed to your deal but the blood promise must be completed,” Lucas said with power, taking his words seriously. I knew he wasn’t really like this because I saw his kind, generous side today but I had to say, he was really good with creating a scary atmosphere.

He had two masks. One as a strict, commanding face with authority and power but it was all a façade. His real side was a kind and caring person who, maybe didn’t like me too much but was a figure who cared and loved for his family. I respected him for that and understood why he had the façade he put up with.

“Then let’s waste no time,” Travis said.