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

Alexia’s POV

The darkness whirled around me, tempting me.

 Don’t you want to be with Lucas? Kill the Elders and you’ll get your wish. I’ll leave you be if you obey this one task.

It was so tempting and several times I was wavering over my choices. I loved Uncle Amos and I didn’t want to kill him but I didn’t want to deal with this darkness anymore. It seemed like every day the darkness was chipping away my self-control.

Obey, little one and I’ll make everything your heart desire come true.

The darkness danced around me. When I tried to wave it away, it wrapped itself around me even more, binding me in its dark embrace. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I saw a small figure of a girl but the darkness kept blocking me from seeing who it was. Everything was dark but she seemed to be the only one clothed in white.

“Hello?” I called out but the darkness hissed in anger.

Kill her. Kill her and I’ll leave you be. For now.

The darkness untangled itself from me and I was able to see who it was. She didn’t look familiar but the way she stood and the way she carried herself with confidence gave me an idea that she was a hunter.

“Alexia.” She called me by name. Who was she?

Kill her now.

A gun produced itself in my hands from dark matter and without thinking, my arms moved up and pointed at her.

“Don’t do that. I’m a friend and I’m here to help you. Fight the darkness because I know you’re not like this,” she said calmly but I felt her fear. Something in me made me smirk. I was intimidating her and I felt power over her.

She doesn’t know who you are. She doesn’t know what you’re going through.

“You don’t know who I am!” I shouted, anger building up on me. No one knew how I felt. No one could even feel what I felt. The pain, confusion, and anger that I felt alone.

“You’re Alexia. You’re Travis’ friend and Lucas’ mate,” she said again but this time her voice wavered. The mention of Lucas stopped me cold. What would he think of this if he was here now in my own little personal Hell?

She’s using you to get to your soft part. You are strong and independent. Nothing can stop you.

I found my anger and bitterness again and this time my finger wrapped around the trigger.

“Alexia. Don’t-” she said but was cut off by the noise of the gun. I fired it but she disappeared before it hit her. Where’d she go? My frustration got the best of me but the darkness soothed me.

You did well. You can get her next time.

And next time I won’t fail. The darkness laughed, lingering onto me.

Yes, yes. You won’t fail.

The darkness’ laughter filled my ears to the point it was ear breaking and I fainted from the sound, the warmth of the darkness still embracing me with greedy arms.

I woke up to find myself on a couch and realized I was back in the mansion in Lucas’ office. What happened?

Last time I remembered there was another attack in the hotel and I healed so much to the point where I thought my head would explode. Then I was down into the darkness. I couldn’t exactly remember what happened inside my nightmare but I knew the darkness was up to no good.

I saw a small girl who looked vaguely familiar and as soon as I saw her, a sudden wave of anger came crashing down like a flame. My body reacted on my own, jumping off the couch and towards her but Lucas caught me and pinned me down before I could get any closer to her.

“Alexia!” he yelled desperately, trying to get my attention but all I could see was the girl. “Please Alexia. Listen to me.” The hurt in his voice made me melt and my anger subsided.

“Lucas,” I breathed. Getting my head straight was pretty hard when so many emotions kept surging through me. And to think Lucas was the bi-polar one.

“Are you OK?” he said caringly. His eyes showed how much it hurt him to see me like this and that got me erupting in tears. What had I done? I lost control back there and I didn’t even know the girl. I really was turning into a monster. “Alexia, it’s over. It’s over,” Lucas continued to say.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, looking up at the girl and she nodded stiffly.

“It’s OK,” she barely whispered. Travis held her hands and I had a growing suspicion about those two.

“We’ll be in close contact with you but we have many other things we must attend to,” Grayson spoke and the Elders began to leave except Amos. The two nodded at each other, an understanding passing between them.

After half an hour, I felt back to normal with a cup of water in my hand, sitting on the couch. The remainder of us sat down, figuring what to do next.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“What about Jesse?” Travis asked.

“You’re lucky we didn’t press her presence,” Amos said. “Very lucky.”

“She needs a place to stay,” Travis said, directly at Lucas now.

Lucas sighed. “Jessabelle can stay but she’ll be sharing a room with you or safety reasons,” he gave up but we all knew it was because he didn’t fully trust her.

“Thank you,” Jessabelle replied.

“Travis, did you hack into the system again?” Zane spoke up. He didn’t say anything to me the entire time and I felt sorrow. Another emotion I’ve learned to feel.

“I would have if a war didn’t blow up in my face,” Travis said bitterly but not towards Zane. He seemed to have a personal bitterness towards someone else.

“You saw Kent didn’t you?” Jessabelle guessed, growing worried.

“Yeah, and he lied to me all this time,” Travis said looking up at Zane and I. “It was him who killed my dad not yours. He was Kent’s best man but he sided with the werewolves so Kent devised a plan to kill him and blame it on your dad so I would give myself up to Kent.”

“I’m sorry,” I said softly and I went up to him, making everyone tense. “You’ll get your revenge on Kent,” I said suddenly. I didn’t know where that came from but something inside me made it sure that he would find his revenge.

“What makes you say that?” Travis asked.

“I don’t know but I can feel it,” I said shivering.

“Alexia,” Lucas called and I went back to him on the couch, letting him hold my hand. I felt like a vulnerable little puppy, not sure about the world and what it had in store for me. “Travis, will you be able to hack the database again and find whatever you need?” Lucas asked, taking control.

“Yeah, I can,” he said, his face revived with new determination.

“I have something to say,” Jessabelle interrupted but her voice was barely audible.

“Speak up, Jesse,” Travis encouraged her.

“Well, Travis filled me on everything with Charles Digetto and I think you want to hear this,” she started and cleared her voice. “I was there throughout the investigation in the background and he remembered almost everything. He said there was a normal couple but they took something out of the trunk he couldn’t see. He said according to their figure, it was a man and a woman. He couldn’t tell what was in the bags they carried but he knew it looked fishy.” She stopped there, not knowing how to finish the story.

“Keep going…” Zane said, on the edge of his seat. His eyes grew bright with determination and he looked at her in awe. I was jealous of how he looked at her, the way his eyes were dancing in happiness.

“I…In the investigation room there was a power outage and everyone was panicking. There was so much noise and confusion but when the lights came back on, some people were unconscious but everything seemed alright. When the unconscious people were questioned, they said they bumped into each other’s head,” Jessabelle said, confusion crossing her face. “And when we continued the investigation with Charles, he said he didn’t know what we were talking about and he didn’t remember anything else.”

“That was definitely not written in the investigation notes,” Travis mumbled.

“They were too embarrassed about what happened so they left everything out and said Charles didn’t remember which was reasonable considering he was an old man and about to retire,” Jessabelle explained.

“None of this makes sense,” Zane exasperated. “There has to be something more.” He said it desperately, trying to wish it to happen.

“Don’t worry Zane. I’ll go back inside the database and see what else I can pull up. I’m sure I missed something,” Travis said, getting up. “I’m going downstairs now.” He excused himself and Jessabelle followed behind him, thanking Lucas again for his hospitality.

“I think I need an Aspirin,” Zane mumbled and excused himself but he seemed more troubled than pained.

“Well, that was indeed interesting,” Jace spoke up. He didn’t contribute into any of this but listened quietly. “We know it was someone who came to the party that night. Do you know the guest list, Alexia?” he asked.

“It was just my dad’s pack and you two. I don’t think anyone from my pack would murder them,” I said, not quite understanding.

“Maybe they did,” Jace said. “Lucas has a lot of enemies that are from his own pack.” I gave it a thought. Did someone have a grudge against my family? I couldn’t even imagine it. Everyone in the pack was like a family.

“We can’t trust anyone. We need to start looking there,” Lucas finished. “We’ll wait for Travis’ research until tomorrow before we decide further.”

“For now, I guess all we can do is wait,” Jace yawned. “I’m going to head upstairs. Yo, vampire. Do you need to find your guest room?” Jace asked Derek. Derek scowled at his informal language.

“Mind your tongue little boy. You might need it one day,” Derek hissed. “I’m going out for a drink and then I’ll be back,” Derek said it more to Lucas.

“Your guest room will be on the far right next to Jace’s room,” Lucas instructed.

“Oh, goody,” Derek smiled at Jace with his fangs. “You better watch your neck tonight.” With the last threat, he winked at me and left. “Bye, my little wolf.”

“Geez, that vampire has some nerves,” Jace scoffed.

“Jace, be a little more mature next time. That is the vampire king,” Lucas laughed.

“And a cranky king at that,” Jace pointed. “Gosh, I’m beat. See you guys in the morning,” he yawned one more time before he made his grand exit.

“Are you tired?” Lucas asked.

“I guess I am. A lot of stuff happened today,” I said sighing. Zane won’t even talk to me now.

“Don’t worry about Zane,” he said reading my thoughts. “He’ll come around. He still loves you.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” I was on the verge of tears but I sucked it back up. I wasn’t going to show Lucas my weak side.

“I know so,” he reassured me. “Now let’s go back to the room.”

I felt a lot better once I showered and I was now in comfortable clothes. Baggy shirt and shorts was the best thing in the world. Behind me Lucas laughed.

“You seem more comfortable now, don’t you?” he smirked. I sighed, letting his smell fill my nose. He smelled wonderful. A weird smell, unlike his usual cologne but I like it.

“You got that right,” I grinned. I jumped in bed next to him but he left out a groaned. “What’s wrong?” I asked, worried.

“Argh, my shoulder,” he said in ragged breathes. “Crap, I think I hurt it.” He took off his shirt to get a better look at it and that’s when the scent I smelled from him hit me hard. His shoulder was wounded by a silver bullet that probably skinned him. There wasn’t much blood but it was enough to have me staring at it.

“Ah, crap,” he sighed, looking more annoyed than hurt at his wound. He caught my lingering eyes and stiffed. “Alexia,” he said calmly, knowing the situation.

“I know. I’m trying,” I shook involuntarily. It was so hard to ignore the sweet delicious smell. It sounded disgusting but when you smelled it, it wasn’t something entirely different and I couldn’t let it go.

“Alexia, it’s OK. Come here,” he waved me over but I backed away.

“N-n-no,” I whimpered. I won’t hurt him again. Never.

“You can’t help it and I want to help you,” Lucas said, coming closer to me. The smell was so welcoming that I couldn’t help but take one step in the bed closer to him. He took me in his embrace and placed his hand on my head, guiding me towards his wound. “Shhh, it’s OK,” he whispered to me.

“P-please,” I whimpered but I slowly began to draw blood from him, the sweet tangy taste filling my mouth and everything seemed clearer again. I gasped at how detailed everything around me was. The heat of his body, the feel of fabric of the bed sheet, the way Lucas was breathing steadily.

When I had my fill, I let go, gasping at how pinpoint and exact everything was.

“Do you feel better?” Lucas asked, rubbing at his wound.

“Yeah, I do. That was…weird,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

“I would do anything for you,” he murmured in my ear.

“You don’t hate me. Why?” I asked. It would be so much easier to disown me and get on with his high life in society.

“How can I hate the one I love?” he whispered and kissed me tenderly.

Travis’ POV

I looked back at Jesse sleeping soundly on the bed. Unfortunately…maybe fortunately, there was only one bed but I didn’t plan on sleeping.

Looking back at the screen, I found myself inside the system. I hacked through some of the files and started rummaging through them when my screen went blank. I cursed at the screen, trying to get back on but when the screen turned on, I was face to face with the person I hated the most. Kent.

“Hello, Travis,” Kent said pleasantly, as if our video chat was all planned. And knowing him, it probably was. Crap, I was caught.

“Hello, Kent,” I said mockingly, plastering on a ‘I-don’t-care’ face.

“I see you’re interested in who murdered the Maxilums,” Kent said, an evil smirk crossing his face.

“Tell me what I want to know and I won’t hack into the systems anymore.” I crossed my arms, glaring at him with hatred.

Kent chuckled. “Do you really think I take that as a threat? We traced you hacking ages ago. I was just having fun with you.”

“How do you even know who the murderer is? I know what really happened during the investigation,” I growled. He couldn’t lie to me.

“Ah, did Jessabelle tell you?” Kent guessed. “That traitor. I can’t really trust any innocent looking people, can I?” he sighed. “Jessabelle came in the middle of the investigation. He already told us what we needed but this was her test of alliances and obviously we both know where she stands,” he said taking note.

I glared at Kent. “Tell me the murderer,” I repeated.

“I don’t think you’re grasping the fact that I am in control of the plays,” Kent said simply. “Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll tell you who exactly the murderer is if you give me your alliance and help me terminate these werewolves. They aren’t even your friends. They’re just using you and they won’t be afraid to throw you away once your job is done,” Kent reasoned. “You tell them who the murderer is so you’re free of the blood promise, and then help me terminate them. Afterwards, you can live normally out of my life and I will gladly never bother you or Jessabelle ever again.”

I weighed the two decisions. Kent’s offer was an easier way to get out of the situation I got myself into but I hated Kent. I hated what he did but his plan was so simple. A loophole I’ve been waiting for. Yeah, I liked Alexia and Zane but my destiny wasn’t here, getting tangled up in werewolf issues every day.

All I wanted was to be a regular human boy. Maybe finish high school and go to college sometime. This wasn’t even my fight to begin with. It ended with my dad making a stupid choice and I wasn’t going to ruin my life.

“Deal.”