Chapter 3

Kenzie Hope

Today was inspection day. Last night, me and the other neighbor women spent a good majority of the night deep cleaning each other's homes. Today, inspection day, was one of the most terrifying days most of us had ever gone through.

My apartment was small. It had two bedrooms and one bathroom with a kitchen that could only fit one person at a time and a family room that doubles as a dining room.

When dad died, I had painted the kitchen a cream color and the tiles were white. I didn't like the white tiles because they were impossible to keep clean, but I couldn't afford to replace them so we dealt with them. The kitchen had old appliances that were there when we moved in. The microwave stopped working last week and I needed to go to the used appliance store sometime soon.

I had also painted the living room a turquoise color. The wood was a light brown and we laid a matching turquoise rug, that was once my mom's, on the living room part of the room. We had a denim colored couch in the center of the room and the rug laid in front of it. In front of the rug was a dark wooded nightstand with a goodwill T.V. on top of it. Directly behind the couch was a white table with four mismatched chairs. On the table, Brady and I had put a picture frame, it was the kind that folded and had two pictures in it. One of the pictures of the two of us and the other was of our parents when they first met.

I looked around my small apartment one more time and I took the cookies I made earlier that morning out of the microwave, that was keeping them warm, and placed them on the counter. Along side them I placed a pitcher of ice water and a few crystal glasses, our nicest cups.

I had wanted a nice set of glasses for as long as I could remember. I spent half a year collecting all our extra money to buy them. Once I did, I was so proud of myself. It was almost pointless to buy them because I only brought them out during holidays and inspections. Other than that, we did not touch them.

A sharp knock on the door brought me out of my thoughts. I smoothed down my pink sundress and opened the door with a smile on my face. In response to my smile, the three men on the other side of the door grunted.

"Welcome to my home," I started the traditional speech. "This is the omega residence of the Hopes. I am McKenna Hope, 22, and my brother, Brady Hope, 16, is at school." I smiled again and I felt sweat gather on my top lip. I quickly wiped it before they could see and sat down on the single arm-chair. I crossed my legs and the man with a clipboard sat down on the loveseat to the left of me.

"McKenna and Brady Hope?" He confirmed as he scribbled on his paper.

"Yes sir." I nodded and he rolled his eyes at me.

"Anything we should know about before we find it?" He asked.

"No sir," I mumbled as I fumbled with my hands that sat in my lap.

"What was that?" He asked with a rising tone.

"No sir," I said louder and more confident. He, apparently, took this as a sign of disrespect. His calloused hand pulled me up by my elbow hard enough to bruise. His tall, muscled body towered over my average sized body. I kept looking down, not wanting to make him believe I was disrespecting him more.

"Look at me, girl," He spat and used his other hand to grip my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

"I'm sorry sir," I apologized quietly, "I did not mean to disrespect you."

"She's clean," One of the other men yelled as he walked into the room.

"Hm, I still think we should mark her down," The man who was still holding me murmured.

"Let go of her, dude," The other man chuckled. The one that was holding me let go and spit at my feet. I lowered my head in fear and shame as they walked away.

The third man walked out of my room with a pair of my underwear in his hand and smirk at me. I shivered under his gaze and out of disgust. He grabbed the plate of cookies and walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him. I shivered again out of pure disgust.

I hate people, Lexus mumbled, her anger rising.

It's okay, Lex, I told her, Don't get angry

How can I not? Those bastards assaulted and stole from us! She roared.

Lex, Lex, please calm down, I asked her.

Fine, She said retreating into the back of my mind.

I felt a cold tear fall onto my hand. Wiping my eyes, I took a deep breath. Today was supposed to be a good day. Well, sort of. I knew that the inspection would suck ass, but the rest of the day should be good. It was the only day that I ever had off.

I decided to make the most out of my day. Grabbing my purse and my cellphone, I walked out of my apartment and locked the door behind me. I walked down the two flights of stairs and once I reached the downstairs I quickly got into my car.

It was a small two door black car. I don't know cars, but as far as I knew it was reliable and I had never had a serious problem with it. It had always gotten me where I needed to go without much of a fuss.

I arrived at the local grocery store around twelve o'clock and left around one with an armful of grocery bags. Putting the bags in the passenger seat, I decided to head downtown to look for a birthday present for Brady, whose birthday was in about two weeks.

It was hard shopping for Brady. I wanted to give him the world, but in reality I could only afford to get him a small present if we wanted to eat this week. That wasn't the only reason he was hard to shop for; he was really picky. You would think that growing up dirt broke would make him grateful for everything but it didn't really.

I had shopped for a few hours and no luck. I thought about getting him a better phone or video games, but I just couldn't swing it. I saw a bed spread that I thought he would like, but it was too much.

It was around three when I found it. It was a set of ten books. They were all single book series and they were put together in a fancy kind of bag that would be perfect for him. The best part about it was that it was only half my budget so I could buy him a second present!

I wouldn't be able to continue shopping for him now because I had to go pick him up. I placed the heavy books in the trunk of the car and started driving to the local high school. It was 3:25 when I got there and school had just gotten out.

I watched as the teenagers awkwardly slipped in and out of the school. It was your typical high school and you could see as the cliques mingled with their friends. I laughed as Brady talking to a girl. He looked so nervous and shy.

Oh I love my brother.

He saw me and waved. I waved back at him and he started walking over to the car after saying goodbye to the girl. Once he arrived in the car, I started questioning him.

"Who is she?" I gushed.

"I have to tutor her," He said grumpily. I laughed at his reaction. He was a silly boy.

"Why is that a bad thing?" I asked. "It just shows how smart you are."

"Because it's the alpha's daughter," He informed me and my jaw dropped. Luckily, I recovered quickly or I would've gotten us in crash.

"Oh my Goddess," I said slowly, emphasizing every word.

"Exactly! And she wants to study at our house to get away from her family," He grumped.

"That won't work," I told him.

"I know, I know, sis. What am I suppose to do?" He said exasperated. I parked the car at our apartment complex and we both got out of the car.

"I suppose she could come over." I sighed.

"How is that suppose to work?" He asked as we began up the stairs.

"Well, I could wake up a little earlier to clean the house and make snacks," I offered.

"You shouldn't have to do that though, Kenz!" He yelled a little loud for my taste. I flinched and he stopped when we got to the door. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell."

"It's okay, but we'll figure it out." I said as I unlocked the door. "Maybe it won't be as bad as you think it will be."

"It's the alpha's daughter for Goddess's sake!" He squeaked with anger as I opened the door. "How the hell am I suppose to do this!?"

Then we stopped, stunned. There was a man in our living room. Out of instinct, I pushed Brady behind me and growled lowly at the intruder. Thinking back on it, that probably was not the best decision. It had to be someone of power if they were able to get into our apartment and sit there so peaceful. Although, that thought didn't reach my mind until that night.

I continued growling at the man and his eyes snapped up to mine. His eyes were black and were wide like he was a deer in headlights.

"Oh my Goddess," Brady said, trembling behind me. I snapped out of my momentary trance. I looked back at my little brother.

His eyes were wide and he was terrified. My heart screamed to protect him. I needed to protect him.

I looked into his eyes and told him, "Go to your room, lock the door and don't come out until I come get you, okay? I love you." I gave him a hug and pushed him in the direction of his room. I looked back at the intruder.

Lexus, I need help, I pleaded, but for the first time she didn't answer. I looked down at the floor and shook my head. Then, I looked back up at the man and got into a fighting stance. Finally, for the second time, I looked into his eyes.

His eyes had faded to their usual vibrant green, his mouth was agape. He had black hair that fell on his forehead. He was tall and stood at least a foot above me. His mouth moved, but I couldn't decipher the words he was saying.

I took a deep breath. "I don't know what you're doing here," I squeaked.

"I'm here for you," He said. I was stunned. His voice was like honey, smooth, but it also sounded rough like sandpaper. My arms dropped and my head titled slightly to the right. It was then that my wolf decided to come back to life.

Mate, she whispered so quietly I could barely hear it. Well, I was shocked to say the least. I took a moment to appreciate his features. From his chiseled jaw to his defined muscles, he was the definition of a Greek god. He wore a grey button up that had a few buttons undone and lightly ripped jeans. He was a pretty kind of boy.

He growled lowly and stalked towards me. Once he was in kissing distance, he stopped. Our bodies were less than an inch apart, but he didn't dare touch me, and I didn't dare touch him. He took a deep breath in and I saw his visibly relax. He leaned down next to my ear, still not touching me

"Mate," He whispered. That's when I blacked out.