It felt as though the flight from Ireland was bound to last forever as the young woman stared out at the endless flow of clouds. Music played in the ear buds helping to pull her mind away from reality and into fiction. Her eyes closed for what seemed only a moment but the feeling of the plane descending woke her from the dreamless sleep. Groggily she looked around at the other passengers before gathering up her backpack and turning off her music.

The young woman didn't realize how nervous she was to be back home where her pack was that the pounding of her own heartbeat in her ears began. She took a couple of deep breaths before offering a smile to the small child that had periodically looked over at her, seeing as some of her newer artwork was very visible above the collar of her shirt. Once the plane was grounded and everyone was able to file off of the plane, Tori waited just a few moments to be one of the last passengers. Flashes of what had happened shortly before this flight had been booked, danced in her mind as she finally stood and shifted the dark bag onto her back.

At least Carson had been in constant contact with her along with her few messages with Kari. Tori had missed most of her pack since leaving at 18 and a part of her was happy to be back. The other part of her was terrified she would be thrown out because of her own rage filled actions. With a deep breath Tori stepped off of the plane and carefully made her way through the throngs of people that every airport was known for. She had been standing at the baggage claim for only a moment when a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind and pulled her into a hug. Of course her first reaction was to flail her legs in an attempt to strike her captor until she heard the familiar laugh.

"Jeez Tori, I can't believe this is how you greet your brother after all of these years." Carson set Tori down as the pair began to laugh as she turned and wrapped her arms around him pulling the two into an embrace.

"You know better than to just sneak up behind me dear brother. But man I have missed you." Her words carrying the thick Irish accent that she had acquired from her time away with their family. "Did you bring anyone else with you or did you just want me all to yourself?" Carson shrugged his shoulders as he moved forward grabbing Tori's bag from the belt that had almost been missed.

"Well of course I would want you to myself for a little while. I need to make sure that you are still you and won't do something crazy upon your return." The laughter left Tori's eyes as Carson spoke and she quickly wrapped her arms around her torso following the taller man out of the terminal. "Also Tori, I know you won't attack the members. What happened over there will stay between us."

Carson's voice lowering before he nudged his sister playfully in the shoulder. "Plus everyone is going to be shocked at the fact that you have covered most of your torso in tattoos. Definitely not the same girl that left 6 years ago. Which may be a good thing."

Tori rolled her eyes before adjusting the collar of the jean jacket she was wearing. Her outfit had been one meant for easy traveling but still looked like she was going to a party. She had gone with a pair of relax fitted light blue jeans, sneakers, a t-shirt and a black jean jacket. "I needed some way to express myself and these seemed like a good idea." A smile finally formed once more on Tori's face as she waited for Carson to unlock the car that he had brought into town to pick up Tori.

"So do the Alpha's know you are here or...?" Tori tossed her backpack into the back seat before climbing into the passenger side using the pony tail on her wrist to pull her loose locks into a high pony. Carson shook his head and climbed in seeming to ignore his sister. "Kari has stepped up as Alpha. But yes, he knows that I am picking someone up from the airport."

The ride between the two siblings was filled with laughter and singing as they left the airport and headed towards the pack house. All of the anxiety that had been building within Tori seemed to disappear as she laughed with Carson, who behind his cold exterior, was enjoying that his crazy sister was back home.

They pulled into the drive and Tori was surprised to see so many members milling about that she almost froze in the car until Carson pushed her gently. "Time to make your entrance." Tori snorted with a roll of her eyes before following her brother's lead and opened the door of the car stepping out. Everything looked the same but yet different as she looked about taking in the different faces and voices around her.

Tori O'Connor

Tori offered a wave and hello to a few of the members that had greeted her. It took Carson moving from his side of the car to stand by her when she noticed someone looking at her from the front of the house. Her face lit up with a smile that quickly changed to a confused raised eyebrow and her eyes moving to look at her brother.

Kari had welcomed her back but why had he suddenly disappeared back into the house. Carson handed Tori her backpack and moved to the back of the car to pull out her suitcase. "Let's get these things inside and then you can go around and properly talk with people. I have a few things I need to do in the medical area. So take your time unpacking."

Tori nodded at his words and followed behind offering a warm smile and wave to Kari's parents when she noticed them. Even though the girl that they had grown up around was still a part of Tori, there was a different air about the woman and the fact that she walked with a more confident stride.

Once the pair were inside the house, Carson moved up the steps and headed towards the room that was going to be Tori's. He opened the door and propped it open with her suitcase. "You may want to get different sheets and things, but those should work for now. Maybe later a trip can be made." Tori nodded looking about the room and turned to say something to Carson but the man had left her alone. A soft sigh left her lips and she set down her backpack on the bed before slipping off her jacket to rest beside it exposing more of her new aquisitions.

The image of Kari walking away played in her mind and the young woman was trying to work out why her appearance had garnered that reaction. Was he really upset with her? Should she have told him that she was coming back? Her thoughts were swirling as she opened her backpack and pulled out her computer and its charger, plugging it in and after turning it on, putting on some background music as she turned towards her suitcase.

She scrunched her nose at the prospect of spending her time unpacking, but now was better than later. She didn't want to interrupt anyone's jobs. Tori stepped over to her door and pulled the large back over to her bed and laid it down before opening it up to show an array of brightly colored shirts and some heels. She set about humming with the music as she moved between her bed and the closet putting away a couple of dresses, shirts, a jacket or two, and jeans.

Of course she would have some other items delivered to the house with her clothes, but she had made sure to bring enough to keep making the music videos. Her feet would dance to the beat of the music as she worked beginning to get lost in her own world, forgetting that her door was still wide open.

Tori O'Connor

Tori jumped slightly at the knock but at seeing her friend, she set down the clothes in her arms before looking at them herself. "Yeah, I did. It was cathartic to get them." Her eyes moved up to meet his and she noticed the lightest hint of color rising to his features. Was he blushing? She pushed the thought away watching his movements.

When he mentioned that he still couldn't talk, Tori joined in his laugh and moved over to him wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "I missed you too Kari." She kept her arms around him a little longer than she was expecting to. Feeling the rise in an emotion about her friend that she had thought was gone.

Tori pulled back and rubbed the back of her neck before looking towards her stuff. "Honestly I wasn't sure about coming back, but I am glad I did. Didn't realize how much I missed this place." Her new accent dancing with each word as the hidden truth in her words wanted to show. Of course she had missed her friend, who wouldn't?

It seemed that even with the distance and horribly failed relationship, that she hoped would never get brought up, had made the feelings for her friend stronger instead of weaker. "And Kari, I know you only can't talk around me. I have been your interpreter for how many years now?" Her gaze moving back over to him as she moved her hands to rest in her pockets.

"You may be dramatic and since you self admitted to it, what's new with the pack other than you becoming the Alpha? Any fun meetings or exciting trips? I feel like there is a lot that I have to catch up on again." The vibration in her pocket caused an eyebrow to raise as she pulled her phone out, quickly scanning the message before putting the phone away once more.

"My dad says hi and that he is happy for you." The happy tone from before fell from her features as an eyeroll accompanied her statement. It seemed to only last for a moment before she took a step closer to close the space between the two that she had created after pulling away from the hug.

"You said something about not listening to what the pack members say about you? Have you been getting into trouble while I was gone?" A teasing tone filled the words as mischief began to dance in her blue and green eyes. It wasn't like she couldn't talk about getting into trouble, but Kari didn't need to know about that yet. "I get the feeling I need to go around and see what news I can learn about our dear Alpha."

She began to sidestep around Kari, almost daring him with her energy to try and stop her. Of course she would easily relent being as he was the Alpha, but something within her was itching to see what he would do with her defiance.

Tori O'Connor

When Kari mention that he had been getting into fights, Tori paused in her steps and moved her arms to fold across her chest. "You getting into fights? That doesn't sound like the Kari that I know." An eyebrow raised as she spoke partially searching through her memories if she had ever seen Kari get into a fight.

"Do you start the fights or just finish them?" Concern worked its way into her features as she watched him wondering if the two of them had changed so much over the years. His words about one of the alpha's being cocky brought a chuckle to her lips as she shook her head. "Hmmm, sounds like a lot of alphas that I know."

She offered a playful wink and removed an arm from around herself and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I believe that you will be a great alpha. It isn't the easiest position in the world. Just know that I am not jealous of you being in the position. I enjoy being just a simple hunter." Her words were sincere as she spoke, even though she tossed in a joke at the end.

Tori used her hand on Kari's shoulder to step out into the hall and looked around taking a deep breath. "I have missed the quiet. Yeah I know that now is a busy time of year but it isn't overwhelming to come back to this." With that, she turned on her heel and began heading towards the front of the house.

"Also I promise not to be a pest about asking the pack members about you. Just as long as we can still have our chats. I feel like we need to get to know each other again. But maybe not in a bar, that might not end well for the both of us."

The last time that Tori had been in a bar was shortly after the incident and she had spent a few too many nights trying to drown the memory that led to some horrible hangovers and a worse feeling of guilt the morning after. Tori paused at the top of the stairs looking over her shoulder at Kari.

"I have one burning question...please tell me you haven't seen any of my covers on youtube...."

Tori O'Connor

Something about the way that Kari acted after answering her question about the fight created a note in Tori's mind to come back to at a later date. When Kari mentioned being able to pick up on the smallest things, for once the facade cracked across her features as her jaw tightened turning away to try and recompose herself. If we really could pick up on the smallest things, I wouldn't have...She stopped her own thoughts taking a deep breath releasing the tension that had began making its way through her body.

"Silence is not always a bad thing, but I guess that means if I want to try and hang out on the roof randomly, everyone will hear me." The teasing tone more strained than it had been just moments before. She kept her face turned away from Kari but she quickly turned when he asked about her covers. "Even if you were kidding, I have covered a bit of everything. Needed an outlet."

She nodded when he mentioned talking again when the entire pack was together eating. "Sounds good. I will see you then." Tori watched him leave before heading in the opposite direction replacing the facade in her features once more.

~~A couple of months later~~

Tori was leaning against the counter at the bar staring into the drink in front of her, trying to avoid making eye contact with one of the guys that wouldn't stop staring. She had gone out for the night to see if the town was still the same as when she had left or if things had changed at all. She had gone with a pair of fitted jeans, a pair of her heels, and a halter top that was currently covered by her jean jacket.

She swirled the whiskey once more before finishing it and set the glass on the counter ordering another one. Tori had been trying to cut back on her intake of alcohol but the past couple of days had been weighing on her mind and it didn't help that Carson had been hounding her about lack of wanting to at least explain what had happened and why he had gotten the frenzied call.

While she was waiting for her second drink, Tori turned to rest her back against the bar and let her eyes scan about the room trying to look for any familiar faces. She had done her makeup on the darker side which had seemed to make the vibrant color of her eyes sharper in the dark atmospher.