Tori O'Connor

Her eyes never left his features as he spoke, sighing at his comment about the knife quietly. "Honestly I am surprised it didn't happen sooner." When Kari was sitting on the counter Tori stepped over shaking her head. "What if he was aiming for your neck? I am glad he took only your hair."

Her eyes softened with concern as she lifted a hand once she was standing in front of him. Gently she ran her fingers through his hair, slightly upset that his longer locks were gone but at least he was still here. "I don't think it looks bad at all Kari. Maybe this was a change up that needed to happen. Kinda like turning over a new leaf..."

A small smile formed on her lips when he apologized for disturbing her. "Kari, I was still up. If anything all you disturbed was my reading and to be honest I don't even remember what I was reading."

The female took a step back placing her hands on her hips with an eyebrow raised. "You are asking the basic newbie why the pack hasn't replaced you?" She paused for a moments as she looked around them before speaking. "Because everyone has their demons Kari. You, me, hell even Carson has demons. There is a reason you are still Alpha and you will always have my support. You have the potential...I see it and I would bet money that others do as well." She stepped closer to him once more and put her hands on his shoulders. Her features held the seriousness of her words.

"I will have your back, you know that right?" Who was she to say if he should or shouldn't be alpha? She wasn't in the pack at the time of that decision and if he hadn't the potential, in her opinion he wouldn't have been chosen in the first place. She lifted a hand almost looking as if she was going to cup his cheek but instead patted it softly.

"You should probably be getting up to bed Mr. Alpha. You can take yourself or I can attempt to carry you up the stairs which would most likely cause more disruption." The smile back on her lips as she spoke.

Tori O'Connor

Hearing Ikaris state that it was unavoidable for anyone to see him injured raised questions in the females mind. The words paused on her tongue when he stated that he appreciated her statement and she quietly moved the questions back into her own mind. Of course she knew that she couldn't speak on behalf of the whole pack about him being the alpha but even in the little whispers that she heard, it didn't sound like members were fully aware.

"You are welcome Kari...I mean Mr. Alpha." She stepped back offering her hand as a balance to help him down from the counter. "I think I have created a monster with my own teasing tongue." She couldn't help but also join in with his laughter as she shook her head.

"I mean laying in bed is comfortable, but not sleeping is not." Maybe it was a mixture of her worry for her friend and trying to deal with the feelings that she felt for him or it could have been the nightmare that plagues her sleep a few nights of the month. Either way, she was partially thankful that she had been awake when Ikaris had walked back into the pack house.

"Just this once I will offer my assistance to help you. Otherwise I may have to go get Carson since he is strong enough to carry anyone."

Tori normally left Carson to his own devices and even though he seemed to hover around her if they were ever doing something together, she knew it was his way of trying to keep her safe. Carson was one of the few members she allowed to tease her about how close she was with Ikaris, mainly since he would cut the teasing if it got too deep with just a silent look.

Even if Carson didn't fully back how close the two were, seeing as Ikaris is the alpha and Tori is just a regular hunter, he kept it mostly to himself but would still be the big imposing brother if needed.

Tori O'Connor

When Ikaris stumbled after getting off the counter, Tori reacted by reaching out with her other arm ready to catch him. When he pulled his hand away from hers, an emptiness began to work its way up from her hand.

Her sober gaze caught the redness in his features and at first she thought it was because of the alcohol until Ikaris spoke. A light redness crept onto her own cheeks but she looked back out of the kitchen towards where they would be walking.

"If you want I don't have to call you Mr. Alpha. It can be just Kari..." She paused for a moment before mirroring his smile. "Ikaris will be saved for when you get in trouble. And of course I want to help you. You are my dearest friend." Her smile lowered when she watched him wince.

A snort left her when he mentioned making her fall. "At this point if I fell, I could be a soft landing for you instead of the floor or stairs. I can take the beating, you have already gotten beaten enough tonight Kari.

Tori moved towards the doorway between the kitchen and the livingroom area, pausing to look back at Ikaris. "Don't thank me yet. And you never have to thank me Kari." Once more she offered her arm as if she was a prince offering his arm to the princess to help her walk.

Tori knew the headache pain the Ikaris would most likely be in tomorrow and a part of her felt bad but the other part was saying he had made the choice. Maybe in the morning she could get some food started for the pack and that we he has something to snack on.

Right now the pair needed to make it up the stairs and one safely in his bed.

**the next morning**

After helping her friend up the stairs and into his own bed, Tori slowly made her way to her own room and laid on the bed picking up her book. She would be awake a few more hours and finally fall asleep just as the sun was beginning to rise, which put a damper on her plan to make breakfast for the pack.

The female was laying on her stomach with her glasses and the book resting on the little bedside table. She was spread out as much as she could be on the bed and buried her face with the soft fabric of her pillow numb to the sounds of everyone else waking up around her.

(No worries about the shortness. :) )

Tori O'Connor

Tori had been enjoying spending the morning lost within her dreams until the sudden rush of cold air brushed against any uncovered skin and the female instantly woke up rolling over to land with a soft thud upon the ground beside her bed with a wild and bewildered look to her. Carson was standing at the foot of her bed holding the larger comforter that had just a few seconds before been covering his sister's body as his blue hues darkened with mischevious glee before he tossed the blanket back onto the bed.

"You are late for breakfast Tori." He playfully scolded before offering a hand to his sister who was still sitting on the floor staring up at the man that was supposed to be her loving brother before narrowing her eyes to shoot daggers at him while she took his hand and clambered up to stand.

"That doesn't give you the right to just rip my blanket away from me with no warning or though!" Her arms folded across her chest anger beginning to build within the female as the older male chuckled after she spoke.

"You aren't the only one Tori and since you don't normally stay in bed this late, I figured I would at least come and make sure that you were really truly in bed." The smile lightening the male's features as he spoke gently patting his younger sister on the top of her head. "Someone has to keep track of you since you keep track of practically everyone but yourself."

Tori snorted at his comment before batting his hand away with a low growl as she shoved passed her brother over to her closet to grab a pair of clothes, toiletries, and a towel so that she could begin to get ready.

"Out of my room now Carson. I will be down to make you something in a few minutes since it seems that you would most likely starve if I wasn't here." She stuck her tongue out at her brother as he turned to walk away only to receive the same childish gesture back.

"I could get by but you love me and that is why you make me breakfast." Came the chiding words of Carson as he stepped out of the door, closing it softly behind him.

Tori let out another growl before picking up the towel and her toiletries as she headed to the ensuite bathroom. She hopped into the warm shower water closing her eyes to enjoy just the few moments of silence. Of course she ran over what had happened the night before wondering if she should have done something different but deep down, she was glad that she had been awake at the time.

She had of course made sure that he was safely to his room before she had padded back to her room to use her book to push the worry about her friend out of her mind even for a moment. Was it just worry about Kari that had caused her to overstep with her actions?

She was working through the questions in her mind as she finished with her shower and changed into a pair of snug jeans and a t-shirt. She opened her door as she was finishing drying her hair with the towel and stepped back heading over to her nightstand to grab her glasses.

**A few days later**

Tori O'Connor

Her jaw clenched in pain as Carson, as gently as he could, inspected the scrapes that were along Tori's side. She had been thrown into a tree while she was doing a late night patrol and her left side was burning with each breath that she took. A low growl left Carson's frame as he leaned back and grabbed some cream and an ice pack muttering under his breath.

Tears stung at the edge of Tori's eyes but instead of letting them leak, she bit down on her lower lip before gasping at the sudden freezing sensation against her side. "Damn it Carson! Can't you give any warning?" The female almost jumped away from the cold but the medic held her shoulder to keep her in place.

"There is no way to properly warn someone about an icepack Tori. Mind telling me why you thought it had been a perfectly good idea to go for a patrol in the middle of the night without someone else with you?" His words and features shared the stern tone that was barely covering the male's concern. A short chuckle left Tori as she finally looked towards her brother.

"Because I thought it would help me sleep. I wasn't expecting to run into....hell I don't even know what I ran into. All I remember is following the new scent and then being slammed into a tree. Sorry that I didn't focus on looking at what had blindsided me." A hiss escaped her lips as Carson shifted the pack to look at her side once more.

"You would be lucky if it didn't break any ribs Tori." The dark blue and purple hues beginning to work their way across her skin. Carson took Tori's left hand and without words put her hand to the pack and made sure she was holding it to her side before he moved back across the room to grab a stethoscope and return to his seat. He placed the cold metal of the scope against Tori's skin earning a soft growl but he ignored the mutterings of his sister.

His brows furrowed together as he listened, not particularly enjoying the slight whistling that he could hear with each breath that she took. "You can't go in to work Tori, I want you to go to the hospital and at least get an x-ray so that we can get an idea of the damage."

Tori scoffed as she shook her head and moved to sit up, wincing as she held the cold to her side. "I will be fine to work Carson. I don't do a physical job and you know that I can't sit still long enough for them to do x-rays. Also wouldn't you have to put in that request and wouldn't that put up some red flags?" Carson's jaw tightened as Tori spoke and it took some restraint to keep the male from yelling.

"I can ask a colleague to put the order in. Also if you walked in holding your side at the walk in, they would also put in an order. But you need to rest. Even the simple tasks at your job could cause more damage. I am worried that you may have fractured a rib or possibly caused damage to a lung. This isn't something that you can just sit and wait on."

The female had already stood up and grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen as she headed to the door. "I will be fine. I didn't hear any cracking when I hit and," she shook the bottle of medication, "this will help numb most of the pain."

Before Carson could stand and move from beside the examination bed, Tori was already out the door and headed to her room. A slew of angry words following her steps.

The next morning Tori had awoken earlier than she normally would have as the pain in her side had not provided her much sleep even with the medication. Normally she would have done up her makeup and hair but between her side and the exhaustion, the female decided to just tie her hair up in a pony tail and go to work clean faced with glasses. She put on a light grey pencil skirt with a dark blue top that matched the heels that she had decided to pair with the outfit.

She was just walking out the door of the house when Carson stepped out of his room catching a glimpse of her hair before the door closed. A slew of curse words were mumbled under his breath as he stepped into the kitchen and began to make breakfast. Of course still muttering about his mule headed sister.

It didn't take long for Tori to make it to the local bank that she had gotten a job at and she stepped inside taking a moment to enjoy the quiet of the building before the rush of people came in. Her eyes closed as a particularly painful wave washed over her from a deeper breath and she pressed her hand to her side as if that would help.