Sansa had a clearer head in the morning.

She sat against a tree, thinking over what had happened yesterday.

It never occurred to her how others would perceive her words.

She reflected to how the Luna reacted.

Did they think Night had abandoned her? That she was some crazy female desperately searching for a mate that had cast her off?

Yes. Sansa nodded her head, knowing that was what they saw.

But the description of him made it worse.

She couldn't repeat that again. It had hurt too much to hear the Luna's words. To have her hopes so quickly shatter so soon into her journey.

Sansa knew there was another pack close to her. Warren had tried to teach her the route and made sure she memorized the locations of the packs and where they laid before he sent her out. Partly so she wouldn't unknowingly run into her father's pack. 

Partly so she wouldn't become lost in the woods.

Sansa sat there, deep in thought.

What could she do? What could she do.

She was not a female searching for her mate. Maybe she could claim to be one? But then she would have to interact with the males...

She shook her head, not wanting to do that.

And then it struck her.

So stupid, why had she not thought of it before! She had been so absorbed in the thought of Night, and the tales told to her of females searching for the males by entering packs, that it never had occurred to her that she was different. She and Night's story would always be different.

Sansa stood, determined now that she had a better plan of action.

Like the last time, a warrior stopped her at the border.

But unlike last time, she gave a different answer for her reason of being there.

"I'm a healer," she held up her bag to prove her point, "I've been wandering from pack to pack. Are you in need of my services?"

The warrior eyed her carefully. Sansa could tell this pack was different from the other one she had visited. There was always something different about each pack.

The warrior before her had a piercing upon his nose, something that fascinated Sansa. She wanted to ask him how it was done, and what the significance of it was- how did it affect his shifting? But wisely she thought better of it.

He led her through the woods, stopping suddenly to turn around to her.

"I have to tie this around your head," he showed her a piece of cloth.

Sansa allowed him, wanting to gain this packs favor by being cooperative.

She stumbled through the foliage of the trees, the male not being careful with her at all. It seemed a long time before they stopped. Sansa wondered if he was even leading her to his pack.

But soon the cloth was yanked off roughly and she was standing before a male.

Sansa instantly shrunk back. This Alpha was different from the last one. Where the others had been wearing a kind smile with a Luna by his side- this Alpha was wild.

His course beard and rough hair gave him a strange appearance of being one with the woods. He looked more in tune with his creature than anyone Sansa had ever seen before. The male eyed her with a look she could not decipher- green eyes that matched the forest staring down to examine.

"You are a healer?"

She shivered at the tone of his voice but did not back away.

"Yes."

Something close to approval flashed in his eyes as he nodded.

"Good. Follow me."

She looked around their environment but saw no houses or signs of living. Instead, they were deep in the woods- the part that showed the darkness of the trees and overhanging of shadows from the long life of its branches.

They stopped suddenly and Sansa saw before her a small child sitting alone in the woods.

"Heal him."

The Alpha's orders were not to be disobeyed.

Sansa slowly stepped around him, her curiosity piqued at the sight of the waiting child.

Outwardly, she saw nothing wrong with him.

He stared up at her, eyeing her wearily.

Until he coughed. Sansa couldn't help but smile at the sound- even though it was one that no child should have produced.

"I need a fire, water and a cloth..." she turned to see the rising eyebrow of the Alpha, "...please."

He did not move, but Sansa heard rather than saw, the movement of rushing feet.

She bent down to the child, feeling his forehead.

"Can you open your mouth wide for me? Good. Stick out your tongue- like this...very good..." Sansa turned back to her herbs, wondering idly if this would work.

Then she started.

The supplies were brought to her and soon she had a fire going.

Two other warriors appeared, standing on either side of the Alpha.

It was another hour before Sansa took the warm liquid and dipped it within the cloth.

She turned to the watching child. Through her preparation, she had talked to him. He didn't like to talk and didn't answer much of her questions, but when she gave him the plants to grind, he had carefully done the task, concentrating all his focus on it.

His unease had grown less, but she still could sense the distrust of the males around her. Maybe this was a test? But the child really was sick.

"Do you think you can raise your shirt for me? It's okay if-," Sansa's words were cut off as the child wordlessly took his shirt off and neatly folded it to the side.

She inched forward closely, holding the cloth in her hand.

"This won't hurt you. This will make you feel better. Look-," she touched the cloth to her own finger and smiled down at the child. He had watched the interaction closely, his eyes glancing up at her now. She saw a fraction of relief in them.

Slowly, she rubbed the cloth on his chest and watched as his eyes closed in blissful relief. She smiled as the pain she had not noticed before, slipped away from his face.

After several minutes of rubbing, she turned to the Alpha.

"I have more that can be used whenever he falls ill again."

"Again? Didn't you cure him?"

Sansa hesitated before continuing, "I think...this environment is not good for the child."

"He was weak lungs."

It was one of the warriors besides the Alpha. He spat on the ground, glaring at the innocent boy as he blankly stared up at the three males.

Something in Sansa's heart stopped. Watching the rejection of this child.

Her own vivid memories of her childhood were painfully ripped from her mind as she turned back to the males.

"No. It has nothing to do with his lungs. It's just that his body is working hard. Harder than yours. So, it needs some relief every now and then."

The Alpha eyed her, glancing at the silent boy before nodding.

"Asher. Take what the woman has and give it to your mother."

Asher stood and took the jar from Sansa, bowing low to the Alpha before walking away.

Sansa watched him go with a heavy heart, feeling sad that there was nothing more she could do for him. Her attention was brought back as the Alpha spoke.

"There are more. Come."

For the rest of the day, she applied the same lotion to others and their chest. She looked around the forest, wondering what it was in the air that caused this pack to become like this. She was too scared to voice her question out loud to the Alpha, however.

Late into the night, after the last patient had left her- the Alpha came.

"Come with me."

Following him, she realized she did not know his name, and he did not know her. She wondered when and how she would be able to ask about Night. The events of the day had made her forget her search.

The Alpha stopped suddenly a glare showing on his wild face.

"Don't speak."

Sansa couldn't help but smile at his words. She had hardly spoken this whole day.

Under his wild beard, she thought she also saw his lips rise in a sort of half-smile.

She continued to follow him, until they were in a clearing. She was glad now that he had told her not to speak, because before her were brilliant cabins. Small houses that blended in with the woods of the forest. They were beautiful.

He cautiously led her into the nearest one, opening it and quickly pushing her inside.

Sansa felt fear for only a moment before she looked down and saw the small boy- Asher.

He bowed low to the Alpha.

Sansa looked up at the voice of a female.

"Is this her?"

"Yes."

A female stepped into the light of the fire offered in the cabin. Sansa squinted, looking and feeling her eyes widen at how beautiful she was. She couldn't even describe the beauty. It was something like a fact. Like how one knew the sky was blue, the moon would rise, and the day would come. It was simply a known fact to Sansa now, that the woman before her, was beautiful.

"Healer-"

"Sansa- my name is Sansa."

The Alpha paused, looking at her in impatience. Sansa quickly closed her mouth realizing through his eyes that he did not care what her name was.

"You saw my pack today. You saw the illness in them. And my son...." The Alpha turned to Asher now with sad eyes, "you said he can never be cured."

Sansa looked at the Alpha with surprise. At the treatment the boy received, she never would have expected this child to be the Alpha's son.

"Yes..." Sansa did not know what else to say.

"Why are they all like this?"

"Can I...Can I search the house?"

He looked at her carefully before nodding.

The woman worriedly approached Sansa, walking beside her as she examined the room.

"Do you think there is something in here harming Asher?"

"It's possible..."

Sansa tried to think hard on what could cause such a condition. Already from the distant room she heard the boy's cough. Something in the house then?

She sniffed cautiously but smelled nothing unusual.

Her eyes didn't see anything odd either.

She looked at the strange structure of the cabins. How they seemed to be shaped into the trees they were built on.

"How are these houses made?"

The female looked around, eyeing the trunk that was standing in the middle of the living room.

"I came to this pack six years ago and am still not use to it...They do not believe in cutting down the trees...they say killing a tree is the same as taking the life of another, so they build around them. The boards are all from trees that have already fallen. So, they give them a second life by using them to build homes."

Sansa would never say out loud how beautiful this ideology sounded. The female beside her seemed baffled by it, as if her mind only spoke in black and white saying- a tree is a tree. Nothing more.

Sansa stoked the boards around her, thinking back to her words.

Until her hand met an uneven texture.

She stopped and leaned in closely but saw nothing but the black spots of the wood.

No...

Sansa's eyes widened.

"Do you have a light or something that I can use to see better?"

The woman quickly left and returned with a handful of matches.

Sansa lit one, feeling her heart beat faster as she took in the black stain on the wall. It blended in so well with the wood that she would have missed it if her hand had not been there to feel the texture.

Her hand....

Sansa went to the sink, washing her skin.

"What is it?" the female hovered closely to Sansa. The Alpha approached then, eyeing Sansa with a look that told her no secrets would be kept from him.

"Mold. If it's here than I'm guessing it's in all the houses...if you use fallen trees, but don't clean them properly..."

The Alpha stared at her silently before nodding.

"You will sleep in the guest bedroom."

Sansa stared at him in surprise at his even tone. The female beside him was now clinging to him, pleading that they leave the house- that Asher could not stay there now that they knew.

Sansa saw that it was with a great amount of patience that he took her hand and glared down at her.

"Silence. We'll deal with it in the morning."

And they did.

The moment Sansa was woken by the silent Asher, she was led into the kitchen, where a fast breakfast was pushed on her by the impatient Alpha before they set to work.

The whole pack soon became aware and Sansa, by default, became the source for what to do, and how to handle this event.

Females worked hard to scrub every inch of their homes.

Males went to the pile of wood that laid waiting- wood that they had taken from fallen trees already to use for later, and were now washing and cleaning every board.

Sansa wondered silently how she had managed to get in the middle of this.

A week passed before the pack had cleaned every surface they could.

At the end of that week, the Alpha made her an offer.

"If you wish it, you may stay in my pack."

Sansa sat with him, alone in the kitchen. She held her herb tea tightly in her hands, feeling the warmth from the cup transfer to her skin.

Her silence was enough to make him talk again.

"I know you've lost your mate."

She looked up at him, startled.

He met her stare, a sadness hiding deep in his eyes.

"I know that scent that clings to you. It was the same one my father wore."

"My-,"

Sansa swallowed her words. She was about to argue that Night was alive. But that wasn't the argument that was being made. It wasn't about death. It was about loss.

"Thank you but...no...I can't."

The Alpha stared at her impassively before nodding.

"Then how can I repay you."

"Knowledge."

He looked at her in confusion before she explained, "Have you ever heard...stories...of a male with dark skin and silver eyes like the moon? Have you ever heard about a creature that smells like...like death...who vanishes in the air and comes and goes almost like a dream."

The Alpha shook his head, "I've never heard of such a tale."

Sansa had to look away to hide the disappointment in her eyes.

"But...if you are looking for legends, I know a pack that might interest you..."
He had regained her attention.

He looked uncomfortable now, staring down at the table and not meeting her eyes.

"There is a female there who claims to be asoothsayer...I have heard from the Alpha of that pack that she does no harm...shelives on the edge of the pack and tells the fortune of those who are foolishenough to believe it...but she invests her time in legends. You might try her."

"Please," Sansa knew she showed to much of her excitement, but she could notstop it from coming out, "Please give me the directions to this pack."

You should appreciate this because it took 30 minutes just for the wattpad web page to load...I was going to just post an announcement saying "no update today" but I gave a long sigh and just...waited...while I ate chips...and did other work...and waited...and two hours later...the story was finally...here...on the page...