She was in front of her cabin- the one she had resided in while staying at Esmond's pack. Sansa looked up at the entrance, seeing the neglect that was already showing from the space being unoccupied in the days she had been gone.

Cautiously, Sansa looked around, curious why she had arrived back here.

With a weary sigh, she lowered her body to the ground, laying there. Sansa felt the coolness of the forest floor hit her as she closed her eyes. She did not want to move away and found that she did not have the energy to do so anyway.

It was several hours later that Sansa felt her mind become aware. The sun had descended, leaving her confused at the passing of time that had occurred.

Sansa sighed when she felt hands on her arms, the soft touch going up her skin- slowly, hesitantly. A safety of warmth enveloped her as she turned over. Her arms went around him, her head burying into his shoulder and inhaling deeply his scent.

Some nights it was torturous to endure dreams such as these. But other times...other times she felt grateful that her mind could give her such peace.

The body she clung to inhaled sharply, going rigid.

Sansa looked up frowning. Her dreams usually did not go this way. She felt tears come to her eyes when the vivid color of silver hit her. It was so real. So real to her how accurate her memories had done in their work of recreating him.

She framed his face with her hands, pulling him down and herself up to meet halfway in a kiss. It was slow and agonizing- the kind that Sansa found herself pulling more into.

A startled moan escaped him.

Sansa pulled back to stare at him.

And then she blinked.

They stared at one another for a long second. She sat up abruptly her hands going immediately to cover her mouth in alarmed recognition and surprise.

"This can't be real."

She started to shake her head as her eyes flickered to take him in fully- the darkness concealed the full of him, but it still was able to show to her the main features that she knew.

Silver eyes. Dark skin.

Night.

"This is a dream." She was still shaking her head, tears coming down now as she tried to regain her footing in the world.

He reached for her.

It was that hesitation. She knew it of him. He had always been hesitant to touch her. As if she was too much for him, or there was a fear in what his touch could do. She knew that action. It was that familiar action as he extended his hand to cup her cheek and take her in, that made his next works solidify and confirm in her mind.

"I'm real, Sansa."

Without thinking about anything else she threw her arms around him.

Heaving sobs left her as he fell back with her weight. She clung to him, sitting in his lap curled up there like a child. She buried her head in the crook of his neck, unable to stop her tears. Soothingly he rocked her, one hand holding her to him, while the other stroked her hair.

"You're here."

Over and over she repeated her words.

Her crying eventually subdued. She hiccuped, inhaling deeply and feeling a faint hollowness in her chest after releasing so much emotion at once.

She looked up to see he had been crying with her.

She reached to wipe away his tears, holding back a sob that was threatening to come to her at the sight of his unfiltered pain.

"I'm so sorry." He put his head down on her shoulder, folding himself to appear smaller as he pushed himself closer to her, "I'm so damn sorry."

"Night...Night," she wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her cheek on the top of his head. She felt him shake his head, and the drops of his tears and they fell on her skin.

He stood, adjusting her weight so that he was carrying her. She leaned down and opened the door to the cabin for him.

"Do you know this place?" He asked.

"I stayed here for several weeks...It's a pack that allowed me to reside here and heal some of their members."

Night stared down at her. Sansa reached for him, tracing his face with her hands. It still felt surreal that he was before her.

"You're real?"

He smiled down at her, a soft heartbreaking look that Sansa was familiar with. A smile that showed he was in pain.

"I'm real."

"I've been looking for you."

He walked to the bed that was in the corner, sitting down there and curling themselves together so that Sansa was still able to stay within his arms.

"I know. My-," he cut himself off. Slowly Night shook his head, "you went down there. Looking for me."

"I found you," Sansa for some reason felt nervous. She had spent so many years meeting him in the woods. After all those years, she was able to read and understand the different emotions that hid in his words. There was anger. Shock. Sorrow. She heard it all too well as he spoke.

"You shouldn't have gone there. You shouldn't have...they told me Sansa that you took my place and you-," Night cut himself off, his voice breaking at the end as he pulled her closer to him.

Sansa couldn't stop the shiver that left her as the memory of the torture and pain flashed through her. He felt it. It only made his grip on her tighten.

"How are you here?" Sansa wanted to see his face as she asked the question, but she couldn't pull away.

"He is allowing it."

Sansa thought for a moment before realization hit her, "that male...the one who killed the...leader...." She knew none of their names. She wondered if they even had had names. Night had come to her with none in the beginning. She had given it to him, the first steps of her claiming him.

He nodded, "for..." he pulled back then and Sansa felt her heart breaking all over again as she took in the tear that fell, "It's only until the next night Sansa. Just tonight and the day. Only then can I be here with you."

Her heart dropped. "But...no...you can't leave..." she shook her head and held his face, forcing him to look at her. He was allowing her to touch him. More than she had ever in all the years she had known him. It was because of this. Because he could not deny her something when she needed it as desperately as this. He could not take away the comfort of his touch when he would not be there to comfort for long.

And then a peace settled in Sansa's heart. She inhaled deeply. Night watched the change come over her as he took her in. She looked up at him and smiled, "we need to make the most of this then. A lot has happened since I last saw you- and there's so much I need to tell you."

*   *   *

"You've done so much."

She and Night laid side by side. He on his back while she rested on her stomach, propping her face on her hands and elbows.

Sansa smiled as she thought of the adventure she had gone through to find him. But her smile slowly faded when she saw that this night would soon be over. Each second was a count down until he had to leave. It was the way their story went. How they were. What their love was created from.

He watched her and her fading smile. She looked down at him when she felt him gently touch her shoulder.

"I need to tell you somethings also."

She couldn't help it. Without thinking about it, Sansa leaned down and kissed him. She closed her eyes and tried to imprint to memory this moment.

She pulled away softly, "okay. Tell me."

He seemed dazed as he looked up at her. She leaned down and kissed him again. A peck. And then again. She laughed. He grinned broadly at her, the first smile he had given her that did not hold some degree of pain or sorrow.

"I'm a creature of the Moon, Sansa."

She stilled. She had not been expecting this. Her eyes widened when she realized this was the moment of his truth. His story. After all the years she had spent begging and asking him for any- some- details of his life. He was finally showing her now.

She leaned down on his chest, laying herself there to look at him. He paused before speaking, looking at her before sighing and continuing, "I'm a hound of death. A servant of the moon that is sent to take resisting souls to the... other side."

His hand rose and began to stroke her hair. A soothing motion that both of them needed as he pressed on, "I can't remember my life before that. Of what it was like. I only know that hounds of death are made that way because they are receiving punishment for the sins they have committed. Only the evilest of men are created into such creatures."

Sansa looked at him, startled, "you're not evil."

He gave her a sad smile. Her memories flashed to the male who had released her from the darkness. His own words had called her naive and, in that moment, Sansa wondered if she truly was.

"I was in your pack...those years ago...because I was taking the soul of your Alpha."

Realization came over her, "he passed away that day. My father...my father had come to help the situation and train the new Alpha and align with the pack, but he would only do so if they agreed to take me in..."

Night continued on though. He already knew all of that. Sansa had explained it to him. She had been ignorant to the other half of the truth, however.

"That's how I first met you. I followed your scent in the woods and I...couldn't get away. You were crying and I couldn't leave you."

"You came back."

Night closed his eyes in pain, "Yes. Every change in the season, I came back. We...creatures like us...we do not...I've heard stories from others of them finding their souls while out in this world."

A sudden thought hit Sansa. She had not told Night of her stay at Nova's. She had left it out, not wanting to discuss it until she was sure he would know. But now Sansa venture forward, "I meet a woman in my travels – Nova-...she had a story that was similar to mine of a mate who came and then went. But he never came back after that first night. And...she has a child."

"Yes," Night nodded, meeting Sansa's stare. "I know the male you speak of. He told me about a woman named Nova. The male...he was in that room with me because she found out of the secret he had. He knew of his child. But the female- that one who punished you-," Night's teeth clenched in anger.

Sansa felt a sudden jolt of shock at the hate that could be seen in his eyes when he talked about the female.

"-she took it out on the child. That child will live a hard life. A cursed life."

Sansa sat up abruptly, "what?"

Night sat up with her, "it is already destined. She was born that way. The female found out the truth the second the male went to his mate. He wasn't able to stay with her or say goodbye because-...that woman took him away. And the child...she punished the child. The child is Moon Cursed, Sansa. Avoid her. No one can save her but herself."

Sansa looked at Night. He read the fear and worry in her eyes but he shook his head violently, "Promise me. I didn't tell you about this only to make me worry later. Never come face to face with her again. Please."

"I-..." Sansa stared at him before finally sighing, "for you I will."

A sigh of relief left him.

There was silence between them before Sansa whispered, "Thane. Nova named her mate Thane."

Night smiled at her. "I'll tell him."

He hesitated before speaking, "Sansa...I...I can still- I can make sure you are safe. That no harm will come to you. I will watch over you. Just as how Thane already watches over his child..."

"But you won't be with me."

Night only stared at her, "I can't give you empty promises. But some days...there may be some days. Once every few years," he winced at his own words as he took her hands in his own, "I don't belong here Sansa. I'm sorry," he hung his head in despair, bringing their hands to his forehead. Sansa watched him break as he tried to see a way to make her happy. To be a mate she needed.

But there was no solution.

She gently caressed his cheek, forcing him to look up to her.

"Night."

She leaned in and kissed him.

She deepened the kiss. He moved closer to her. Sansa sighed, her skin filling with the sparks of his touch and the heat of desire he brought to her.

He pulled back, shaking his head, "that's not why I came here. I don't want you to think-,"

She cut him off with her lips.

A soft groan left him as she pressed herself to be closer.

"Please Night."

His eyes were closed. She could see the fight in his mind. The desire but the logical, rational being that made up the man that she loved.

"Thane. He did not mark her. Your friend. He didn't- Sansa do you know what happens to wolves who go without their mates once they have been claimed?" His eyes opened to a horror of horrors. To a silent abyss of pain that broke Sansa as she stared down at it.

"I can already scent it off of you, and I'm ashamed that you have me as your mate. Ashamed that I am..." Night pressed their foreheads together as he gave a shaky sigh, "I don't want to do that to you and then leave Sansa."

Sansa smiled at him. Night. Her Night. Always bringing comfort. Always giving her peace and restoration.

"I want it though. I want you to claim me. Make me yours. I want it because...when you leave, Night, I want proof that I belong to you. And," Sansa traced the outline of his shoulder, "I want to make sure you know whom you belong to also."

He stared at her for a long time. She did not rush him. She did not press him. Though each second spent was a second that was no more, she knew that they were experts in the art of taking the time they had together and treasuring it.

"I love you."

Sansa felt the breath leave her lungs.

"I love you. I love you. I love you, Sansa. My sol."

He shook his head in wonder as he looked down at her, "I can't imagine a higher honor than being claimed by you. Than giving myself to you."

Sansa stood on her knees. She felt his hands go to her waist to steady her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and looked down. 

"Night."

Her saying his name brought a smile to his lips. She kissed him. And in the break between those kisses, as he gently laid her down, she whispered back to him, "I love you too."

He had amazement in his eyes. Pure wonder. Sansa smiled up at him as she felt his hands shake slightly. He let out a deep exhale and closed the beautiful silver that had been staring at her.

"It's okay," she whispered.

He opened his eyes. He moved to her, his lips softly kissing her cheek. He pulled her hair back, kissing her neck. Sansa wrapped her arms around him, feeling her legs move over his body to bring it closer.

His kisses were slow and patient. Kind. Sweet in a way that made Sansa breathless. They held a gentleness to them that she knew he had possessed all along.

"I didn't come to see you to...you have to know Sansa..."

"I know," she whispered, stopping his words before he could finish them, "but you'll leave. And I want to know you before you go."

He pulled back and smiled, brushing aside a stay piece of hair that had fallen in her face, "you know me."

She met his smile with her own, "do you remember our spot? In the forest?"

"Of course," he murmured, his words said between kisses to her skin.

"You never once touched me then. And only a small amount when I found out that you were my mate."

His lips grazed down her jaw, his hand holding her face steady. "I couldn't. They would be able to scent you from me. They would have tried to trace the origin of it. She would have found you."

Sansa's hands went to his neck, tracing the patterns that were woven there on his skin. He was sitting up before she could blink, taking off the fabric and finally, letting the fullness of his skin be exposed.

She stared at the markings she had only seen glimpses of. "It's beautiful."

"All hounds of death carry them."

She traced the curves that the strokes carried and the pictures that were described there. On his chest was the white outline of a throne. Below it was a vine of thorns, hanging the head of a wolf and the body of the moon. Her fingers went down to where the vines stopped, just above the waistline. She felt his body shiver from the contact as she fully placed her palm on the markings.

"Do you choose them?" It was different from what Nova had described on her own male. Night did not carry the exact same patterns.

He nodded, "Through the years we add a symbol. It is a reward. Eventually out bodies become consumed with the desires we have painted on them and the dreams we have left to be seen- we hope that the Moon takes pity on our souls. When we stand before her for judgment, she sees the map of our hearts that we have created, and she grants us peace."

He rose and stood. Sansa protested before she could think but her words were stopped short when she saw the markings that were drawn on Night's back.

It was the seasons.

Four trees in black ink were drawn. It started with a lifeless image of a tree that had no leaves. Before it sprouted- small buds to show the coming of spring. And then fullness. Richness. Before a single leaf fell.

Sansa felt tears come to her eyes as she took it in. Above it all, watching over the transition, was a night sky.

"For you," he whispered.

He turned to stare at her. She opened her arms to him, her vision blurry from her tears. A small smile could be seen as he kneeled before her and put his head on her lap. She wrapped him in her arms, kissing the bare skin. His cheek, his neck, his shoulders.

He watched her, his eyes hooded and clouded in the haze of having her before him.

"It was torture." His words made her look up to meet the flash of silver, "torture," he repeated, "to not be able to touch you. I wanted to. I wanted to every time I heard you speak. When you laughed. When you said my name. I wanted you, Sansa. I want you."

"You have me," she said, "show me what you would have done, if we had met in the woods, and you never held back."

A fierceness overcame him so suddenly that Sansa had no time to breathe. His lips crashed onto hers, taking her completely senseless. These were not gentle kisses. This was raw, powerful, and hungry.

Her words had been all he needed to break whatever had been holding him back.

"More," she demanded when he broke free for air. A wild gasp left him as he took her face in his hands and kissed her, deepening it. He forced her to stand, never breaking away as she stepped back to sit on the bed. Never stopping as he swung her legs over to rest under him. He positioned himself to be above before continuing.

They didn't need words. Sansa and he both knew what this moment was. Both knew what they wanted and what the other meant. In their years together- stolen moments they had gathered- they knew how to read each other and the language that their body spoke.

Sansa raised her shirt above her head. He watched her undress completely, his eyes never wavering. He leaned forward kissing her shoulder. He took off his own clothes until they were both exposed.

"Sansa..." he paused, looking up at her, "are you sure?"

"I want proof."

His eyes grew sad at her words as she leaned forward and kissed him, "I want proof, Nigh, that you exist. That you love me. And that we love each other."

He pulled her in his arms, his mouth coming to the corner of her neck.

Sansa met silver. Silver eyes. She saw them flash and connect to her own as he smiled at her.

And her soul was alight. 

Sometimes I get so immersed when I write these chapters that the POV changes from 3rd to 1st without me even realizing it and I become Sansa. I don't even realize it until I'm done writing the chapter and I go back to reread it and just go "what??? What happened, why is this from Sansa's POV?" (Little fun fact for you readers) 

Thank you for taking the time to read, I hope you enjoyed  ♥