His Little Song Bird

The Wolf Pack Emerges

When Sansa was a child, her mother would tell her of how The Stark family had connections with wolves, they were obviously just stories but her mother always told her that she should follow the example of wolves and always protect her family, packs are just families that protect each other fiercely. Every night, as Ramsey controlled her family legacy and her pack separated, she knew she was a lone wolf without any protection. Yet, as she saw all the men around the table, Thor, Beric, Guy, Tormund and especially Sandor, she could see a pack of lone wolves.

After a night of disturbed sleep in Sandor's arms she knew she had to set up a plan for getting her company back. Sandor now sported some discolouration on his pink puckered scar along with a nasty graze on his temple, not to mention his regular scowl. He hadn't taken kindly to all the men entering his home without an invite, but decided to sulk instead of sending them away. Beric and Thor were outraged at Sandor's attack and ordered he take time off, in which he told them to fuck off.
"So..." Beric sighed. A thick tension hovered over the table. "What's the plan Sansa." Every man looked at Sansa hopefully. She took a deep breath.
"Well, as you all know, Ramsey has my family company." She paused. "I intend to get that back."
"But how?" Guy cocked a brow at her.
"I say we storm the building." Tormund suggested, mouth full of one of Sansa's biscuits.
"Well that's illegal." Sandor sighed, even he liked the idea. He could punch the smug git in the face.
"There is an easier way." Sansa continued. " Ramsey forced me to sign away my brother's half when I was only 17, which would have meant he had to of claimed that my legal guardian was present at the signing of the document."
"Well who was your guardian?" Guy asked.
"My cousin Jon, but he at this point was in Scotland on a job for Ramsey."
"So all we need is Jon to tell the company he wasn't there and boom the contract is void." Beric explained.
"The problem is, I can't find Jon, Ramsey has him employed in Scotland with his security firm, every time I call the firm asking for Jon they hang up the phone, I can't find him online or even where the firm is located, Ramsey blocked us at every turn."
"Us?" Sandor asked suspiciously.
"My friend Theon, he's a private investigator."
"Obviously not a bloody good one." Sandor mumbled. Sansa ignored him, not wanting to deal with his grumpiness.
"What I don't get is why he made you sign at 17 and open up this possibility for being caught." Thor spoke up. The rest of the table nodded along.
"At 18 I inherited 3 million from my family estate." All jaws at the table dropped. " but at 17 i had no money and was relying solely on Ramsey to survive after he got me to send my brother and sister away with Jon, he couldn't have controlled me as a millionaire with a mansion and her own company, but he could as a weak 17 year old orphan who thought she was in love." He looked down at her hands, ashamed of her vulnerability.
"So." Guy started. "You're a millionaire."
"Yes I am guy." She laughed with the rest of the men. She felt at ease and slowly relaxed into Sandor next to her, letting her shoulder rest against his. He snuck his arm around her waist carefully, trying not to alert the chattering men around them, he pulled her closer and slipped his hand into the back pocket of her jeans, even though it was far too small for his large hand.
" Hey Sansa, what's your cousin's last name?" Tormund asked, looking at his phone in his hand. The rest of the men knowingly ignored Sandor's arm wrapped around Sansa's body.
"Er, Snow." Sansa replied confused. Tormund glanced at her with a thick frown before carrying on to scroll through his phone . "Wh-"
He interrupted her by shoving his phone in her face. The phone showed a picture of an obviously drunk Tormund hugging a much younger gentleman. He had a mass of curly black hair, tied up in a messy man bun, paired with a thick black beard, much shorter then Tormun's giant ginger beard. That was her Cousin Jon, a little older but definitely Jon.
Sansa stared in disbelief, the man she had spent months looking for months had been thrust in her face by Tormund. What are the odds?
"Is that him?" Tormund asked hopefully. Everyone seemed to lean closer, anticipating Sansa's answer.
"It is. But how?" She still didn't take her eyes from Jon's smiling face, wondering if she took her eyes away for even a moment his face may change and she may have lost him again.
"I worked with him last year, he used to talk about how he came from money, secretive lad, I honestly thought he was just trying to impress this lass we both knew, never thought he was actually rich." Tormund explained, finally pulling his phone away. "We still meet every time I'm north, i got his number an' everything." Sansa's heart swelled.
"C-can I call him?"
"Of course you bloody can." And Tormund slid his phone across the table, to be caught by Sandor. On the screen sat Jon's name. He passed it over and her thumb hovered over the call button. Sansa had made so many mistakes, would he be angry, refuse to see her, not tell her where her siblings were, she had waited to long to find Jon and yet when shes's found him she's too scared to pick up the phone. The table watched, not wanting to break her train of thought.
"Go on little bird." Sandor whispered into her ear. Her thumb pressed the call button.
"Hello? Jon, it's me Sansa."
--
Sansa talked on the phone for an hour in Sandor's room. In which the men meandered around Sandor's flat, too full of anticipation for Sansa's return to really talk. They went through countless cups of coffee and tea before someone finally spoke.
"Where is Gendry?" Guy finally asked, realising he hadn't come with them. Sandor had noticed he hadn't arrived with them but wondered if he's asked, someone might call him to come.'
"Looking after the bar." Beric replied, drinking more tea. Three weeks before, Sandor would have never let them into his home and yet there they all were, drinking his coffee and watching his TV.
"Sure It's not burned down yet?" The Hound mumbled. The men laughed again, ignoring the actual possibility that Gendry would do something stupid. Thor paused.
"I'm gonna call and check up on him." The men laughed harder as Thor left to make sure his business was still in one piece.
As Thor left, Sansa walked in with Tormunds phone in hand. Her eyes were puffy from fallen tears but a pleasant smile was spread across her lips, he mascara had ran slightly and hair was disheveled with her nose pink. Sandor still stared, thinking she was the most beautiful girl in the world.
"He's coming down in two days." She spoke in a hushed voice, her throat strained obviously from crying. She still smiled even it's her voice raw. She walked to Tormund and pulled him in a tight hug. "Thank you so much."
Tormund, for the first time in a while was speechless, he instead wrapped a cautious arm around her and gave her a quick squeeze, a bright blush on this cheeks.
"Any time Red.' He whispered in her ear before letting her go.
"So is he on board?" Sandor asked, hoping to break the tension in the room. He didn't' want to admit the spike of jealousy he felt when she hugged his friend, he was acting like a childish boy.
"He is, He and my little brother are coming down too confront him."
"What about your sister?" Beric asked in a worried tone. Sansa still carried on smiling.
"She lives in the city apparently, has been looking for me for months, they all have." She finally didn't feel alone, her pack had been worrying about her as she had been worrying about them, she for once felt hope that she's have a family again.
"That's bloody great news!" Tormund bellowed with a wide grin.
"Could I meet her at the brotherhood tomorrow morning? She asked Beric.
"Absolutely not." Sandor interrupted. "Ramsey is expecting that and he'll catch you." He stood up from the couch and crossed his arms protectively. If they could happily beat the crap out of him, they could happily grab Sansa and run.
"Sandor! I need to meet my sister." She challenged, scowling at him. Sansa couldn't keep hiding from him, not when her family is out there looking for her.
"And risk everything? Are you stupid?" He bit back with a snarl. Sansa stared in disbelief, just as everything is going right he decides to revert to old Sandor?
"You can use the back entrance we use for the bins, the surrounding buildings hide it from view." Beric interjected, trying to break the locked stares of the pair. Sansa, still frowning, broke the battle her and Sandor were having with their eyes.
"Thank you Beric." She muttered. The entire room was silent. Sandor tried to reach out for her but she moved from his grasp ever so slightly, breaking his heart a little.
The loud opening for the door broke the silence with an angry Thor rumbling through the door.
"Gendry fucking dropped three fucking barrels all over the cellar, we gotta bloody go." He announced with a red face. Guy and Beric groaned and gathered their things, offering Tormund a lift home.
They each gave Sansa a kiss on the cheek, noticing the pair were obviously ignoring each other.
"He's soft for you, ya' know?" Tomund whispered in her ear before he closed the door. Sansa stared at the door, wondering what he could have meant. Nothing about Sandor was soft, he was rough and mean and impossible to touch in her eyes. A puzzle wrapped in steel. Every time she thinks he wants her he pushes her away before pulling her back. He pitied her, that was it.
She noticed in the corner of her eye, him putting his jacket hastily.
'Where are you going?" She asked meekly, afraid he would snap at her again. He didn't meet her eye.
'To help." He muttered slipping on his shoes.
"When are you gonna be back?'
"Late." And he slammed the door on his way