Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Game of Thrones. If I did no Direwolf would have ever been harmed, only people...

Quick Summary: Lyanna Stark was an untameable wolf, wild and free. As a girl she ran through fields and climbed up buildings, fought with swords made from branches and swam the rivers; living a carefree existence she was secure and content. But with each passing year she blossomed into a startlingly beautiful woman who caught the eye of more than one powerful man. She had read stories of a woman named Helen for whom a great war was fought, never had she imagined she would share such a fate.

Would she escape the clutch of destiny with her life intact, or would the fire and blood consume her whole?

Rhaegar was a fierce and proud leader, a warrior, a prince, a husband and a father. Yet it took the spirit and passion of a girl from the North to teach him what made life worth living, but when the price was paid in rivers of blood and cries of babes was it too high?

"When you play the Game of Thrones you win or you die."

...

Chapter one:

(The Stream of Wolves)

Aged Three

Today was the day; her mother's screams could be heard from the Godswood as her baby brother or sister made ready to enter the world. She hoped it would be a brother as she loved having brothers, she didn't know what she'd do with a girl. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. Other girls were no fun.

"Ly," her brother Brandon called, waving to her as she stumbled towards him. She was getting more steady on her feet but it was frustrating to still not be able to do all of the things she longed to with her older siblings. "Come with us to explore while the servants are busy."

Her brother Brandon, aged nine, was adventurous and impulsive, always looking for the next fun escapade. He was the leader of the Stark siblings and soon he would have another to add to his pack, but not just yet. It could be hours before the baby was born and he was right, now was the perfect time to have some fun as everyone's attention would be on their mother. The idea of such a window of freedom brought forth a heavily dimpled smile from Lyanna, lighting up her still chubby face.

Eddard, her other older brother, aged seven, frowned. "She's a little young, Bran," he cautioned, ever the sensible child having to temper his brother's rash schemes.

Lyanna's smile dropped immediately, replaced instead with a scowl that had Brandon chuckling.

"I am not too young!" she growled, narrowing her eyes at Eddard and feeling the heat creep up on her cheeks. Then she turned pleading eyes upon Brandon, hoping he would overrule their cautious brother's concerns.

"Not today you aren't, you're going to be an older sister soon," Brandon grinned down at the toddler before him before fixing his gaze on Eddard, "and we need to start treating her like it."

Eddard said nothing but resolved to keep his eyes trained on her at all times. It was all very well and good to decide now that she was able to join them, but just saying it was so meant very little. The reality was that she was unsteady on her feet, weak and still so little. He could not bear to see any harm come to her, their baby sister, but if Brandon decided she was coming with them then he would just have to deal with that and try to do his best by her.

Lyanna, however, felt she was perfectly ready to join her brothers as they snuck out of the safety of Winterfell and she held her head up high as she clamoured after the two older, long limbed children once they set off together. She would not hold them back, she would prove to Eddard that Brandon's confidence in her was not misplaced.

Imagine what adventures lay outside of the walls of Winterfell...

They managed to climb over the wall without a problem, much to Lyanna's pride. Although she had had to be helped by the two boys as she found the hand holds and foot holes in the wall, she still felt she had accomplished much as she sat astride the red bricks looking down and out towards her family home. Feeling the wind rush through her hair and whip against her face her heart beat quickened. In her young life she had never known such freedom.

"Fall into my arms," Brandon called once he reached the ground on the other side. It was not far down, not really, the wall was at most five feet tall. But to Lyanna it felt like the drop went on forever, she had never looked down on her brother before and her stomach flipped as she readied herself to fall. Her heart beat even quicker and as she pushed off from the wall her insides seemed to turn to mush for that one moment as she fell, a strange and exhilarating sensation.

Once she was safely wrapped in her brother's arms she looked up at him with shining eyes.

"Can we do that again?" she asked, overwhelmed with the adrenaline surging through her system.

He laughed as he gently brushed some strands of hair out of her face. "Later, little cub."

Eddard watched his little sister as she beamed with joy, her hair messy and her cheeks flushed, and smiled to himself. Maybe as brothers their job was to do more than just keep her safe, after all. A wolf who was coddled could not function and Lyanna Stark was definitely a wolf; as wild and passionate as they came.

The found their way to a stream in a secluded area of the forest, one which Brandon was sure no one ever ventured to.

"We should teach Ly how to swim," he decided as he saw her eyes widen at the sight of the pure, flowing water.

She let out a squeal of delight and tore off her clothes, running down to the surface of the water before turning to see that her brothers were following.

Eddard picked up the girl's discarded tunic and shoes and carefully placed them on top of their own things, before joining his siblings in the alluringly cool water. It was an unusually hot day for the North and the idea of ice cold water to swim about in was too much for the Stark children to resist. Before long they were splashing each other and paddling through the stream to their hearts' content.

It was after an hour or so of this that Brandon heard a strange sound, a faint yelp. The three children stopped what they were doing and listened intently, aware they would be in a lot of trouble with their parents if someone saw them out here. Especially since they had Lyanna with them.

Lyanna, who could be every bit as fearless and rash as Brandon, rushed towards the sounds and stopped short at what she saw. There, in the midst of the undergrowth, mewed four large, fluffy pups. Wolf cubs, she realised as she saw the fangs of the blue grey coloured one who bared her teeth at the girl.

Eddard and Brandon were now right behind her and immediately she felt strong hands dragging her backwards, away from the creatures as they squirmed helplessly before them.

Brandon knelt down and one of the pups with a red tint to its fur sniffed his offered hand nervously before licking the boy's chilly fingers.

Seeing this Lyanna pushed forward once more and also held out a hand towards the creatures. The blue grey coloured one raised its eyes to meet her own with distrust, but ventured towards the human regardless and while she did not lick the fingers in greeting, she did not growl or bare her teeth, settling instead for watching the child's every move and inching closer as she found no threat.

A black coated pup circled Eddard, sniffing and growling low as he prowled around, before rubbing its head against the boy's knee and allowing himself to be stroked.

The fourth pup, a white creature whose fur was speckled with grey, made no move towards the humans but watched the scene with large, grey eyes.

"Can we keep them?" Lyanna asked eagerly as she looked to Brandon.

"Feral wolves, no of course n-" Eddard began before his brother silenced him with a look.

"Four pups," Brandon mused, "four Stark children." They immediately thought of the child soon to be born and Eddard shook his head, seeing where this was leading.

"We are the wolves of Winterfell," Lyanna stated, seeing that Eddard was giving the idea actual thought.

Brandon grinned, "face it Ned, this was meant to be."

"Very well," Eddard sighed, glancing down at the black pup who was now seated beside him. "But you can be the one to convince mother."

A/N~ This fic was just something I wanted to explore but don't yet know if I will carry on with as I'm happy concentrating on my Rhaego: Brother to Dragons story. But as a distraction I may work more on this as I love the LyannaxRhaegar tragedy and would like to get into that as a story. If you like this please let me know, if not I will probably still continue it but may not update as frequently.
(I'm ashamed to admit but I never find it as fun to write just for myself)

Thank you to any who have read this!