Dragoncrest Cliffs Break your fall

If she stayed here, not only would her dreams of being with Thuringwethil and raising a family with her die, she would most likely have to kiss her dream of children goodbye completely. Wildfire simply couldn't do that. Having a family meant everything to her. She'd thought it meant everything to the commander too. But her traditions meant more, for reasons which the Bandrona couldn't hope to truly understand. It pained her, savagely so at this moment, yet Wildfire knew how much all of it meant to her mate.

She (thought she) was prepared to make the call, no matter what the Heda said on the matter, when she looked up and saw the tears soaking the commander's cheek. The sight of them undid something in the Bandrona's breast. Without thinking, she reached up to touch her nose to the black wolf's cheekbone, almost in disbelief. It came away wet, cold and salty. She blinked, retreating a few inches, but unable to look away. Their eyes locked.

"Me neither," she said at long last, still unmoving and unblinking. "Thur..." she started, pain shivering in her voice. Wildfire didn't continue, at least for a few seconds. Then she said, "Why can't we be equals in this? Only this? I don't want you to set aside your traditions or make all kinds of sacrifices for me otherwise. I want you to be the commander and I will happily bow to you on every other matter. You know I don't want power. You know I respect you just as fiercely as I love you. I just want to feel like we're in this together. I want to raise our family together, as a team, like my parents raised m-me..."

And just like that, Wildfire burst into tears and buried her face against the Heda's neck.