Sun Mote Copse I'll be resting my eyes

They came to her, each of them subdued, the air thick with melancholy, an edge of fear and—from her son's direction, particularly—a thread of anger. Wildfire didn't blame him; whatever Elfie felt, it was valid. The same went for Eljay and Weejay. The end of her life would be one of the toughest moments of theirs.

She would've liked to give a long, heartfelt speech to them, yet Wildfire was simply too exhausted for that. She did manage a careworn smile and a few words: "I love you guys so much. I don't want to leave you but I have to, soon, and I'm so—sorry." She sighed as her numbered heartbeats thudded dully in her chest.

"Eljay, could you please call the pack—and the Redhawks—anyone who wants to come say goodbye?" It was one of the hardest sentences she'd ever spoken and her chestnut eyes shimmered with tears from where they'd sunken into her face. As she looked up at her mate, her gaze was an apology and a love letter.

While he presumably took care of the call, Wildfire turned to her children and smiled, her dry bottle brush of a black tail thumping ever so slightly on the den floor as her head sunk to her forelegs, angled so that her cheek rested on the exposed tendons and she could still see the kids. "Can I ask for a hug and a kiss?" she whispered.