Duskfire Glacier He's one of the good ones

Lane had longed for this moment so deeply, and worried so hard, that it almost felt too good to be true to be tucked into Tuuluuwaq's embrace. He was home, safe and sound-- all of them were. She was profoundly grateful that no harm had come to any of the scouts while they were travelling under her command, and she was very aware of just how wrong things could have gone. 

She nuzzled into @Tuuluuwaq and sighed, glad to be away from the curious eyes of their packmates. Now that they were together again, she could almost just forget her emotional turmoil of the past few weeks. She could almost just pick up where they had left off, if she could just be reassured that they would never have to endure another separation. 

But there was only one way to assure that, wasn't there? 

"I can't do that again," Lane told him, emotion cracking the last word. She swallowed heavily and continued. "I don't want to be the queen, ordering her shining white knight into battle and then waiting around for news. That's not me. I don't want that to be us." Putting the good of their people first was fine in theory, but how far was she going to have to take it? How long was she going to have to spend searching her reflection for a person she recognized?