He wrinkled his nose. "I know, but still. I don't want to be the guy who has something you don't."
"Don't worry, you're not the only one."
"Zak?" Cloud guessed with a grin.
"You got it."
We both sighed and laid back on the grass.
"Remember how damn annoying he was back when we were teenagers?" Cloud said. "Always going on and on about how he hoped he would be an alpha."
I laughed. "Gods, yes. He was so jealous of us since we went through puberty before him. But I guess karma got us in the ass, because he has a fated mate and we don't."
"We just gotta be patient. It'll happen eventually," Cloud said.
He sounded like he really believed it. I wished I had that kind of confidence, too. Despite my efforts to exude a confident persona, there were too many things I lacked. Sure, I was content in my day-to-day life, but I didn't know if I would ever truly be happy without wings or a fated mate.
I saw real, true joy in Zak's face. That was what I wanted. To feel whole. Because right now, I felt like half of me was missing.
My gaze strayed over to Cloud’s feathers, gently ruffling in the breeze. He was so lucky to be the descendent of a spirit. What wouldIhave been blessed with if I had spirit blood in my veins? Were there even other types of spirits besides Nautilus, the spirit of water?
A sudden thought struck me like lightning. I shot up, my eyes wide.
“What's up?" Cloud asked.
"Do you remember when Zak came back from the coast?" I asked.
Cloud blinked in confusion. "Sure. I mean after he found Nautilus, right? Way before Azure was born?"
"Right. He mentioned some other spirits, didn't he? He kind of glazed over them, since he was more excited to tell everybody about finding his fated mate and that Kamari was pregnant, but I definitely remember at least one more."
I was talking so fast that Cloud stared at me like I was crazy. He raised a talon to scratch his hair. "I mean, I wasn't there when it happened, so I only heard about it after..." Cloud paused, tilting his head. "Hang on. Now that you mention it, I remember my dads talking about that other spirit. I specifically remember because they mentioned a harpy, like me." Cloud clicked his tongue thoughtfully and stared up at the sky as he tried to remember. "What was his name? Like Monsoon or Hurricane or something..."
Cloud's words jogged my memory. If he knew what I was talking about, then that meant I wasn't just making it up.
And if this harpy spirit was real, he was the closest lead I had to getting my wings. The idea made my heart race.
I leapt up excitedly. "I have to go find Zak."
"Wait, right now?" Cloud asked.
"No point in waiting!"
Before Cloud could respond, I shifted into my fox form and sped towards Zak and Kamari's cabin.
* * *
"Sorry, dude, you want what?"Zak asked, rubbing his eyes. I'd accidentally woken him up from a midday nap. I felt bad about it, since he had to snatch naps whenever Azure was asleep, but I was going to explode if I didn't get this information out of him.
"What do you know about that other spirit?" I asked, speaking so fast I nearly stumbled over my words.
Zak held up a hand. "Give me a second here, Quinn, my brain is still on standby," he mumbled.
Kamari joined Zak in the doorway. Guessing by his messed up pale hair, he had just woken up too, but he looked significantly more alert than Zak.
"Which other spirit?" Kamari asked seriously.
"Wait, how many are there?"
