"But in all seriousness, Tai, you gotta be careful," Ry was saying. "These all-powerful spirits sound too good to be true. Don't get in trouble with them 'cause I'll have to be the one bailing you out."
"Ah, don't worry, I'm not messing with them," Tai said as he scratched his ear. "What would I even want to wish for? I already got my fated mate right here."
He leaned over with a big grin and gave Ry a loud, sloppy kiss right on the cheek.
"Ugh, gross!" Ry exclaimed. He shoved Tai in the creek while Tai laughed his head off.
Jealousy stewed in my guts. Great, now I was envious of coyotes of all things.
But Ry's words made me think. It did all sound too good to be true. There must be a catch when it came to getting a wish granted by a spirit. Whatever the price was, it would be worth it if they could fix me.
The gears in my mind turned. If the water spirit made his home on the coast, it stood to reason that the others existed in the physical world too. If they could all grant wishes, then all I had to do was find the closest one.
Excitement made my fur tingle. That settled it. Once Ashe was feeling better, he would leave. Then I could set out on my quest to find a spirit.
And maybe… Just maybe…
No. I refused to entertain any ridiculous ideas. Better to stomp them down now than to be disappointed when they inevitably didn't come true.
I quietly shuffled away from the coyote shifters and back to the hollow. By now the sun had risen over the trees, revealing a bright and beautiful morning. My heart skipped a beat thinking about whether Ashe had woken up yet or if I would get to see him rouse. He probably looked so sweet upon first waking.
When I padded into the hollow, I saw Ashe sitting upright with a bleary expression. He perked up when he saw me.
"Bear!" he called. There was joy and relief in his voice, which made my chest feel funny. "Where did you go?"
Was he worried about me? I felt bad for leaving without any notice, but it wasn't like I could leave a note on the wall.
Since I couldn't sign properly with my bear paws, I had to shift, but first I opened my jaws and carefully spilled the berries from my harvest in front of Ashe. Then I placed the branch beside them.
Ashe blinked. "Are these, um, for me?"
I shifted and signed, "Went to find breakfast for you. I don't have anything to eat here."
His expression softened. "Oh… Bear, that was really nice of you." He picked up a blueberry. It was coated in bear saliva. "Guess you don't have a napkin?"
Embarrassment hit me. Of course Ashe wouldn't want to eat blueberries that were stuffed in my cheeks and dripping with my saliva.
I swiped the blueberry from his fingers and wiped it on my chest until it was dry enough, then handed it back, blushing furiously the entire time.
"Sorry, wasn't thinking," I signed frantically. "I can go pick them with my hands if you want."
Ashe shook his head with a laugh. "No, no! It's fine. You don't have to go through all the trouble." To prove it, he popped the blueberry in his mouth. He let out a content sound. "Mm, that's good."
I blew out a breath, relaxing slightly. I didn't want to screw up anymore.
Ashe picked up the branch, which looked comically large in his human hand. "Is this for me too?"
"Yes.Didn't know what you wanted. I picked things a deer would eat. I hope that's okay."
Ashe smiled. "Totally okay. You didn't have to do all this, you know. It's like you're running an ambulance, a hospital and hotel all in one."
I tilted my head. I only had a vague idea of what those things were.
Noticing my confusion, Ashe said, "Oh, my bad. Those are human references. I only know about them because some of my uncles used to live in the city."
I shrugged. "I was born in the wild. Never been to a city."
"Me too. We're pretty similar, huh?"
