His arms tightened around her. "I beg you to stay."
Spirit of the Redbird, help me to do what I must.
It would hurt less if she acted at once. She pushed herself away from him. She stood up and crossed the room to the closed door.
"May you walk always in honor, White Bear."
"No, Redbird, no!" He was crying bitterly now, and he rolled over and buried his head in his pillows, beating the bed with his clenched fists.
She could not bear to leave him weeping like this, like a child she was abandoning. She would rather see him angry.
Then the spirit Bird, whom she had called on for help, sent her a message. She saw Wolf Paw, as he had looked when he was proud and undefeated, with the red crest on his head, a red blanket wrapped around him and black paint around his eyes.
Why did I never see it before?
Wolf Paw wore the markings of the Bird she was named after, the Bird that was her spirit guide. Neither she nor he had been aware of it. But it must mean that they were destined for each other, and that what had already happened between herself and Wolf Paw had to happen.
To live out her life with Wolf Paw and never to see White Bear again was like being told she would never again see a day with sunlight.