1
River
Merman.
I thought the phrase over and over, like the buzzing of a wasp inside my skull. Ever since that fateful day six months ago, the word was glued to my mind and refused to be scraped off.
I glared at my reflection in the pristine water. My crimson hair cascaded around me and I ran a hand through it absentmindedly. Recently, my hair was what I was most proud of when it came to my body. It was long, red and flowing—just like another part of my body that I wasn't so fond of these days.
My tail.
From the angle at which I was lying on the shoreline, I couldn't see my tail in the water’s reflection. Good. I liked it that way, at least right now when I was painfully aware of the date. My six-month anniversary of my ex breaking up with me.
I sighed heavily and rested on my elbows, staring at my reflection. My brother Cloud—my fraternal twin, who looked nothing like me—always poked fun at me for being so obsessed with the way I looked. I'd always taken better care of my appearance than him. Like our alpha father Nishiki, I spent hours combing my fingers through my luscious hair, making sure it felt as silky as it looked. He thought it was silly, but I was particularly proud of the crimson shade of my locks. Nishiki had golden hair, and our omega father Weston had black hair, so the bright pop of red was a surprise to both of them.
Then again, it was just one of the many surprises about our births. Our dads always liked to remind us how special we were. Aside from being a mixed race couple, our dads were also mixed when it came to their shifter species: a koi and an osprey. They expected their sons to be one or the other, just like the rest of our cousins who had mixed shifter parents.
But we defied all expectations. I was a mer and Cloud was a harpy.
And thus began all my problems.
At first I was proud of my unusual heritage. We owed the fact that we were both creatures deemed mystical by humans to our grandfather, the water spirit Nautilus. Apparently being related to a spirit gives you unusual qualities. For example, our blood cousin Zakariel was a wolf shifter who could breathe underwater.
I ignored the twinge of jealousy in my belly whenever I thought of him. Not only was he a regular old wolf shifter with special powers, but he found his fated mate and had an adorable baby.
And here I was moping alone, without a mate or baby, wishing I was anything else.
I glanced at my tail. It was beautiful, of course, just like the rest of me. The scales began at my hips, starting out small and delicate then growing in size. My scales were aesthetically pleasing in a beautiful range of reds, culminating in a forked wisp like a fish tail at the end of my body.
I'd been so proud of it growing up. But as I grew into adulthood, it became clear that my tail—and me being a mer—was only a nuisance.
I frowned and gently ran a hand down my hips, feeling the cool sensation of my scales beneath my palm. I closed my eyes.
Everything was fine until I remembered Jim's hand doing the same.
Scowling, I yanked my hand back like I'd burned myself. It was no use. No matter what I did to avoid thinking about him, he wormed his way back into my thoughts. I guess that was inevitable on the date of our breakup anniversary. I sighed and sprawled out against the ground, letting my hands trail in the water. The connection to the water felt good, almost healing. If it wasn't for the rest of my earthbound and sky-bound family, I could just disappear below the surface of the waves and never come back.
But that was stupid. I could never leave my family behind, as much as they irritated me sometimes.
"Hey, River!"
Okay, a lot of the time.
I pretended not to hear Cloud’s shrill voice since he was going to come and bother me whether I liked it or not. I had no clue where his outgoing, rambunctious personality came from. It certainly didn't come from Nishiki, and Cloud was one hundred times as hyper as our omega father Weston, who was always cool as a cucumber. Was Cloud even related to us?
He touched down behind me with a thud, his landing sending up a cloud of dust that made me cough.
"Do you mind?" I asked.
"Mind what?" Cloud replied, oblivious.
I huffed and dusted myself off. "I’m a little busy here."
"Doing what?"
"Thinking," I said, stressing the word as if it would get my point across. It didn't.
"About what?"
