I gawked at the sight of him. This man's hair was different and he wasn't coated in feathers, but it was impossible not to notice the similarities between him and Cloud.
"Are you… River?" I asked.
River blinked. "Yes? Who are you?"
"I'm—"
There was a tiny, playful growl behind me. I looked over my shoulder just in time to see Annabel preparing to leap into the water. Judging from her trajectory she intended to land right on top of my head. But before she was airborne, an older male figure picked her up.
"And we do not cannonball right on top of people either," the man chided gently.
Annabel shifted into human form in the man's arms and pouted. She was clearly this man's daughter, which meant this was Castor. A mix of excitement and envy ran through me. I wanted to hold my baby in my arms, too.
I hoped my pregnancy was as short as Da said it might be. I wanted to meet my child as soon as possible.
Castor put his daughter down and helped me out of the water. "Sorry about that. She's in a stage where she's very good at being a beaver but still learning how to be a human."
"That's okay," I said, smiling at the girl. She had grown bored of me already and was now plucking dandelions. "You must be Castor."
The man's brows rose, exposing his forehead wrinkles. He had kind of a silver fox look to him. "That's right. How did you know?"
River hopped up on the shore and wrung the water out of his long hair. My eyes were instantly drawn to the crimson scales of his tail, which extended from his hips down like the plume of a fish. So it was true. Cloud was a harpy, and River was a merman. Just when I thought this family couldn't get any stranger.
"Meeko!"
My mate's voice made me look up. Cloud landed beside me with a huge grin. Following closely behind him was an osprey with something golden clutched in its talons.
My eyes widened. Were those his dads?
My suspicions were confirmed a moment later when they both shifted. I only knew their names and shifter species, not what they looked like. Weston, Cloud's omega father, was Black; Cloud had told me his alpha father Nishiki was half-Japanese. His long golden hair matched his scales when he was in koi form. They were both so handsome—it was clear where Cloud got his good looks.
River looked amused as he addressed Cloud. "This is a guess on my part, but since you're grinning like an idiot and you've gathered everybody here and there's a man I've never met before... this can only mean one thing."
"Oh, shut up, you're ruining the surprise!" Cloud argued. He cleared his throat and put his arm around me lovingly. "Everybody, this is Meeko. He's my—"
Before he could finish, Nishiki slapped his hands over his mouth with a loud gasp. "Fated mate?"
Cloud's feathers deflated as he groaned. "Dad! I'm trying to have a moment here."
Weston chuckled in a deep voice, putting his arm around Nishiki's waist. "Let him talk."
"Sorry, it's just so exciting," Nishiki said shrilly. "It's not every day one of my sons finds their fated mate."
Weston's dark eyes sparkled with affection. "I know."
Their dynamic warmed my heart. Despite their obvious differences, Cloud's parents reminded me of my own. The love fated mates had for each other shined through their every interaction.
"And am I crazy, or are you a mouse shifter?" River asked. "I only saw you for a split second underwater before you shifted."
"You were underwater?" Cloud asked, his feathers fluffing up. "Is that why you're damp? River, were you trying to drown him?"
River rolled his eyes with a grin. "Relax, big strong alpha caveman. Annabelle pushed him in, but as you can see, he's fine."
Summoned by her name, Annabelle popped up right in front of me. She thrust out a flower crown made of dandelions.
"Sorry I pushed you," she said, placing the flower crown in my hands. "Here you go."
If I wasn't surrounded by people I just met, I would've whimpered from how cute she was. Instead my eyes just welled up with tears. I placed the crown on my head.
