I couldn't tell how old he was, though it was clear he was an adult. He had long blond hair and soft blue eyes, wore a loose tunic-style shirt, and had a bow and arrow in his hands, arrow nocked and aimed right at me.
Zephyr stepped closer to me, his right hand halfway raised, as if he was ready to knock away any arrow that came our way. He probably had a spell for that too.
Shit, I needed to speak before this good-looking centaur got into a fight with my mate.
"Um, hello! My name's Keoni. I'm looking for Tarquin."
The centaur blinked, and lowered his bow just enough that I could breathe.
"What do you want with him?" the centaur asked, his eyes flicking over me and lingering on the cart behind me.
I tried not to feel self-conscious as I straightened up and took a deep breath. "My mom's name was Lia, and Tarquin is my father."
The centaur blinked again, and his gaze lowered to the ground in front of him. He stuck the arrow back in the quiver strapped over his back, and hooked the bow into a belt at his waist. Only then did he look back up at me.
"Lia's gone?"
I nodded, and he visibly shuddered, like the news personally affected him.
Then he approached us, and before either Zeph or I could react, he pulled me into a hug.
I froze as I felt the strength of the arms surrounding me, as it clicked that this man looked an awful lot like me, and my hands trembled as I lifted my arms and slowly wrapped them around his middle.
"It's good to meet you, son," the centaur—my father—murmured against the top of my head, and I swallowed hard.
He pulled away after a moment, then glanced at Zephyr, who held his hand out for a handshake.
"Zephyr Morrigan. I'm Keoni's mate."
Tarquin's eyes lit up, and he gave Zephyr's hand an enthusiastic shake, which made Zeph smile for some reason.
"Come, come. Meet the herd. They'd adore you."
"Are you sure about that?" I asked, glancing over at my cart. He followed my gaze, then gave me a puzzled look.
"Of course. Why wouldn't they?"
Huh. I had no reply for that, so Zephyr and I just trailed after Tarquin.
"So the baby-face thing is in your genes, huh?" Zephyr teased in a low voice, and I glanced over at him. He wasn't wrong. Tarquin did look quite young. Hell, we looked more like brothers than father and son. Did that mean I would always look like a teenager?
"The stars told me I'd meet someone precious to me soon, but I never imagined it would be a child of mine," Tarquin said as he glanced back at us, his eyes bright and sparkling with joy. He clearly didn't mind my cart, even when we had to stop because the wheel got stuck in the mud. Zephyr's magic unstuck it quickly, but Tarquin didn't even get annoyed. It was strange.
"Were you hoping for your mate?" I asked, and he shrugged.
"Maybe. But this is so much better. I wish I'd known about you. I would've found you sooner. Why didn't the stars tell me about you?" The last part was mostly mumbled to himself, but I heard it anyway. I'd wondered the same, but maybe things happened the way they did for a reason.
Zephyr was always meant to find me. I was always meant to fall for him. It was all part of Fate's plan to lead us where we were today. While I would've loved to be raised by my dad—who was clearly just as accepting as my mom—I wouldn't change the life I had now. The people at the Sanctuary were my family, and I was glad to have them in my life.
"Everyone!" Tarquin called as he led us into a clearing at the edge of a sparkling lake. I quickly counted twelve centaurs, all adults, scattered around the lakebed, and they all turned at his call, their eyes flicking from him to us.
"Chief! Who are they?" A man with a red braid hanging all the way down his back and sharp green eyes asked as he approached us, his gait a little off. I glanced down at his hooves, and blinked when I realized one of his front legs was gone beneath the knee. Instead, someone had fashioned a prosthetic out of wood. Hmm... if these people accepted me, maybe I could ask Dravento make something better for this guy. I doubted the wood lasted long in this atmosphere.
"Oz, this is Keoni, my son, and his mate, Zephyr," Tarquin introduced as it clicked that my father was the chief of this herd. I was the chief's son.
"Your son?" more than a few voices exclaimed, and the centaurs shuffled closer, abandoning whatever they'd been doing.
"He does look a lot like him," a woman with graying hair and dark brown eyes murmured as her gaze flicked between me and Tarquin. Then she stepped closer, and held a hand out to me. When I took it, she held mine with both of hers, shaking it and then pressing a kiss on the back of my hand. "It's good to meet you, Keoni. I'm Opal, your great-aunt. The chief is my sister's son."
