Epilogue - Sierra

Two Months Later

"This was such a bad idea, Yaz," I complain, staring at my reflection in the full-length mirror and pouting my annoyance.

"No, it wasn't," she protests while bouncing Lily's baby on her lap. "You look perfect."

"I look like a swollen whale!" I complain, cupping one hand over my swollen belly clad in white lace. The dress is beautiful, fitting me like a second skin. It only serves to amplify how extremely pregnant I am, about to pop at any given moment.

"You do not!" Lily huffs when she comes in, picking up Tyson from Yazmine's arms. "You're beautiful, Sierra. Remember, this was your mate's idea, after all."

"A very bad idea…" I mumble under my breath, though the reminder that this was Felix's idea brings a sense of comfort that dissipates the tight-knit between my eyebrows. When he proposed to me in the courtyard in front of my father two months ago, I'd been over the moon. Becoming his mate, I didn't think we'd need to get married in the traditional sense.

Felix was adamant that he wanted to give me all the things he thought I would want in the mortal world. One of those things was to get married in a white dress—something he thought I'd have when he left me in the hopes that I would move on.

Since being reunited, he decided that he would be the one to give me all those things. As a wedding gift, I was offered Mount Aurora as a spot to conduct yoga classes for the weredragons. The hot-headed species can do with some downtime, to calm their nerves and bring them back to Earth where they can focus better on training.

Everything has been blissful in Aurora Island, and the proposal of marriage seemed incredibly sweet when he got down on one knee. I'd agreed on the spot, to my father's approval—amplifying the feeling of contentment.

I just didn't know what to expect when the time came around. Now that I'm pregnant with twins, I'm carrying way bigger than Lily and Yazmine did. Neither of the two other human women had to lug around a giant belly and wear a wedding gown in front of the entirety of the Aurora Dragon clan.

As if on cue, Kairo finally comes back after making her rounds on the beach to ensure that everything is in place. She catches the way my bottom lip worries and consoles me with a hug.

When she pulls back, her warm smile sends a wave of relief washing over me. Perhaps it's the faint ringing in my eardrums that brings on that relief. I haven't fully mastered sharing the mind link amongst the weredragons. Felix is convinced that once the twins are born, I'll be able to hear him clearly when the gift of immortality is bestowed on me in childbirth. Still, I know that Kairo is sending me words of affirmation in my mind, and subconsciously, I'm eating those words up and feeling full of courage.

"Felix is waiting for you," Kairo informs me, and somehow, she knows exactly what to say.

"I'm ready," I affirm with a smile. Nothing else matters when his name is mentioned—not even how crazy I look, heavily pregnant in a wedding gown.

***

My dad beams from ear to ear when I join him at the back of the aisle. The beach sand whispers through my toes, and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore fills the air and tastes of salty sweetness. I slink my arm through his, taking a deep breath before the curtains on the wooden arch in front of us open up. The parting of the white organza unveils the crowd of weredragons seated on logs in rows leading up to the altar.

I look ahead to meet Felix's eyes, the azure depths as cool as the ocean, shimmering with awe as he watches me walk down the aisle. Alongside me come hushed whispers, indistinct mutterings of praise and excitement that fills the clan of weredragons.

It's the first time they're witnessing a marriage between a weredragon and a human. All I can offer is the sheepish smile my lips form as I keep my eyes trained on Felix's mesmerization, his gaze a source of strength to deplete the remnants of bashfulness I felt when I put my dress on.

Seeing the love radiate from his eyes makes this all worthwhile, and when my father places my hand in his, the warmth that exudes from his touch sets my heart aflame.

"Dearly beloved…" Felix's father begins, reciting the words often heard in a church. Not words one would expect to hear on an island full of weredragons. But exceptions were made for the sake of our union.

Or reunion, if we're being technical.

The thought has me smiling at Felix as he gazes deeply into my eyes, thumbs smoothing over my knuckles as his father continues the wedding script.

".... For eternity, in absence and in presence, when tides are high and when they are low," Dedrik goes on. "Do you, Sierra Sanchez Alvarez, take Felix Dracon Vulkan, as your husband and mate?"

"I do," I say with conviction.

"And do you, Felix Dracon Vulkan, take Sierra Sanchez Alvarez as your wife and mate?"

"I do," Felix smiles as he steps closer and swoops me into his arms, crushing his lips to mine in a passionate kiss. All around us, the presence of the others fades until it's just me and Felix on the beach, our lips locked for eternity.

My toes and fingers tingle from the heightened sensation, even when we're done kissing. The rest of the ceremony becomes a blur as I'm unable to let go of Felix's hand. We waltz around the beach, Felix introducing me to the other weredragons. They're rather welcoming, bowing politely at every turn and congratulating us for my pregnancy.

I can't believe I cared at all about the dress. Right now, it doesn't even matter. All I want is to find myself alone with my husband despite how comfortable I feel around the weredragons.

My husband…

Thinking it in my head is amusing, a light giggle escaping my lips. Felix is in the midst of speaking to Draco, but he gives my hand a gentle squeeze to acknowledge that he picked up on my amusement.

When we're alone again—even though it won't be long until someone comes over to speak to us—Felix turns to me with a smirk, lifting one corner of his lips. He leans in, causing a shiver of awareness to pass through my spine and settle between my thighs.

"You wanna leave, don't you?" he drawls, prompting me to meet his dark gaze and bat my eyelids seductively in response.

"Can you read my mind?" I whisper.

He chuckles lowly with self-satisfaction. "Not yet… But there's something we have to try."

My brows furrow slightly as my curiosity is piqued. "What is it?"

Felix presses a finger to his lips as he leads me through the arch, quietly as we steal away from the wedding celebrations. I stifle the need to giggle as we tiptoe back to the castle, wheezing when he picks me up and cradles me to his chest, taking care not to put pressure on my belly.

"This is a tradition, isn't it?" he muses as he kicks open the front door and carries me over the threshold.

"You know I couldn't care for being traditional," I titter. "Only Mama would have cared."

"Well, we're honoring her today," Felix grins, leaning in to press a chaste kiss on my lips. The lingering sensation he leaves behind is a promise of what's to come. I'm practically counting the seconds as they pass while we make our way to the tenth floor. Felix doesn't put me down, bulging arms carrying me into his bedroom that's decorated with cherry blossoms, forming a path leading to the bed.

"Beautiful…" I whisper, eyes drinking in the sight of pastel pinks and creamy whites.

"Not as beautiful as you, mi ángel…" he drawls back, staring headily into my eyes as he carries me to the bed. He lays me down gently, my heart skipping a beat at how gentle he is.

The past few months have been crazy, Felix and I unable to keep our hands off each other. Last night's shower session was even crazier when we had a mild scare that we might not make it to our own wedding. For a second, I thought my water had broken. It turned out to be the effects of his skillful fingers, coupled with penetrating me while I bent over and braced my palms on the shower stall's tiled wall.

Still, his patience right now touches my heart, even if I know it's because he doesn't want the twins to come just yet at least until tomorrow.

Felix climbs onto the bed, settling beside me and sliding an arm under my head. He places one hand on the mound of my belly, then closes his eyes as a soft smile plays on his lips.

"What are you doing?" I ask with a frown.

"Shhh…" he cajoles, smoothing his hand in a circle over my belly. "I'm asking them for permission."

"Permission for wh—"

Permission for this, Felix says, but his lips don't move.

I gasped when I realized that it was his voice in my mind.

"Wait!" I exclaim excitedly. "I can hear you!"

He exhales sharply as if he just let out a breath he'd been holding in, eyes shooting open as he smiles.

"That was interesting," he laments with a light chuckle. "The twins permitted me to enter your mind. It was so… Powerful."

"Can you do it again?"

He nods slowly, eyes wandering over my belly as he smiles. "I want you to try now."

I purse my lips, closing my eyes and willing my mind to speak to my mate. But when I open my eyes again, I realize that he hasn't heard me.

"I have an idea." I bite my bottom lip as I climb off the bed.

I begin hitching up the flowing layers of lace and silk over my hips. Felix gets the idea and smirks coyly, reaching between my thighs and pulling my thong to one side, exposing my folds. When I climb back on the bed carefully, he removes his pants enough to free his cock. Biting my lip in anticipation of the delicious stretch, I sink down on him, walls stretching around his immense girth.

While he's ball's deep inside me, I close my eyes, barely able to focus on how deep the stretch is. I persist, nonetheless, repeating the exact words over and over again in my mind.

I love you, my guardian angel.

I love you too, mi ángel, Felix replies, to which my eyes spring open, and I gasp.

"It worked!" I say excitedly.

He nods, throat working as he gulps when the friction is too much to bear. A slight moan escapes his lips, prompting me to giggle.

"I can't wait for the twins to be born," he muses, fingers hitching under the low neckline of the wedding dress and ripping it off my breasts, his hips gyrating beneath me.

"So the mind link can work better?" I tease, delighting in the way his eyes grow darker when I lick my lips.

He shakes his head, hand sliding up to loosely settle on my neck. "So I can ravish you, mi ángel. I miss fighting for what's mine."

I giggle salatiously, leaning down and pressing my lips to his. I look forward to eternity with him, having him fight for me the way he promised he would. He's been keeping every single one of his promises, and I know for sure that I trust him with my whole life.

Forever.

*****

THE END