Epilogue

TO HELL WITH TRADITION , Ga?l thought three weeks later. It might not be customary for the groom to see his bride before the wedding, but since he could hear Juliette's heart beating so loudly even when they were so far apart, the welfare of the woman he loved must take priority above everything.

Fang o'clock! Fang o'clock! Fang o'clock!

And so went the whispers as Ga?l strode past the crowd of giggling students in front of UdLA's banquet hall.

When Aprilynne told him that Juliette had this secret dream of coming to school with Ga?l as her boyfriend and not her guardian, Ga?l had decided to take it a whole new level by choosing her university as the venue for their wedding.

One of the private rooms in the banquet hall had been converted into the bridal chamber, and the other wards, who were naturally also Juliette's bridesmaids, were still busy pinning fresh flowers to the bride's hair when the door suddenly opened.

"Ga?l!"

But the wards' cries of disapproval fell on deaf ears, with Juliette's guardian-slash-husband-to-be having eyes only for his bride.

Juliette felt like swooning as she watched Ga?l stride into the room and looking so dashing and handsome in his tux.

Ga?l frowned as he knelt down on one knee in front of his ward, whose face was a little too wan for his liking. "You know you have nothing to be nervous about, don't you?"

The harshness of Ga?l's voice made the other wards wince, but when they looked at the way Juliette's face glowed, it was as if the other girl was hearing something else. Was this the power of love at work...or was Juliette just too nice?

"This is our wedding," Ga?l reminded her. "So stop worrying about inconsequential things, and just focus on us."

"I know that, but..."

Realizing that there was only one way to make Juliette shake off her bridal jitters, Ga?l rose to his feet and politely asked the other wards to give them a moment of privacy.

Aprilynne was incredulous. "Seriously?"

Sydney only shook her head and dragged Aprilynne out of the room with her. When Ga?l had that look on his face, there was no changing his mind until he did what he wanted to do. Or in this case, until he did who he wanted to do.

The unintended joke had her choking back a laugh, and Aprilynne looked at her suspiciously. "What's so funny?"

Luciella, in the meantime, was still in the room. "It wouldn't be a nice thing to make your guests wait," she said softly. "But Juliette does seem very tense. Would thirty minutes suffice?"

Ga?l had to suppress his smile at how pragmatic émilien's ward was, as always. "Half an hour would more than do," he agreed.

And with that, Juliette suddenly found herself all alone with her guardian. She smiled up at him uncertainly, wondering what he would say to talk her out of her worries, but instead she found him staring hungrily at the way her breasts had swelled over the strapless top of her wedding gown.

Ga?l could only laugh as his bride let out a gasp. Sweet, innocent Juliette . She had finally understood that he hadn't come here to just talk.

Juliette jumped to her feet, but this only made her guardian release a devilish laugh.

"This isn't r-right..."

"Indeed," Ga?l purred. "What I'm about to do you is very, very wrong, and that's why you'll love it."

Juliette had no chance to answer, with her husband-to-be already pouncing on her, and oh....

A burst of Caro speed had both of them facing the vanity mirror while Ga?l slowly applied pressure to her back so that Juliette would bend down...and allow him to enter her from behind with one oh-so-forceful thrust.

Aaaaah.

Ga?l's pumped in and out of her hard and fast, and fresh flowers fell from Juliette's dark, silky locks as he gripped her hair and pulled her head back to take her mouth in a kiss.

"Baby, yes..."

Juliette's moans and whimpers were loud enough to have a flurry of blushes and giggles sweep over the female students crowding the hallway outside the bridal chamber. Many of them had been here since noon, patiently waiting for a chance to take a photo with the bride and groom.

But this...

This was so, so much better!

Fang o'clock for the win!

WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO be an afternoon wedding for Ga?l and Juliette was postponed for a few hours, and it was already close to midnight by the time the after-party began.

As wedding guests crowded the dance floor, Etienne and Jean Luc settled on one of the private tables in the balcony to talk business.

"I don't seem to see your shadow anywhere," Etienne commented.

"She's down at the police station."

Etienne was concerned. "Is she in trouble?"

"The opposite," Jean Luc answered with a brief twitch of his lips. "Since grad school work takes up most of her time during the day, I've allowed her to volunteer twice a week at the station."

"I see."

Jean Luc's gaze narrowed. "It's unlike you to bring up Aprilynne's name without a reason."

"That's true...and I believe it's fortuitous she's not around to hear what I've to say."

Since Etienne had all of their wards' blood samples in their laboratory, Jean Luc immediately thought the worst. "Is she ill?"

Etienne swiftly shook his head. "It's not that at all."

"Then what?"

"You have no match for sangferia ."

Ah.

"But as it turns out, you do have a match for someone's sangnastri ."

That was the Caro word for childbirth blood, which one of Etienne's secret experiments suggested could be just as powerful as sangferia .

And as to why Etienne believed it was best for his ward not to hear this—-

Fuck.

Jean Luc jerked in his seat. "Are you saying Aprilynne's sangnastri is compatible with my blood?"

"Not just compatible," Etienne said dryly, "but it's an absolutely perfect match."

The End