Do the unexpected. Really.

JULIETTE WAS IN PAIN .

Just as her guardian predicted, Juliette's monthly flux had begun, and already the pain had become so unbearable she ended up skipping lunch in favor of taking a nap at the school's clinic.

Since she was allergic to painkillers, Juliette could only rely on non-medicated treatments and remedies such as heat pads and teas. Those usually worked, after a tortuous hour or two, but today was just one of those days when nothing proved effective.

Well, okay, not exactly.

There was one other remedy she had read about in a Caro-authored science book for high school students. Young Caro females were apparently encouraged to touch themselves when experiencing pain from their monthly flux, and while Juliette wasn't certain such advice would apply to humans as well...

Maybe, it was worth a try?

It wasn't that she was looking for an excuse to touch herself, but she just wanted it to stop hurting. That was all , Juliette insisted in her mind. Really!

And yet, the moment she closed her eyes, her body had already started to tremble under the covers, and she could feel the pain actually ebbing away as her fingers started drifting down her body.

Am I really doing this?

Was she really going to pretend that it was Ga?l's fingers drifting over her skin and slipping under the waistband of her school skirt—-

Oh, oh, OH!

Just the thought of it had Juliette's breath catching, and her heart rapidly beating. But most of all, the pain was nearly gone, and oh, oh, oh, when her fingers were finally brushing over her panties, which were stretched taut over an ultra-thin sanitary pad—-

Ga?l.

She pictured her guardian touching her sex, and her own fingers started to move until they were directly over the area where her sensitive nub was already quivering in anticipation under her pad.

Oh, Ga?l.

Juliette pressed hard...and harder and harder and harder, but just as her juices started to flow past the inner walls of her sex, it was then she heard someone knock on the door—-

Oh my God!

Didn't Nurse Vaughn promise she wouldn't be disturbed—-

—- and in came walking her guardian himself.

Noooooooooo!

Ga?l's gaze narrowed at her. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

What was he doing here?

The door fell silently shut behind him as Ga?l strode forward, and Juliette knew if she didn't do something soon, her guardian was sure to realize what she had been doing.

A Caro's sense of smell might not be as good as a shifter's, but it was still so much better than an ordinary human's, and oh God, he was coming closer and closer and closer—-

Please God, please!

Ga?l stopped dead in his tracks when a distinct noise popped in the air, and he saw his ward's face pale.

Juliette felt like dying yet again when she saw her guardian's expression turn suddenly... grave .

"Did you—-"

"I can explain," she said desperately.

"—-just fart?"

Thirty minutes later, and Juliette still wished she could just die. They were in the backseat of Ga?l's limousine, and even though her guardian hadn't said a word, the gleam in his cold, blue eyes was more than enough.

He was totally laughing at her, and could she blame him for doing so?

Ga?l's lips pressed together in a straight line as his normally meek ward turned towards him again in a fit of frustration.

"I did NOT fart!"

"If you say so."

"I mean it," Juliette nearly yelled. "It really wasn't a fart! It was just air! You didn't even smell anything, did you?"

"No," Ga?l conceded. "I did not."

"See?"

"But since by definition, flatulence is the expulsion of gas from one's anus—-"

Juliette moaned, and she was still moaning back at home as she shared today's mortifying episode with the other wards.

Today had been the first - dear God, the first! - time Ga?l had surprised her at school, and she had dreamt of such a day for years. She had fantasized about her guardian proudly declaring his love for her in front of the other students. But instead... this!

Aprilynne and Sydney were beside themselves with laughter while Luciella, being the well-mannered girl that she always was, did her best to stifle her smile.

"How can you accidentally fart just like that?" Aprilynne wanted to know as they descended the stairs.

"I was nervous." Juliette had no qualms fibbing, since there was no way she would admit the truth.

"Nervous about what?" Severin questioned, having caught the tail end of Juliette's words as he followed them inside the dining room.

Sydney, seeing Juliette turn red, quickly came to the other girl's rescue by distracting her guardian as she asked, "Can I talk to you in private?"

Ga?l was the last to come in and join his family for dinner, and his lips curved in a slight smile when he noticed how Juliette carefully avoided looking his way.

"Hello again."

Juliette's toes curled under the furry top of her house slippers at the rare note of teasing in Ga?l's voice, and it was all she could do not to melt.

"I know what you're doing," she muttered.

Ga?l leaned close, and her heart started pounding. "Is that so?"

"You're trying to charm me out of my bad mood."

"Ah." Ga?l leaned even closer to take an almost-playful peek at her expression, and Juliette could no longer keep her gaze from colliding with his icy blue eyes, which were still gleaming with amusement.

Ugh!

"Please stop laughing at me!"

"I wish I could," Ga?l said solemnly, "but how can I, when you're too damn adorable when you pout?"

Oh, dear Lord, please, please, please be still, my racing heart, because this is a Caro we're dealing with, and he'll absolutely know when you start acting funny!

While Ga?l smirked and Juliette blushed, the rest of the family had a harder time as they struggled to continue pretending they were deaf, dumb, blind, and stupid.

Severin looked at Sydney with a grimace. Why do they always act like they're in a fucking world of their own when they obviously aren't?

His stepsister gave him a look of pity. A Caro like you will never figure it out.

The mood for the rest of the evening was one of great conversation and laughter, and the girls had tears in their eyes when Juliette slipped up all on her own. They were talking about a UdLA student that had been expelled, and as Juliette argued that the student's expulsion was a rotten act of justice, she had seen her guardian choke on his soup, and Juliette, forgetting herself, had cried out, "I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong! How many times do I have to tell you it wasn't a fart?"

The night should have ended on a high note after that, but just as the wards bid good night to their respective guardians, it was around this time that Ga?l's phone rang, and all eyes were on him as they heard Ga?l mention a familiar name.

Emilia Moretti was one of the most famous and wealthiest werewolf princesses in the world, and rumors had been rife about a possibly strategic marriage between the two. It had come to a point that Jean Luc himself had asked his brother about whether the news had any truth to them, and Ga?l, in his usual blunt manner, had simply said he would only remarry if he found someone whose

sangferia was a near-perfect match with his blood.

There was no line that Ga?l would be unwilling to cross if it enabled him to better defend his family, and everyone knew that Ga?l had long stopped caring about whether other people viewed his actions as disgraceful or amoral. Protecting House Bellecourt from all threats was Ga?l's priority, and though Juliette knew this herself—-

It didn't do anything to lessen the pain, and Juliette struggled to keep her face blank as Ga?l excused himself from the table. Emilia Moretti was the kind of woman any preter would be lucky to marry, and if Ga?l did end up wanting the princess to be his bride, it was Juliette's duty as her ward to be happy for him.

Right?

Just thinking about her guardian marrying someone else was too much, and Juliette mumbled an incoherent excuse before leaving in a hurry.

By the time Ga?l returned to the dining room, he was more puzzled than offended when he saw his brothers frowning his way. "What?"