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How had he gotten ten times hotter?

Oh boy, she was not going to survive this.

CHAPTER THREE

MACK

Mack stepped out of the castle and spotted Ella immediately in the crowd of people waiting outside. Like she was a magnet.

One he’d spent his life fighting the pull to bond with.

His father had given him some sage advice when he was younger, saying, “Son, that girl is your mate. We all know it. But once you bond with her, it’s forever. Live your life, spread your wings, then settle down.”

It was contrary to what he saw around him, but his dad was his dad. He wouldn’t give him poor advice, so Mack figured that there was more to this grown-up bonding stuff than met the eye.

He wasn’t going to argue, especially when his dad had gone on to say he’d met his mom when he was very young, and while he loved her, he’d watched as his friends enjoyed a fun bachelor life for years.

Traveling, partying, and being carefree.

Mack sensed a resentment within his dad that he didn’t voice further.

He didn’t want to resent Ella.

He also wanted her to enjoy her youth before mating.

In his mind, back then, it seemed like the right thing to do. After all, Mack didn’t have a lot of life experience, nor did he know what it must feel like to be bonded for eternity.

Not that vampires were immortal.

They could die from exposure to the sun, by beheading, or a good old stab to the heart.

“Take your time. Ella isn’t going to bond with anyone else if she’s truly yours,” his father had added.

He’d agreed.

It may have seemed like the right thing to do, but it hadn’t been easy. She’d grown into the most beautiful female before his eyes while dating both vampire and human males.

Mackmayor maynothave been responsible for things never working out for her. Possibly. Fuck, it didn’t matter. Ella belonged to him anyway.

But then, fate, the fucker, interfered and changed the trajectory of his life. Of both their lives.

The night he met Callan, he’d drunk from his neck, surprising the shit out of him. It hadn’t taken long for Mack to realize something was wrong, that his body was changing.

His sex drive one of the most obvious.

Mack wanted to fuck everything in sight—everyone in sight—all at the same time. His cock had been hard almost twenty-four seven producing an eye-opening amount of semen when he acted on it.

Sometimes alone.

It had freaked him the hell out, and more than once he had to lock himself in the bathroom, so he didn’t drive over to Ella’s house and kick the door down.

God knew he’d jerked off with her sexy cleavage in his mind, imagining giving her a pearl necklace and making her lick his dick clean.

Jesus, stop thinking about this while walking toward her.

When Callan had circled back and shared his story, Mack knew he had to go with him to the king and get help and answers. Leaving his business in his brother’s care, he said goodbye to his family.

Then rang Ella and told her.