Prologue
A third Chance Mate is incredibly rare in the werewolf world, and it had never been heard of before.
Astrid is a young girl who has been abused by her parents, and her pack may be treated worse than enslaved people, while her brothers are lavished with everything.
Astrid had always wanted to marry the son of her pack's Alpha. She has been drawn to him since they were children.
Astrid grows up hoping to be his Mate one day.
Fate conspires in her favor, and they are fated to be mates, but he rejects Astrid as soon as he learns of the circumstance.
Astrid is distraught and believes she has no way out of her situation. There is still hope that she will find her second chance partner, but after a few days, she begins to feel misery, the kind of grief that only comes when a mate dies.
She loses all faith in ever finding happiness and accepts all of the calamities thrown at her, believing she deserves everything.
She becomes aware of the approach of something peculiar one day. She feels a connection with someone who is facing away from her and realizes he is her third chance mate.
She wants to approach him, but she is afraid of being rejected again, so she runs before her Mate even realizes who she is. Was her decision to depart the right one? Is it feasible that this may turn out to be her worst mistake? Because she had been assigned the Vampire King as her 'Third Chance Mate.'
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As his finger traveled down my throat and down to my chest, I swallowed.
I backed up against the wall even further.
"You have no idea how badly I want your blood right now," he huskily muttered in my ear, causing chills to appear on my skin.
"Then why don't you try it?" I asked, turning away from him.
"I don't want to hurt you. I don't know why I want your blood. I should be disgusted by my Mate's blood. It's against my nature to want thirst for your blood," he said, but he seemed to be holding himself back from approaching me.
I entwined his hands with mine, placed one hand on his exposed chest, and held it there.
"You feel like I don't have a heartbeat," he continued, peering into my eyes, which had turned crimson from staring at me.
"But you make me feel things that I can't even put into words; you make me feel alive," he added, admiringly looking at me.
I was drawn to him all of a sudden.
"Are you trying to persuade me?" I inquired.
"No, my queen, I wouldn't do that," he responded, irritated. "I can compel everyone around me," he said, "but my compulsion will not work on you."
"Please," I pleaded.
"Please what?" he asked, his palm resting on my throat.
"Feed from me," I said.
"Are you sure?" he asked, looking at me with skepticism.
"Yes," I said, nodding.
He stared me in the eyes and began to descend towards me.
He absorbed my aroma as he buried his head in the nook of my neck.
I cocked my head to allow him better access. He licked my delicate place and brushed his fangs on my neck.
I was startled to feel his teeth pierce my skin.
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I shook as I felt agonizing pain coursing through my body as if I were on fire.
I felt as though I had been teleported to an unknown location. I felt as if bits of coal were being rained on my body.
Suddenly, I felt a chilling sensation rush through my arm, which really calmed me down.
Then I noticed him, holding me in his arms and beaming at me.
"You can do it, Astrid. There is nothing you can't accomplish," he encouraged me, and I felt like I was being teleported back to reality, but the pain wasn't going away.
I noticed my brown hair going yellow and then white, and tattoos began to develop on my arms. They were strange designs that I couldn't comprehend, but they seemed to tell a tale.
I'll figure it out later, but right now isn't the time for me to worry about my partner, who I don't even know if he's alive or not.
I stood up with my limping form.
"No, this cannot happen. Our King cannot die," everyone around me exclaimed.
I pushed everyone aside and hurried over to my Mate, who was lifeless on the ground.
I tried shaking him, but he wouldn't get up.
I screamed and called his name, but it was in vain.
I became enraged and let out a snarl that shook the surrounding area.
"You can't die on me," I yelled, and everyone covered their ears because the ferocity was too much for them.
I was in denial about how much pain I was in. Instead, I was focused on my dead Mate.
Everyone gasped in horror and fled from me when I opened my eyes.
I felt a surge of energy within me. As I looked around, I saw that I was emitting an ombré of light that surrounded my Mate and me separating us from the rest of the world.
It seemed to drain my energies, and I felt as if my life was being pulled out of my soul.
I soon sank beside him on the ground.
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