Inferno (Mate Series #3)

Prologue

Natalya's heart felt like it was being ripped out of her chest. The feel of her mate's death and her wolf howling into the night in pain and the sadness was tearing her up inside—the song of a broken wolf with no hope. She clutched in the middle of her chest as her knees buckle from underneath her. She fell onto the earthy ground and everything else around her seemed to have disappeared. Her ears were ringing and blackness enthusiastically blurred her vision. She could hear the distant sound of a hurtful scream only to realize it was coming from her.

Her mate was killed before they could meet.

A river of tears streamed down her cheeks as she fell to the ground. Strong arms wrapped around her waist and she knew who immediately picked her up. Her Beta and best friend, Yulian. She curled into his body as she allowed the pain course through her body.

Reality hit her. She will never be able to experience the tingles or the mate bond. Her heart was completely shattered. She didn't know how she could survive this. How much longer can she go before she broke down and go crazy like every other person who had lost theirs? She never had met him before but she still felt it like he has always been there her whole life—like a part of her has been ripped out from her body. She felt almost empty.

"Natalya." Yulian whispered gently as he laid her down on the bed and smoothed back her hair. She hid her face into the pillow. They were in the middle of training when she felt it.

"Is it your mate?" He asked.

Her heart seemed to break even more and a sob escaped her lips. Why was she feeling so much loss for someone she never seen before?

Because he was meant to be yours, her subconscious spoke up.

She cried and curled up into a ball. Yulian sighed and patted her softly on her shoulder. "It is okay, Natalya. You are a strong woman. You should be able to overcome this. I believe in you and I will be here for you."

She whimpered. She didn't want him besides he had his own mate to take care of. She wanted her mate. A smoldering hate replaced her sorrow. The hate was towards her. She felt useless like someone who could've done something to stop what was going to happen to her mate—maybe if she searched for him like she told everyone she was going to start doing it wouldn't have come to this. She cried and pounded her fist hard on her pillow.

"Get out!" She screamed. "Get out of my room!"

She wanted to be alone. Hating herself hurt less than the sadness. She allowed it to take over her being.

"Nat-"

"I SAID GET OUT!" She roared and pushed off the bed to glare at him. Her face must look like a total mess as tears stained her cheeks. Her eyes were probably blood shot from crying so hard. Her lips quivered but she held strong, opening the gate to the flood of rage.

Yulian's back stiffened. She had alpha commanded him. Clenching his jaw, he turned around without another word and left. She watched him leave and the second he closed the door she sobbed harder and her body shook along with her sobs.

"It's not fair!" She screamed and started throwing her pillows and duvet off the bed. It wasn't fair. This wasn't fair.

She stood up and shoved the lamp off her night stand and in one swift movement wiped everything off her vanity table. She tore up her room. The sound of objects crashing on the ground and the walls can be heard. Vases fell and broke as she shattered every last one of them.

When she had nothing left, she fell onto the ground and wept. Her hands bloodied from the cuts she sustained from touching the broken vases but it was a pain incomparable to the pain in her chest.

It was from that day that broke Natalya. She was uncaring and grew a little too cold. Her father stood and watched his daughter break in front of him and knew all too well what she was going through. His heart broke along with her when he heard of the news.

After several months of her torturing herself, he couldn't stand it any longer. Nikolai made his way to his daughter's territory.

When he entered her home, it was dark and gloomy. No lights and no happiness. The air was quiet. Yulian has been giving him updates on his daughter and he knew very well where she was right now. He walked up the steps towards her office.

Without bothering to knock, he opened the door to see his daughter bent over some papers. The light cherry look on her face completely gone and only a hollow case of skin before him and it broke his heart every second he looked at her.

"Nat." Nikolai greeted.

She looked up at him and her eyes flashed with sadness before she blinked and it was gone.

"Father." She greeted him. Her voice was stern with so much hate but the hate wasn't at him—hate towards her.

He closed the door behind him and walked over to sit in the chair opposite her desk. Leaning back in the chair, he folded his hands in his lap as he looked at her. She refused to look up at him and continued to work on her papers, scribbling away on a bunch of contracts. He sighed and rubbed his forehead as he leaned forward.

"Natalya, my dear pup." He said with a fatherly gentleness.

"Stop." Her voice cracked. "Please."

"You can't do this to yourself."

She slammed her fist down on the table. "I can do anything I want!"

Her violet eyes were blazing with anger. It reminded him so much of his mate when she was angry. She looked very much like her mother but there was something there that scared even him. His daughter was not his daughter and it felt like he was losing her.

It was silent as he saw him in her. He exhaled slowly as he spoke. He was going to tell her truth. The things he did that he still can't forgive himself for. His hate for himself hurt everyone around him and he ended up doing something reckless that almost exposed their kind.

"I'm going to tell you something that I never told your mother. It is a secret I can never speak of because it brings out the demon in me but also a secret that I have to tell you because I see that you need it."