Chapter 3 – First Challenge
Ava woke to the city humming with life, though the noises felt sharper now, more alive. She sat on the edge of the sofa, hands pressed to her chest where the mark still glowed faintly. Her heartbeat had slowed from last night's chaos, but her mind remained a storm of questions.
Dante had left early, promising to return, and in his absence, Ava felt the weight of the hidden world pressing in from every angle. Every passerby seemed larger than life, every shadow suspicious. Even the breeze carried whispers she couldn't understand.
She didn't know if it was fear or the mark itself making her senses so acute, but the ordinary city she had known suddenly felt like a minefield.
"Focus," she muttered under her breath. "Survive. Just survive."
Her first lesson came sooner than she expected.
---
By noon, Dante returned, eyes sharp and calculating, as if he had been watching her from a distance, unseen. His golden gaze flicked to the mark on her collarbone. "Good. You're awake. Today begins your training. And you'll learn your first rule: control is everything."
Ava frowned. "Control what? The mark? Myself? My life?"
"All of it," he said simply. "You've been marked. Your body is changing. Your senses are sharpening. Your instincts are waking. If you don't learn to control them, they will control you… and they can get you killed."
She swallowed hard, feeling the weight of his words. "And what if I fail?"
Dante's jaw tightened. "Failure isn't an option."
---
He led her to a secluded park, hidden from the public eye, where shadows seemed to move with intent. "This is your first test," Dante explained. "You will face a creature. One you must subdue without killing it. It will test your reflexes, your senses, and your ability to stay calm under pressure."
Ava's stomach knotted. "A creature? Like… a werewolf?"
Dante shook his head. "Not yet. Something simpler. You need to master your own instincts before facing the real threats."
He motioned toward a dense thicket. From it, a wolf—larger than any she had seen before—emerged, its fur glinting silver under the midday sun. Its eyes were amber, intelligent, and assessing her every movement.
Ava froze. The wolf growled low, deep in its throat. It was testing her, gauging her fear, her intent.
Dante stepped behind her. "You must face it. Your mark will resonate with it. If you hesitate… it will strike."
Ava's heart hammered. She felt the pulse in her chest, felt the strange warmth of the mark reacting to the wolf. It was calling to her, almost as if it were alive.
"Breathe," Dante instructed softly. "Focus on the mark. Channel it. Control your fear."
She closed her eyes, letting the warmth of the mark spread through her chest, through her arms, her legs. The wolf moved closer, circling her, ears flattened. She could feel its thoughts, its intentions, subtle yet unmistakable: hunt… test… strike…
Her instincts screamed to run, to flee, but she remembered Dante's words. Control. Survival.
She steadied herself. "I… can do this," she whispered.
The wolf lunged.
---
Time slowed. Ava felt her senses heighten, every movement amplified. She sidestepped instinctively, dodging the wolf's sharp claws. Her mark flared, warmth spreading along her skin, a subtle protective shield. She realized she could sense its intentions before it acted.
Dante's voice cut through the chaos. "Now, connect! You are stronger than you think!"
Ava's vision sharpened. She saw the wolf's muscles tense before it moved, felt its energy like an electric current brushing against her skin. With a deep breath, she mirrored its stance, predicting its strike, and gently pushed it back with a surge of energy from the mark.
The wolf yelped, startled, and stumbled. Ava's chest heaved, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She had done it. She had controlled her fear, harnessed the mark's energy, and survived.
Dante stepped forward, his expression unreadable. "Not bad," he said. "But this is only the beginning. Your true challenge comes soon, and the consequences will be far greater."
---
Exhausted but exhilarated, Ava sat on the grass, trying to process the experience. The wolf lay nearby, calm now, no longer aggressive. She realized that she had connected with it somehow, understood it on a level that defied explanation. The mark pulsed softly, almost like a heartbeat of its own, in rhythm with her own.
Ava felt a strange sense of pride, tinged with fear. She was changing. The mark was changing her. And she wasn't sure if she liked it—or feared it more.
---
Later, Dante guided her back to the apartment. Silence hung between them, heavy and charged. Finally, he spoke, voice low. "You've done well. But remember—control is temporary. You must learn to trust the mark, and yourself. Only then will you survive the world you're in."
Ava looked at him, her chest still racing. "And… you? How do you survive it?"
Dante's golden eyes softened briefly. "I've learned to control it… or at least, to embrace it. The mark chooses, but survival… depends on choices we make after it."
The words lingered in her mind long after he left the room.
---
That night, Ava couldn't sleep. Her senses were on fire, every sound amplified, every shadow a threat. Yet, she couldn't stop thinking about Dante. The way his eyes glimmered with gold, the strength he exuded, the way he had guided her through the first challenge.
Part of her feared him. Part of her… wanted him.
And the mark? It pulsed warmly against her chest, as if affirming some unspoken connection, a tether she couldn't escape.
She was no longer just Ava Hart, ordinary bartender. She was marked, bound to a powerful alpha, and entering a world she barely understood.
Her first challenge had proven one thing: she could survive—but only if she embraced the mark.