Mara woke from the same nightmare again, her hand lifting to the spot of the scar like it did every morning. A reminder that while her whole dream wasn't true, parts of it were. 

She shook the thought from her mind and dug through her drawers until she found her summer uniform, the plum shirt with the school's emblem in silver over her heart, and the skirt. 

She quickly got ready, realizing Trixle was already gone and she was running late. No breakfast this morning. 

Mara brushed out her hair and let it fall over her shoulders, hiding the bite marks left from the vampire. She thought about the last time she wore her hair up, it was at the dance the year before. She wondered if she would ever have the confidence to wear it up with the reminder constantly painted on her skin.

She swept some eyeliner on her bottom lid and quickly painted her lashes with mascara, just enough to make her eyes pop. Then she looked at her schedule and ran up the stairs to her first class, tracking. 

Mara had finally been pushed forward to classes with students her own age, after her tests the previous year and the tutor Torlak had found for her over the summer, the school had seen it fit to move her up. She walked into the room and saw one familiar face, though it didn't bring her joy. 

Sitting in the middle of the room was Avaline, one of the girls in Ladies of the Night, and she had already spotted Mara. 

Mara tried to look away like she hadn't seen the girl, but Avaline was flailing her hands in the air to get Mara to sit by her. 

Finally she relented and went to sit next to the girl.

"It's so nice to see someone you know, isn't it?" She asked almost too excited. 

"Yeah. It sure is." Mara said looking down in her bag for the notebook and textbook for the class, trying to avoid too much conversation.

She didn't know why Avaline was being friendly, or if she was even being friendly. Mara had turned her and her sisters down when they asked her to join their coven last year. Either there were no hard feelings, or she was hiding them in hopes of getting Mara to join this year. 

"How was your summer?" Avaline asked cheerily.

"It was good. I went home with Trixle for most of the summer, I stayed there with her family."

Avaline's eyes widened. "You stayed in the fae kingdom? In the castle?"

Mara just shrugged and nodded. Sure the place had been huge, but she didn't know what the big deal was. It was just a home for Trixle and her entire family. Sure it was different from how most people lived, but she had come to terms with the fact that her friends were beyond normal.

"What was it like?" 

"Well, it was big, and they were really nice. Their family took me in as one of their own, her father even found the best tutor for me so I could finish catching up."

Avaline just nodded, staring at Mara with wide eyes. Finally she found her voice again. "What's it like being on the High Council."

Ah bingo! Mara thought. This was what she wanted from the beginning. 

Just then their teacher walked in and called the class to order to begin class. 

Mara had been so distracted from the look she could see Avaline giving her from the corner of her eye that she had completely missed the man's name.  

He was going over the rules from the classroom, and Avaline was still looking at her intently. Mara turned her head to look at the girl sitting next to her. 

So? She mouthed to Mara. 

Mara just ignored her and focused on the teacher as he finished the rules and started asking the class questions. The general things, like what do you hope to learn from this class? Or what are you most looking forward to doing. 

Everyone he asked answered with similar general replies, which they pulled together from the basics of what the class was about. No one really thought of the extent a tracking class could provide to them. Mara knew this is where Zeldra must have started, and she had turned into the person that led Zander and the vampire straight to her. 

If there was anyone that thought about using the knowledge they gained in this classroom in advanced ways such as that, no one showed it. Then again, why would a student reveal their thoughts if they traveled down a darker path?

Mara could feel a piece of paper sliding under her hand. She looked down at the words scribbled on the white paper. 

                     What is the Council like?

Mara rolled her eyes and scratched at the paper with the pen she had in her hand.

                    Not right now. I'm trying to pay attention.

She then pushed the paper back to Avaline who glared at the letters that had been added. She quickly scribbled and passed the paper back. 

                    No one pays attention on the first day.

"And I would hope everyone knows passing notes in class will not be tolerated." The man's voice rang throughout the room as he projected it more than he already had been. "If such notes are seen you will have to read them aloud to the class. So, if you prefer keeping such conversations private, I suggest you find a different time to talk."

Mara crumpled up the piece of paper and shoved it into her bag. 

The teacher followed up on a few last minute things but let the class out early. 

When Mara went to sit with her friends at their table, she could tell something was off. Emmett was sitting next to Marx and Trixle was looking at them both quizzically. She sat next to Trixle, slightly disappointed that Marx hadn't saved a spot for her next to him. 

When she sat down she could feel the heavy mood at the table.

"What's going on?" Mara asked to no one in particular.

"Can't tell, neither one of them will say anything. They just brush off the question." 

"Trix, that's enough." Marx snapped. 

Mara cocked her head at him wondering where this sudden shift had come from. He had been perfectly fine when they had parted ways the night before, but something serious had happened.

His dark eyes flicked up to hers before he looked back to the ground again. Marx knew he couldn't look into those concerned eyes, not right now at least.

His eyes slid up to Mara's once more against his will as he mumbled something about needing to go somewhere. He got up and disappeared through the door across the room.

Emmett looked behind him to make sure Marx was out of sight and earshot. 

"Something happened between Marx and his father last night. I'm not totally sure what happened, but it wasn't good."

Mara pursed her lips and glanced at Trixle sideways who was already looking directly at Mara. 

After a few moments of noticing silent glances being passed around the table, Mara excused herself to go to her next class.

When she walked into the hall that led to the stairwell she was suddenly jerked to the side. She was too surprised to make any noise at all. 

She found Marx standing in front of her, his eyes darker than usual and unable to look at her.

"What's wrong, Marx?" She asked frozen in place. 

He quickly looked around them before pulling her into a supply closet.

"You know, we probably shouldn't keep using these. I'm pretty sure it's against the rule-"

She stopped when Marx finally looked at her, there was definitely something wrong. 

"I just couldn't take the chance of anyone seeing us. I'm sorry if I scared you."

"Couldn't take the chance of someone seeing us what?"

"Anything." He paused before clarifying. "I told my father about us last night. He was fine up until the point I told him it was you who was my mate. After that he lost it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he told me I couldn't be with you, and if I was then he would take the throne away from me when my time comes." He said bitterly.

Mara stared at the wall behind Marx while she processed the information.

"Why would he take the throne from you if you're with me?"

"He is being prejudiced it seems like. He is unhappy about my mate being a witch."

"But doesn't he know what this means for you?"

"No." He spat. "My father does not have a mate himself."

Mara could see how tense Marx was. His fists were balled up tightly and his jaw was clenched. He was fighting his wolf.

Mara lifted her hand up and touched his cheek gently. She could feel his entire body as it relaxed with her touch. She liked the fact that she could calm him, it was the same with his effect on her. She guessed that most of the help he had given her about controlling her anger had actually been presented by his presence. 

"Everything is going to be okay Marx. We will just have to make your father see that."

He chuckled harshly. "Good luck with that, my father sees nothing unless he wants to."

"Well then I guess we will have to make him want to see it." She said with determination.

Marx looked into her eyes and smiled. He couldn't believe how far she had come from being the girl who bumped into him on the stairs her first day. Now she was here saving him from himself. He took her hand and squeezed it gently, his body language describing how he made her feel when words just wouldn't suffice. 

She squeezed back. 

"Just remember our motto."

He raised a brow at her quizzically.

"Everything is going to be okay." She said with a smile. "No matter the situation, just believe that to be true."

She kissed his cheek. "Now, we both have classes to get to, and if we want to go out unnoticed then we better hurry."

Marx nodded and they slipped out and down the hall, walking up to their classes. Once they got to the right floor they split directions. When Mara found the room for her next class she groaned inwardly. 

Avaline was in this class as well, but she wasn't alone. Sitting next to the one girl was Rosemary. They had their eyes on the door as if they were expecting Mara to walk in. It crossed her mind briefly that they may have been planning this. 

The two girls waved her over and Rosemary scooted over a seat to allow Mara to sit between them. Reluctantly she took the seat. 

"Hi Mara, we had a question for you." Rosemary said, flashing a wide, toothy grin.

"Of course you do."

Both girls acted as if they hadn't heard Mara's remark and Rosemary forged ahead. 

"We were wondering if you would be interested in joining us this year."

"Oh, I don't know. It's not like I'm busy or anything. How about I just think on that?" Mara said, her voice laced with sarcasm. 

Rosemary blinked, at a loss for what to say. 

"You do that." Avaline said through a forced smile. 

"Why are you so desperate to get me to join your coven?" 

"We just think you would be the perfect addition." Rosemary gushed. 

"I'm sure you do." 

Just then, the instructor walked in and started class. Mara quickly got up from her spot and went to the back of the room, escaping from the ladies of doom as she was starting to think of them.

Mara paid little attention to the rest of her classes, and in each one of them, there was at least one member of the coven. Every single one of them wanted to talk to her, it was a never-ending cycle of questions. 

She did her best to answer them without being too rude, but all she really wanted was to be able to sit in the back of the room and be unnoticed like last year.

She didn't mind attention anymore, she just didnt want stuff like this to happen. Everyone wanted to know what the council was like, and everyone suddenly wanted to be her friend. 

She knew it would be good to get to know some other witches, each person specializes in a different area, and she could learn from others. The only problem was that Mara couldn't tell who actually wanted to know her and be her friend, and who just wanted to be the friend of the girl on the High Council.

When the day was finally over Mara breathed a sigh of relief. At the end of the day she rolled into bed and snuggled under her covers with Sasha curled up beside her head. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Mara could feel the warm sun coming in through the windows, waking up every cell of her body. Her arms reached out above her head as she stretched away the sleep and she touched something warm beside her. 

With her eyes still closed, protecting themselves from the brightness of morning, Mara's hands came to rest on the object in front of her. It was a warm chest, one that felt strong and smooth.

Her eyes flickered open slightly and she could see dark hair, tousled in an extremely attractive way from tossing during the night. Her eyes were met with striking green ones, a green she could just float away in.

Recognition finally sank in. She shouldn't be seeing those eyes or that hair, they along with the person who adorned them should be long gone. 

Fear made Mara's blood run cold and her eyes snapped fully open taking in Zander's entire face. Mara scooted back and fell off the bed.

She could feel cool air hitting her entire body and when she looked down she found herself missing all her clothes. Quickly she grabbed the blanket on top of her bed and wrapped it around her body.

Zander smirked at her as she covered herself, hiding her body from him. 

"What is the use now, I have already seen it all." He winked at her and a lazy smile spread across her face.

Mara suddenly felt sick. How could she have woken up beside that monster?

"What are you doing here?" Mara demanded standing up from the floor. 

Zander stood from the bed looking at her with hungry eyes. The sheets slid away from his body showing his nakedness as well and Mara turned around averting her eyes. 

"I just wanted to make sure I saved the best for last." He said, licking his lips. 

Suddenly the scene shifted, they were no longer in her room, instead they were standing out in a field of grass. The color green marred by a sea of red. Everywhere Mara looked she saw blood and carnage. 

Mara could feel the now cold liquid squishing between her toes as she stood in the grass, and she clutched the blanket around her tighter. 

Her eyes scanned the area, seeing familiar shapes all around. As she slowly moved throughout the clearing, she noticed the lumps were pieces of the High Council dismembered. She could see Marx's father off to her left, and Lillian near him. 

Mara's heart quickened as she was able to place each person lying dead on the ground. Her eyes finally found the one that made her heart stop.

Torlak was in pieces just a few steps to her right. She ran over to him and fell to her knees beside is mangled body.

The blood soaked into the blanket she had clutched around her but she couldn't focus on that, not when a man who had done so much for her was in pieces before her. Tears started to flow as she thought of what this would mean to Trixle, what this meant to her. 

Torlak had taken her into his home, and she had grown to love him like a father. He had done everything for her in those few short months, and now he was in a heap in the bloody grass. 

Mara's hand covered her mouth as she chocked back the sobs threatening to escape and she stood.

Zander's arms slid around her waist from behind as he rested his head on her shoulder. 

Mara tried to pull away from him, but Zander only tightened his grip on her, pulling her in so close that the belt buckle on the jeans he was now wearing dug into her hip. 

"Did you do all of this?" Mara asked biting back the tears that still wanted to flow.

"Well," he shrugged, "I had some help."

"You're sick."

"That's where you are wrong Mara, I am the cure. This world needs a change, it needs to be cured and I am here to make that happen. A new High Council will rise just as soon as the old one has been taken care of."

Goosebumps rose on her arms as he whispered into her ear. Suddenly, Zander spun Mara around to face him, his hands locked on her arms in a death grip.

The look in his eyes sent fear striking through Mara's body and she tried to pull away to flee once more, but it was no use. 

"It is almost complete. There is just one person standing in my way."

Zander's body came closer, as if being pulled into her by an invisible force, and his lips met hers. His hands moved up to the back of her head, making it impossible for her to pull away.

Mara resisted the kiss, she stayed motionless until she felt his hands slide from the back of her head towards her throat.

Zander's hands locked onto her and her eyes snapped wide open as she could feel her oxygen diminishing. She was looking into Zander's dark green eyes, and she could see the sparks dancing behind them as he slowly blocked her airway. 

Mara struggled pulling at his hands to no avail, the more she worked the harder he squeezed and the more she needed air. She could see and feel the black closing in on her.

This is it. This is my end. The only thought that ran through her mind as she felt her life slipping away.