The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

Chapter 68

The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn Chapter 68

~AUTUMN~

Atticus slowly lets go of me as we near the house. I held onto his hand; I didn’t want him to get hurt because of me.

I know I’m the one that convinced him to return, but it doesn’t mean that it was an easy decision to make. Hearing his mother scream was all I needed to know that this was the right thing to do. Whatever happened, I had to do everything I could to keep them all safe.

I still hear the terrifying shouts and screams; they’re not making this easier for us. Damon and Clarissa are among them, but I can’t tell what they’re saying. They’re all expecting us to be gone by now; they don’t know that we are back just for them.

Atticus leans over and gives me one more kiss on my forehead. His lips linger on my skin, and I gladly lean into him. Neither of us knew what was about to happen, and it was terrifying not knowing.

I attempt to move forward with him, but he puts out his hand and stops me before I can make another step. His eyes held an urgency to them that brought me to a complete stop. He takes a deep breath, and I suck in one of my own. I knew what he was going to say before it left his mouth.

“Stay out here.” He warns me. “Let me see what’s happening inside first. If I think we need you, I will call you. If not, I want you to get as far away from here as possible.”

As far away from here? As far away from him? I tilt my head to the side and frown at him.

He was crazy if he thought that I would leave him here with people that wanted to harm him and his family. He was the man I’d been in love with for many years, the only man I’d ever loved; I would never leave him when he needed me. However, I knew I had to agree if I wanted him to leave.

The shout gets louder, and I begin to panic. We were running out of time. If we didn’t get inside there now, his family would be in more danger than they already were.

“Are you listening to me?” Atticus asks, waiting for my response; he hasn’t moved an inch. The urgency in his voice has just increased, and I find myself nodding despite my desperation to keep him safe.

I knew the moment that I heard the overlords hurting the people I cared about no one would be able to stop me from joining in. Atticus’s eyes are glued on my face, and his jaw clenches; he wants to believe I’m telling the truth. I try to keep an innocent expression on my face to make him feel less restless. He takes another deep breath and slowly lets go of me. I watch as he walks backward a few steps, still looking at me; it seems like he’s trying to memorize every little detail on my face.

I held my breath; how could I not love someone like him?

He still looks conflicted, but eventually, he turns and walks back into the house. I waited for a minute, letting him believe that I was truly listening to his request, but the moment that I thought it was okay for me to move, I was right behind him.

Atticus doesn’t even bother trying to hide; he walks straight toward the enemies. Why would he do that? He told me that he was leaving me behind only to find out what was happening inside so that we would have a better idea of how to react. He’d lied. I couldn’t exactly complain since I’d also lied to him. We were both lying to protect each other.

My eyes scan the room once more. I feel a chill run down my spine.

This is the first time that I’m seeing the overlords in person. From what I knew about them, they rarely ever left their home. They only left it when it was something very important. I swallow the fear and worry down my throat. It’s hard to believe that all these important people were here because of me, to take me down. I would never have thought I would have turned out to be this dangerous.

They were so terrified of my father that they saw me as a big threat, just like him. How much trouble did Azai cause in the past for everyone to react this way because of him? Even now, it is hard to accept that my father was terrible and heartless.

The overlords nod at Atticus the moment that they notice him. They were waiting, no doubt; they knew he would be back for his family.

This was insane. How did my life become such a big mess because of one secret? If anyone had told me this was what my life would be like at this age, I would have never believed them.

Atticus looks fearless as he stands next to his family. His mother was on the floor, and Mr. Fawn had her in his arms. Damon and Clarissa were guarding them along with Griffin. I had no clue as to where Dante and Anya were. Neither of them was here. They must have left before the news about the council and the overlords reached us.

My eyes are solely on the enemies of the room.

There were eight Overlords in total, and all of them were present today. They were dressed in very concealing black robes and looked like shadows of the night. I couldn’t see their faces; they were covered by the robes. They often protected their faces when out of their home. They were also not allowed to have mates. Every five years, a new Overlord is chosen, and the power is passed onto him. They were all chosen at the age of eighteen; many parents trained their kids, hoping that their child would one day be selected. It was supposed to be a happy occasion, but I think it was far from it; why would anyone want to live a lonely life? I believe that’s why the overlords were always so bitter. They knew nothing about happiness or what it was like to be in love. They were all trained to be as heartless as possible in any situation; according to them; the heart forced you to make the wrong decisions.

My eyes traveled to members of the council. Not everyone was present, but I still recognized a few of them. They were just as brutal as the overlords, maybe even more at times. The council only cared

about themselves, even though they often claimed they also cared about the people. There were many at their mercy, and I often wished that they would appoint a new leader that cared about their people and didn’t only want power.

“Where is the girl?” One of the overlords asks. His chilling voice forced my attention back to them. I assume that he had to be the eldest of them all since the eldest was usually the one that did all of the talking.

There is a short pause, and I see the panic on Atticus’s face a second before he masks his emotions from everyone else in the room. I think he can sense my presence; he knows I’m near. He knows that I’ve disobeyed him.

“What girl?” He asks, pretending to be clueless. There was another awkward pause as they listened to his response, waiting for him to say more.

I flinch when they all laugh suddenly without warning, and another chill runs down my spine. They laughed without any humor, and it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever heard, especially since it wasn’t just one of them; they were all in sync.

Even though they’re laughing, I can still hear the impatience in their voice. It wouldn’t be long before they started to drill him for answers.

My parents were not around, and the guards they left to protect me were nowhere to be found. The overlords must have already gotten to them before getting into the house. Atticus was right; everything happened so quickly that we didn’t have the opportunity to prepare for any of this. There were so many people that I knew would help us if they knew we were in danger.

I think they knew this; it’s why they came without any warnings. They weren’t people that ever showed up unprepared. We should have known something like this would happen; we should have prepared for it. We were so busy dealing with everything that we made a huge mistake. We allowed them to trap us.

“Your wife.” The older overlord answers him. “Where is she? Can you please answer truthfully and save us the trouble of having to extract that information out of you. . . painfully, might I add.”

Atticus narrows his eyes, and I know he would rather be killed than tell them where I was. My heart aches at that fact. I would never let him do something like that for me.

“Why do you want to know?” He demands.

The overlord stepped closer to him, and I dug my nails into my dress; if he dared to even lay a hand on Atticus, he would pay for it. I was waiting for the right moment to leave my hiding spot.

I watch as the overlords all chuckle. Do they already know that Atticus and his family know the whole truth about me? How could they have possibly known that? Did they have a spy watching us all along? How long ago did they find out the truth? How long have they been watching us? There were so many unanswered questions, and I doubt they would be willing to answer them for us.

“She’s the daughter of a very dangerous sorcerer.” He answers him. “Azai Reign. You may or may not know about him, depending on whether your parents followed our rules.”

Atticus’s jaw clenches, and he doesn’t bother responding. He knows if he showed any emotion, his parents would be in more trouble than they were already in. He was doing the right thing by staying quiet this time. If none of us confessed and they had no proof, then they couldn’t punish this family.

When he gets no reaction out of Atticus, he takes another step closer. I held my breath, hoping he wouldn’t try anything stupid.

“Azai was a dangerous killer. A sorcerer out of control. He was greedy and hungry for power.” He continues when Atticus remains quiet. “He didn’t care about anyone other than himself. He didn’t care about his lady, not even his children. That’s why Autumn’s mother killed him. She did what many others were already hoping to do. We’re grateful that she made our work easier for us. If we had the chance,

we would have done it for her. After killing him, she knew that her life and the life of her children were still in danger even though she’d gotten rid of Azai. She knew that his men would have taken them from her. She knew that they would have found a way to kill her as well. So she ran. She ran to save herself and her children. We’ve been searching for Azai’s three children ever since his death. His children will all suffer the same faith that he did; they don’t have the inner strength to fight the darkness they were born with. Very soon, they will all follow in their father’s footsteps.”

“Autumn’s mother? I think you’re delusional,” Atticus says. “Your story makes no sense. I’ve never heard of an Azai Reign. Is this some sick joke?”

He tried to convince them that he was clueless about the entire thing, but they didn’t believe him. They must already know too much about our lives.

“We received an anonymous tip that his daughter is none other than Autumn Fawn. Of course, we thought it was all an unbelievable lie. How could the Riveras’ have the daughter of Azai hidden from us all this time? How could the daughter of Azai also be married to a Fawn? Both families hold such a high status in our society and are favored by the people; why would they choose to protect the daughter of Azai?” The prosecutor from the council asks. “We were puzzled about this new information and even considered ignoring it.”

I hated that they mentioned our families. Were they planning on also punishing them because of me?

I swallow; I wouldn’t let them do that; I can’t let them hurt my family. All they did was protect me; how could that be a reason for them to get punished?

“If you don’t believe that it’s possible, then why are you here?” Atticus challenges them. “Why are you trespassing in our home and threatening to ruin the good relationship that we have with both of you?”

One of the overlords laughs, the same one from before, “even though we thought that it was not possible, the claim was too serious for us to ignore it. We decided to wait until our source gave us

some evidence to support their claim. Eventually, we received the proof we needed to believe it was true. We realized that the evidence was too great for it to be all a lie. She had to be his daughter. Now we want to see it for ourselves before we decide on what to do.” He answers him.

Atticus takes a step closer and glares at him, “you have the wrong person. Autumn can’t be his daughter. She’s nothing like him. Whoever told you that must be trying to cause a conflict between us. My family has never broken the rules; whoever it was that gave you this information must dislike us and are looking for a way to cause trouble for us.”

“I thought so as well in the beginning.” He confesses. “But I’m even more convinced now that your family is trying to hide Autumn from us. If she isn’t the sorcerer’s daughter like you claim, then why are you keeping her from us? If she’s not a threat to our people, why can’t you just let us see for ourselves? Let us be the judge of whether or not our source was telling the truth. We promise to be gentle with her as long as we prove it’s all a lie. We understand who she is and what she means to both families; she will remain unharmed if her father is not Azai.”

Atticus narrows his eyes, “we have good reason to be this way after you came here without any warning, all of you, not one. You all came. It seems like a threat to me. Autumn is not only my wife; she is also my mate. It’s only natural that I want to protect her from all of you. Rarely will all the overlords leave their homes to visit my family unless they are prepared for a fight. I have a right to protect the people that I love.”

The people that he loved? My heart skips a beat, and I’m not sure if that’s a confession from him or not.

“Didn’t you lose your memory?” he asks. “Still, you’re protecting her this fiercely? Weren’t you also in love with another woman before marrying her? Your actions are quite interesting. Who do you genuinely love better between them? You seem to be continuously going back and forth between both women.”

I narrowed my eyes; I was right; they knew everything about us before coming here. They were even trying to turn us against each other by mentioning Anya. How long have they been paying attention to our relationship? And who was the person that told them the truth?

Atticus’ hands tightened into fists, “I think it’s time that you leave our home. Autumn is not here.”

I can tell that they already knew that he was lying to them. They all look at each other, and I have no clue why they keep doing that when all of their faces are covered by robes.

“You said she’s also your mate,” the overlord says in a chilling voice. “You should have said it since the beginning. It would have made this a lot easier.”

Before we can react, he grabs Atticus by his neck and slams him to the ground. My heart almost jumps out of my chest at the horror in front of me.

“ATTICUS!” I scream; I can’t stop myself as I run toward him.

All eyes turn toward me, and I can see the faces of the council members light up at my arrival. I know they did it to get me out of hiding, but I didn’t care.

Atticus’s eyes are wide with horror when he spots me running toward him. Before I can reach him, however, a council member grabs me. I gasped as he shoved my hands behind my back and held me close to him.

There is a loud growl, and I know it’s from Atticus before looking up.

“Vincent!” Atticus roars. “Let go of my f*****g mate!”

“It’s Sir Vincent.” He corrects him. He’s a vampire but not just any vampire. He’s the primary representative of vampires in the council.

“It’s nice of you to bless us with your presence.” Sir Vincent says. “We’ve been anxious to meet you since we heard about you.”

My eyes are glued to Atticus and the helpless look on his face. There were too many of them and too few of us.

“Let me go!” I hiss.

“We will.” He answers me. “But first, there are a few questions that we want to ask you.”

“You don’t have to answer a single question they ask.” Atticus intervenes. “Don’t say a way word, Autumn.” It was almost a plea from him. He knows that I would confess to keep him safe.

I gasped when one of the overloads kicked him in his face. He spits blood out of his mouth and glares at him.

“Let’s put it this way.” The overlord who’d hit him says. “If you don’t answer our questions truthfully, your husband will die today.”

My heart squeezes at his threat.

“Don’t answer,” Atticus growls as he gets up from the ground.

“Don’t do it,” Griffin adds. They’re trying to protect me, but I’m also trying to protect them. I was okay with them taking me as long as they left my family alone.

“STAY QUIET, AUTUMN!” Clarissa shouts.

My heart swells with love for them. These people threatened to kill Atticus, but his family was still trying to keep me safe.

“Ask me whatever you want to know.” I finally say. “I will answer truthfully.”

I meant it. While they wanted to keep me safe, I also wanted to do the same for them.

The overlords all turned to me simultaneously, which was one of the creepiest things I’ve ever witnessed. It made it scarier that I couldn’t see their faces.

“Autumn!” Mrs. Fawn shouts. “Do not do this. Please. Do not do this.”

I’m surprised that she was also siding with Atticus. Wasn’t she the one that wanted to save her family from the beginning?

“You’re like a daughter to us.” Mr. Fawn adds. “Despite what we may have done or said while surprised, we care for you. Do not tell them anything. Let them do what they must to us but remain quiet.”

I closed my eyes as the tears threatened to fall. I had no other choice. I had to answer them, and if they tried to hurt them, I would fight back. I would kill to protect the people that I loved.

“Is it true that your father is Azai Reign?” The overlords ask, all of them, at the same time. They were so much in sync that it surprised me. Was this something that they often did to frighten their opponent?

“Autumn, please,” Atticus begged. His voice breaks, and with it, my heart.

I opened my mouth to tell them the truth when Atticus surprised all of us. He attacked one of the overlords and threw him toward the wall. I cried out in terror when they all retaliated against him. Atticus’s first cry of pain sends my body into shock. It’s all happening so quickly; his face turns red from the pain, and his eyes are almost white. They aren’t even touching him, their hands are just pointed at him, and that’s enough to hurt him. This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“STOP IT!” I scream. They aren’t listening to me; none of them are.

“STOP HURTING HIM!”

“Autumn.” He groans right before he collapses onto the ground.

The scream that follows out of my mouth right after echoes throughout the mansion, and everyone goes flying in different directions.

Sir Vincent also goes flying behind me. I attempt to move toward Atticus, but he surprises me when he rushes forward and grabs me into his arms first. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held onto him tightly. His eyes are already searching around us for a way to escape. I knew that it was hopeless trying to escape from these people now. It was too late. To protect Atticus and his family, I will have to let them take me.

Atticus attempts to run with me, but I stop him.

“Don’t,” I tell him. “We can’t run anymore. They’re going to hurt your family if you do. You have to let me go.”

His eyes widen in horror at my words. His face says that he couldn’t believe I could ever say something so horrible to him. He looked like I’d just asked him for a divorce.

“No.” He hissed as he held me tighter against him. “I don’t want to let you go. Not today, not ever.”

Now that the overlords were on the ground, their robes had been lifted off their heads. I could see each of their faces clearly. Some looked very young, while others looked middle-aged. Why did I expect them to look old and cranky? Their eyes, however, were as cold as ice. Heartless, they were all heartless, no doubt.

“We have our answer, men.” Sir Vincent says. “She is indeed the daughter of Azai Reign. We have finally found her.”

. . . . . . . . .

~ANYA~

“What was so important?” I demand from my mother. “Why did you call me back home?”

“I had to get you out of there for your safety.” She informs me. “If you stayed there, your life would be in danger, and I didn’t want that to happen.”

For my safety?

“What are you talking about?” I ask, curious. “Why would I be in danger there? The Fawn’s home is one of the safest places to be. I’ve never felt unsafe there except when Autumn tried to kill me.”

I shivered at the reminder. I never thought Autumn would ever have it in her to scare me, but the witch was someone you had no choice but to fear. She was too dangerous and needed to be stopped.

“While you were at the Fawn’s house, I sent information to the overlords and the council.” She informs me. “I knew it had to be done, and I couldn’t wait for your plan since your projects always fail. This one needed to be done by me.”

Her words send a shockwave throughout my body. How could she do this without telling me first? If I had known, I would have found a way to get Atticus out of there in time! Now he’s stuck in there with all of those dangerous men. My mother knew that Atticus would risk his life to protect Autumn, so why would she leave him there?

“WHAT?” I shout after finding my voice. “What do you mean? Did you tell them the truth? I thought you would trust me; I thought you would give me a chance to throw Autumn out on my own without involving them.”

“Well, did you?” She asks. “Were you able to get Autumn thrown out of their home?”

I swallow and lower my head in shame, “no.” I answer. “I was close to it, but Atticus returned home in time to stop it. There was nothing anyone could do to get him to let her go. He’s too in love with her.”

She laughs. “I beg to differ. The overlords would do the job for us. They would force him to let her go even though he loves her. We don’t have to worry about her anymore. Instead, we can now focus on getting rid of the Fawns.”

Even though Atticus had hurt me multiple times since the spell had been broken, I still cared for him; I still didn’t want him to die, and I still wanted him to be mine.

“How are you so sure that they listened to you?” I ask.

“I’m sure.” She tells me. “I waited long enough to watch them join forces before leaving their homes. They are no doubt already causing an uproar.”

“But what about Atticus?” I demand. “I don’t want him to get hurt.”

She narrows her eyes, “he embarrassed you multiple times and chose Autumn over you; why are you still interested in him? You can find any other man once all of this is over.”

“You don’t get it.” I snap. “Atticus is different. I chose him for a reason. I don’t want anyone else but him.”

“I can’t promise that he will be safe. As long as he keeps protecting Autumn, he will be in danger, and there’s nothing you can do about that.” She points out.

“What do you think they’re going to do to them?” I ask her.

I didn’t want to see them torture Atticus.

“If the Fawns convince them that they don’t know Autumn’s true identity, they will give them a chance once they don’t interfere with their plans. However, if they have proof that they already knew who she was and didn’t report it to them, they may be locked up in cells for the rest of their lives despite how rich they are. But that is not what I want. I want them dead; I want those people to suffer for what they did to me.” She answers me. “I’m not going to let them get away that easy. I want them to lose everything that they have, and they will once the overlords and the council are finished with them. But after that, I want them to beg for mercy before finishing them off.”

There was no stopping my mother; her plans were working in her favor. It wouldn’t be long before the Fawns lives were destroyed for good. But if I had anything to say about it, Atticus would not die, and he will be mine one way or the other.

. . . . . . . .

A/N:

Hi, my beautiful readers; I want to wish you all a happy new year. I hope this year brings you joy and happiness, and may everything you desire come true. Thank you for being by my side since I joined Dreame; I love each of you. I know it’s been a while since the updates, and I’ll like to sincerely apologize; December was a tough month for me for many reasons. I hope that I can make it up to you this month. Thank you for understanding and, once again, for sticking by my side and supporting me. May God bless each of you.❤

Lots of love,

Laura.