The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

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.

We should have known something like this would happen; we should have prepared for it.

truthfully and save us the trouble of having to extract that information out of

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

you want

dress; if he dared to even lay a hand

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

He answers him. “Azai Reign. You may or may not know about him, depending on whether your

in. He was doing the right thing by staying quiet

Atticus, he takes another step closer. I held my breath, hoping

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

think you’re delusional,” Atticus says. “Your story makes no sense. I’ve never heard of an Azai Reign. Is this

thing, but they didn’t believe him. They must already know too much about our

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

that they mentioned our families. Were they planning on also punishing them because of

swallow; I wouldn’t let them do that; I can’t let them hurt my family. All they did was protect me; how

why are you here?” Atticus challenges them. “Why are you trespassing in

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.”

you that must be trying to cause a conflict between us. My family has never broken

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 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

and I’m not sure if that’s a confession from him

you also in love with another woman before marrying her? Your actions are quite interesting. Who do you genuinely

They were even trying to turn us against each other by mentioning

“I think it’s time that you

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

should have said it since the

him to the ground. My heart almost jumps out of

stop myself

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

him. Before I can reach him, however, a council member grabs me. I

growl, and I know

roars. “Let go of my f*****g

vampire but not just any vampire. He’s the primary representative of vampires

nice of you to bless us with your presence.” Sir Vincent says. “We’ve been anxious to meet

the helpless look on his

go!”

first, there are a few questions that we want to ask

don’t have to answer a single question they ask.” Atticus intervenes. “Don’t say a way word, Autumn.” It was almost a

the overloads kicked him in his face. He spits blood out of his mouth

way.” The overlord who’d hit him says. “If you don’t answer our questions

heart squeezes at

he

trying to protect me, but I’m also trying to protect them. I was

AUTUMN!” Clarissa

with love for them. These people threatened to kill Atticus, but his family was still trying

to know.” I finally say. “I will

While they wanted to keep me safe, I also wanted to do the same

was one of the creepiest things I’ve ever witnessed. It made it scarier that I couldn’t see their

not do this.

Wasn’t she the one that wanted to save her family

adds. “Despite what we may have done or said while surprised, we care for you. Do not tell them anything. Let them do

other choice. I had to answer them, and if they tried to hurt

them, at the same time. They were so much in sync that it surprised me. Was this something that they often did

voice breaks, and with it,

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

IT!” I scream. They aren’t listening

“STOP HURTING HIM!”