Chapter 40

The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn Chapter 40 ~AUTUMN~

I don’t have time to ponder over what just happened as I shift into my wolf and lunge in front of Atticus to protect him from the rest of them. They’re still on the ground, but they’re looking at each other in confusion. They don’t understand what flipped them in so many different directions. I’ve never seen a group of strong vampires and werewolves look this startled before.

‘What the hell are you doing!’ Atticus mind links me. ‘Stay away, Autumn. Don’t join the fight. It’s dangerous.’

I was not about to listen to him. I was not going to let them hurt him anymore. They will have to go through me to get to him.

I tilt my head towards the sky and howl aggressively, letting them know I’m ready to fight each of them to protect him. I don’t care what will happen to me; his safety is all I’m concerned about. I’ve never felt this protective over anyone in my entire life.

The howl shook the atmosphere, and Carter’s wolf looked straight at me. I can tell that he doesn’t want to fight me. He only wants Atticus. None of them tried to attack me. As long as I stood before him, I could prevent the fight from getting any worse than it already was.

They looked at me strangely, like they weren’t sure what to think of me after what had just transpired. Even I wasn’t sure what to think of myself.

It wasn’t a coincidence anymore. I had magic inside of me. Powerful, uncontrollable magic that was waiting for a chance to break free. I wasn’t the only one that knew this anymore. They all did; Atticus would realize it as well. What did this mean? Were they going to report me to the principal? If they did, they would send me to be experimented on to confirm who exactly I was. I didn’t want that to happen before I got a chance to speak to my parents and find out what the hell they were hiding from me. They must have known something. A power like this couldn’t have stayed hidden my entire life to only show itself now.

My wolf growls as she waits for someone to make the first move. She’s aggressive and angry; she wants to take out her anger on something or someone. I’ve never seen her this protective before; she’s just as protective as I am; she seems to like Atticus;

no, she loves him, just like I did.

We were marked now. It was expected from her.

I sigh with relief when Carter orders the rest of them to follow him. They jumped into their vehicle and sped away back to the academy. I watched as they left us alone, at least for now. I could only hope that this was over. I didn’t want to have to witness something like this again.

I don’t know why they chose to leave, but I was happy they did. I wasn’t sure that I would have been able to tackle all of them at once and still make it out of here alive.

Maybe that’s why they left; they didn’t want to kill me. I don’t think they intended to kill Atticus either; they would be banned from the academy if they ever did something like that. This was just to teach Atticus and Damon a lesson. But it should have never reached to this point.

I knew why they did it however.

If they’d let him get away without a scratch for hurting Tyler, then others would try to do the same, and that wasn’t what the fearsome wanted for their team. They wanted others to be so afraid of them that no one dared to mess with any of their players.

Atticus shifts back into his human form, and his groan reminds me that he needs my help.

My wolf takes slow steps towards him until she’s standing above him, still lying on the ground. She reaches down and licks the wound on his neck.

His eyes are barely open as he gently reaches for her head and strokes it. My heart warms at this gentle side of him.

She was happy as I switched back to my human form and knelt on the ground next to him.

“Atticus,” I whisper. “We need to get you back to the jeep.”

He blinks at me and gently cups my cheek in the palm of his hand, “why did you do it?” he whispers.

What was he asking me?

“Why did I do what?” I ask him as I place my hand over the wound on his neck, trying to stop the blood.

“Why did you put your life in danger for me?” He grits out.

Was this the time to be asking these kinds of questions?

It was obvious why I chose to protect him. He may not know why but I knew the answer to his question. This wasn’t the time to give him an answer, however.

He’s losing consciousness, and I’m beginning to panic. I rush to the jeep and dial Clarissa’s number.

She answers on the second ring, “where are you?” She asks. “You guys were supposed to be behind us, but we do not see you anywhere. I was now about to call you.”

“We got ambushed by the fearsome,” I inform her. “They’re gone now, but Atticus is seriously injured. We’re on the side of the road, not too far from the academy. Please hurry; we have to get him to a doctor immediately.”

Atticus always has extra clothes in the back of his jeep, and I throw one of his jerseys on and place a pair of shorts over him.

I lift him onto my lap and cradle his head. He was still awake but was barely aware of what was happening. I’m trying hard not to cry, seeing him like this was breaking my heart. I wish I knew how to stop the pain.

I spot Damon’s vehicle speeding towards us, and it comes to a screeching stop when they see us. Griffin and Dante pull up on the other side as they all rush toward us.

“Help me get him to the jeep.” Damon orders Dante.

I watched as they carried him to his jeep and laid him in the back.

“I’ll sit with him in the back,” I tell them. “Just to make sure that he’s okay.”

“No!” Anya hissed. “I should be there with him. He needs me, Autumn. He’s in pain. The person that means the most to him should be by his side.”

She tries to come before me, but I stop her, “I’m his wife. I’m taking care of him. Know your place.”

Before she could say anything else, I got into the back seat and cradled his head once more.

Damon and Clarissa jumped into the front seats while Dante and Griffin drove the other two vehicles. Anya wasn’t happy, but she was forced to get into the vehicle with Dante unless she preferred to stand on the side of the road.

“I’m going to f*****g kill them!” Damon roared as he slammed his fist against the steering wheel.

“They wanted you,” I inform him. “You’re the one they were coming for, but Atticus refused to give up your location. They beat him in place of you.”

“I don’t understand,” Clarissa whispers. “Why were they looking for you?”

Damon’s jaw clenched, “I punched Tyler yesterday before the game.”

She gasps, “why did you do that, Damon? You know how protective they are of their players. Why would you do something so risky and put your life in danger?”

“He was f*****g flirting with you.” He growls. “He should know not to mess with you by now.”

She gasps, and he looks over at her and immediately realizes what he’d just said, “I’m sorry, Clarissa.”

“I don’t want you anywhere near them.” She finally breaks the silence.

“But look at what they did to Atticus—”

“If you care for me, you’ll let this go. You punched Tyler; they hurt Atticus, they should have never pushed it to that extent, but I don’t want to see any of you hurt like this again, so please, promise me that you will leave them alone. As long as they don’t come for you, don’t provoke them.”

I understood what Clarissa was trying to say. She wanted to protect Damon. I couldn’t save Atticus from this. But I wanted my revenge. I didn’t want Carter and his other teammates to get away that easily. Damon was wrong for punching Tyler, but that was all he did; he didn’t beat him until he became unconscious, like what they’d done to Atticus.

Damon sighs, “I promise, but if they mess with any of us again, that’s it. I’m hitting them harder than they’ve ever been knocked down in their lives.”

They had a game later today—an important one. Carter had run out on the game last night because of Scarlett, but I was sure he wouldn’t miss this one. I wanted to hit them where they hurt the most. I would be at that game today, and I would make sure that the fearsome lost this match so badly that it went down in history.

They would never know that I was responsible for it and so Atticus and his family would not be threatened. I’d put his life in danger already by flirting with Tyler; I wasn’t about to do anything like that again.

Damon got us to the hospital in fifteen minutes; his parents were already waiting for us, and a few doctors were waiting to tend him. They rushed him into a room, and we were forced to wait outside while they took care of him.

“I’ll have to pay the principal a visit.” Mr. Fawn says. “How can his students conduct themselves in such a vile manner?”

“We started it, father.” Damon cuts in. “You don’t need to see the principal.”

His father glares at him, “have I not spoken to you and your brothers about this kind of disgusting behavior?”

He swallows, “can we leave this conversation for later? We’re all worried about Atticus.”

His mother agrees, “there is a time and place for everything. You’ll have time to punish them for their irresponsible behavior.”

It’s an hour before a doctor comes to see us, “he’s still unconscious; luckily, it wasn’t as bad as it looked. He will heal at his normal pace; the healing process has already begun. He needs some rest, and he will be back to normal in no time. We’ve given him some medication to help with the pain; it will keep him unconscious for some time.”

That was good. I wanted him to stay unconscious; it would give me enough time to get to the game without him stopping me or asking me what I was up to.

“Clarissa,” I whisper. “There is something important that I need to do. Can you cover for me? Tell them I’m going home to get a change of clothes for both Atticus and me. Come up with any more excuses you want if they continue to ask any more questions.”

“Where are you going?” She asks.

I knew if I told her I was going to the game, she wouldn’t let me go.

“I’ll tell you everything when I return. Please, do this for me.”

She nodded, and I waited for everyone to get into the room before I ran to the exit. I got into his jeep and raced back to the house. I picked up the clothes for Atticus and dressed in a hoodie and jeans. The stadium was already packed when I returned to the academy.

I wait for each of the players to come out, and I don’t start my plan until it’s the middle of the game and everyone thinks that the fearsome beasts are going to win.

I try my best to stay hidden; the hoodie over my head, as well as the shades over my eyes, would help keep my identity a secret.

I didn’t want anyone to photograph me at the game.

Carter has the ball, he’s running toward the goal, and he’s about to score another point. I narrow my eyes and command the ball to move straight to the opponent. I don’t stop there; I protect the opponent from the other players until he scores. I kept it up until the end of the game.

All teams are given a unique bracelet to prevent them from using their power during the games. It gives everyone a fair chance.

The opponent team is one of their biggest rivals, the Raging Beasts; they always fight over who’s better.

Now the opponent team would have the advantage, and Carter and his team would feel the wrath.

Time is up, and the Raging Beasts have won the game. There was an uproar in the crowd; since the game was held in our stadium, there were more supporters in favor of the fearsome. Of course, they would be pissed.

I don’t wait to see what happens next. I rush out of there before things could get crazy. When I made it back to the hospital, Atticus was already waking.

“Why did it take you so long to get clothes?” His father asks me as they meet me at the door. They were now leaving.

“The jeep broke down on the side of the road.” I lie. ” I had to call my brother to help me since I didn’t want to disturb the rest of you. I should have called; I’m sorry.”

“Atticus has been asking for you.” His mother tells me. “You should go see him. That Anya girl is getting a little too close for someone not married to him.”

My jaw clenches at the mention of her. I knew she would use this opportunity to get closer to him.

Atticus’s eyes are on me as I step into the room. He doesn’t look happy to see me. Instead, he looks pissed.

“I brought clothes for you,” I informed him as I placed the bag on the ground.

“Can everyone please leave the room except Autumn?” He announces suddenly.

Anya looked at me with a smirk as if to say I was in trouble.

I could only imagine the number of horrible things she’s put in his head about me. He may think I did not care about him after I left the hospital when I should have been by his side. He will never know that I went to get revenge on the men who did this to him.

“How are you feeling?” I ask, unable to hide the concern from my voice.

“Why did you do it?” He asks. It’s the same question he’d asked right before he lost consciousness.

“I don’t know why you keep asking that question, Atticus.” I snap. “What else did you want me to do?”

“WHY?” He roars. “WHY PUT YOUR LIFE IN DANGER FOR ME? WHY AUTUMN? WHY?”