Chapter 65

The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn Chapter 65 ~AUTUMN~

I didn’t want Atticus to leave his family because of me. I could see the horror on the faces of everyone here that loved him. No one wanted him to go.

I gently cup his cheek in my hand, “your parents are only worried about you. Maybe we should give them some time to calm down.”

His arms tighten around me, “what is there for them to think about again? You’re my wife, and you’re staying my wife for the rest of my life. You’re my mate also—my mate. I’m never letting go of you. I don’t care what anyone says about you or your f*****g father. You’re mine, Autumn, and no one can ever change that.”

My heart continues to jump in my chest. Atticus kept saying things that both surprised me and made me overjoyed simultaneously.

“Atticus!” His father shouts. “We’ve always protected you. We’ve always done what we thought was best for you. Don’t you think we’re doing this because we care about you?”

I think Atticus did know this, but he didn’t care about that. I’m not sure what’s going to happen now, but I wasn’t letting go of Atticus either.

His jaw clenches, “I know that you care about me, but I’m not the only one that I want you to care about. I want you to also care about Autumn. This entire time I’m the only one that you’ve been thinking about. Not once have you thought about her and the way your actions have been affecting her. I don’t want to separate from my family but if you force me to do it, believe me, I will.

I’ll do whatever I have to stay with Autumn.”

His mother turns away from us, and I think it’s possible that she might be crying. They seem helpless; I know that they want me to let him go; I know that it’s the only way for Atticus to leave me—if I let go first.

But I wasn’t going to do it. I wanted to be with him, and I believed in my heart that I would never hurt him. I couldn’t promise to hurt the people that tried to separate us, however. I don’t think his parents realize yet how much I loved him. I don’t think anyone but me knew what I would sacrifice to keep him safe.

I slowly let go of Atticus and walk towards them, “I’m never going to hurt Atticus. I know what my father tried to do was horrible. I know that he wasn’t a good person. But I never knew him; I wasn’t taught his ways. I admit that there have been times when I’ve lost control, but I’m working on trying to fix that. Please trust me. I’m not going to let anything happen to him or his family. I care about all of you. I would never intentionally do anything that would hurt any of you.”

Griffin walks in then with Dante and takes a look at us, “what is happening here?” He demands, confused. “How much did I miss?”

There is a silent pause as he waits for someone to answer. I wasn’t sure how to even begin to explain everything.

“Autumn is the daughter of an evil sorcerer,” Anya answers him before anyone else gets a chance to say anything. “And Atticus knowing that she almost killed me with her evil power quite similar to her father’s power, doesn’t want to let her go.”

She’d conveniently left out the part where she almost killed me first. Luckily, Griffin knew the type of person that I was. He wouldn’t listen to Anya as his parents had done.

“Hold up,” Griffin says, squeezing his temples. “Autumn’s parents aren’t the two people standing in front of us now? And frankly, Anya, I don’t believe Autumn tried to harm you without you doing something bad first.”

“I’ll tell you everything you need to know,” Damon says as he taps his shoulder and carries him elsewhere. We didn’t have time to catch Griffin up with everything.

I’m waiting for his parents to say something. Are they going to let Atticus leave with me, or will they let us stay?

I know that my parents are ready to snatch me back and carry me home with them, but my home was wherever Atticus was. I hoped that they understood that.

“Alright.” Mrs. Fawn finally says. “If we can’t convince the two of you to let go of each other, we need to do things differently.”

“Differently?” Atticus asks as he walks over to stand behind me. His hands are placed gently on my waist as he waits for his mother to elaborate.

“Yes,” she answers him. “Differently. Now that we know the truth about Autumn, we must keep her identity a secret from everyone.”

“Autumn,” she says as she turns her attention to me. “you need to learn how to control your power. If you lose control because of your emotions, you’re bound to slip up, and others will find you. Now that we’re on this topic, why did Azai’s men let you go? If they want you to be their queen and continue where your father left off, why did they let you escape?”

Atticus looks at me then, and I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I can see the panic in his eyes. We never had this discussion.

There is plenty that he still didn’t know or understand. There was even plenty that I still didn’t understand either.

“You never told me what happened that day.” He says suddenly. “I can’t remember anything, but it still bothers me that you experienced something that horrible and had no one to protect you.”

It was a day I wished that I could somehow forget. So many horrible things happened on that day.

I didn’t know if his parents would believe what I had to say in response to their question, but I had to give them an answer.

“I don’t know why they let me go. I was tied to a table that prevented me from using my power.” I confess. “I couldn’t escape from them at first because of it. But somehow, it eventually did work, and I was able to get out of their trap for me. They chased me, but I fought off each of them. Eventually, they stopped.”

“You already knew about your power all that time?” His mother asks me.

I slowly nod, “I didn’t know who my father was, but I knew I wasn’t just a normal werewolf. Atticus knew the truth as well. I often used it in front of him. On the day that Carter and his teammates trapped us and attacked him, I used my power to get them off him. He chose to keep that detail from you while he was in the hospital because I assume he knew you would have reacted this way if you found out the truth. That same day when I disappeared and said I was heading back home, I also went to the game. I wanted Carter and the rest of them to pay for what they’d done to him. I’m the reason that they lost that game so badly that night.

I needed to do something to hurt them for hurting him, and that seemed like the best revenge without getting caught.”

His mother looks shocked at my confession. I never told them before; even Atticus never knew this.

“You’re the reason?” Griffin asks, walking back in with Damon. “f**k. That’s so f*****g cool.”

“I don’t remember anything about this,” Atticus says, confused. “Why did Carter attack me? We were never on bad terms before.

What caused us to become enemies?”

“It’s a long story,” I admit. “I’ll tell you about it another time.”

“Tell us, why did they let you go?” Mr. Fawn asks, bringing me back to the fundamental question that they still wanted me to answer.

“I don’t know,” I confess. “I wish I knew, and I wish that whatever it is that they’re planning is over, but I know it’s far from over. I know they’re planning something big, and I’m a part of it. They told me that I could never leave unless that’s what they wanted to happen. There is something else that they want; I don’t know what it is. I always have guards surrounding me, but I don’t think that will be enough to keep them away from me. There are plenty of them, and they’re waiting for the right opportunity to come for me. . .a second time. It’s scary, and I’m constantly uneasy, but I will not give them what they want. I will not let them turn me into my father. I rather die than become evil like him.”

I can see that telling them this didn’t make things easier for Atticus and me, but I can also see that they all felt sorry for me. I know that his parents didn’t hate me; I know that they were only trying to protect their family.

I wanted things to be like they were in the past. I wanted them to be good friends with my family once more. I wanted them to be happy that Atticus and I were together. I didn’t think that was possible anymore.

“I think it’s time for Autumn to get some rest,” Atticus says. “You can ask her more questions tomorrow.”

“But there is still plenty to discuss.” His mother tells him. “Have you ever heard about the Overlords?”

The Overlords.

I’ve heard very little of them, but I knew they weren’t people you could easily ignore.

“They, along with the black council, were responsible for getting rid of all books of Azai and making sure that his name vanished until now.” She explains. “The Overlords are just as cruel and controlling as the council. They do whatever they have to do to keep order in our world. They will no doubt see Autumn as a big threat to everyone. They can’t know who she is. No one else can ever find out the truth about her if you want to protect her. If Autumn used her power in front of Carter and his friends, then we’re not the only ones that know about her. I don’t understand why they chose to keep quiet this entire time.”

Atticus’s jaw clenches, and I know her words have definitely managed to frustrate him.

Even I didn’t understand why Carter kept my secret. Maybe he spoke to Scarlett about it, and she convinced him not to say anything. Or maybe they just didn’t want anyone to know that a girl had kicked their asses that day. Though, they’d never actually fought me. They’d all left when they realized that I would protect Atticus with my life.

Atticus walks past me and straight towards Anya. There was unmistakable anger in his steps. He knew that she was the one that had told his parents the truth.

How did she even know about my father? Who told her the truth? She saw my power, but that alone shouldn’t have been enough for her to figure out that Azai was my father. If his name had been completely wiped from all books, how could she find out the truth? Who was helping her? It had to be someone that knew my father and mother.

Who the hell was Anya? Were we all underestimating her?

Atticus grabs her shoulders roughly, and Damon rushes to protect her from his brother. Dante is right behind. They still loved her like crazy. As long as they were in love with her, we would never be able to punish Anya as long as they were this crazy about her. If we tried to hurt her, it would destroy this family. This is what his parents tried to tell me once, that I had saved Atticus from this. But now, they also saw me as a threat to their son.

I had to find a way to prove to them that I wasn’t a threat, at least not to him. Maybe then they would be able to be happy about us once more.

“Let her go!” Damon growls.

“Atticus!” Dante shouts. “Let my mate go!”

Atticus ignores them as he glares at her, “if anyone finds out who Autumn truly is, I know where to find you. If you know what’s good for you, you will keep this secret with the rest of us.”

She looks startled by his actions and remains that way even when he lets her go.

“I think Autumn should come home with us tonight.” My mother says, worried that I was still in danger.

“No.” Atticus disagrees. “She’s staying here. With me.”

She looked at me, trying to find out if it was okay with me. I nodded, letting her know that this was what I wanted. To be with Atticus.

Atticus doesn’t wait for anyone else to say anything as he pulls me up the stairs with him. He didn’t stop walking until we reached his room, and he locked the door behind us. It was clear that he didn’t want anyone to disturb us again. Or maybe he was worried that someone would try to separate us. He didn’t seem willing to take any chances, even with his family.

He begins to pace in front of me. It was devastating to see. He was at war with his own parents because of me. He loved them like crazy. I’ve seen Atticus grant their every wish because of how much he respected them.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I whisper after watching him pace from left to right for the tenth time since he’d locked the door.

I hate what this is doing to him.

He turns to me with his thumb finger pressing into his bottom lip. He slowly lets it slide and narrows his eyes, “didn’t have to do what?”

“Go against your parents for me.”

I know that I’m making him angrier. He might think I’m being insensitive after what he’d done to keep me here with him. It was quite the opposite; I only wanted him to be happy.

“Do you think it would have been better if I’d let them throw you out of our home like you were garbage?” He asks. “Would that have been the better thing to do?”

“Of course not,” I answer him. “But I hate to see you like this. They’re your parents, and they only want to protect you.”

“And I want to f*****g protect you.” He growls. “We can’t all get what we want.”

My breath hitched at his words, and I tried to calm my racing heart. It was pounding in my chest and threatening to break free.

“Why are you protecting me this desperately?” I ask. “You don’t even remember what it was like to be with me.”

I was happy that he was doing it, but I couldn’t deny how strange it was for him to do it, considering his memory of us was gone.

He grabbed my hands suddenly and pressed them against his chest so that I could feel the wild beating of his heart. “I don’t remember anything, but I have feelings. My heart f*****g beats for you, Autumn. Only for you. These feelings are something that no one, not even a f*****g accident, could take away from me. No one could make me forget what I feel for you. I’m fighting this hard to protect you because I know my life will be f*****g over without you in it.”

I could barely breathe at his confession.

I don’t know how to respond to such raw emotion from him. I was not expecting that answer.

His hand gently touches my cheek as he forces me to look directly into his soul-sucking eyes, “I think about you every second of every day. I can’t get you out of my f*****g head, Autumn. I want to hug you and kiss you. I want to touch you and taste you. I want to get lost inside of you. I want to tell you how beautiful you are; I want to be the reason why you smile. I want to protect you ferociously from anything that could harm you. I want to mark you over and over again. One time isn’t enough. Just because my memories are gone doesn’t mean my heart has also disappeared. I want so many things, and all of them include you.”

I gasped, and he leaned into me so that his lips were right above my ear, “even that little sound from your pretty mouth makes me happy. Everything about you makes me feel like a f*****g man. You’re my woman, Autumn, my only one.”

“Do you really feel nothing at all for Anya anymore?” I ask, unable to stop myself.

I know that he told her he didn’t love her, but I wanted to hear it today, while we were alone and where I knew he could say to me the truth.

He pauses at the mention of her. I know I shouldn’t bring her up, but I wanted to confirm just this once that he was speaking the truth before I completely believed him.

“I find it hard to believe that you loved her for so long and suddenly want nothing to do with her,” I confess. “You had your reasons in the past to want to keep your distance from her, but after losing your memories, what made you step away from her?

How are you no longer her mate?”

He inhales sharply, “Anya is the last person I want to speak about.”

“I want to know.” I insist. “Before you lost your memory, I still felt like you were in love with her. She was constantly a threat to our marriage. I want to know that you had truly wanted to let her go and be with me before you’d gotten into the accident that horrible day.”

There’s a pause as he thinks about my words. I don’t think I’m making him any happier. His mood keeps growing darker by the second.

He surprises me when he throws me onto the bed suddenly and climbs on top of me. Both his hands are holding mine on the bed, and he’s looking down at me.

“There are plenty of things that I can’t remember, Autumn, but one thing that I know for sure is what I felt for Anya after losing my memory.” He says. “I’m sure I mentioned it to you already, but it still looks like you don’t believe me.”

“Tell me.” I urge him. “What did you feel for her after all of your memories of me were gone?”

His eyes sparkle with some unfamiliar emotions as he dips his head lower. “I’ll tell you, but I want something in return.”

“Something in return?” I ask. “What do you want?”

He smiled, and I almost fainted from how sexy he looked.

My body went completely still as he left a long, soft kiss on my neck. “I want to taste you.” He whispers. “I’m dying to taste you, Autumn. I envy my past self. He knows what it was like to have his tongue inside of you. I want to be as lucky as he was.”