Chapter 67

The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn Chapter 67 ~AUTUMN~

Atticus leaves me inside the room to speak with Damon. I quickly get dressed, and when the door opens again, he’s the first person I see.

I stopped moving and possibly stopped breathing as well.

I see the panic in his eyes. Whatever Damon just told him has him almost hysterical.

What could have possibly happened? Did his parents change their minds again? Did we have to leave? There were many questions racing through my mind, but I couldn’t find my voice to ask any of them. I somehow knew that it wasn’t that simple.

“What’s wrong?” I demand as I walk towards him, finally regaining control over my body.

I thought we would finally have a night together without something horrible happening, but I was terribly wrong.

“They’re coming for you.” He says in an almost restless tone.

I stiffen.

Was he referring to Azai’s men? Did they finally get what they wanted and were coming back for me? I didn’t want to go back to that sick place. I didn’t want to be trapped again.

“Who’s coming for me?” I ask. I had to hear it from his mouth before I could believe it on my own.

He grabs my hand and pushes me out of the room; he’s moving so quickly that I can barely understand anything that he’s saying to me.

“The council. The Overlords. They’re all coming.” He informs me.

This is worse than I initially thought it was. I stopped moving, my feet felt cold, and they had no idea what direction to run in.

“I can’t keep running from them for the rest of my life,” I tell him. “They will eventually find me.”

“It can’t be now, Autumn!” He hissed. “I’m not going to let them have you without a f*****g fight. If we can escape now before they get here, then we can create a plan that would save you from them. If they’re able to take you now, I’m not going to have the chance to protect you. There’s too many of them.”

“How did they even find out about me?” I ask. “Do you think your parents informed them?”

I didn’t want to believe they would betray us like that, but they weren’t exactly happy that we were still together. But when would they have gotten the chance to inform the others about me?

Atticus and I hadn’t been in the room for that long. Someone had to have done it even before Atticus’s family confronted me about my father.

I still can’t move. I’m in too much shock to run.

Atticus realizes this, and he picks me up so that I am now straddling his waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he raced down the stairs.

“Did any of you call them?” Atticus demands from his family at the back exit.

“No.” His mother promised him. “I know that you have no reason to trust us anymore, but I promise that we didn’t do this. We would never intentionally put your or Autumn’s life in danger. I’m sorry we’ve been such bad parents to make you think that way about us.”

We didn’t have time to question them any longer, but I believed her.

“We will try to stall them while you try to escape.” His father informs him. “Damon and Clarissa will also go with you for backup.

But the four of you, even with Autumn’s power, will not be enough to stop the council and the overlords together.”

I couldn’t breathe. This was happening too fast. I didn’t have time to prepare. None of us had time to prepare. Whoever told them the truth about me must hate me. They made it so that I didn’t have a chance to escape without putting the people I cared about in danger.

“I—I think I should give myself up,” I say; I can barely recognize my voice. The fear was difficult to hide. “I don’t want to put anyone’s life in danger because of me.”

“No,” Atticus growled. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Atticus!” I try to say, but his hands tighten around me.

He doesn’t allow me to say anything else as he runs out the back door with me still in his arms.

“What exactly is the plan?” Clarissa demands. Even she can’t hide the panic in her voice. “We can’t just keep running on our feet for the rest of the night. We need to shift.”

“That’s what they expect us to do,” Damon says. “We need to get another vehicle. One that they wouldn’t recognize. And we need to gather our allies. They caught us off-guard, and that’s exactly what they planned. They didn’t allow us to prepare. Now no one knew that we needed their help.”

“Atticus.” I try to say again.

“Stop talking, Autumn.” He growls. “I’m not letting you go. Let’s think of some other plan. Didn’t you say that you loved me? If you love me, fight to be with me, don’t let them take you from me.”

I gasp. I did love him. I did want to fight to be with him. But I didn’t want him or his family to get hurt because of me.

I didn’t know what the right thing to do was.

A gut-wrenching scream rocks the forest, and we all stop moving.

“MOM?” Damon whispers before it dawns on the rest of us that the sound did, in fact, come from her.

“MOM!” Atticus shouts along with Damon for a second time.

“I’m going back,” Damon shouts. “She needs us.”

“I’m coming with you,” Clarissa tells him.

Atticus looks at me, and he seems troubled and conflicted about what to do.

“Your mother needs us. We can’t leave her. We can’t leave your parents.” I tell him as I cup his cheek in the palm of my hand.

His eyes close for a second, and he leans against my touch.

I know he wanted to keep me safe, but I wouldn’t let him leave his parents behind because of me.

When he opened his eyes, they were filled with so many emotions that I felt them throughout my body.

He grabs my cheek with one hand and crashes his lips against mine. “I’m sorry.” He whispers through kisses. “I’m so sorry that I must take you back to them. I’m so sorry, Autumn.”

He wasn’t to blame for any of this. Whoever called the overlords and the council was responsible for our pain.

Atticus was right earlier. I had to fight to stay with him. I had to fight with everything inside of me to be with him. I wouldn’t let them take me away from him. I wouldn’t.