Chapter 74

The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn Chapter 74 I gasped; his words were like a punch to my stomach. I watch as he storms away from me to join the others.

They weren’t going to play nice. None of them were. And the council would be here any minute now.

I drop myself onto the ground as I pray for a miracle to save everyone involved.

Images of Atticus flashed before my mind. I’ve loved him for too long to let this be the end for us. Since we’ve married, we haven’t gotten a single day without someone or something trying to separate us.

I couldn’t just sit here and watch everything happen. The overlords didn’t know that I was hiding my power, pretending that I was weak earlier so that they didn’t think of me as a threat anymore. While it may have worked to convince Dash, the rest of the overlords hadn’t been convinced.

If I tried hard enough, I could break free from the cell. I had faith that I could do it. I could always fight the hardest when the people I cared about were involved. This time they were all here, every single one of them, I could feel their strong presence. My love for them will help me break free.

I grab the iron bars and my eyes widen when it burns me. An involuntary cry leaves my mouth as the pain travels throughout my body. I’m f****d to let go and stare at it in horror. It wasn’t any average cell; it was most likely designed just for my father or recently built just for me. Was this the cell they planned on locking me in once they decided to keep me alive? It had to be. They would have used all their resources to ensure it was strong enough to trap me for as long as they desired.

I listen closely as the howls get louder. This only means that they’d reached the palace. A chill runs down my spine. They were moving quickly.

I was running out of time to stop this mess.

“DASH!” I scream. “Jagger! Someone! Anyone! Stop this madness!”

I knew it was useless calling out to them, but I was desperate to try anything.

The thought of anything horrible happening to Atticus was killing me inside. I was supposed to keep him safe; letting the overlords take me from his home was a decision that I made to protect both him and his family.

My plan was backfiring. I thought I was doing the right thing by letting them take me, but I only realized that I’d put more people’s lives in danger by my actions.

My eyes widen when I hear a roar followed by a collision. It was happening.

The fight had started between them, yet I was still locked inside this damn cell! I was going to miss the entire battle if I didn’t find a way to get out of this blasted thing!

My hands are trembling with fear for the lives of the people I love the most. I close my eyes as I try to find the inner strength I need to break free. I didn’t know how powerful I was, but I knew that nothing would stop me today from saving those that I loved.

I continued to think of Atticus, Clarissa, my parents, my siblings, Griffin and his brothers, Gabriella, Maya, and their families.

Say it.

Say it.

Say it.

I covered my ears as the words kept repeating in my head.

‘Bound by this cell, break me free with this spell.’

‘Bound by this cell, break me free with this spell.’

My eyes flash open, and I can feel the darkness within me rise, “BOUND BY THIS CELL, BREAK ME FREE WITH THIS SPELL!”

I’m shouting, screaming the words. I don’t even blink when the iron bars break in half in front of me and go flying into the walls.

My lips part as I watch the entire thing break apart. The sound it makes forces me to cover my ear. It was crazy to think that the overlords must have been convinced this cell would be able to hold me but somehow, I was able to break the entire thing into multiple pieces right before my eyes.

Luckily, no one was guarding me. Everyone was too busy in the battle to realize that I’d just broken free from the cell. This was my opportunity to get the hell out of here.

My heart was pounding as I ran throughout the palace, following the sounds. There are so many growls and deafening screams that I am scared I’m already too late.

“Atticus!” I screamed as I ran through the halls. “ATTICUS!”

I was terrified that they’d already gotten to him. I know he can’t hear me, and I should keep my mouth shut before the overlords realize I’d gotten free, but I can’t stop myself. I need to find him. I need to confirm that he’s safe.

I rushed out into the balcony; I knew I could get a good view of everything from there. I spot Austin’s and Hunter’s wolves; they’re doing insane damage to their opponents. It was hard to find who I was looking for with the number of wolves all attacking at the same time.

A loud horn pierces the sky, and my heart sinks when I see members from the black council only a short distance away. They’d finally reached. It will get only worse from here.

There was still no sign of Atticus. I was beginning to panic. I had no idea where to find him. He was supposed to be with the others. Where was he? Where was my mate? I was crying out inside for him. If anything happens to him, I will never be able to forgive myself.

My heart stops beating when someone grabs me from behind. I gasp when his lips crash to my neck, “thank God I’ve found you.”

And just like that, my heart begins to beat again.

Atticus.

I couldn’t believe he was holding me. Was it possible that I was hallucinating?

I slowly turn around in his arm, and my eyes widen as I stare at him. It was indeed my mate, my husband. I slowly reach up and drag my hand down his face. Blood was all over his body, and I had no idea how much he’d fought to get to me.

I hate seeing so many bruises on his body. I wanted to kiss away his pain. I wished that my lips could heal each wound.

He leaned into my touch, and I couldn’t hold back my tears as I kissed his forehead. He kisses me back, on my hair, my temples, my cheek, my nose, my chin, and finally, he crashes his lips to mine.

I held onto him tightly and let my body drown in his kisses.

He slowly pulled away from me to hold my cheeks in his hands. “There’s something I want to ask.” He whispers.

Something he wanted to ask? Now? In the middle of a battle?

I couldn’t say no, not when he looked at me like this was our last time together.

“Ask me.”

I wanted to care about everything else, but if these were our last moments together, I wanted to spend them in his arms. I wanted to treasure this moment with him. I wanted him to know just how much I loved him. It would have been perfect if he had all memories of the past, all memories of our times together.

“I’m asking for a chance to let me prove to you that I’m different now. I’m asking for a chance to prove that you’re the most important woman in my life—no one else. I know I can’t just say words and expect you to believe them, but please, give me this one chance. I can’t function knowing you’ve given up on me, Autumn. I need to know that there is still time to fix things between us. After everything you’ve been through, this may be asking too much of you, but please, give me this chance.” He finally says.

I gasp. I can’t speak. Those words. He’s said them to me in the past; this was before he’d lost his memories of us, before the accident.

Did this mean what I thought it meant?

My lips parted as I stared at him; I was shocked. It was hard for me to think clearly. There’s so much racing in my mind and my heart.

“W-what did you just say?” I stammer.

He smiles, and my heart melts, “I love you, Autumn Rivera Fawn. I loved you even before my body understood what love was.

I’m sorry that it took me this long to tell you. I’m sorry that it took me this long to remember you. I’m sorry for forgetting our memories to begin with. I could never understand how anything could make me forget the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”

“You remember?” I gasp, unable to keep the joy in my heart from showing in my expression.

He picked me up into his arms, and I grabbed his shoulders to steady myself. “No words could make up for all the wrong I’ve done to you, Autumn. I wish I knew how much you’ve loved me since the beginning. I know in my heart that I would have chosen you. I’m ashamed of myself for not realizing my feelings sooner. Please say that you’ll forgive me for everything.”

The tears are flowing now, and he leans forward and kisses them, “how can I not forgive you, Atticus? Even without your memory, you’ve been nothing but good to me. If anything, I’ve grown to love you more than I did initially. I love you so much, Atticus Fawn. No one will ever compare to you. I knew I wanted you since the beginning, and that never changed, even after our marriage. It’s always been only you, and it will always be you.”

He smiles, and it’s a smile that lights up his face.

“Now, let’s find a way to get out of here alive, so I can spend the rest of my life loving you,” Atticus whispers against my ear.

I shivered at his words, and I was even more determined to get us out of this place alive.

“The council is here,” I say as I look down in horror.

He stiffens, “Austin expected this. The others are waiting for the right moment to attack.”

“Was this your plan to have the upper hand?” I ask him, terrified.

He nods, “they’re waiting for our signal.”

“No, no, no.” I gasp. “Dash can read minds, Atticus. He will know where the others are hidden. Wherever they are, tell them to get out of there immediately!”

Just as those words left my mouth, a loud explosion rocked our surroundings.

Atticus covered my body with his, and a deadly silence followed.

“DAMONNN!” Clarissa’s piercing scream sends us all into a state of panic.

I grab Atticus’s shoulders, “who was there?” I demand. Who was there during the explosion? Who did we lose?

Clarissa’s screams do not stop. Atticus picks me up into his arms and jumps off the balcony with me. We fall onto Austin’s wolf.

He’s racing through the crowd with us on his back; he’s heading back to the others where the explosion happened.

I’m surprised when there is nothing except burnt trees. There was no sign of any bodies anywhere. With such a dangerous explosion, I think we all expected worse than this. Where was everyone?

We step down from Austin’s wolf and take a look around us. Clarissa is right behind me with tears all over her face. She runs into my arms and I hug her tightly.

“I’m sure Damon is going to be okay.” I try to soothe her. But where could they be? They couldn’t have known about the explosion, so then where were they?

“They were supposed to be here.” She tells me. “They were all supposed to be waiting for when the council arrived. While we dealt with the overlords, the other half was supposed to take care of the council. That was our plan since the beginning. I left Damon here. He should be here with the others.”

I rub her back gently, “it’s a good sign that he isn’t here. It means there is a chance that they all escaped. Let’s stay strong and keep on looking.”

“DAMON!” She screams at the top of her lungs. “DAMONN!”

“I’m right here,” he responds. “There’s no need for all of the screaming, Clarissa.”

We both froze and turned towards his voice.

She gasped as soon as she saw him. I watch as she ran straight into his waiting arms.

“I must say, Clarissa, I’m a bit hurt that you were more worried about Damon than me,” Griffin complains, pretending to be in emotional pain.

Her face turns red with embarrassment at his words as she slowly lets go of Damon.

“You know I was also scared for you.” She says.

Dante sighs, “it’s not like we don’t already know that Damon is her favorite by now.”

“Just because I screamed Damon’s name doesn’t mean I wasn’t worried for the rest of you!” She says.

The other members from Austin’s pack show up behind us. They were all here, everyone that was supposed to be dead by the deadly explosion.

“I don’t understand,” Austin says. “How did you survive?” He asks as he hugs his pack members.

The Blackners join us next. Were they also a part of this? Did they come to save me as well?

They shrug their shoulders, “to be honest, we aren’t sure what happened. Everything turned black, and before we knew it, we were all transported out from where we were standing to a safer location. We were confused by it for a few seconds but that was when the explosion hit.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Austin says. “What the hell could have caused that? And how did they know where you were?”

“Dash can read minds. He must have read all of yours to determine your strategy. You have to think opposite thoughts if you want to win against them.” I inform everyone.

“I knew they had a secret f*****g weapon.” Austin mumbles. “But why did they disclose that information to you?”

I sigh, “I don’t think they ever expected to let me go. They wanted to either kill me or lock me in a cell forever. They didn’t expect that I had the most amazing friends and family behind me.”

Atticus smiles and kisses my cheek. “How can anyone not come for you?”

“We need to get back to the others.” I remind them. “They’re facing both the overlords and the council at the same time. We have an advantage now that they think they’ve killed some of us.”

Hopefully, this will be enough for us to win.

“Stay behind me at all times,” Atticus tells me.

I know he wants to protect me, but this was my fight. They almost killed people who meant a lot to me.

All this time, I’ve been holding back, not showing my true potential because I thought that it would have caused more harm than good. Now I knew that to escape from these people, I had no choice but to allow my dark side to lead. I had to show them what I was capable of doing to anyone that messed with my family and friends.

They’d made up their minds to dislike me. Whether I behaved well or badly would not make a difference. If they wanted to treat me like a monster, I could act like one.

Austin shifts back into his wolf form, and so do the others. Atticus stays in front of me, protecting me from anyone that tries to hurt me. He didn’t have to do it, but yet he did.

I enjoy seeing the look of surprise on the council’s faces when they realized that we were all still alive despite the explosion that was planned. They couldn’t get rid of us that easily.

Arthur grabs one of the council’s men by the neck and sends them to the ground. Lucy tackles one that tries to hurt Austin.

I looked around me; everyone that I loved was here and fighting. My parents rushed forward and hugged me the first chance they got; my siblings were next.

Gabriella and Maya were not on the battlefield, but they were still close in case anything awful happened to their mates.

I felt sorry for Lucy; she was fighting against her family. Her father and brothers were all tied to the council; they had no choice but to fight alongside them. They avoided each other during battle, but I wasn’t sure how long they could keep that up.

Cassandra, the council’s representative for witches, was leading them with the prosecutor by her side. Draven, Sir Vincent’s son, was killing mercilessly. I’d already seen someone from James’s pack die, and I saw others from the pack feel the pain of his loss.

How much more would we lose in battle? It had only just begun, and no one seemed like they were going to stop anytime soon.

“LUTHAIS!” Lucy’s horrified scream cut through my thoughts.

I follow her gaze and instantly realize that Luthais was one of her brothers. He was working for the council and others when one of the members from Hunter’s pack attacked him.

There’s a silver sword sticking out of his chest, and I watch in horror as blood comes out of his mouth. His eyes are almost entirely white, and his skin is changing color.

I can hear the cry of Eden and Isabella’s wolves from a distance. They were also not part of the battle, but they must have heard Lucy’s gut-wrenching cry, or maybe they felt it in their hearts that their brother was seriously hurt.

The overlords saw this as an opportunity to attack the rest of us now that we were all shocked over Luthais dying.

I watch with horror as Atticus is lifted into the air suddenly.

“ATTICUS!” I scream. They’re repeating what they did to him in the past. His body shook as they tortured him mid-air.

He’s not the only one. They have Hunter next. One by one, they’re torturing the people that I cared about. They’d caught us by surprise and used our shock to their advantage.

This couldn’t be happening. My eyes moved from left to right, watching as they continuously took people I cared about. Sir Vincent had my mother’s throat in his hands and was squeezing tightly. It was like I was having the worst nightmare possible.

Griffin is the next person that they take to t*****e. They try to grab Clarissa, but Damon saves her just in time.

Atticus cries out as they increase his t*****e.

“STOP HURTING THEM!” I scream. “Please stop it!”

No matter how much I begged, they weren’t listening to me.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t lose these people. I couldn’t let them take them from me. I wouldn’t allow it.

“I’m warning you!” I scream. “Stop it, or you’ll regret it!”

Rain comes down from nowhere next, soaking all of us. There’s red everywhere from all of the blood. I can still hear the groans and roars of my loved ones above the sound of rain pounding onto my body.

“Oh no, we’re so scared.” Sir Vincent proceeds to taunt me. “Why don’t you come to say goodbye to your mother before I end her life in front of you? When you’re done, you can also say goodbye to Atticus.”

I lift my head towards the sky and let out a piercing scream.

I watch as the water droplets join together into what seems to be a chain made only from water. It grabs onto the necks of all council members, choking each of them. It doesn’t stop there; it moves onto the overlords next. A knife is ripped from inside the palace; they’re all watching it in horror as it goes straight for Owen. My eyes narrowed as they pierced his heart. He shouts a piercing roar as he drops to the ground in front of his brothers. The link is broken between them, and Atticus falls back to the ground. I run to him and wrap my arms around his neck. He holds my waist to steady me before pulling me on top of him. We’re both on the ground holding onto each other, but I don’t care. I’m just happy to have him in my arms again.

Isabella and Eden joined us next as we all ran to Lucy, who was holding Luthais in her arms. Hunter and James hold onto their mates as they scream for their brother.

Owen points at Luthais. They’re both dying. Not just one. He doesn’t say anything, but Dash seems to understand him as he drags his body to Luthais.

“What are you doing?” Lucy screams. “Do not touch my brother, or I will kill you!”

“He’s trying to save him!” Dash growls. “If he transfers all of his power to Luthais, he will be saved.”

“It’s true!” Lucy’s father confirms. “Let him do it. Let him save my son.”

I watch in amazement as Owen touches his forehead to Luthais, unconscious and barely breathing. A red light surrounds them for a few seconds before disappearing. Owen drops to the ground, completely lifeless, leaving his brothers to mourn his loss.

Lucy holds Luthais against her as her brothers surround them. They’re all looking down at him with pale faces.

“Why is nothing happening?” Isabella cries. “Why is my brother not waking up?”

“Izzy?” Luthais croaks.

We all gasp after hearing his voice. Everyone begins to celebrate when he opens his eyes and hugs Lucy back. They can’t stop their tears from having their brother alive and safely tucked in their arms. Lucy’s father leans down and pulls his son into his arms. My heart swells with joy to know that we have him back.

We’re shocked when all of the overlords surround him.

“What are you doing?” Isabella growls.

“Luthais Cross, son of Richard Cross, you are now a member of the overlords, and as such, you must follow all of our rules or be killed.” The overlords say in unison. “What will your choice be? Do you accept our offer, or do you decline?”

“What?” Lucy demands. “What the hell are they speaking about? He’s not an overlord!”

“He is one now. The moment Owen passed his power onto him, he became one. Let’s not forget that the only reason he’s alive today is that Owen chose him.” Jagger growls.

Luthais looks almost in a daze as he looks at everyone around him. I think he’s tired of the fighting, we all are, but we are willing to continue if it means it can set him free.

“I accept.”

His entire family is outraged by his response, but it doesn’t stop him from getting up and joining the overlords.

“But I have a condition; I want this stupid fight to stop immediately. We’ve lost too much already. As the overlords, you should be more concerned with protecting the people. Autumn is not a threat if you don’t try to hurt her first. Let her go; besides, Autumn cannot be as strong as her father without her brother and sister. The power was split amongst them. Since no one knows where her siblings are, I think it’s safe to say that she isn’t a threat.”

“Okay.” Dash cuts in. “You have a deal. Everyone has ten minutes to get the f**k out of our territory. Luthais, you’re one of us now, which means you stay here.”

. . . . . . . . . .

~CASSIUS~

It was never my intention to save my sisters’ friends. But if the overlords killed them, their chances of getting out alive would have been slim. I didn’t want to risk it. I needed both of them alive. The only way for that to happen was to keep the people trying to free Autumn alive.

They’re lucky that I decided to pass in for a few minutes just to see what everyone was like in the middle of battle. If I hadn’t been there, many would have died from that explosion meant for the werewolves.

I was the one that protected them from the explosion.

Everything happened so quickly that none of them were even aware that I was there.

I stayed long enough to ensure that they’d gotten out.

I wasn’t about to let my mother believe that they’d survived, however. I wanted her to grieve just like I suffered when I found out she’d killed my father. If she thought the overlords had both of my sisters locked in their dungeons and were waiting for the right moment to kill them, she would blame herself until she died.

“Cassius!” My mother shouts my name. Today I would not let her voice annoy me.

I was getting better at ignoring her. I couldn’t deny that she was good at pissing me off however.

“Are my daughters safe?” she cries. “Please tell me that you protected them.”

Why did she always choose when I was in the middle of a game to bother me?

“CASSIUS!” She shouts. “I know you can hear me son. Please tell me everything that happened. Did they free Autumn? Is she okay?”

This was my time to shine.

I couldn’t wait to break her heart!