The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

~CARTER~

f**k.

Nicole.

What the hell was she doing here?

She was the last person any of us wanted to see right now.

I follow her gaze and see her glaring at Alaric with his arms still around Clara. He was only trying to comfort her, but I knew Nicole would not see it that way.

But should that even matter? She wanted a divorce from him. What he did shouldn’t bother her anymore.

“Why are you hugging your brother’s ex-girlfriend? It’s not even a full moon, and you’re already showing—”

I grab her hand and pull her away. I could hear Alaric walking behind me.

“What the hell are you doing?” She demands from me.

I push her into a room, and my brother shuts the door.

“What the f**k is wrong with you?” I demand from her. “The full moon isn’t something we discuss with anyone who doesn’t know about our curse.”

“Tell your brother to speak to me with respect!” She shouts at Alaric.

He sighs, “Carter, I can take it from here.”

I don’t bother fighting him down as I head for the door.

“Why were you hugging that girl?” I hear her ask him right before I walk out of the room.

I run a hand down my face. Nicole almost exposed my secret in front of Scarlett. I never wanted her to find out about the curse. Now, it would be harder than ever to hide the truth from her.

I was f*****g screwed.

I spot my mother in front of me, with my father a few feet behind her.

“How could you do such a thing, Carter?” She demands from me.

“We raised you better than this.” My father scolds me as we move to the family room. “How could you get her pregnant and then let her go like she means nothing to you?”

My jaw clenches. “I didn’t knowingly get her pregnant,” I explain.

“What?” My father demands.

He looks at my mother, and they both stiffen.

“Are you possibly speaking about that incident on the full moon?” My mother asks. “Did it happen on that night?”

I swallow, “it did. I slept with Scarlett on that night. I can’t remember all of the details. I just knew when I woke up that I’d done the unforgivable. I let Scarlett go because I wanted to protect her from me. I didn’t do it because I wanted to hurt her. I would never purposefully hurt her.”

“Why didn’t you tell us anything?” My mother demands.

I don’t have an answer to give her. Not yet.

“I can’t believe this.” My father sighs. “I thought those chains would have been enough to hold you.”

“It’s the second time I went after her,” I confess. “The first time, surprisingly, I didn’t sleep with her, but the second time. . . I don’t know what happened either night, but the second time, I was positive I’d done it.”

“Why are you only going after her?” My mother asks even though she knows I don’t have the answer to give to her.

I couldn’t explain what was happening. None of us could.

It’s the first time something like this has ever happened to us.

“I don’t know, mother,” I answer her. “I wish I had the answer. When I realized what I’d done to Scarlett, I told her it was best that we went our separate ways. I was only trying to protect her. Somehow, I managed to hurt her more.”

My mother hugs me. “I’m so sorry, Carter. I’m so sorry that you’re going through this. You should have come to me; you should have told your father and me. We wouldn’t ever judge you.”

“I knew that you loved Clara.” I try to explain. “I knew you wouldn’t approve of my feelings for Scarlett.”

My mother frowns, “you have feelings for her?”

I swallow, “I do. I’ve been fighting my feelings for so long, but I don’t know how to anymore.”

Especially now that I knew she was pregnant.

I wanted to love her. I wanted to protect her and our baby. I wanted to tell her that meeting her was the best thing that ever happened to me. There were so many things I wished I could say to her, but I was too afraid that she would hate me like Nicole hated Alaric when she found out about our curse.

I didn’t want to put either one of us through that.

It didn’t matter anymore. Now that she was carrying my baby, she would find out soon enough.

Since the baby was mine, he would carry the same curse that I had.

“I do love Clara,” my mother admits. “She was the only girl you brought home that actually loved you. I knew she was good for you, but I also understood why you ended things with her. However, if I’d known you had feelings for her sister, I wouldn’t have stood in your way, Carter. Scarlett looks like a lovely girl, just like her sister. I would love to get to know her better.”

I closed my eyes; Scarlett was more than just a ‘lovely’ girl. She was the love of my life. She was the woman of my dreams. And now she was carrying my baby.

I never wanted to have a child. I never wanted my son or daughter to live a life chained to a curse. Now, there was nothing I could do to stop that from happening.

I was happy that Scarlett was having my baby; I was overjoyed that we were having a baby together. However, the curse would always prevent me from being completely happy.

I didn’t know what to do anymore.

I felt trapped, lost. . . Scared.