Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

Damon's POV

"Marriage?"

“Marriage?” I repeat. “You want to marry me?”

She nods, “I was waiting for the right moment to ask you. I think today is a perfect time.”

I frown, “shouldn’t I be the one to ask you?”

She sighs, “I don’t want to wait, Damon. I want to have you now. I want us to be one. I want you to mark me and complete our bond. It was a hard decision for me to let go of Dante. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done besides watching Atticus marry someone else, even though I was still in love with him. This time, I know what I want. This time, I will not lose the man in my heart.”

I lean back in my chair; my heart is racing, and so is my mind. I never thought this day would ever come this quickly. I thought Dante and I would fight for her affection for most of our lives.

Now I realize that I was wrong. Somehow, Anya has decided that I’m the one that she wants.

I want to be happy. I truly do, then why do I feel so conflicted?

“Have you spoken to Dante about all of this?” I ask her. “Do you know if he’s okay with us getting married? It can’t be easy for him. He loves you just as much as I love you.”

She sighs, “I thought that we could do this together. I don’t want to be the one to break his heart, but I know that it has to be done.”

This was not good. This could cause a drift in my relationship with my brother. We always knew there was a possibility that this day would happen, and we always hoped that Anya would choose the one she truly wanted.

“I thought you would have been happier than this,” she frowns. “You always told me how hard it’s been for you to see me with your brothers in the past. You always told me that you wished that I was only yours. Then, why are you acting like I’ve given you the worst news possible?”

It’s true. Seeing her with Dante and Atticus was always so damn hard. I spent most days wishing that she was only mine. It was like that for a while but things had changed recently.

Ever since Autumn married Atticus and Clarissa started acting differently, my feelings had become a puzzle. A puzzle that I hadn’t figured out as yet. I was still trying to figure out what I truly wanted. I was still trying to figure out what were the right decisions to make in my life.

I swallow; I couldn’t tell her the truth.

“I am happy,” I lie. “I do want to marry you, Anya. I’m just worried that Dante would hate me for the rest of my life for marrying you.”

“You’re wrong,” she says as she holds my hand. “Dante knows that he would have also married me if I had chosen him. He knows that he wouldn’t have denied me because of you. He will be understanding. He won’t hate you. I promise you this.”

I take a deep breath. “I don’t know if this is the right thing to do, Anya. I feel like another wedding is the last thing our family wants right now. It hasn’t been that long since Autumn and Atticus got married. These things take time to prepare. I don’t want to throw this onto my family without any warning.”

I didn’t want to shock Clarissa. She was the main person I was worried about. I was scared of how she would react if she found out I was marrying Anya. Things between us were still in a mess; I hadn’t fixed it yet. I would only make things worse if I announced my wedding.

“Damon,” Anya whispers. “Please don’t say no to me. I chose you. I could have chosen Dante, but I chose to be with you. Please don’t break my heart. I want to marry you, and I don’t care about the consequences. So please, say yes.”

I could see the tears in her eyes, which was one of my weaknesses. She knew I could never see her cry.

I still didn’t want to tell her yes. I still didn’t want to hurt Clarissa.

Fuck.

What the hell was I supposed to do in this situation? Should I say yes or no?

If I rejected Anya today, I would never be able to forgive myself. If I said yes to her, I would risk destroying my relationship with Clarissa for good.

But if I didn’t marry Anya, Clarissa would continue trying to make moves on me. Dangerous moves that could destroy her peace for the rest of her life.

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed that marrying Anya was the right thing to do.

“Okay,” I finally agree. “If you want to get married, we will get married.”

Her eyes lit up at my words, and she hugged me tightly. I wrapped my arms around her as my heart pounded in my chest.

I wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing, but I couldn’t turn back now. I’d already said yes. The hard part hadn’t even begun yet. My parents were not very fond of Anya; however, recently, they have been nicer to her. It’s possible that they were warming up to her.

I wasn’t sure if that was enough for them to agree on us marrying.

“I can’t wait to tell everyone!” She shouts.

I slowly pull her away from her to look into her eyes, “I don’t think we should announce this right away.”

“Why not?” She demands. “I’m so happy to announce it to the world. What are you waiting on? Why can’t we announce it?”

I wanted the chance to tell Clarissa before the announcement was made. I wanted to make things right between us before she found out the news. I knew that she wasn’t going to accept this easily. Clarissa didn’t like Anya; she never did.

“I want to tell my family,” I explain to her. “I want to ease them into this news.”

“Why do you have to do that?” she demands. “Won’t they be happy that you’re marrying me?”

“The first thing that needs to be done is speaking to Dante,” I remind her. “He needs to know that you’re rejecting him before anyone else finds out. Then we need to give him some time to recover from the shock. When I feel he’s okay, we will announce it to everyone else.”

Anya didn’t look happy with this plan, but she had to agree with it. I was not going to announce our marriage without a proper warning.

“I’m so happy, Damon,” she whispers as she leans forward to kiss me.

I pull back slightly without realizing what I’d done until it was too late.

For some reason, I didn’t want to kiss her. For some strange reason, it felt like I was cheating on someone else.

Fuck.

How could I not kiss the woman I was planning to marry? What the hell was wrong with me?