Chapter 70 - Amon

Fuck sake, there was that lady’s name again! Why was everyone so obsessed with my mother?! I understood that she had a strong bloodline, but didn’t Dwayne say her brother Jonathon had taken the throne, so why was finding my mother still important?

“I don’t get it. My mother had stripped her wolf and had nothing to do with the werewolf world, so why look for her?”

“Because the rightful heir of the Whitlock throne was still out there, and that was interfering with his plans.” Max sighed and looked out towards the forest again.

“When your mother was stripped of her wolf, in return for her request, the Moon Goddess asked Beth for a child to balance the way of life, which you know already. If Beth were out there childless, disobeying the Moon Goddess’s ultimatum, then when Jonathon took over, the balance would be restored. However, Jonathon’s reign hasn’t balanced anything. It’s caused more problems, actually. The unbalance is causing unrest between spirits and magic. So it was obvious that Beth had a child. We find Bethany; we find the next rightful heir to the throne.”

“I still don’t get it. You said you were risking your life to save mine. How does finding my mum or me put you at risk?”

Max turned around to look at me. His eyes were glassy and cold. His cold stare sent a chill down my spine.

“My-…. My instructions were to find Beth and her child and kill them. Erase the child that would bring back the balance.”

He was here to kill me?….

“B-…but you haven’t killed me” I choked on my own words, taking a step back.

“And that’s how my life ended up at risk. Because you're still alive.” Max sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

“The night you got kidnapped by that Novo guy, I was in Greenwoods because I had already gotten info that Bethany worked at the club I found you at. I was about to go into the club to find Bethany but Blake called in hysterics, asking me to find you. Before I came in to save you, I overheard Novo say Beth was your mum. I thought I had hit the jackpot! Beth’s daughter was Blake’s mate. Fucking with you was the perfect way to torture Blake. What I didn’t expect was there to be crescent marks on your flawless skin and for there to be a pull between us. I had met you before; I was sure I could walk out of that club with you in my arms and have no regret as to what I was going to do to you. But when I looked into your scared gorgeous eyes, my heart sank.” Max took slow steps towards me as he spoke.

“No way could I do all the sinister things I was planning. No way was I going to let you die. I had waited my whole life to find you; I’d give my life to keep you alive. So, I took you back to Blake. I knew you’d be safe there until I figured something out. I already knew about your bloodline, and I knew what that asshöle wanted. As long as you weren’t a threat to his plans, he would leave you alone. Once I was calm enough to think, I went back to my devil and struck another deal. I would make sure your wolf stays dormant, and he would leave you alone.”

Max was standing right in front of me now. He slowly reached out and cupped my face, pulling me closer to him. I was too paralyzed to stop him—fear coursing through me.

“There was still one problem, though. We knew you’d go into heat, given Blake had marked you. Once you and Blake finished mating, your wolves would call upon each other and awaken your wolf. We didn’t know you had a suppressant, and the plan was as soon as you went into heat, I’d call Blake away for an emergency and sweep in to soothe your burning desires while he was gone. I would mate with you at that time, making your wolf forever dormant since I didn’t have a wolf to call onto yours. But that asshole didn’t want to wait that long. He was determined to separate you and Blake, and without me knowing, he cast the pregnancy spell, essentially ruining my plans” Max wrapped his free arm around my waist and pulled me up against his chest.

I could feel all the goosebumps on my body rise as the sickening feeling from Max’s touch surged through me.

“I didn’t break your trust. You have to believe me. All I wanted to do was keep you alive. Once Cynthia told us you had visited Evelyn about a suppressant, it all made sense. Why your wolf hadn’t shown itself, why you were so hard to find. I felt relieved, to be honest. Beth had found a way to keep you safe. At least the fucking devil didn’t have to worry about you being a threat. Stupid Cynthia unknowingly helped too by making Evelyn demand something in return. But I didn’t realize your suppressant had reached the end of its lifespan until I got here. As much as I want to keep your wolf dormant, Benji is right. Because Evelyn won't lift the spell, waking your wolf is the only way to help you, or your suppressant will kill you.” Max pressed his body tight against mine. He licked his lips and looked down at mine.

Out of nowhere, the mark on my neck started to throb. The pain spread across my neck and shoulder, making me cringe a little. My stomach churned, and that sickening feeling made me feel gross.

“What’s wrong?” Max whispered, getting closer. I could feel his hot breath on my lips.

Fuck, what was I doing??

I hastily pushed Max back and stumbled away from him. The moment we broke contact, the aches and nauseous subsided.

“Y-… you need to keep your distance, please. It’s revolting and painful,” I complained, breathing heavily.

“Rosy-…” Max started, trying to reach for me again.

“I would listen to her if I were you,” Blake’s angry growl echoed through the room.

I turned to find an angry Blake standing at the doorway; his hands tugged into his sweatpants pockets. He clenched his jaws tightly, and you could see his chest rise and fall heavily.

Before my brain could register anything, my feet started to move independently. I rushed over to Blake, and he immediately opened his arms for me.

“Blakey…” I sniffled, burying my face into his chest and taking deep breaths to fill my lungs with his scent.

Blake’s warm embrace instantly cured my anxiety.

“How much did you hear?” Max hissed.

“Enough to question how we are related. What is wrong with you? You were ready to put two innocent lives at risk just to learn dark magic?!” Blake boomed.

“Oh, save your lectures, please. Like you’ve never done anything at the expense of others,” Max growled.

I straightened up and wiped my face, not realizing I had been crying. I felt Blake’s warm hands rubbing my back.

“How the Fuxk is Cynthia involved in all this?! What does she know?” Blake was loud and angry.

In my moment of weakness, I had forgotten entirely Max taking Cynthia’s name. He said that Cynthia had informed them about my visit to Evelyn. Did that mean Cynthia knew who this devil was?

“Trust me, brother, she’s a stupid blonde. All she’s good for is warming someone’s bed. Even if she did know something, it is no harm to anyone,” Max sneered.

“However, if you do wanna kill someone, there is one asshöle I would love to wipe off the face of the earth” An evil smirk formed on Max’s face.

Did he mean that devil he kept talking about?

“I’m not killing anyone for no reason. However, I have a million reasons to wipe you out right now. I can’t believe you agreed to all this,” Blake ranted.

I tried to move away, but his hands snaked around my body and held me in place.

“If I had known who Rosy was, I would never have agreed to any of this dipshit! We both want the same thing, Blake, to keep Rosy alive. But he will find a way to get rid of her.” Max snapped.

“Not on my watch, he won’t! Who is this guy?! Why are you so scared of him? The great warlock Max finally met his match?” Blake was shaking a little.

“If you knew what he was capable of, you wouldn’t talk like that about him. Look, it doesn't matter who he is. We just gotta focus on keeping Rosy alive.”

“With you around her, I don’t see how that’s possible. You’re a magnet for disaster! Why should we trust you anyway?! You’ve known about Rosy and her life all along, and instead of telling us about it, you’ve been lying!” Blake yelled at his brother. His shaking intensified.

“I’m telling you now, aren’t I?! You don’t want to trust me; fine, have it your way. I’m still going to help keep her alive because whether you want to admit it or not, I am connected to her just like you are.”

Their shouting match was getting louder and louder. My ears were starting to hurt.

“What the hell is going on?!” Nate burst into the room with Sue following suit.

“Tell dad, Max. Tell him what an asshöle you are!” Blake yelled.

“Shut up! Both of you! This is not how we raised you. I understand there’s bitterness between you two, but while under my roof, you will respect each other,” Nate boomed.

“Sue, take Rosy to her room. I’ll deal with the boys” Nate was shaking a little. I had never seen him this angry before.

Sue walked over to me, but I knew Blake was the only thing I needed right now.

“Can I please stay?” I whispered, clinging on to Blake.

Sue nodded and stepped back.

I looked up at Blake and pulled on his t-shirt, trying to get his attention. My heart stopped when Blake’s pitch black angry eyes met mine. I flinched a little but quickly composed myself knowing his anger wasn’t directed at me.

“Blakey, please calm down. You’re scaring me,” I whispered, not trusting my voice to speak any louder.

Blake’s facial expression changed immediately. His dark eyes softened, and those beautiful blue orbz I loved stared down at me.

“Angel, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. You know I would never hurt you.” Blake cupped my face, holding it tightly.

“I know. But it’s still scary watching you change like that,” I whispered, relieving washing over me.

Blake pulled me into a hug and squeezed me.

“Never be scared of me. Never.” He hid his face into the crook of my neck and took a deep breath in.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your little moment, but we should sit down and talk about this. There’s a life at stake,” Sue commented.

Blake pulled away and glared at his mum.

“Hey, just stating the obvious” Sue held her hands up and took a few steps back.

“Let’s go into the living room. Max, you have one chance to explain yourself. If you tell me one lie, you're out of here, and we will find another mage to help Rosy,” Nate growled.

“No other mage will help you, dad. He's got everyone so scared, and no one will go against his wishes.” Max grumbled before turning to grab his jacket.

“At least tell us who he is. What is all this about?” Nate asked.

“Come on,” Max groaned and walked out of the room.

We all followed him down the hallway and into Nate’s study.

Blake had his arms wrapped around my waist securely. It felt like I was trapped in a cage but an adorable, warm and safe cage.

Nate’s study was like a mini-library. Three out of the four walls were lined with bookshelves that started at the ceiling and ended at the floor. The shelves were jam-packed with books of all sizes and colors. He even had a ladder attached to the frames that you could roll depending on where the book you needed was.

Max tossed his jacket onto one of the couches in the study and walked over to the furthest shelf, looking for a book. He climbed the ladder and finally pulled out a thick black book, dusting it before bringing it down.

“Legend has it that before human life was created, the Gods and Spirits roamed the barren earth. Once people were created, The Gods decided they would form a balance of life to ensure everything ran smoothly between the paranormal and human worlds. The spirit's job was to make sure the balance was always maintained. However, there was one spirit that could care less. He was called Amon. Amon wanted to be a ruler, not a slave. He desired to be as powerful as The Gods. In his attempts, he started to do some dodgy shit and stumbled upon the dark side of magic. Amon was the founder of dark magic.”

“He started using his discovery to do ruthless things. God’s finally stepped in and banished Amon to an empty universe so he would be alone and miserable. What the God’s didn’t know was that Amon was prepared. Instead of going into the new universe, he found himself a human body to possess. He had planned to keep that human young and immortal, but as he met new humans, he realized he could be anyone he wanted, whenever he wanted, so why stick to one body. He roamed the world in any body he wanted and created chaos. Using his dark magic in any way he wanted. Teaching his ways to others and forming a cult.”

“It took them a while, but once the God’s found out what Amon was up to, they sought the help of the Moon Goddess to use her wolves to help kill Amon. Since he was a spirit, only a God or another spirit could kill him. So the Moon Goddess sent one of her most powerful spirits. In here, you’ll find all the details.” Max handed the book to Nate and sat down on the couches.

He leaned back on the couch and continued his story.

“Apparently, the first person to possess this spirit was Pharell Whitlock, Michael’s great grandfather. Pharell and the spirit became legendary because they were successful in destroying Amon. However, Amon had prepared for this and used a powerful witch he had groomed to bring his spirit back. But the laws of magic have their limitations. Amon had to either possess the body of someone with the bloodline of his killer or wait until there was no one left of that bloodline. Until then, he would be trapped in between the worlds, only communicating through that witch.”

“Amon was very powerful after discovering dark magic. There was no way he would be trapped. So he had the witch send a team to look for someone related to the Whitlock’s he could possess. Imagine his surprise when he stumbled across someone that had the same hate for the Whitlock’s as he did. Someone that carried the Whitlock bloodline because he was a direct descendant but had no connection to the family. Someone that wanted Michael Whitlock to suffer just as much as Amon, and he had” Max sighed and looked up at his father.

“Direct descendant? Michael only had three kids. There was no bad blood anywhere in that family. Well, besides Beth.” Dwayne’s voice echoed through the office.

We all turned to find him standing at the doorway.

“What? You all are so fucking loud, an old man can’t get any sleep around here,” he grumbled, walking into the study in his pajamas.

“No one said anything about family, you old fart. He is a direct descendant but only carried the Whitlock name, never got to be part of that family.” Max snickered.

“Max!” Sue growled, and he rolled his eyes.

“So, who’s this direct descendant?” Nate questioned while still holding the book.

“Josh Whitlock. Just like Rosy, he too was a Whitlock bastard.” Max sneered.

“I’m sure pops already knows this, but Michael had a woman in his life before he met his mate, Dorothy. Her name was Gabby. They were in love and were going to mate and become chosen mates. The day before everything was meant to happen, Michael ran into Dorothy, and like any man, he couldn't hide from destiny. A distorted Gabby left only to come back years later. I don’t know how it happened, but apparently, she and Michael rekindled their love, and when Dorothy found out, she had Gabby thrown out and banished. She was pregnant by then. This makes Josh second in line, not Lana. But since no one knew about Josh, he couldn’t claim the throne.”

“His whole life was spent hiding in the shadows. Keeping his identity a secret. After Gabby died, Josh had nowhere to go. He turned up at the Whitlock packhouse only to be called a liar and chucked out. Imagine how infuriated he would have been. Amon’s proposal was a blessing for him. A way of ruining Michael. So, Josh let Amon possess him, and in return, they would wipe out the entire Whitlock lineage. Amon would get his revenge, and Josh would get his throne. Josh had a powerful bloodline; he was very useful to Amon.”

Silence swept through the room. I really didn’t know how to process all this information. There was no way this was all true.

“I-… I remember Gabby. She was a trainee witch with The Coven. Michael and I would sneak off to the temple after training to mess around with the servants. He met Gabby one afternoon during our visit. I remember Michael saying how mesmerized he was by Gabby. They had been together for a while, but when he brought Dorothy to the mating ritual and not Gabby, we knew Gabby was history. I never heard about her again” Dwayne broke the lingering silence.

“What a mess these Whitlock’s have made. Hang on! Max, how do you fit into all this?” Nate took a step towards his son.

They hadn’t heard the conversation Max and I had had about his trade with the devil.

“Max was sent to kill Beth and Rosy. The price to learn dark magic was for him to find them and kill them,” Blake growled.

“Max Nathaniel Cooper! What the fuck were you thinking?!” Sue shrieked.

“Is that who the devil is?” I whispered before Max could say anything to Sue.

“Yes, Josh is the fucking devil. All I wanted was to learn dark magic. I was told there was a Warlock that knew things about dark magic no one else knew. I honestly didn’t know I would find Amon. When I struck a deal with him, I swear I didn’t know you would turn out to be my mate. I was too far gone with my lessons, and I couldn’t back out.”

“Knowing she was MY mate wasn’t enough to stop you, was it?!” Blake snarled.

“Sorry, brother, but no, it wasn’t. You got everything you wanted. I watched you become everyone's favorite while I fought for a place. At the time, all I wanted to do was hurt you.” Max swallowed loudly, staring at his brother intently.

I could feel Blake shaking again.

“So, what now?” Dwayne piped in, trying to distract the bubbling anger between the boys.

“Now we wake up Rosy’s wolf. We have to do it before Amon finds out I’ve turned against him.”

“But he will still come after me.” I choked out. My body was shivering from fear.

After everything Max explained, I couldn’t believe how dangerous these people were.

“Let focus on the suppressant, not killing you first. We can deal with Amon and Josh later. Although I must ask, have you told anyone about us trying to wake Rosy’s wolf?” Max stood up, looking around at his family.

“Beside The Coven, everyone in this room and Rocky, no one else should know,” Blake growled. He tightened his arms around me.

“Has Rocky told Taylor? Where is she?”

“No, I haven’t told Taylor. She is in Greenwoods seeing her family.” Rocky’s voice echoed through the room.

Rocky must have been listening in on our conversation through Blake’s mind link.

“Nice of you to join us too. Are you sure Taylor doesn’t know?” Max pressed.

“You calling me a liar?” Rocky snapped.

“Think what you want. But whatever happens, Vince can not find out about this” Max picked up his jacket and pulled it on.

“Why Vince?! What’s he got to do with this?” Rocky walked over and stood next to Blake and me.

“Josh is a client of your brothers-in-law. They have been friends for a while. Josh had somehow found an old photo of your mum and aged it a little, so we could have a photo to help us find her. When he showed Vince the photo, Vince had already met her. But at the time, he didn’t know you were Beth’s daughter. He didn’t tell us that until I discovered it. It seems like Vince too was trying to hide you, but once Amon found out Vince lied, there were consequences.”

“That’s why Vince said he knew who killed my mum and Richard. He knows Josh and Amon.” I gasped as realization hit.

“Son of a bïtch!” Rocky cursed and growled loudly.

I didn’t care what he was doing, but he knew about the threat to my life all along and didn’t care enough to tell me.

My heart pinched a little at the thought of someone so close to me knowing about all this and hiding it.

“Go get some sleep, everyone. Tomorrow is a big day. Rosy needs her beauty sleep. No wearing her out tonight Blakey, she needs her energy for tomorrow” Max laughed and walked out of the room like nothing had happened.

No way was I getting any sleep with all the questions running through my mind…..

***A/N:-

To all my wonderful readers,

Thank you for the continued love and support. I apologize for the delays in updates. My kids and I have been unwell as well as some personal stuff happening and I haven't had time to write. Just so you all know, between 22nd Dec and 10th Jan, I am away on holiday and won't have time to write. Please bear with me. If I do get the chance to write, I will upload chapters. Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you all very soon!***