Damon Will

All it took Alex was a quick Google search on his phone, and a whole array of pages, all starring his Alpha father, appeared on his small screen. After scanning through them for just a few moments, he quickly found the address to his father's.

It was well past 8 p.m. when he finally reached the train station, and it is luckily a fairly quiet evening, so it doesn't take too long before he arrives at the upper east side. The whole way there, his knee jumped, his heart pounded, and his mind raced.

He had no idea what he would find, if at all. It was late. God only knows if his father's even going to be at the office. And if he wasn't, he had no idea what he would do because there was no way of finding his private home address. And he can't just enter the Moonlight Pack without permission.

He could always just camp out and wait for him there all night. Yeah, that's what he can do.

When he arrives, however, he discovers that his father is very much a workaholic because he's still there at 9 p.m.

Somehow, Alex manages to sneak in, past the doorman and the lobby clerk, and into the elevator, making his way to the tenth floor. When he steps tentatively out of the elevator and onto the floor, he notices the names displayed on the wall in gold-plated letters.

Damon Will..

Alex takes a shaky breath as he stares at the names, that's the name of his father, he knows as much from the newspaper articles and the further searches he did on google.

This whole time, his Alpha father has lived just about an hour away; he had a whole other family. And his father didn't even know about him. If he had, would they have been able to have a relationship?

There is just so much he missed out on—so many years of yearning for a father, just like all the other kids. Years of being teased and feeling rejected and unwanted. All this time and pain could have been avoided.

And his mom, the woman he loved and cherished more than anything, hid it from him; she kept his own father from him. This was all Allen's fault.

"Hey, kid," a deep, calm voice calls from behind him as Alex continues to stare at his father's name. "Are you okay there? Are you lost?"

He doesn't know why or how, but even before he actually turns, Alex just knows.

After taking a deep breath, which does nothing to calm his nerves, Alex turns ever so slowly, excitement and pure terror bubbling under his skin.

Then he is face-to-face with his alpha father, whose expression turns from concern and confusion to absolutely stunned. Did the man recognize him?

His father is tall, even taller than him. He's wearing pantsuits, a button-up with folded sleeves, a couple of buttons undone, and a loose tie around his neck. But he still looks put together, which is very important.

He looks powerful and strong.

They both stare dumbly at each other for a long moment, and the more time passes, the more the man is watching Alex like he is seeing a ghost. Finally, the man breaks the tense silence. "Who are you?" he asks with a frown, probably already suspecting.

He did look just like his mother, after all.

Alex lifts his right hand slowly, then points and stammers dumbly, "You're Damon Will." He wants to face-palm himself almost as soon as the words escape his lips. But it seems to amuse the man, as his expression softens a bit, and he smiles.

"Yes, I am," he confirms, then gestures with his head towards Alex, "and who are you?"

Once again, Alex hesitates, fumbles with the rings on his fingers, and cowers a bit as he feels his father's eyes burning holes in him. When he finally looks up again, Damon is watching his fingers with a mixture of the same look from before, like he's seen a ghost, and now also... fondness? Nostalgia?

"My umm... my name is Alex... Alex Allen," he manages in a small voice, slightly trembling, "my mother is Allen."

Many people got confused because of his surname; he even tried to know why his mother gave him this surname, but she never answered.

As soon as the boy turned to face him, Damon felt a wave of recognition hit him. There was no mistaking that boy. His suspicions were confirmed when he started to fidget with his rings, but even so, when they are confirmed, it still hits him like a ton of bricks.

He's dreamt of that name and the woman itself almost every night since he last saw her, but he hasn't heard it out loud for 15 years.

And God, how he missed it.

But then it dawns on him... Allen has a child; she has a whole new family. And it doesn't matter that he has one too; it makes his Alpha want to growl.

Damon then frowns. "Did something happen to her?" He asks, dreading the answer, "Is she okay?"

"Oh, yeah, she's, um, she's fine." Alex is quick to respond, clearly noticing Damon's sudden distress. "It's just, um, I think..." Alex takes a deep breath, then blurts out, "I think, well, no, I know I'm your son."

The world around Damon spins yet again as the words start to sink in. He had suspicions when the boy first turned to face him, especially when he confirmed that he was, in fact, an Allen child.

He may be a mirror image of Allen, but the boy has his eyes; there's no question about that.

Damon struggles to make sense of this. He watches the boy, who really takes him in from head to toe, as his lungs burn for air and his head struggles to string a word, let alone a sentence.

He has a son. Allen and he have a son together. A teenage son.

A few syllables escape his lips as he opens and closes his mouth, a million questions racing through his mind all at once, yet he manages to voice none of them.

"I'm so sorry." Alex finally manages, and Damon quickly looks up at his sorrow-filled eyes and says, "I should have never... I shouldn't have. I'm sorry." then the boy is turning to leave, which causes Damon to finally get a semblance of a grip and move into action.

"No, please," he calls out frantically, stepping closer. "Please, stay."

Alex bites his bottom lip and fumbles with his rings again as he looks from Damon to the elevator and back again. When he remains silent and hesitant, Damon adds, "Let's go sit in my office and talk a bit, okay?"

The boy just nods, but it requires further power to actually start walking away from the elevators. When they finally arrive at Damon's office, which feels like an eternity later, Damon finally manages to ask one of the many burning questions he has: "How old are you?"

Alex lingers by the door before finally stepping forward. "14," he responds shortly, looking around at the large office while Damon keeps his eyes on him.

14... That means he was conceived on the night of Allen Heat. But how come she never told him about Alex? Why did she hide it from him all these years?

"Wow." Damon stumbles through. "And do you?" but a phone call ends his sentence. Alex quickly fumbles to get his phone out of his pocket.

Once again, Damon's breath gets caught in his throat when he manages to catch a glimpse of the screen.

The name "Mum" flashes at the top of the screen, while the whole screen is showing a picture of Allen and Alex, who look a few years younger. Damon can't help but stare at the screen as Alex silences the phone without actually cutting the call.

Allen is still as beautiful as ever, but she looks so different. A little older. She has barely any makeup on.

Alec finally looks back up at him and notices him staring. "Is she... is she... does she know you're here?" Damon stammers.

"No." Alex shakes his head, clearly not wanting to elaborate any further.

"How is she?" He manages to ask; there is so much more he wants to know, so much he feels like he missed out on.

Alex looks down again as the phone rings for the second time. "She, umm..." Alex silences it again, then looks back up at Damon, and it seems like he's contemplating his response. He opens his mouth again to say the words he finally decided on, but then his eyes land on the framed picture on Damon's desk, and his answer dies out on his lips.

Damon looks down at the picture and then back at Alex, who has a sad expression on his face, which has Damon's gut wrenching and his heart constricting.

"Those are my two boys," Damon supplies before he can stop himself, rubbing the back of his neck. "Seb and Tian; they're 10 and 7."

"Oh," is all Alex says as he averts his gaze back to his fingers, which are yet again playing with the rings.

Damon feels completely out of sorts and way out of his element.

He'd barely come to terms that he would never see Allen again, and now this—he isn't prepared for this.

The silence in the office is tense, grave, and loaded, and Damon has no idea what he is supposed to say or do, even though he's an adult.

Then his own phone is ringing, and Damon looks down at it; it's lying face down on his desk, so he can't see the caller ID.

But somehow, he just knows.

So, he slowly lifts the phone and looks at the screen, which is flashing an unknown caller ID. He lost all his contacts a few years ago, so this number isn't saved in his phone, but somehow, yet again, he just knows.

He looks up at Alex, who also seems to know, and his eyes are pleading, "Please, don't answer it." He says in a small voice, "She lied to us both; she doesn't."

"I know." Damon cuts him off, suddenly realizing that he needs to be a responsible adult. "And I'm sorry, but I can't; I have to answer."

Alex goes to protest again, but Damon just shakes his head and holds it to his ear. "This is Damon Will."

And nothing in the world could have prepared him for the voice that sounds at the other end of the call, panicked and out of breath: "Alex."

****

"Would you please stop?" Maya snaps from her spot on the couch while her best friend paces furiously in the small space in front of her.

Allen comes to a screeching halt, turning to glare at her with a pointed finger and matching look. "Stop? My 15-year-ol son is off somewhere all alone, searching for my..." Allen trails off, having no idea how to even end that sentence, then waves her phone in her other hand and says, "And he's not answering my calls."

"I already told you what I think." Maya replies just as calmly as ever, "You need to..."

"don't! " Allen snaps again quickly, cutting her off. "I won't call him; I can't."

Maya smiles sadly at her, then stands and walks over to her, cupping both Allen hands in hers and looking her straight in the eyes. "Allen, I'm sorry, but if you want to find your son, I'm not sure if there's much of a choice here."

Allen glares at her friend, angry at her for being the messenger but knowing deep down that she's right. Eventually she sighs heavily in defeat, her glaring eyes softening. "I know, I know..." she mutters, "but I'm just... I'm really scared, and not even close to being ready for this; I can't."

Maya pulls her into a strong, comforting hug. "I know," she says softly, "but I'll be here with you; we'll do this together."

When they eventually pull back, Allen fishes through her contacts with trembling fingers, releasing a shaky breath once she lands on the one, she's looking for.

Damon.

She could never bring herself to delete him from her phone. It was the last and only link she still had to him. Every so often, she finds herself blindly reaching for her phone and scrolling down, just to stare at his name.

Her thumb would linger over it as her mind entertained the thought of actually making the call.

But she never did.

Allen takes another deep breath, which does absolutely nothing to calm her nerves, while Maya places a comforting hand on her shoulder. She gives her a light squeeze. "I'm right here," she promises when Allen looks over at her.

"Thank you," she whispers, then, with a determined nod, she looks back down at the phone, presses the call button, and lifts the phone to her ear.

"This is Damon Will." His voice fills Allen's ear, and her whole world stops for a moment, her breath hitching in her throat. Everything around her spins, and when she feels coherent enough to actually think, she finds herself wondering if Damon deleted her from his phone.

Like he deleted you from his life. Her mind supplies unhelpfully.

The thought of him deleting her number stings more than she would like to admit. It's not very surprising; if you think about it logically, it has been almost 15 years after all, but it still hurts.

She must have been silent for a while, because Maya suddenly nudges her, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Damon," she finally breathes out, then remembers her son and starts stammering, "Is he... my son, Alex, is he?"

"He's here." Damon tells her, then, after a short pause, he adds, "I'll bring him home soon."

Damon sounds like a businessman. It's the best way Allen can think of to describe the way the man is talking. Like they're talking business, like they mean nothing to each other.

Well, they don't really mean much to each other anymore. 15 years is a very long time; neither of them is anything like they used to be, probably.

"Thank you." Allen chokes out, almost literally feeling the world move off its arches. "Thank you so much."

"Yeah, you're welcome." Then, just as quickly as it started, Damon was saying goodbye and hanging up just as quickly, probably wanting to speak to Allen as little as possible.

Of course, he doesn't want to talk to Allen; why would he?