7. Going away from her

"Yo... you are my papa...?" The little boy asked in a hopeful yet confused tone as he looked at his mother for confirmation. Delilah's eyes filled with fear of the upcoming moment, waiting for Stephen's reaction.

Stephen's face tightened, a mixture of surprise and uncertainty crossing his features. He exchanged a brief glance with Delilah, her tears glistening and the fear of guilt clear on her face and it angered him more.

She hid it deliberately.

A heavy silence hung in the air, broken only by the soft hum of the ceiling fan.

After what felt like an eternity, Stephen's expression softened as he looked away from Delilah and he knelt down to the boy's level. "Yes, buddy," he said, his voice gentle yet strained. "I'm your papa."

The little boy's face lit up with a radiant smile, a mix of joy and relief flooding his innocent features. Delilah's heart ached as she watched the interaction unfold, knowing that her carefully kept secret had finally come to light. Everything that happened in the past hour vanished in a flick of a finger.

Stephen turned to Delilah, his gaze searching hers for answers. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his voice tinged with anger, frustration and a little bit of hurt.

"You threw me out of the pack! You blamed our closeness on me! How do you expect me to go back to you with this news?!" She shouted in anger and disbelief but that didn't justify anything to Stephen as he gritted his teeth and glared at him.

"He's my son, dammit! My blood! My heir! How could you hide it from me?!" He growled as the hall fell silent again. She jumped, suddenly fearing him.

She could see his connection for Nathan and she could see Nathan was happy to finally find his father and it was not good news for her. She was afraid of losing her.

Delilah bit her lip, struggling to hold back the torrent of emotions threatening to spill over. "I was scared, Stephen," she admitted, her voice trembling. "I thought... I thought you'd take him away from me."

Stephen's brow furrowed, his own anger now mingling with confusion. He stood up, facing Delilah directly. "And you thought hiding the truth was the best course of action? Keeping my own son a secret from me?"

Tears welled up in Delilah's eyes as she nodded, her voice barely above a whisper. "I was afraid of losing him. He's the only one I have…"

Delilah's heart sank as she realised the gravity of the situation. She had been hoping for a different outcome when she revealed Kevin was her mate. But it seemed that Stephen's discovery had opened a Pandora's box of complications.

"I won't let you take him away," Delilah whispered, her voice cracking as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I have given you an option, Delilah and you chose him over me. I know my son is not safe here. He was already kidnapped once and I can't risk his safety. I am taking him with me. I will see who stops me." He declared and Delilah went completely silent in fear. She knew nobody could stop Stephen from taking his heir with him. Her mind stopped working at that moment.

A heavy silence settled once again, the room feeling suffocatingly small as the weight of their emotions hung in the air. The little boy, Nathan, looked between his parents, sensing the tension but not fully grasping its depth.

"Papa…I am going with you?" Nathan asked in confusion. He was happy to leave the place and to go to his father's home as he never liked it here but his mother's distress confused him. Stephen looked down at him. His eyes softened immediately.

"Yes, buddy. We are leaving now. Let's go." He said and almost immediately turned around to leave while holding Nathan's hand but Nathan pulled him to stop with the little bit of strength he has.

"Won't mommy come with us, papa?" Nathan asked in confusion when he saw his mother not moving. Stephen's cold eyes moved to Delilah's teary ones. She was still adamant to not leave Kevin's pack.

"She will join us later, buddy. Not now." Stephen said and was going to pull him again when Nathan freed his hand from Stephen and ran to Delilah.

"Mommy!"

Delilah was all in tears. She instantly kneeled down and hugged Nathan. She kissed Nathan's forehead and his cheeks. He was crying too.

"Mommy, why can't you join papa and I now?" He asked in a sad tone.

"Do you have to go with your papa, Nathan? Can't you stay with mommy here?" She asked in a broken tone and she knew she was being very selfish.

The moment Delilah said those words, Stephen was about to walk to her and pull his son back but Damon held his hand, stopping him and gesturing a clear cut "NO." He didn't interfere till now but he couldn't stay silent at that moment.

"Damon, leave my hand. Did you hear what she's saying to Nathan?" Stephen asked through gritted teeth.

"You are going to take him away from her anyway. Don't interfere in their moment." Damon said in a serious tone, silencing Stephen.

"Mommy, please come with us. The people here are mean. They don't like us. Only uncle Kevin is good but he's not always around. I don't like it here." Nathan said in a sad and guilt filled tone and it broke Delilah's heart to say more.

"I love you, Nathan." She couldn't say more than that because if she does, she's going to break down completely. Nathan pulled back from the hug and kissed her on the cheek and wiped her tears.

"I love you too, mommy. I love you the most in the world." He said and hugged her again.

She felt the happiest at that moment. But the next moment she again realised what was wrong. Stephen was standing a little away from her and watching her from there. His eyes clearly showed how much he hated Nathan and her interaction.

She once again remembered each and every word that he had told her at the time when she was being dragged out of his pack by him and his pack members. And her decision of not going back to his pack was getting stronger.

"Nathan, let's go." Stephen said as he pulled Nathan away from her and they walked out, without turning back to look again.

Nathan was crying bitterly for being snactched from his mother even though it was his own decision. Damon was trying to calm him down and Stephen was busy driving, ignoring everything.l. He was very much angry about everything that happened in that pack today. He had never expected Delilah to deny his order or talk back against his decision.

Secondly he never thought he was a FATHER. For four years! And she dared to hide it from her for so long!

How dare she!

Then he remembered her tears when she was speaking of the past. Her tears were somewhat not fake. They were real. But they were of no use to him now. She had already done enough for his family to suffer.

"Nathan, buddy. Please don't cry. See, I am your cool uncle. I am here. Come to me.." Damon tried to calm him down and extended his arms for Nathan who was sitting in the backseat but Nathan waved his hands off.

"I want mommy. Please take her with us, cool uncle. I want to be with her." Nathan cried as he was suddenly missing his mother a lot.

"Yes, Nathan. I know you want to be with your mommy. Don't cry, buddy. We will bring her soon." Damon said while giving a look at Stephen who had a blank look on his face.

The whole journey Damon tried all possible ways to make Nathan calm down but all in vain. Stephen parked the car inside the gates of his pack house and got down. Damon got down too and then opened Nathan's backseat door.

"No.. I am not coming. You guys go and bring mommy here as well. Or I want to go back to mommy. I don't want to be here anymore." Nathan suddenly threw this tantrum.

Stephen stopped hearing that. He was still very much pissed off at Delilah but he wasn't going to take it out on his son whom he met for the first time. He moved Damon aside and then held his son's hand and picked him up. Nathan was struggling to get down, still screaming that he wanted to go back to his mommy but Stephen didn't hear anything. Nathan's screams surely made his whole family and pack gather in the living room and everyone was surprised to see Stephen with a child.

What was going on?!

"Brother? Damon? Who is this child? Why is he crying?" Ashley, Stephen's sister asked in a worried and confused tone, coming forward. But Stephen wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. He ignored and moved past everyone to go upstairs to his floor.

Ashley and everything looked at his back in shock before turning around to look at Damon for answers. Damon let out a sigh and looked at Ashley in the eyes because he knew what he was going to say was going to be a big shock for him.

"He's Nathan. Nathan and Delilah's son."

____

"Delilah, enough now. Open this door. Crying is not an option! We are going to get Nathan back! I promise." Kevin said while banging the door of her room where she locked herself for hours.

The moment he said this, Delilah rushed to the door and opened it. His words lit up a small ray of hope in her heart. Kevin was finally relaxed seeing her out. She looked at him in the eyes but couldn't bring out a word to say. Because she knows the moment she is going to open her mouth to say something, she is going to break down completely. She misses her son like hell.

Kevin gets inside the room and pulls her in for a hug and she immediately breaks down.

"Why, Delilah? Why do you hurt yourself so much? You know I cannot see you like this." He whispers in a low tone which she didn't hear in her grief.

"I miss him, Kevin. Please bring him back to me. I am going to do anything you say if you bring Nathan back to me." She cried miserably without thinking what she was saying and Kevin was stuck hearing that. He pulled her back from the hug and made her look at him. She looked at him with teary eyes.

"Anything I say?" He asked to confirm and once again she nodded in desperation.

"Even be my mate?" He asked slowly, not wanting to press the wrong nerve in her vulnerable state but her response shocked him.

"I am ready to even be your mate."