The punching bag took heavy blows one after another. Chris's fists were striking clean, but it was as if they were programmed to move since his mind was elsewhere and not in the gym.

He wouldn't lie to himself saying that everything was fine. These last few weeks were a disaster and the only part of his life that wasn't falling apart, it was his work life.

What's the use of having job stability when my personal life is worse than shit?

Chris threw harder blows, releasing some of his stress with each punch. Although he was sweating, feeling hot from exercise, in his mind, he felt as if he were still in Quebec City, Canada, with his omega father. He could feel the Canadian autumn cold that was becoming increasingly difficult to bear due to the approach of winter. But most of all, he could remember that look of surprise when he finally confessed to his father why his wedding with Eric was canceled.

The surprised expression only lasted a couple of seconds, his father kept a long silence while he finished putting horse food and an icebox with veterinary medicines.

Chris took his father's silence negatively and was anxious to think that he had disappointed him.

“I'm the worst, right? If dad Kristoph was still with us, he'd be disappointed too…”

His father closed the trunk of the car and shook his head with a sigh.

“Your father Kristoph's reaction would probably be more impulsive than mine, but I highly doubt he was disappointed. It's just… surprising to me. I already suspected something like this happened… but it never crossed my mind that it was an alpha you spent the night with. I expected it to be another beta, a woman, or even an omega, but… an alpha? I thought you hated them. He didn't take you by force or used his pheromones, did he?”

Chris shook his head.

“No, actually… I think it was the other way around. That alpha was a very polite man, very… different. And suddenly my heat came and I jumped at him. At first he refused, but I think in the end he couldn't hold back. It was just my fault… I even hit him the next day when he asked me for my phone number practically saying not to leave things as a one night stand…”

“Did you fall in love with him?” his father asked bluntly.

“How could I fall in love with someone I only saw once and to top it off not being in my five senses?!”

Chris's father laughed briefly and got into the car. Chris, confused and upset, climbed into the passenger seat.

“Sometimes it only takes a moment to fall in love. That's how it happened to your father and me.”

“What do you say? Aren't you supposed to have known dad since you were teenagers?”

Chris's father nodded and started the car.

“You misunderstood me. When I said that it only takes a moment to fall in love, I was not referring to the first moment you meet that special one, but rather, it can take a moment in life to change any feeling into love. Your father Kristoph and I never dared tell you this, but he and I hated each other almost to death.”

Chris frowned at the surprising confession. He was sure that there was no couple who loved each other more than their parents. How could there be the possibility that before that great love, there was such a hatred?

His father told him the true story.

His omega father, Noah, and his alpha father, Kristoph met as teenagers when Kristoph and his father came to Canada after buying the ranch that was only a couple of miles from Noah's father's ranch. The goal of Kristoph's father was to live for a time outside of American cities and settle for a few years in a quieter place.

There were no more ranches nearby so it was only a matter of time before their parents became friends and began to frequent each other. Noah was a full-fledged ranch boy and Kristoph was quite a city boy, it was hatred at first sight. To make matters worse, Kristoph's father asked Noah's father to help Kristoph integrate, and unsurprisingly, the task fell to Noah.

Quebec City was a long way off, so they went to the school in the nearest town. It was to be expected that Kristoph didn't adapt so easily and his arrogant personality didn't help. The school was a disaster, the two fought constantly and Kristoph's father, saddened by the problems his son was causing, sold the ranch and returned to the United States as soon as Kristoph finished high school.

Noah thought he would never see Kristoph again and honestly, he was happy about it. He studied veterinary medicine at the University of Montreal and spent a few years tending his family's equine ranch.

But eight years later, he and Kristoph met again. They were already twenty-six-year-old adults, but the enmity was the same as when they were teenagers. However, one day, all their hatred for each other changed unexpectedly, they were married in a couple of weeks and nine months later Chris was born.

All the hatred that they had since they were young, disappeared and was replaced by love in a single day.

“But still… it's still different. Perhaps the love between you two arose in a single day, but you already knew each other before! That alpha is practically a stranger…”

“And you still slept with him. Son, I am your father, I gave birth to you and I know you well. I don't feel like it was just an accident. Tell me, would it have been the same if that night you had met another alpha?”

Chris hesitated, but the answer was clear. He still hated alphas, but Mark… he was different. He couldn't imagine flirting with other alphas, it gave him chills just thinking about it. But he couldn't understand why it didn't bother him if it was Mark he was flirting with. He still remembered how nervous he was that night in Las Vegas.

“I don't know what to think, Dad,” Chris said, sighing heavily. “Even if it had been as you say, that on that night feelings for that unknown alpha had been born… What difference does it make from reality? I don't even know his last name or any other information to help me find him. How could I find him in a country where there are more than three hundred million people? Also… I still can't stop thinking about Eric… what I did to him… I miss him, but at the same time, the memory of that alpha comes back to my mind. I don't know if I still feel the same for Eric and I don't know if I feel something for that man I'll never see again.”

Noah felt a slight pain in his chest seeing his son like this. Chris has always been a man who was not weak to other people, however, when he was with his father, he could behave like a small child and even cry over insignificant things.

Chris grew up being a strong omega like his omega father, but he couldn't always stay strong. Noah spared his words and brought a hand to his son's shoulder, giving him the support he needed and that just saying a few words was not enough.

Chris cried silently as his father drove across a lonely road on a cold autumn evening.

He didn’t need words of comfort, only the company of his father to make him feel that he was not alone.