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Three hours in, Maddox swapped places with Jorvik. Jorvik craned his neck to get a glimpse of Cassie. “So... Your friend Fenn, he has a baby?”

Uriel squinted at him. “I’m not matchmaking anyone. Talk to him if you want to know more.”

Jorvik’s ears turned pink. Yeah, okay, maybe Uriel might put in a good word for him.

They didn’t talk more about Fenn, but when Uriel tucked Cassie under his shirt to nurse, he caught Jorvik and Maddox glancing at him through the rearview mirror.

He sighed. He could ask them to keep this a secret from the rest of their alpha friends, but Uriel had only just met them in person today. He was closer to some of the other alphas in their friend group—friends like Telos and Mav, Ace and Raptor... Alphas who had known Uriel for longer, and who called him up for spell work jobs. It wasn’t fair that Jorvik and Maddox got to know, and they didn’t.

“Look,” he said finally. “I’m an omega. I was captured and experimented on so I became this.” He gestured vaguely at himself. “I don’t want it to be a big deal.”

“But—” The two alphas looked horrified and pissed off. Uriel held his breath. “Experiments?”

“Okay, pull over. I’ll drive,” Bruiser said. “Calm down or you don’t get the wheel.”

Maddox pulled over onto the road shoulder, taking Bruiser’s place in the back seat. Bruiser got them back on the road. Uriel glanced warily at Maddox. The alpha was only scowling at Bruiser, though.

“How do you... How...” Jorvik met Uriel’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “How do you deal with it?”

Uriel shrugged. “The best I can. Most days, I try to forget that it happened.”

“To be clear, we’re not mad at you,” Maddox said. “Okay, maybe a little. But I can see why you hid your true gender.”

“I don’t want you guys to treat me differently,” Uriel muttered. “I still have some alpha hormones, so it’s not like I’m... spying on you in the chat or something. I don’t know. I’m messed up.”

Bruiser reached back and squeezed Uriel’s knee. Uriel didn’t realize he was tense until some of his stress drained away. Jorvik and Maddox watched them.

“Fenn is from the same research facility as I was,” Uriel said. “But I don’t know what was done to him. Just FYI. The scientists were alphas.”

“Thanks for telling us,” Maddox said gravely.

“Yeah, well.” Uriel shrugged. “I’ll tell the rest too. Just so it’s fair.”

“Doesn’t have to be fair, sweetheart,” Bruiser said quietly. “This is your past. You don’t owe it to anyone.”

“Agreed,” Jorvik and Maddox said.

Uriel swallowed, gratitude filling his throat. “I’ll... send an official message or something. Maybe. We’ll see.”

Bruiser squeezed his knee again. “Let’s get your friend to safety first.”

“Okay.”

Maddox offered him a grin and a fist bump, and so did Jorvik. For the first time, Uriel felt as though he wasn’t quite the imposter he thought he was. He relaxed into his seat and breathed deeply.

They took turns to nap. After Bruiser did a 3-hour shift of driving, it was Maddox’s turn, then Jorvik’s.

Then they were in western Idaho, in a small-ish town just outside the big city.

Uriel kept checking his phone for updates, nervous now because Fenn’s last few texts hadn’t looked good.

Uriel

Fenn? You okay? We’re almost there.

Fenn

Umm i think they found me