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“Is he really dead?” Uriel asked.

When Bruiser turned, he found Uriel walking toward them—unsteadily, and still in that pair of red lace panties.

“Wow, Uriel,” Ace said, waggling his eyebrows.

Bruiser wanted to snap at him to stop looking, but (1) Ace already had an omega of his own, and (2) Ace still thought Uriel was an alpha, so this was teasing rather than actual flirting.

“Oh, shut up,” Uriel said. “It’s not like you’ve never seen an omega before.”

Yaeger, Ace, and Thiago all froze.

“Y-you what?” Yaeger squeaked.

Bruiser gave Uriel a quick look; Uriel straightened his shoulders to show he was fine with this.

“You heard right,” Uriel said, stalking up to the smoking patch of ground between them. He kicked some dirt onto Xenowen’s ashes. “I hope Hunner’s bringing salt. This fucker—” he kicked more dirt onto the ashes “—changed my body without my permission. It was a long four years.”

The other alphas looked shocked and horrified. Bruiser stepped up next to Uriel and kicked dirt onto the ashes too. Uriel had more magical sensitivity than him; if Uriel was letting his guard down around the ashes, then it was safe to assume that Xenowen was well and truly dead.

“You’re an omega?” Thiago squeaked, covering his eyes.

Uriel grimaced. “And this is why I didn’t want to tell you guys. I don’t want to be treated like some delicate flower.”

“Sorry,” Thiago said. “No wonder you’re such good friends with all the omegas. Some of us were growing jealous.”

Uriel shrugged, looking guilty. “Sorry I pretended to be an alpha. It’s just... I don’t fit in anywhere.”

“Or you fit in with all of us,” Bruiser rumbled, slipping his arm around Uriel’s waist.

Uriel’s mouth twitched into a tiny smile. For the first time since Xenowen’s death, he relaxed.

“Yeah, we won’t kick you out, Uriel,” Ace said.

“Definitely not,” Yaeger and Thiago agreed.

“So,” Ace said, scrutinizing them. “When did this happen?”

Uriel and Bruiser exchanged a look. “Last year?”

A long silence.

Ace, Yaeger, and Thiago spluttered. “Last year?!”

“But... but you were enemies,” Yaeger said.

“You yell at each other all the time,” Thiago said.

“I have a baby,” Uriel said exasperatedly. “Whose do you think it is?”

“Not Bruiser’s!” Ace squawked. He looked helplessly at the other two alphas. “Fuck.”

Bruiser frowned. “What’s going on?”

“Griff won,” Thiago whispered, looking shocked. “He was the only one who said the baby was Bruiser’s. Everyone thought he was insane.”

“There’s a pool? On us?” Uriel scowled thunderously.

Yaeger shrugged. “After Telos and Mav got together, we were all bored.”