Page 34 of A Hal for my Heart

“I, um…” Hal began, looking lost for words. “I think…” he squeezed my hand to the point of pain. My poor alpha.

“Hal prefers to work using his body and hands,” I cut in, then realized how that sounded. “I mean, being a royal advisor isn’t something he can lean into, even though he truly tried. The years of working on a farm have made paperwork seem too daunting and, plainly speaking, boring. I think he’ll be happier doing something else.”

I felt Hal relax next to me. He’d previously mentioned that although he’d learned to read at the orphanage, it was only the bare minimum and that he still struggled with more formal language.

Seb nodded at this, thankfully not looking disappointed. “Is this true, Hal?”

“It is. My whole life, I’ve worked with my hands; it’s all I know. And I like it. I prefer it.” He paused. “I also… find the paperwork difficult since I don’t read very well.” Gods, the courage it took for my sweet alpha to admit this.

“Of course. I never considered that. Very well. I’ll see what I can do,” Seb smiled. “I don’t know if Adrian needs help, not with Corin there all the time now keeping him company, but they need time off, too, so I’ll ask Adrian first. Perhaps some gardening as well? We also have chickens, but they aren’t always kind to strangers.”

Hal scoffed. “Pfft. I can woo any chicken, just you watch. They don’t call me the chicken whisperer for nothing.”

“They call you that?” I asked, awe filling my chest. Seb groaned, but my attention was fixed on my amazing alpha. He already seemed lighter, his posture less tense.

“I do have one request,” Seb said, looking pointedly at Hal. “I would love your help to choose the next royal advisor to take your place. I already found one for the other position, a former royal guard who got hurt during training. He is a fine alpha, and he happily accepted the job, knowing he could do it sitting for most of the day.”

“Gods,” Hal breathed. “What happened to him?”

“He fell off his horse,” Seb grimaced. “The poor animal got spooked while they did some training laps, and his leg broke in a way that simply couldn’t be mended again.”

“Poor guy,” Hal shuddered.

“Indeed. I’ve known him as a loyal guard for years. I’d prefer to have someone who’ll slip into the role naturally. Not everyone will be able to relax around me, firstly because I’m an omega and secondly because I’m the king.”

“I get that,” Hal nodded. “I’ll stay on as long as you need me to.”

“Splendid! Now that everything’s all sorted, when will you be able to come back to work?” Seb frowned at the scattered papers in front of him.

“I was hoping we could take today off and then start tomorrow,” I said.

When I didn’t say anything else, Seb gestured at me to go on. “To what?”

“To move.”

“You’re finally moving into Clive’s old rooms?” Elias looked excited. “If you need help, I have a ton of ideas!”

“Thank you,” I chuckled. “Now that Hal is here, it’ll be less… daunting.” Hal gazed at me softly, and I couldn’t contain myself any longer. Eyeing my two best friends, I slowly climbed into Hal’s lap, snuggling up against him. My alpha sighed with relief, like he, too, had been missing my closeness.

Seb and Elias just looked at us, but didn’t seem to care the least.

“I completely understand what you mean,” Elias said, grimacing. “I asked Seb to please grant me one of the other advisors’ rooms. I didn’t want to live in my father’s.”

Elias’ father had also been one of the four advisors who had been banished from the kingdom following their betrayal of Seb. They’d hidden the truth about alphas not being a danger to omegas, a thing Seb found out to be a lie when he and Gus were forced apart.

“We still have the other two rooms if you want any of them instead?” Seb asked. “You could always take Brennan’s?”

“I hadn’t even thought about that,” I whispered. “I’d love that, if that’s okay?” It would feel like a fresh start, a new beginning with Hal without the shadows of the past looming over us.

“Of course it is. The rooms have all been cleaned and cleared of personal items. You can spend the day moving your things. Everything you want bought or ordered, you can add to your yearly purchases. I want you both to feel at home in your new rooms, so please don’t worry about the price.” Seb’s offer was generous, and we happily accepted.

“Perfect!” Seb exclaimed, moving across the room to search through his drawers. “Here are your keys.” He handed them to Hal, and my heart bloomed with happiness. My alpha owned the key to my heart and now to our future home as well.

Hal accepted the keys, staring at them like they were a strange animal.

I nudged him. “What is it?”

He cleared his throat. “I’ve never had a set of keys before. I’ve never owned anything that required a key before.” Oh, my poor, sweet alpha. How my heart broke for him.