Page 41 of A Hal for my Heart

A guard appeared in the doorway, looking alarmed. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, about the inconvenience and the late hour, but someone has urgent matters to discuss with you.”

Seb waved at the guard. “It’s alright. I’m up anyway. Let them in.”

The guard stepped aside, and an omega, the spitting image of Briar, only older and slightly larger in frame, hurried inside, followed by a huge alpha.

“Sin!” Seb exclaimed. “But… how…?”

“Please tell me Briar is safe!” Sin fell to his knees in front of Seb, clutching his legs. “Please tell me my brother is safe, Your Majesty,” he cried. The alpha was at his side in seconds, speaking comforting words against his ear, then pulled Sin from the floor and into his arms.

I stood from the chair on wobbly legs and approached Briar’s brother. “Briar has left,” I whispered, and the wound inside burst wide open as pain surged through me.

“Gods, no!” Sin cried out, burying his face in his hands, his body shaking. “It’s all my fault.”

“Darling, it isn’t your fault,” the alpha spoke gently, cradling Sin in his arms. “How could you have known the lengths your father would go to?”

“But I allowed him back into our lives,” Sin countered.

“You did that out of the goodness of your heart, darling.”

“Still…” Sin shook his head. “We need to go immediately.”

Seb nodded. “Of course. But first, tell me everything.”

“Martin, will you tell them?” Sin’s voice shook as he looked imploringly at the alpha by his side.

“Of course, darling.” Martin sighed deeply, then continued, “Clive came to us a while back after he had been banished from the palace. He was a broken man, asking Sin for forgiveness and claiming he now saw the error of his ways and accepted me as Sin’s mate. He seemed genuine and Sin…” Martin hesitated, and Sin nodded. “Sin wanted so desperately to believe his father. So we allowed him into our home and into our lives. When it came to his banishment from the palace, Clive spun us a tale of betrayal and…” Martin faltered, eyeing Seb warily. “And of a cruel and dominant king who was unwilling to share his power with anyone. A king who had gone mad with love and was under the spell of a ruthless alpha. An alpha who was a threat to all omegas.”

“That bastard!” Seb gasped, clenching his jaw. “I should’ve had his head!”

“You couldn’t have known, my love,” Gus interjected.

Seb shook his head, then looked at Martin. “Continue, please.”

“We didn’t know the truth. We live far away from the palace and had no way of finding out. Clive stayed with us for a while, taking on the role of the perfect father and grandfather to our little Rue.”

A sob fell from Sin’s lips, then a muffled “I hate him…”

“After a while, he started leaving the house for longer periods of time,” Martin continued. “We didn’t really think anything of it until he started asking questions about Briar. Of course, Sin didn’t know anything; it had been years since he’d seen his brother.”

“Years,” Sin sobbed. “So many years lost because of that evil, deceitful man.”

“My love, don’t exert yourself,” Martin cooed, patting Sin’s stomach fondly. Then, looking at us, Martin smiled softly, “We have a little one on the way. Just found out.”

We mumbled our congratulations. Briar was going to be an uncle again. The thought of Briar never knowing his nephews was unbearable. “Continue, please,” I implored Martin.

“Yes. Then one evening, I was attending to my horses, and I heard voices in the vicinity of the woods. We live out in the country, you see, and no one is around, especially not at night. I approached quietly, and that’s when I heard Clive and another voice. It was an alpha, I’m sure, from the depth of his voice. Clive was telling the alpha about a dangerous omega working undercover at the palace with plans to overthrow the king himself.”

“Lies!” Seb roared. “The loathsome, vile imposter!”

Martin continued unfazed, his voice urgent. “Clive told the alpha about his plan to lure the dangerous omega from the palace to a secluded place where the alpha could then snatch him and keep him imprisoned until the king could be notified and then deal with the threat.”

Sin sniffled as Martin continued. “I knew it was a lie, of course. Why would Clive care about the safety of the king if said king was a cruel leader under the spell of a ruthless alpha? Something didn’t add up.”

“Briar…” My voice broke. “He would never. He thought Sin was in danger. And now he’s gone. On his own.” I hunched over, clutching my stomach in blinding agony.

“We need to find him,” Sin urged. “My father… There’s no limit to his thirst for power. I don’t know what his plan is, but it is cruel, I’m sure.”

I nodded. “He’ll probably try to use Briar as some sort of leverage to regain power.”