Marked By The Mad King Alpha (Phoebe and Perry) novel Chapter 42

Standard POV Format

“Cause trouble under my care?” I tilted my head. Cameron sat stiff across from me, avoiding my gaze like everyone did. “What trouble do you think she’ll cause me?”

The former beta swallowed. “My king… I can’t say it outright. I won’t smear her name — she’s still my daughter.”

I let the silence stretch until the words soured in the air. “If that’s all, then you needn’t stay. She’s alive. Unharmed. Go home.”

He hesitated, then straightened as if steeling himself. “My king… I only came because I fear for her. She was punished and cast down to omega. If she repeats the same mistakes here—”

“Sully my name?” I laughed, low and humorless. “Do you really think I care about my name? They call me the Mad King for a reason.” Cameron’s face lost color; he’d chosen the wrong audience for moral lectures.

He flushed but forced himself on. “No—no. That’s not what I mean. I just—she’s still young. She made bad choices. She… she once seduced Reginald. She ran, she chased men. We punished her. Alpha Kevin rejected her. I worry she’ll bring—shame.”

The story poured out like someone reading from a list: mother fled for a mate, Phoebe seduced her stepbrother, she spiraled, the pack shunned her, she tried to run and was dragged back and demoted. Cameron’s voice carried the practiced cadence of someone who’d told the tale to soothe himself as much as to warn me. Whether it was truth or reshaped rumor, it was convincing enough.

“Family doesn’t hurt each other,” he finished, voice small.

I studied him. “Mine did.” I said it flatly. “So did yours.”

I didn’t answer with words. The thought of watching the former beta sit across from his daughter—watching the way truth bends under pressure—felt deliciously, dangerously entertaining.

He’d come to plead. I’d invited him to lunch. I’d watch and listen. And if the story was a lie? Then I’d make certain the liar paid for it.