Marked By The Mad King Alpha (Phoebe and Perry) novel Chapter 55

Standard POV Format

“Damn it! Are you two trying to kill each other?!”
Flynn’s voice cracked through the chaos, rough with exhaustion. “If you’re going to do it, wait until I’m gone. I’m not dying cleaning up your mess!”

He forced himself between me and Timothy, his chest heaving from the effort. Blood streaked his tunic, but his posture stayed unyielding. Behind him, Timothy lay sprawled on the training ground, half-conscious, blood pooling beneath him. The stubborn fool refused to die, though the wound on his neck would take time to close.

I stayed standing. My own shoulder bled where his blade had found me, but the pain hardly registered. My rage had dimmed to embers, leaving only the cold clarity that came after destruction.

If Timothy weren’t who he was—if he hadn’t fought beside me, saved my life more than once—his defiance today would’ve meant execution.

“Leave,” I said finally.

Flynn misread me, stepping protectively in front of Timothy. “I’ll take him to Helen. You need to calm down—”

“You,” I cut him off. “Leave.”

He froze. “What are you planning to do?”

“Don’t,” he warned when I shoved past him. “Perry—!”

Flynn stumbled aside, clutching his stomach where fresh blood seeped from the reopened wound. Still, he didn’t back down completely.

I ignored him and knelt beside Timothy. Flynn’s eyes went wide, certain I meant to finish what I’d started. But instead of breaking the gamma’s neck, I grabbed his collar and checked the damage. The cut was deep, but not mortal.

“If I wanted him dead,” I muttered, “he wouldn’t still be breathing.”

Timothy’s lips twitched. “Too bad you missed the vital spot.”

“I never miss.”

I sat back on my heels, staring out at the approaching storm. The air smelled of rain and iron.

“What did she tell you?” I asked.

He coughed, spitting blood to the side. “You should’ve asked before attacking me.”

“Don’t test me.”

Timothy’s eyes narrowed, but he spoke anyway. “If you want her truth, apologize. Stop tearing into her like she’s your enemy. You can’t treat her like garbage and expect her to trust you.”

Flynn sank to the ground nearby, too tired to intervene again.

I growled low in my throat. “Without my anger, I wouldn’t have survived.”

Timothy’s voice softened. “You don’t need to just survive anymore. You’re stronger than you think. You’re living past your nightmare—but she’s still trapped in hers.”

Standard POV Format

I slid the new vial of poison into its hiding place, pressing it behind the same book on the shelf.
The glass felt heavier each time I touched it, as if it knew what it was meant to do.

My hatred for Perry was a steady flame, but it burned alongside something even more painful—longing.
I despised him. Yet every time he vanished for days, a hollow ache spread in my chest. I couldn’t tell if it was the mate bond or madness.

Sleep came without warning.

A light touch dragged me back from the dream.
Fingers traced the length of my arm, stopping on my stomach.

My eyes flew open.

“Reginald,” I whispered, the name falling like a curse.

He stood too close, his smile full of poison. “Don’t you want to greet your brother?”

Revulsion surged through me. I slapped his hand away and scrambled back, heart pounding. “How did you get in here?!”

The palace doors were supposed to be guarded. The training grounds were on the opposite side of the compound. But there he was—uninvited, unafraid.

His eyes gleamed with malice. “Oh, don’t look so surprised, little sister. We’re family. Families share everything.”