Chapter 42: Chapter 42 Family Does Not Hurt
Perry’s POV
"Cause trouble under my care?" I tilted my head lazily. I wanted to hear what this man could tell me. "What trouble do you think she will cause me?"
Cameron looked composed in his seat as he faced me, though he avoided direct eye contact—the intensity of my gaze was something he couldn’t bear. "My king, I can’t say it, because if I do, I will portray a bad image of her, and no matter what, she is still my daughter."
"Then I don’t think you need to see her. She’s fine. Alive and unharmed, if that’s what you care about. You can leave now." I felt a wave of disappointment wash over me—I’d expected more from this fool sitting before me.
I didn’t like the beta for countless reasons. He was a scheming old bastard. This wasn’t our first encounter either. I remembered him from long before I claimed the throne.
"My king, I’m glad she’s fine under your care, but I miss my daughter." Cameron drew a deep breath, as if carrying the weight of the world. "I’m grateful you haven’t acted harshly despite the rumors spreading about her, but she’s still my daughter, and I didn’t get to see her when you took her away."
"So you blame me?"
"No, of course not!" Panic crept into Cameron’s voice as he waved his hands dismissively, then sighed again. "I only want to give her advice. She tarnished her own reputation back in the Obsidian Claw pack, and now she’s your mate and will be queen of this kingdom—I want her to behave."
"Who told you she’ll be queen of this kingdom?"
Shock spread across Cameron’s face, but I ignored it and continued. "If you couldn’t give her advice when she was still in the Obsidian Claw pack, what makes you think it’ll work now?"
Cameron had no answer, but he wouldn’t be a beta if he couldn’t wriggle out of this.
"My king, everything that happened was punishment for her, and I think she’s learned her lesson. I believe she’ll listen to me now. Whether you make her queen or not, she still needs to behave so she won’t sully your name."
"Sully my name?" I laughed—that was the funniest thing I’d heard all day. My nickname was the Mad King, after all. "What else could she possibly do to sully my name?"
Only then did Cameron realize his mistake. This time, he didn’t try to be clever and shut his mouth, waiting for me to stop laughing at his blunder.
"If there’s nothing else you want to say, you can leave."
Cameron lowered his head. He had two choices: leave and forget why he came, or give me what I wanted.
Kevin had told him to expect this.
"My king, what do you want to know about my daughter?" Cameron finally asked, his expression emotionless as I matched his seriousness.
This was when the real conversation began.
"What kind of mistake did she make to be punished and demoted to omega?" I interlaced my fingers and propped my chin on them. My gaze was sharp enough to make Cameron restless, though he hid it well.
"That..." He acted troubled discussing his daughter’s mistakes, but then the story flowed smoothly. He didn’t hold back in revealing Phoebe’s offenses.
Phoebe’s mother had abandoned the pack after finding her destined mate. She left Phoebe and Cameron without a word to be with that man.
"I think she got that from her mother." Anger and resentment still lingered in Cameron’s voice when he spoke of Phoebe’s mother.
Around fourteen, she’d seduced her stepbrother. Reginald resisted because they were practically family—he felt it was completely wrong to have that kind of relationship with his stepsister.
After that rejection, Phoebe went wild, trying to be with any man she could get. Her actions tarnished the family name, and no matter what Cameron did, Phoebe wouldn’t tone down her promiscuous behavior.
This led to the day she tried to run away from the pack house because the pack members hated her for seducing almost all their men.
They caught her and brought her back, where she was demoted to omega. Because of this, Alpha Kevin rejected her as his mate.
"But even after that, she still chased the alpha because the mate bond was apparently still there, and Alpha Kevin couldn’t resist when she kept throwing herself at him."
Cameron lifted his head, giving me an apologetic look that made me want to gouge his eyes out.
"The alpha is a man, after all, and he wasn’t with anyone else. The temptation made him weak. It was a lapse in judgment to get tangled with Phoebe, and he admitted that." Cameron shook his head. "That’s why I don’t want her making the same mistake here."
The story was believable, and I listened attentively. It was hard to tell whether the former beta was telling the truth or rehashing lies.
"I hope you understand, my king. No matter how flawed my daughter is, she’s still my blood. Family doesn’t hurt each other."
I scoffed. "Mine did." I leaned back, looking lazy. "So did you."
I invited Cameron to lunch with Phoebe—I wanted to see how they interacted.
"I don’t think this is a good idea," Flynn said when he heard my plan.
"Nothing’s ever a good idea in your eyes," I said irritably. We walked toward the dining hall where Cameron waited alone.
I’d just sent an omega to inform Phoebe that I’d meet her in the dining hall with her father. She must be on her way too.
"Perry, what’s your point in proving this?" Flynn asked skeptically about Phoebe. "You need to cut her off from those pack people if you want to keep her. We can silence them so they won’t spread rumors about her beyond their pack."
"You worry too much about the kingdom’s image." I didn’t seem to care. A good image didn’t guarantee good fortune. "Stay back, Flynn. I don’t want to hear your opinion."
