Semua Bab No Alpha But Myself: Bab 1 - Bab 8

I set the meatloaf down on the long oak dining table, the scent wafting through the air like a forgotten promise.Laughter echoed from the living room.Father, usually buried in Alpha Council meetings and Ashveil Pack’s logistics, sat comfortably, listening intently as Eris gushed about her time at Wolfsbane Academy.“We practiced under the pack elder Eldric,” she said, eyes shining. “He said I had the instincts of a born Alpha—strong enough to lead any pack.”Mother clutched Eris’s hand, eyes shimmering with emotion.“My sweet girl. You’ve lost weight, haven’t you? You need more rest—too much time in training will weaken your wolf and dull your senses.”Dax sat beside them, still dutifully peeling chestnuts like some Beta servant.I stood quietly at the threshold between the kitchen and living room—watching, never invited.That room was warm, bright, full of voices and attention.This room—mine—was quiet, dim. Forgotten.Eris’s voice rose with performative sweetness.“Vera, why are yo

The lights were off. Mother assumed I was asleep.She hadn’t expected me to overhear their discussion about giving up my mate, as if I were merely a placeholder in Selene’s shadow.When I walked past her, calm but cold, her face stiffened with fear.“I’m returning to the outpost,” I said flatly, ignoring the faint ache in my chest—the burn of betrayal that still lingered.Mother exhaled sharply, realizing I wasn’t about to explode. Father gave a curt nod, his approval silent. Good. Less trouble for the pack.Dax, however, stepped forward, his eyes narrowing at the duffel beside me.“You’re taking your things? Are you really running away because we’re upset about what happened to Selene?”“You think that little apology call makes it okay?”Their guilt from earlier—so fleeting—had already been replaced by righteousness. It always shifted like that: a second of shame, then back to their cold duty.“Your sister was hospitalized, Vera,” Father growled. “And you haven’t even properly apologi

The line went quiet after my words.Then came Cain’s low chuckle, confident in all the wrong ways.“Vera, are you serious? After everything we planned for the mating ceremony? You’re really ending it over a tantrum?”I exhaled slowly. “So you do remember how long this has been arranged.”He still thought I was bluffing.“Come on. You’re just upset. I said I’d make it up to you. Acting cold won’t change how I feel.”I didn’t need to explain anymore. When I heard Dax arguing with him in the background, I hung up. Then I blocked every number tied to the Stormveil Pack—Cain included.That night, I slept through the night for the first time in weeks. And I dreamed.In the dream, I saw a young girl curled on the floor of a cold outpost barrack. Her uniform was too big, her hands covered in healing scrapes. She scribbled something into a journal—half numbers, half thoughts, never full sentences. A quiet record of everything she swallowed down.Today, I covered someone else’s patrol again. No

“Do I have to accept your apology?”I met Dax’s eyes, my voice low but heavy enough to make him flinch.The courtyard outside my dorm, usually alive with the chatter of young wolves, had gone eerily quiet. The tension between us had drawn curious glances. They couldn’t understand our words, but the weight of it was palpable—something was breaking.I hated the idea of being on display. But there was no hiding this.All those years of silence, of shrinking away from my own emotions, came rushing out.“You say you redirected your love to Eris, like that makes everything okay. But why did she get your protection, while I got nothing but your dismissal?”“You hated it when I fought her. Said I was loud, too rebellious. But if I hadn’t fought, you wouldn’t have even seen me. You would’ve let me fade into the background.”“I found something better when I left. I went to the outpost. At least here, I earned my place. There, I wasn’t just some quiet shadow of the golden child. There, I had powe