บททั้งหมดของ Lexara Veyne - The Beta's Flame: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

Lexara learned early that silence made men uncomfortable. Especially when they were her brothers. The Beta Hall was loud, full of heat and bluster—too many voices layered over one another, all trying to out-assert. It always smelled faintly of sweat, steel, and fire. Tonight, it carried the sharper edge of fear barely veiled by ego.Five brothers. All older. All Betas. All raised to serve the Alpha bloodline with teeth bared and heads bowed. She was the only girl. The youngest.And, by their judgment, the mistakeLexara sat quietly at the long oak table, her fingers curled around a steaming mug of wolfroot tea she didn’t plan to drink. The cedar scent calmed others—it centered her. She didn’t need it. Calm was her native tongue.She was small by their standards—5’2 and built for agility, not intimidation. Auburn hair, braided down her back, caught firelight like a live ember. Her fair skin flushed easily in heat, a warmth that had nothing to do with shyness. Wolf ears, dark russet tip

The Alpha’s voice didn’t echo. It didn’t need to. Even when calm, it pressed into the bones of every wolf in the chamber—a heat that didn’t rise, just was, steady and total like summer sun before a wildfire.“Who wants to explain,” Alpha Maeron said, “why a rogue walked through the south border, killed one of my sentries, and disappeared without challenge?”Silence.Then Kael stepped forward. Lexara stood in the shadows just behind her brothers, as always. She didn’t need the center of the room. She watched the center. And right now, it was cracking.Kael squared his shoulders. “We believed the western patrol was the higher risk. The rogue must’ve taken advantage of the shift in formation—”“You mean the formation you changed,” Maeron interrupted smoothly, “against the recommendation submitted in writing by my youngest Beta?”Kael hesitated. Lexara said nothing.Bran cleared his throat. “There were multiple threats, Alpha. We made a group call based on historical data—”“Rurik,” Maero

Lexara stood at the edge of the forest, just beyond the patrol line, where the scent of pine was thick and the air finally stopped tasting like tension. It was nearly midnight. She had dismissed the scout who trailed her — officially — and told Rowan to stay within the ridge perimeter.“I need the air to think,” she’d said.What she meant was: I need to let Veyra breathe.It wasn’t the kind of need that clawed at her. It was subtler. Like a hum just below thought. Like firelight caught behind the ribs. Resonance didn’t just stabilize others. It needed somewhere to ground her, too. And sometimes, thought alone wasn’t enough. Lexara unbuckled her bracers, slipped her outer leathers off, and stepped into the clearing barefoot.Her breath slowed. The wind shifted.And Veyra rose.Not with fury. Not with pain. With purpose.Her skin prickled. Her heart didn’t race — it aligned. Gold flared through her irises, markings brightening like drawn silver across her temples. She closed her eyes.

She felt them before she heard them. Not their footsteps — they were trained better than that. Not their voices — not yet. It was their emotional weather. The shift in the air. The rising press of heat and instinct and outrage poorly disguised as concern. Lexara didn’t turn around. She stood near the ridge, now with a blanket covering her, she kept one out by the ridge; still half-shadowed by the trees, silver mist curling around her ankles like it had settled there of its own accord. The moon hadn’t moved. Neither had she.Kael’s voice came first.“Are you out of your goddessdamned mind?”She didn’t flinch. Didn’t breathe too quickly. She waited.Then Rurik’s drawl, sharp-edged and mocking beneath the anger. “Of course she didn’t tell anyone. Our little ghost just vanished. Again.”“She dismissed her guard,” Dain snapped. “There’s a reason protocol exists.”Lexara turned. Slowly. Calmly.“You’re loud,” she said.Kael’s shoulders tightened. “You were alone. Unshadowed. After a rogue

Lexara left the ridge after midnight. Not because she was done. Because the stillness had settled. The mist receded slowly, brushing her ankles like a goodbye. She pulled her blanket tight around her and started down the slope barefoot — quiet, sure-footed, deliberate. Her body still hummed. Not with rage. With regulation. She didn’t have to shift. But Veyra was already awake under her skin, tail twitching, fur prickling in anticipation. Not agitation. Invitation.Below, near the river bend. She sensed him. Alpha Maeron. She didn’t see him — but Lexara never needed to see what she could already feel. His presence was heat held in check. A steady gravity just outside the edge of her mind. He wasn’t hiding. He was waiting. She stepped into the clearing, exhaled once. Then shifted. No drama. No howl. No bones snapping like fireworks. Just silence. And then: Veyra.Burnished copper fur glowed faintly in the moonlight, silver streaks shimmering along her spine. Her paws landed so lightly t