Semua Bab Lexara Veyne - The Beta's Flame: Bab 21 - Bab 30

The trail down to the training grounds was damp with morning mist. The path curved gently around the north ridge, opening to the wide expanse where the morning drills were already beginning — blades clashing, forms shouted, wolves half-shifted in motion.Lexara walked alongside Seraphine, the conversation light — strategy threads and council phrasing — but underneath, she could feel it. Eyes watching. Intent forming.Alaric pacing just behind like a wolf scenting something he wanted to name. Not really listening to the conversation being had in front of him, just watching her. Examining her. Trying to figure out if she even fit into a box. Did he want her to? Definitely not. Normally, he preferred females who did what they were told – most did since he was an Alpha, they practically fell to his feet wanting the title or his heirs.Maeron hadn’t said much since breakfast. But Lexara knew he was listening to everything. Watching everything.Then Rowan appeared. Lexara’s newly appointed

The Walk Back — Brothers & SmokeThe battle was clean. The rogues were routed. Captured, not killed. The pack held steady under Lexara’s command, even when they hadn’t meant to. Now, walking back along the south trail, the brothers hovered. Kael on her right. Rurik on the ridge, silent. Bran flanking loosely with Esme at his side. Dain in analytical silence. Eamon trailing, unsure if he was allowed to speak. Lexara said nothing. They waited for her to. She didn’t.Finally, Kael broke. “You could’ve been overrun.”Lexara didn’t turn her head. “I wasn’t.”Rurik grunted. “You should’ve called us earlier.”“I baited them. If I’d pulled rank, they would’ve scattered.”Dain cleared his throat. “We didn’t know your plan.”“You didn’t ask.”They fell quiet again. Lexara stopped walking. Turned.“I appreciate the help,” she said, tone flat. “But let’s not pretend I asked for it.”Kael bristled. Lexara met his eyes.“Let’s not pretend,” she repeated, “that you were protecting me.”She turned ba

The scent of roasted meat, root vegetables, and cedar-baked bread filled the Veyne house before anyone stepped inside. The kitchen was warm with spice and heat. Their mother moved through it effortlessly, her hands steady, her expression unreadable — the way it always was when something big needed anchoring. Tonight, it wasn’t the food holding the room together. It was her.Lexara arrived last. Not out of disrespect. Just instinct. Let the energy settle before entering. Let them try to reclaim the rhythm. She stepped inside, boots cleaned, braid down her back, and felt all of them turn.Kael was pacing by the fire, Vanessa seated nearby, polishing a blade that didn’t need polishing. Her gaze met Lexara’s with a nod — equal parts greeting and warning: He’s wound tight. Dain and Bella were already at the table, quietly discussing logistics — a stack of scout reports sitting beside a pitcher of tea. Rurik leaned against the counter, drink in hand, eyes scanning Lexara like she might star

POV LexaraShe made it all the way to the ridge before her knees gave out. Not from injury. Not from weakness. Just from holding everything in.The way Bran’s unit faltered in formation today.The way Kael barked orders that no one followed fast enough.The way the scouts looked over their shoulders, expecting her voice, her signal, her stillness— And it never came.Because she’d told herself she could let them fall. Because they deserved to.But now, crouched by the ridge where the mist clung low to the pines, she realized the truth: The pack hurting wasn’t fair.They weren’t the ones who silenced her. Not all of them. Not the younger wolves. Not the ones still learning. She was punishing them by absence.And that… That wasn’t her.She pressed her hands into the dirt. Cold, damp, grounding. But her chest still ached. “Why do I still care?” she whispered. The words cracked halfway out. “Why does it still hurt?”Her breath stuttered. And from deep within her — not summoned, not command

Maeron hadn’t moved since she stepped away. Lexara stood at the edge of the mist now, arms crossed, shoulders tense — not with fury anymore, but guarded heartbreak.His voice broke the silence first. Low. Tired. “I thought they needed to see it.”Lexara didn’t turn. “What?”“The council. The pack. All of them.” He stepped closer, hands at his sides. “I thought if we complied — just long enough — they’d feel the fracture for themselves. That they’d realize tradition isn’t a guide anymore. It’s a leash. One we both put around our own necks because we thought maybe they'd see it slipping.”Lexara’s breath caught. She didn’t speak.“I thought if we both stood in place, quietly, gracefully… they’d look around one day and see the old rules had broken around them. And then they’d come asking for change.” He exhaled. “I wanted them to want you. On their own.”Lexara turned. Slowly. Eyes unreadable. “You wanted them to earn me.”Maeron nodded. “Yes.”“And while you waited, I burned.”His eyes