Meridional projection of the Alfvén speed (VA) in our AWSoM steady-state simulations. Top: Sun (CR 2107). Middle: young Sun-like star (CR 2107 + 75 G large-scale dipole). Bottom: M-dwarf (Proxima Centauri). The sphere represents the stellar surface, color-coded by the radial field (BR) driving each model. The color scaling for VA is preserved in all cases. The VA profiles in Figure 2 have been extracted along the white lines The field of view is 12 R★, with a set of selected magnetic field lines in black.