The Villainess Will Not Be Eclipsed Again

LEAH’S POV I pace the length of my tiny room. Three steps forward, turn, three steps back. I stop in front of the small wall mirror, staring into dark green eyes that feel alien, before running a hand down my face and beginning to speak aloud—testing my own vocal cords, testing my own shattered mind. "My name is Leah Bellmoore," I whisper to the silent room, my voice rasping softly against the quiet walls. "Or at least, it used to be Rosante Leah." I turn on my heel, pacing back toward the window, watching the dust motes dance in the light of the rising sun as I force the words out one by one. "I belong…” I shake that thought out of my head. “I belonged to the Harvest Moon pack, one of the four major werewolf packs dividing the shifter territories." I stop at the edge of my bed, gripping the wooden bedpost as I look up at the ceiling, my voice growing surer. "There are four packs, but only two are ruled by Lycans. The Harvest Moon and New Moon packs have no royal

LEAH’S POV When I woke up hours later in my bedroom, the house was dead silent. My throat felt so dry, it burned. Normally, if I suffered a sudden fever, Bea would be sitting in the armchair beside my bed with a damp cloth and a soothing herbal tea. The chair was empty. I forced myself out of bed, my head spinning wildly as my weak omega stamina struggled to keep me upright. I gripped the doorframe, taking deep breaths to regulate my breathing—a technique Bea had taught me years ago. I crept down the stairs, but halfway down, a heavy, suffocating wave of pressure hit me. Alpha dominance. Alpha Everest Lockwood was in our living room. I hurried down the remaining steps, pulling myself into the entry hall. The scene before me felt like a nightmare. Mother wasn't weeping anymore, she sat numbly on the sofa. Leonardo stood behind her, his face grim. Father sat on the opposite cushion, and sandwiched directly between my parents was Willow. Across from them

LEAH’S POV The memory cuts off sharply, drowned out by another searing pain behind my eyes.I press my hands flat against my skull, waiting out the pounding migraine until it slowly recedes into the background, leaving behind a dull but manageable throbbing at the base of my head.I stand up from the bed, my fingers tightening around the edge of my wooden desk until my knuckles turn white.Not this time. I won’t fail this time. I look at the open luggage on the floor, then at the small paper calendar hanging on the wall.Tonight is the formal dinner at Alpha Lockwood’s estate, a gathering meant to solidify Willow's place among the pack's high nobility. And in three days, the pack will host the grand send-off ball for the twenty-five young wolves selected to attend Eclipse Academy.“Of course I couldn’t go back before she arrived, but I had to come back before this d*mn dinner…” Out of those twenty-five wolves, I personally tutored twenty-two of them. I spent my late evenings writin

LEAH’S POV Leonardo holds her elbow as if she might snap in half if she takes a step too quickly, while Augustine keeps a warm, protective hand hovering over her shoulder, his Beta presence flaring softly around her like a warm blanket.Willow glides down the steps, wearing a lovely dress of soft cream silk that clings to her narrow waist. It is a dress meant for a noblewoman, paid for with the pack's central funds under the order of her devoted father. The moment her small leather slippers touch the last wooden step, she flows directly into Bea’s open arms with a delicate, ringing laugh that echoes through the foyer."Oh, Mother, look at my dress! Leonardo helped me clasp the back ribbon," Willow trills, her voice sweet as honey, thick with exaggerated innocence.Bea instantly forgets her confusion with me. A bright, fond smile bursts across her face as she gathers Willow into her arms, smoothing down the cream silk with gentle, trembling fingers."You look stunning, my sweet girl,

LEAH’S POV The heavy engine of the Rosante family car hums smoothly against the paved road as we leave our territory behind and head toward the high hill where the Alpha’s manor stands.Inside the enclosed space of the vehicle, the air is thick, stifling, and heavy with the scent of high-grade Beta pheromones mixed with expensive perfume.Augustine never has any d*mn semblance of modesty, even when it comes to his pheromones. He sits in the front passenger seat, his massive frame blocking my view of the road, his eyes fixed dead ahead on the winding road illuminated by the headlights. Bea sits in the back row, squeezed between Leonardo and Willow, her fingers nervously smoothing out the lace trim of her dress.And I? I am sitting on the far right, pressed up against the cold glass of the rear door, completely isolated despite being packed tightly into the same row.I lean my head against the cool window pane, watching the dark silhouette of the dense pine forests speed past us in t