All Chapters of The Villainess Will Not Be Eclipsed Again: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

LEAH’S POV When I woke up hours later in my bedroom, the house was deathly quiet.My throat burned. Normally, if I suffered a dizzy spell or 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, shuddering breaths to regulate my pulse— a breathing 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 twisted 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 sat Alpha

LEAH’S POVMy fingers hover over the glowing glass screen of my team communicator.The small light blinks blue in the dark of my room. Three sent messages sit at the top of the screen. None of them have been opened.Sender: Leah BellmooreRecipient: Uriel ThorneMessage: Lord Thorne, we need to meet at the library to plan our routes for the trial.No answer.I swipe my thumb across the screen to the next chat.Sender: Leah BellmooreRecipient: Regis NightshadeMessage: Lord Nightshade, when are you free to meet at the library to talk about strategy?Blank too.I tap the last name on the screen.Sender: Leah BellmooreRecipient: Jakob GreavesMessage: Lord Jakob, I have the tactical map ready. Can we meet today to talk about our team plan?There is only one reply in my inbox. It came three days ago, right after I sent the first text.Jakob Greaves: Do whatever feels best to you, Bellmoore.I close the communicator and set it face down on my desk.I look at the calendar hanging on my wa

URIEL’S POV DAY FOUR OF THE OUTER VALLEY RIDGE TRIAL I am not one to curse, but I should have fucking known. The signs were right there from the very first day, written in the small, quiet space she always kept between us. When I met her near the administrative corridor to talk about registering under my team, she did not react like the other low-ranking students. She did not bow her head in submission. She did not try to act confident or pretend she was brave. She simply froze. A sudden flash of raw panic passed through her eyes, bright and clear. Her entire body went stiff, and she took two slow steps back until a precise three-foot gap sat between us. Most people would take that distance for respect. They would assume a low-ranking omega from the Harvest Moon pack was just honoring the natural space owed to a Lycan who sits at the top of the food chain. I am not a fool. I know what respect looks like, and I know what fear looks like. Her fear was different. It felt person

LEAH’S POV DAY ONE OF THE OUTER VALLEY RIDGE TRIALThen he walked away, disappearing into the thick grey fog without looking back.The fear that hit those four Betas was instant. The dirty, predatory look in their eyes vanished, replaced by pale, rigid terror. They still hit me. They knocked me into the dirt and kicked my ribs until my vital watch triggered its warning alarm and an instructor dropped from the canopy of the trees to pull me out. But because of Nightshade's threat, they didn't go any further. They didn't dare.Back then, I didn't know what to make of it. He didn't save me. If he wanted to save me, he could have stopped them from hitting me at all. But he set a boundary in a place where nobody ever set boundaries for Leah Bellmoore.Only in this world will a so-called villainess be bullied as the normal standard. Though, back then, it was my everyday life.I muse over it now, a cold, dry feeling settling in my chest.I am not grateful to Regis Nightshade. Absolutely

DURING THE COURSE OF THE OUTER VALLEY RIDGE TRIALLEAH’S POVI turn my back on them and walk toward the stream, my chest tight.‘Let them talk,’ I tell myself, my inner voice cold and steady as I kneel by the rush of clear water. ‘Let them order me around. Let them act like I am nothing more than a servant girl catering to their whims.’I pull three small clay jars from my leather pouch. Inside the dark glazed clay sits the thick, pale amber resin of the silver-root, mixed carefully with the fine, fragrant dust of the red-leaf extract.I scoop cold river water into the metal cooking pot. Then, with steady, unhurried fingers, I drop three generous measures of the herbal blend directly into the water, watching it dissolve into a clear, completely odorless liquid.On its own, this mixture is harmless. In fact, it is beneficial. It speeds up blood circulation and sharpens the physical senses. When they drink it, their bodies will feel lighter, their instincts slightly faster. They will f