They Forgot Me 99 Times, I Won’t Give Them a 100th Chance

Ch. They Forgot Me 99 Times, I Won’t Give Them a 100th Chance 1 They Forgot Me 99 Times, I Won’t Give Them a 100th Chance 1

Chapter 1

It was the last full moon before graduation, and the wolves hidden at school were restless.

Our little group of five was heading out of town to let our wild side out.

My boyfriend brought venison hand pies, which were our traditional full-moon food.

Each pie had a letter stamped into its crust.

My brother Adrian Bennett’s A, my childhood friend Julian Hayes’s J, my mate Kael Morgan’s K, and my adopted sister Sienna Bennett’s S.

Only F wasn’t on any of the pies.

I looked at Kael. He seemed unbothered when he explained.

“There wasn’t enough venison. You don’t like it, so I didn’t set one aside for you.”

Adrian jumped in to smooth things over. “You’ve been with Kael for three years. Kael’s pie is your pie.”

I didn’t ask why they hadn’t stamped K&A on one.

As usual, I swallowed every emotion and smiled.

“It’s fine.”

In my head, I marked it down.

It was the eighty-fifth time they’d forgotten me.

I would only give them ninety-nine chances. On the hundredth, it would be my turn to forget them.

The five of us were from the Silverpine Pack in Montana.

Four years ago, we’d left our remote territory together, hiding what we were to study in human society.

We were so grateful that in this strange world, we still could be each other’s company.

We’d promised to stay in the same city after graduation.

If possible, we’d build a new pack in human society.

A pack of our own.

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The promise had been so beautiful that I couldn’t help forgiving them again and again.

I thought, tonight at the spring carnival, they wouldn’t leave me out again.

But after waiting in the living room for half an hour, I found out through Sienna’s post that they were already at the carnival.

I followed their scent to find them.

At the end of the crowd, the four of them were wearing glow bracelets, squeezed under the carnival arch taking photos.

No one thought of me.

The wolf inside me went quiet, no longer excited by the approach of familiar scents.

Eighty-six.

I suddenly thought back over the years.

When the five of us went to the movies, I was seated in the corner of the last row.

When the five of us went to the beach, they surfed while I watched their luggage on the shore. When the five of us went on a road trip, the car was too crowded, so they told me to wait at home for them to come back.

Every time someone had to be left out, I was the first one they thought of.

I didn’t walk toward the noisy crowd like I usually did.

Maybe I should learn to get used to life without them.

As I turned, Sienna’s laugh came from behind me. “Kael, you blinked. Let’s take another one.”

Kael laughed. “No, I didn’t. Let’s take one where we’re looking at each other.”

No one noticed I had been there.

No one noticed I had already left.

I watched the scenery alone.

My wolf licked its wounds alone.

After the full moon, on the way back to school, Julian suddenly led us into a handmade gift shop. As soon as we walked in, we smelled a werewolf, along with a clean, pure purifying power.

The owner was a werewolf.

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When he saw Julian, he pulled a velvet box from under the counter.

“Your custom bookmarks are in.”

My wolf could sense an ancient power clinging to them.

This was probably the graduation gift Julian had prepared for us.

Inside were four silver bookmarks shaped like leaves, lined up side by side.

A tiny colored glass bead hung from each one.

Names and graduation messages were engraved on the back.

Adrian’s read “May you have a bright future.” Julian’s was “May all your wishes come true.” Kael’s said “May your travels be smooth.” Sienna’s was “May you be happy every day.”

There was none for me.

Again.

Eighty-seven.

The owner looked awkward. “Weren’t there five of you?”

Julian froze for a moment, then pushed up his glasses. “When I placed the order, I didn’t have enough money.”

“Freya, I promise, I’ll make yours up next time.”

Sienna spoke up softly. “Freya, you can have mine if you’d like.”

She had just held out the bookmark when Adrian pressed her hand down.

“It has your name on it. It’s useless to her.”

Kael also smiled and ruffled her hair. “It’s fine. Freya doesn’t like little things like this. You keep it.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t like it.

It was just that every time I was left out, they used that excuse to cover the awkwardness.