They Forgot Me 99 Times, I Won’t Give Them a 100th Chance Chapter 02

They Forgot Me 99 Times, I Won’t Give Them a 100th Chance Chapter 02

I waited until they finished taking pictures before I walked out.

That night in the outskirts, the temperature suddenly dropped.

Adrian opened the trunk and took out four matching light jackets.

They were commemorative jackets from his graduation internship, with small embroidered badges in different colors on the chest.

He handed one to Julian, tossed one to Kael, and personally draped one over Sienna.

He put the last one on himself.

I stood by the car and waited a while.

Adrian zipped up his jacket before he seemed to suddenly remember me.

“You don’t get cold easily, do you?”

“When you were little, you’d run outside in your pajamas in winter.”

Kael touched my hand.

“You are a little cold.”

He said that, but he didn’t take off his jacket. He just folded my hand into his palm.

“Hang in there. You’ll be fine once we’re back at school.”

His hand was warm.

But for the first time, that warmth didn’t move me.

So concern could be that effortless.

Ask one question, and it could be counted as caring about someone.

Eighty-eight.

Soon it would be enough. Ninety-nine.

Back at school, Sienna sorted through the photos from the trip.

She excitedly passed them out to everyone.

“These are the four best ones. One for each of us.”

Adrian got the moment he fixed her moon hair clip.

Julian’s was the two of them high-fiving and laughing in front of the ring-toss booth.

Kael’s was him standing behind her holding a huge cloud of pink cotton candy.

In Sienna’s own photo, the other three were all looking at her.

They huddled together, discussing whose expression was best.

I stood under the streetlight, my hands empty.

Only after the photos were all handed out did Sienna look at me hesitantly.

“Freya, the Polaroid film just ran out.”

“Next time I’ll bring an extra pack. I’ll definitely take some of you.”

Eighty-nine.

I nodded.

“Okay.”

I knew she was just comforting me offhand.

How could I have any photos?

I’d been almost alone the entire trip.

Kael seemed to think I was too quiet and reached for me.

“Are you upset again?”

“They’re just a few photos. Is it really a big deal?”

I gently pulled free of his hand.

“No. I’m just tired.”

I turned and went upstairs. The truth was, I was exhausted.

I was deliberately cutting the bonds between us.

It made my wolf restless.

Soon.

The four of them posted together.

They posted a photo dump, and not a single picture had anything to do with me.

The caption was: [Graduation won’t break us apart. Together forever.]

Ninety.

I didn’t like it.

The four of them wouldn’t break apart.

I might have to leave early.

I opened the email I’d received that afternoon.

Three months ago, Alpha Rowan Ashford of the Silverpine Pack, our homeland, had contacted me for the first time.

He invited me to return to the territory after graduation and join the pack reconstruction project team, starting as a junior planner.

It was the third time he’d extended the invitation.

The first two times, I’d rejected his invitations, saying I was busy with graduation matters.

Because Kael, my mate, said he would never give up the convenient life in the human world to go back to that small pack without even a major hospital.

Adrian also said we’d worked so hard to leave, so there was no way to go back and suffer.

Julian had even analyzed it for me. “Silverpine had limited resources, and no matter what I did there, it couldn’t compare to the future I’d have in a big city.“

But right then, I typed a line into the reply box.

[Alpha Rowan, I accept your invitation. I’m also willing to return to the territory early and report for duty.]

I had no bonds in this big city anymore.

So just let me go back to my homeland.

Not long after, the Silverpine Packhouse sent a notice.

[Welcome back. Please return to Silverpine territory in three days.]

Three days were enough to clean myself out of their lives.