All Chapters of They Keep Abandoning Me as Practice: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

It was already evening by the time I got home. Lily Sterling, John Hunter, and Jason Livingston were gathered around a bonfire, sharing a roasted lamb leg. Lily turned around, spotted me, and cocked her brows triumphantly at the other two. "I told you Monica would make it home before 7:00 pm. You two lost, so I get to plan our itinerary until the full moon! "Look, you're practically done with your training anyway. It's not like your combat skills are going to rust over a few days off." John clicked his tongue. "Monica, did you pull a fast one on us with Lily? After the Spring Hunt last time, it took you four hours to get back from the forest! How did you make it back in under two this time?" John was the older brother I'd brought home when I was little. When he was nine years old, his parents' relationship had fallen apart, and they had dissolved their mate bond. Neither of them had wanted him. Growing up, my greatest wish had always been for Mom and Dad to give me an older b

I froze and let out a self-deprecating chuckle. So, it was on the day of the Spring Hunt. I had hunted a deer, which would be worth three points for our team. I had carried it back in high spirits, only to discover that no one was waiting at our rendezvous spot. There had been nothing there except a pile of prey carcasses beside the tree roots. Exhausted, I had dragged the pile of carcasses along by myself. I had been afraid that I wouldn't make it back before the competition deadline, and I had also been afraid that abandoning the kill would leave our team with no points and land us in last place, causing us to become a laughingstock. As it turned out, while I had been running around the forest to look for them like a headless chicken, they had been by the river helping Lily gather herbs. No wonder no matter how many times I had called out to them through our mind link in the forest, no one had answered me. John finally recalled what happened. His hand froze in midair, and his

On my way to the other pack under the alliance, Dad reached out to me through his mind link. His voice came through at a hurried pace. He was likely on a run, patrolling the area surrounding the pack territory. "I can't see you off. Be careful out there on your own. Don't talk to strangers, and don't bring anyone home without thinking it through. If you need anything or there's something you want to eat, just mind-link me. I'll have someone bring it to you."My eyes misted over a little, and I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I know." He had already told me these several times the night before. "I'll mind-link you to let you know I made it safely once I get there."After wrapping up the conversation with Dad, I realized that Jason had sent yet another picture of the three of them into our small group chat of four, tagging me. Once again, the three of them were huddled close together.Lily, who was seated right in the middle, had taken the photo. "I deliberately left a spot fo

Susan was a woman of her word. Early in the morning, two days later, she dragged me out to set off for the Temple of the Moon Goddess. On the way there, I was the one holding and checking the scrying map the entire time. Susan introduced me to some of the more prominent landmarks along the way. "Listen carefully. These are all the key landmarks for you to remember the route."On our way back, she folded up my scrying map. "Now, take me to the pack's bazaar."Even though I took a wrong turn three times while leading her, we still managed to arrive at the pack's bazaar in one piece."Not bad. You did so much better than I thought you would! Oh, you have no idea, but I once got lost five times while leading my brother. He was so angry that he called me an idiot!"We burst into laughter again. After returning to my tent, I lightly edited a photo we had taken by the shore. After getting Susan's permission, I posted it in the pack's group chat. …Jason only saw the photo I posted

"To be honest, I genuinely don't have the habit of talking behind people's backs," Susan hurriedly explained. "But you're my friend, so I need to set a few things straight with you. "First of all, a real best friend wouldn't neglect you because of your foster brother or your childhood sweetheart. Secondly, a good she-wolf doesn't string two guys along at the same time. Lastly, I know you're probably going to say that perhaps she doesn't realize those two like her and simply sees them as ordinary friends."I was stumped because she did take the words right out of my mouth. Susan looked at me sympathetically. "Oh, please. Even a blockhead like you can tell what's going on. How could she, the one at the center of it all, not feel a thing? "Those messages she sent you about 'which one should I choose' were just her way of bragging in your face in a roundabout way. For all we know, the only reason she's leading those two morons on is that she hasn't managed to land someone better yet