Werewolf University

Trent hauled me over his shoulder and barreled toward my grandmother’s in-ground swimming pool. My scream deafened as we sliced through the cool water and toward the bottom.

I made it back to the top first, slinging my hair as I gasped for air.

Strong arms wrapped around me from behind, and he lugged me toward the edge of the pool. Trent’s mouth moved against my neck and caused goosebumps to form on my arms.

“Have you heard back from any of the colleges you applied to?”

Trent pushed his fingers into his dirty blond hair and studied me with big brown eyes. “Yeah, heard back from LSU last week. I got in.”

He shoved his shoulder into mine, and smirked, which caused the cleft in his chin to deepen. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll hear back soon, and we can figure out who is going where.”

I knew better than to plan my life around a boy, but I loved Trent. He’d been my protector, my best friend, and everything a girl wanted out of a guy.

“I know,” I lied.

I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure why none of the colleges, even the small ones, had replied to me yet. My grades were stellar, and I’d taken pride in after-school activities. It didn’t make any sense.

Our sliding glass doors opened, and my grandmother walked out into the sunlight. She’d raised me since I was three years old, after my parents died, and I loved her like a mother.

I could see the worry lines on her face from the distance. “Savannah,” she called after me. “Come on inside, I need to talk to you about something. Trent, you head on home now. You can come back tomorrow.”

Trent gave me a look but crawled out and jogged two houses down to his own. I climbed out of the pool and grabbed my towel.

“What’s going on, Grammy?” I asked, drying my hair with my oversized towel.

Her wiry white hair looked unkempt, which was unusual for her, and the permanent frown she wore scared me. “Did someone die?”

She shook her head. “Come on inside, Dear.”

Grammy walked toward the dining table where she had papers set out. A familiar wooden box sat in the middle. She was going to give me a letter. Not just any letter, but one my mother left behind for me.

Grammy never told me exactly what happened to my parents, other than them being murdered, but it always struck me as odd that she wrote these letters. Like she planned for it to happen. Like cancer or a sickness.

Grammy always gave me the same vague answers of “she had a feeling” or “just in case.”

Tears pooled in the corners of my eyes before my butt hit the chair. Grammy kept her calm, as she always did, and slid an envelope across the table to me.

With shaky hands, I unfolded the letter and stared at my mother’s neat handwriting. Unfortunately, I didn’t remember much of them, just a vague image every once in a while.

But I knew her handwriting. Because she’d written me a letter for every occasion possible. My first crush. Sixth grade graduation. My first bra. My period. She hit every milestone.

I assumed this was high school graduation or college. Either way, I couldn’t wait to see what Mom wrote for me.

“Sweet Savannah,”

“I can’t believe this day is here. What I would give to be there with you. I can only imagine how long your dark hair has grown, or if your hazel eyes still light up at the sight of chocolate.”

“You’re graduating soon, and I know you probably have tons of aspirations for yourself, and it hurts me to write this letter. Your dad and I need you to understand that everything we do is for your safety, and the better good.”

“We have already enrolled you in Werewolf University in Southern Louisiana. It’s where your dad and I met. It’s where you will go.”

“You’ll fit in there, and everything will make sense. We love you so much, Savannah. And don’t you forget it. Go make friends, and stay true to your instincts, they will always get you far.”

“We love you—forever and always.”

My fingertips grew numb as I reread the letter for the second time. I blinked, trying to erase and make sense of the letter in front of me. Werewolf University?

What kind of sideshow college was that? Who named a college after a supernatural … dog?

I let it fall to the table and glared at my grandmother. “Have you read this?”

She shook her head. “I don’t read them, Savannah. You know that.”

Anger rolled in my stomach and stupid, hot tears rolled down my tightened face. I pushed my dark hair from sticking to my tear-coated cheeks and swallowed the lump in my throat.

“I’m not going to some stupid dog college, Grammy. They can’t make me go. They aren’t here. I want to go with Trent. I love him.”

Grammy looked off into the distance with a frown on her face. “Darlin’, I wish I could change it, but I promised them I would make sure you obeyed the letters. It’s already set in stone.”

I stood up, my chair flying backward. “So you did know about college. All those times I talked to you about going to LSU or out of state. You didn’t say anything. You let me believe I had a choice, and I don’t.”

Grammy folded her arms over her stomach. “I’m sorry—”

“And how is it set in stone? I didn’t even apply there. None of the colleges I applied to have responded. I can’t believe this.”

Grammy stood up slowly, using the table as support. “I’m sorry, Savannah, but you have to go. It was their dying wish.”

Of course it was their dying wish to ruin my life.

They didn’t know Trent. They didn’t know what going to this college would make me give up. We’d make it work. I knew we would.

Werewolf University wouldn’t change my love for Trent, and it wouldn’t ruin my life, because I wasn’t going.