You know how she is. He laid his head on his paws. She always wants you near. To be honest, she isn't even thrilled with the idea of you going to KSU, and it's not even that far away.
He did have a fair point. I bet she's not so against it after this. Wolf Moon was an hour farther away than KSU.
That is not an understatement. He stood on all fours and motioned back in the direction of the house. Come on. We don't want to worry them.
You're right. I glanced at the moon and realized it was well after midnight, at this point. I followed after him as we both ran back home.
The entire way back, his words haunted me. He was right; if I went to Wolf Moon, I could help bring to light our pack’s issues. Still, I wasn't all that sure I was Ivy League material, but it wouldn't hurt to at least give it a try. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?
Chapter Three
The summer seemed to speed by, and before I knew it, August was upon us. To say Mom hadn't been thrilled that I'd officially confirmed attending Wolf Moon would be putting it mildly. Dad and Max were my biggest supporters, so Mom finally gave up arguing against it.
However, today was my move-in date, and for the first time in my life, Mom wasn't the one beside me. Dad and Max were the ones dropping me off. It stung. We had always done things together as a family.
"Hey, are you okay?" Dad glanced in the rearview mirror, looking at me. His eyes were full of concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I didn't want to pout. Today was one of the most important days in every shifter's life—the day they started college. Of course, it was an even bigger deal because of the university I'd be attending. Each shifter was encouraged to go to college to help gather skills for their individual packs. Each pack had their own doctors, lawyers, engineers, and whatever else was needed. Yes, we blended in with humans and hid in plain sight. However, we had to have our own resources because of our animal half. This was the one school where only shifters attended. From a human perspective, they didn't have a clue what set us apart from other Ivy League schools. Not only were the students there good at academics, but the sports teams were amazing too. The school acted and functioned like any other college.
"You know Mom loves you." Max turned around in the front passenger seat to see me. "She's probably a blubbering mess right now. I don't know what's going on with her."
"Me neither, but your brother is right." Dad turned onto the road that would lead to the college. "Your Mom is torn up inside. She'll come around. You're the baby, and we're going to be empty nesters with you gone. She's not sure what to do."
"Yeah, you're right." One of Mom's things was making sure we all stayed close. Maybe she was afraid this was the beginning of the end.
The trees began to thicken as we approached the school, and my stomach began churning. I was so nervous about today and upset about Mom that I had skipped breakfast. Right about now, I was regretting it. My first interaction with this school wasn't pleasant, and I was anxious about seeing Liam again. It was stupid because I was sure he wouldn't even remember me, which pissed me off worse, for reasons I couldn’t explain.
Too soon, a huge-ass brick wall with a gate appeared displaying a sculpted wolf howling at the moon on the iron connecting the two sides. The gate was wide open with a ‘Welcome Home’ sign hanging on one side.
"Wow." Max leaned back in his seat and shook his head. "It's even fancier than I imagined."
If I had thought I was anxious before, I now stood corrected. Nausea began to inch its way upward.
Dad slowed at the gate, rolling down his window as a guard stepped out from a small building between the two roads.
"I need to see some ID and an acceptance letter." The guard examined my father and glanced at Max then at me.
"Oh, here." Dad pulled out his ID, but the guard lifted his hands.
"I'm pretty sure you're not the one attending school here." The guard nodded his head in my direction. "She’s the one with the power. I need her ID and the letter."
Okay, that was strange. I wasn’t sure what he meant by that. I pulled out my driver’s license and my letter, handing them to Dad. "There you go."
Dad passed them over to the guard, who walked back into the small building for a minute.
"What is he doing? Verifying the paper and ink was actually printed from here?" Max snorted, but it sounded forced.
"Shush." Dad cut his eyes over at him. "The window is still down, and he's a shifter. Get your head on straight."
"Whoa!" Max lifted both hands in the air. "Don't get all pissy."
The guard headed back over to us, and his eyes locked on me. "Welcome to Wolf Moon Academy. Good luck. You'll need it." With that, he tipped his hat and waved us on through.
What the hell was that about? Maybe Mom was right that I shouldn't have come here. "Should we just go back home?"
"No." Dad shook his head and glanced over his shoulder. "It's fine. You'll be fine. And if it doesn't work out, we'll go from there."
"Holy shit ..." Max murmured the words as a humongous stadium appeared on our right. Through one of the breaks, we could see the whole football team in their signature silver and blood-red uniforms.
The stadium may be huge, but as Dad took the turn, only four large, brick buildings appeared. Two of the buildings were side by side. A third larger building appeared to have a gym on the side. Then, a fourth building that was perpendicular to the other buildings sat back against the tree line. It had a wide stairway leading up to its main entrance. However, the woods were thick surrounding the entire campus.
"This is a lot smaller than I realized." When I had thought of Wolf Moon, for some reason, I thought large.
"This is where the select few go." Dad followed a sign that pointed to the buildings on the right. "It's a private school. I bet there are only five thousand students here if that."
As we passed the sign, I realized it was leading us to the dorms. So the two side by side buildings must be the girls’ and boys’ living areas.
We rolled into the parking lot, and my eyes took in all the nice Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs that littered the lot. Even though my dad was driving a brand new Chevy Tahoe, our vehicle paled in comparison. After he pulled into one of the spots, we all climbed out of the car and went to the back to grab my bags.
There were a few students who filled the parking lot, doing the same thing as us.
Dad grabbed two of my large boxes while Max grabbed the two smaller ones that contained more of my personal items. I took out the two large suitcases that housed all of my clothes. Once we were each loaded down, Dad closed the trunk, and the three of us took off toward the sign that said ‘Girls' dorm this way.’
Max's head kept jerking at every girl that he saw. I was ready for his head to snap off any second.
"Can you, like, chill?" The last thing I needed was for him to get a reputation for being a creeper. That probably wouldn't bode well for me.
"What?" His eyes focused back on the sidewalk, and he quickened his pace as if he hadn't been acting like a weirdo.