Fantasy book series that begins with mages arriving at a small village and taking a young woman against her will to be trained

Question

Trying to remember fantasy series that begins with mages arriving at a small village and taking a young woman against her will to be trained. She is reluctantly accompanied by her male friend who is a beer maker. I remember wolf-like creatures killing people. A mage college where the evil head mage was killed. At the end of one of the books, the heroes escape by boat to the sea while a mage is destroying the port. I believe the heroine is related to royalty. I remember a battle in a village where a mage cast a spell and made one of the monsters into a giant.

Answer 1

This sounds like the Benjamin Ashwood series by A. C. Cobble. Ben wants to be a brewer and Amelie is the reluctant mage.