Backseat Nightmares: Wolves vs. Weres by Heather Kuehl

When I started writing about werewolves (or Weres as I like to call them), I had to do a bit of research. Not a lot since I was writing about a creature that didn’t exist, but enough to have an understanding of wolves. I wanted my Weres to live a life that was a mixture of both human and wolf societies.

Firstly, I started with the physical attributes of wolves. In general wolves weigh anywhere between 55lbs and 170lbs and are between 24 to 34 inches in height, depending on what part of the world you are in. Were’s, on the other hand, tend to weigh more than that, since their human weight can’t just vanish into nothing. In other words, if Sarah weighs 120lbs as a human, that will be her weight when she shifts into a Were. They are also taller too, usually at 4ft or more. Like I said earlier, it depends on their human form. I kept the coloring of my Were’s fur true to nature, because no one would ever take a canary yellow Were seriously (at least, I wouldn’t).

Unlike wolves, my Weres mate for life and it can be outside their species. Were and human. Were and witch. Werewolf and Weresquirrel. Just like with human genetics, a child born of two different supernatural species will either become one or the other, not both (although there have been rare occurances of that happening). Gestation for wolves last around 60 days while gestation for Weres is around 25 weeks. Humans would start suspecting things if people started having babies within two months of getting pregnant. The point is to blend in. 25 weeks doesn’t draw suspicion, especially if the pregnant Were goes through with a homebirth.

Just like with real wolves my Weres have a pack mentality, except I call the Were groups Clans instead of packs. Wolf packs can contain up to 20 members, while Were Clans can support upwards of 90. The strongest fight their way up until they become the Alpha wolf. Sometimes a family can keep Alpha status for generations, other times they can’t. The Clan name is always the surname of the current Alpha. And, just like with wolf packs, Clans will also have the scapegoat, or Omega, of the pack. The size of the Were’s territory is determined by the size of its Clan. A 10 member Clans doesn’t need as much room as a 70 member Clan.

When a Were Clan gets low in numbers, other Clans will come in trying to assimilate them. The invading Clan will kill off the Alpha and any dominate males to obtain the remaining members and their land. In reality, wolf packs rarely take in strangers and packs would encroach on another pack’s territory only if the boundary that had been set up from scent marking and howling was disrupted in some way.

Luckily, Weres have a human form that they can revert to. Wolves do not and it is because of their natural form that they are hunted in many parts of the world. One day there might not be any more wild wolves, only those in captivity. Hopefully we can find a way to reintroduce these beautiful creatures into the wild that will make both them and the human opponents happy.