According to tribal tradition, the Alpha wolf is not only the head of the pack, but also the chief of the entire tribe. As the tribe is now governed by council, the Alpha takes the position of the most senior tribe elder, despite his age.
As more vampires enter the area in response to the resident coven, even more tenuous bloodlines result in new werewolves.
One factor affecting which members of the tribe transform is the number of vampire scents in the area. Throughout Quileute history, the pack has usually consisted of three members.
With most vampires traveling alone or in pairs, there was never a need for more than three werewolves to defend Quileute land. However, with a large vampire coven settled in the area, the tribe members with the strongest blood ties to the former pack are not the only ones who transform. Everyone in the tribe who has any relation to past wolves has a chance of joining the new pack. As more vampires enter the area in response to the resident coven, even more tenuous bloodlines result in new werewolves.
Recently, as a result of the size of the Quileute werewolf population and the accompanying tension, the pack split into two separate groups. For the first time in Quileute history, there are currently two Alphas, each with his own pack. There are presently seventeen members of the two werewolf packs.
RANK:
The wolf pack has a very complex system of rank that helps keep them organized and prepared for all eventualities. The Alpha‘s absolute authority over the pack makes them an effective fighting force, and if something happens to the Alpha, there is no debate about how to proceed. The pack does not lose effectiveness due to confusion.
Every Alpha has a second in command — referred to as his Second — who immediately assumes control if the Alpha is incapacitated. Ranking under the Second is the Third, who is next in line to act as Alpha.
In the case of a large pack, each Second and Third has his own Second and Third, and so on down, so that each wolf has someone in line to step into his responsibilities within the pack if something should happen to him. In a large pack, during a fight the wolves tend to operate in three-wolf pods.
IMPRINTING:
Some werewolves experience a bonding incident called imprinting, in which they become unconditionally tied to a human of the opposite sex. There are several theories on why imprinting occurs: Some believe that imprinting ensures the passing on of the werewolf gene; others believe that imprinting happens to produce larger, stronger wolves in the next generation. The werewolves do not know the answer for certain.
Imprinting occurs only after a werewolf‘s first phasing. It can happen with anyone, regardless of previous personal feelings. Imprinting happens the first time a werewolf sees the human object of his imprinting; if the werewolf does not react to a human the first time he sees her after he phases, he will never imprint on that human. If the werewolf does imprint, he is forever changed. From the second he sees the object of his imprinting, he will do anything to please and protect her. All other commitments in his life become secondary, even his commitment to the pack.
The relationship between the imprinting werewolf and the human imprinted upon is one of total acceptance and support on the werewolf‘s part. No matter the age or living conditions of the human, the werewolf automatically becomes whatever the human wants him to be, at the loss of his personal free will. If the human is young, the werewolf becomes the perfect platonic playmate and protector. As the human ages and changes, the werewolf instinctively switches roles to fulfill the human‘s needs.
It is against pack law for any werewolf to kill the object of another werewolf‘s imprinting. Such an act would be devastating not only to the wolf who suffered the loss, but to the entire pack. Given the telepathic ability of the pack, each pack member would suffer the pain of the wolf whose mate had been killed. Even if the death of a wolf‘s mate was an accident, the two wolves involved would fight to the death.
ANCIENT QUILEUTE HISTORY
The Quileutes have a detailed history of how they came to be shape-shifters, and how that aspect of their nature was focused by their first contact with vampires. Essentially, the early Quileutes had the ability to use astral projection. When this ability led to a coup, the rightful chief put his spirit into the body of a wolf. His progeny were able to assume wolf form as well.
The first time a vampire — or ―cold one,‖ as the Quileutes called them — entered the Quileutes‘ land, the tribe discovered that their wolf protectors were able to kill vampires, but it was an almost evenly matched contest. Vampires became the main focus of the Quileute wolves. Over time, the Quileute warriors gained the ability to assume wolf form only if a vampire triggered the reaction.
This history was passed down through oral storytelling. Originally the entire tribe would learn the account; in the last century, however, the sharing became more secretive, passed only from werewolf descendants to the next generation of potential werewolves. All tribe members know the basics, but think of the stories as myths rather than facts.
HISTORY WITH THE CULLENS
In 1936, cold ones again entered Quileute land. They were different from the vampires who had come before. Their coven was larger — three males and two females — and the eyes of all the members were golden rather than red. The leader, Carlisle Cullen, somehow knew that the wolves had human intelligence. He told the wolves that the Cullens meant no harm to the wolves, the Quileute tribe, or any other humans. He claimed that they did not drink human blood, and offered a treaty between his coven and the werewolves. The three werewolves in the pack were outnumbered, so Carlisle had no need to make this offer other than an honest desire to refrain from killing the wolves. For this reason, Alpha wolf Ephraim Black believed Carlisle was making a genuine offer.
Ephraim insisted on two main points to the treaty: The vampires could not injure any humans (either by hunting them for food or by transforming them into vampires, as the Quileutes viewed this transformation as equal to murder), and the vampires were never to trespass on Quileute land. Carlisle agreed to these terms and proposed adding the concept of mutual secrecy: The Quileutes would not be able to tell anyone the true nature of the Cullens, and vice versa.
Ephraim agreed, and they worked out the boundary lines for their respective lands. The Quileute territory covered all of the reservation, plus some of the land that had traditionally belonged to the Hohs and the Makahs. In some places, the boundary line followed the main road, now Highway 101, but in others it followed the old tribal lines. In turn, the werewolves would not cross into Cullen land. The town of Forks, along with a few other surrounding towns, and the highway were ―truce areas‖ where both the Quileute werewolves and the Cullens were allowed to venture.