Delvin changed from man to wolf right before my eyes. It was eerie, and also...beautiful. I had never seen anything like it. Delvin was a natural werewolf. He was born as one. He wasn't a human being who became a werewolf. He was a wolf-like creature masquerading as a human being. He was a very powerful being. Strong, fast, agile, intelligent, almost unnaturally long-lived. Delvin was an outcast from his pack. He would later tell me of werewolf society. Werewolves lived everywhere on the planet Earth. They were among humanity. They lived in small groups. They obeyed strict rules. They had a very rigid hierarchy. They had always been there, unnoticed by the humans. Delvin's pack originally numbered thirty individuals, or so he told me. He had been banned from his pack by the leader after he attempted a coup. He failed. He had to leave or be killed. He fled all the way to the new world. He had been dishonored and banned for life. Delvin was twenty six years old, quite young in werewolf years and also in human years. His kind could live for many centuries, sometimes even thousands of years. Werewolves virtually stopped aging when they reached their twenties. From then on, they aged very, very slowly. Delvin told me all about them. He also made an even more shocking revelation to me. According to him, I was one of them.
Werewolves were wolf-like creatures that assumed human form. They weren't human at all. Their human facade was a very clever disguise. Nature gave them the ability to shapeshift. They could make themselves look like any human they wanted. No human can become a werewolf. A werewolf's bite cannot transform a human being into one of the pack. Sometimes, werewolves had affairs with humans. Humans and werewolves are two different species. The werewolves were an older race. They were around long before the humans. A sentient predatory race that has walked the planet since time immemorial. When the humans came around and began to dominate the world, the werewolves evolved the ability to change form. They can transform themselves into any human they wanted. It's next to impossible to know what a werewolf truly looks like. The wolf side is real. The human side is a disguise. Okay. Back to the subject of affairs between humans and werewolves. Sometimes, werewolves in human form fall prey to temptation. Sex to werewolves is merely a biological and natural thing. They are capable of caring for each other but it's merely a physical thing for them. Sex to a werewolf is not that different from what sex is to a wolf. A mere biological function. To humans, sex is a whole lot of things. When in human form, werewolves have to deal with something they usually don't feel. Lust. Almost all werewolves exclusively mate with their own kind. Some have ventured outside the boundaries. Some had sexual relations with humans. These 'rebels' are called Abominations. Werewolves have a casual attitude about sex. It's a mere biological function. No strings attached. Get it from whoever is willing, whenever. They aren't possessive. Unlike true wolves, they don't often mate for life. They are a rather promiscuous lot that seek sexual partners of either gender ( among their own species) with equal measure.
Sometimes, relations between werewolves and humans are fruitful. They result in strange offspring. Half-Breeds. Creatures that look like humans but aren't human. Werewolves are wolf-like creatures in human form. The Half-Breeds have certain abilities. They are stronger than ordinary humans. They have very sharp senses. They are also a lot faster. The Half-breeds have the ability to regenerate. That makes them very hard to kill. Most Half-Breeds live their early lives without knowing what they are. When they reach the age of twenty, they under the Change. When the Change comes, the Half-Breeds become filled with rage and the desire to do violence. They are a danger to themselves and others. They go through the Moon Madness. Werewolves can go from wolf form to human form at will, anytime they want. Half-Breeds can only assume wolf form under the light of the moon. Werewolves are intelligent, sane and decent creatures for the most part. Most wouldn't kill for any reason other than self-defense. The Half-Breeds are very different from werewolves when they go through the Moon Madness. The Half-Breeds cannot control themselves and will attack anything they encounter : human, animal or werewolf. Once the night of the full moon is over, the Half-Breed reverts to human form. They retain no memory of what they did the previous night. Most Half-Breeds don't last long. Also, they don't live any longer than the average human being does. By contrast, the werewolves can live for several millennia. The life of a Half-Breed is a grim one. Many kill themselves or end up killed by humans. There are many werewolves who view the Half-Breeds as a threat to the greater good of the werewolf community. Many werewolves track down Half-Breeds and kill them. These are known as the Guardians.
The Guardians are the law enforcers of the werewolf community. They hunt down criminals. There are criminals in the community. The primary task of the Guardian is to hunt down and kill the Abominations, those werewolves that broke the law and had sexual relations with humans. The Guardians will kill on sight any Half-Breed they encounter. The Guardians can sense Half-Breeds even in the daytime, when the Half-Breeds don't look any different from regular people. Worldwide, there are over ten thousands werewolves. The numbers of the Half-Breeds are many times greater than that. The Guardians are doing their best to eliminate the whole lot of them. That's what Delvin Charles told me. I wondered what all that had to do with me and he looked at me strangely, and right then I just knew. I was one of the Half-Breeds. Delvin had come to America to hide. They were on his trail. We were both in danger. My life was about to get a whole lot more complicated.
To be continued.
