by Kris@WLP » Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:46 pm
This will, eventually, way down the road, make its way into the comic, but not anytime soon.
Werewolves mate on a semi-closed basis. That, in American werewolf society, means marriages where adultery is expected but discouraged. Not that male would deny female or female male- no, no. Old tradition, now dying away, has the female defer to the wishes of the male in the running of home and pack, but on sexual issues no male commands any female, or any female any male. (Unless "Do me!" is considered a command, that is.)
However, males protect their rights by threatening other males to stay away, and females do likewise with other females. The pack alpha essentially has free rein to have sex with any female, mated or not, of age; the pack alpha's designated mate (and alphas must designate a mate) has similar privileges with any male. Con Nero made use of this privilege now and again (and sired a child by it); Jack and Carla Goodwin have no intention to. (Jack doesn't want to cause unnecessary trouble in the pack, and Carla doesn't care for any of the other available options.)
In practical terms, this system doesn't cause as many fights (and deaths) than might be supposed. Werewolves understand that instinct pushes for sex, the more the better. (Werewolves have the reason-overriding pheromones of wolves and the ready-anytime instincts of humans; this means a LOT of sex goes on at Howls.) To paraphrase a slogan, what happens under the moon stays under the moon.
It should be noted that permanent mating, while not excluding a werewolf from all options, provides a measure of protection from unwanted attention. This is not the case at all with unattached werewolves, like Peter. Unattached werewolves are essentially "fair game" for both unattached weres and mated weres seeking variety.
As the only male in the pack between the ages of edit eight and thirty, and one of only three unattached males (the other two being Con and Gus Cramer), Peter has been under more pressure to "play" than any other werewolf, male or female, in many years. Males tend to have it tougher than females in saying no- there's a cultural bias against males raising a hand to females, and reproductive urges in the male are stronger and more perpetual than females. That, plus the lingering wild-side tradition that the strongest werewolf rules over the weakest, makes it damn hard indeed for Peter to say no.
It is this pressure, especially over the two years prior to the start of the story, that has essentially driven Peter away from werewolves and towards humans, Sarah in particular. It's ironic that, in his ignorance, he's created a werewolf he will not be capable of saying no to.
Sucks to be Peter.
(Sucks to be Peter? Hell, I should only have his problem.)
Last edited by
Kris@WLP on Sat Mar 04, 2006 8:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.