member transformed.
?I did quite a bit of research on the Quileutes. All of the legendsin the books are part of their tradition. The only legend that is not a part of the Quileute tradition is the part I devised specifically to fit the Cullens.? —Stephenie This extra chromosome will not have any effect on the carrier if he or she is not in close proximity to vampires during all or part of the critical time between the onset of puberty and the age of twenty-five. If the potential werewolf is not exposed to vampires within this window of time, transformation will never occur. It is the scent of the vampire that triggers the reaction; a potential werewolf would not have to actually see or touch a vampire, only cross his scent.
SIGNS OF IMMINENT TRANSFORMATION:
If a tribe member meets both conditions for transformation, he will go through a number of physical and psychological changes. First, a male will undergo a noticeable growth spurt, affecting both height and musculature. For a female, the physical changes are much more subtle, mainly denoted by the definition of muscle rather than bulk or height. Both males and females will then experience a drastic rise in body temperature, one that a typical human would be unable to survive. At the same time, he or she will begin to have dramatic mood swings and brief, sudden episodes of nearly uncontrollable rage. When the transformation is very close, he or she will begin to tremble and shake during these moments of rage.
PHASING:
After the shaking begins, the first transformation, or phase, can happen within seconds if the affected person does not calm himself. All the initial transformations are triggered by rage, until the werewolf can learn to control his reactions. The actual act of phasing lasts only an instant. There is no gradual shift, no in-between form where the werewolf appears to be a mix of human and animal. Because the wolf has more than four times the mass of the human, to an observer the change looks explosive as the human expands to the size of the wolf. This impression can be intensified if the werewolf did not have time to remove his clothes before phasing; the clothes rip apart from the pressure of the expansion, adding a tearing sound to the otherwise soundless transformation.
Standing too close to a young werewolf during phasing can result in unintentional injury, or even death.
Young werewolves are often unable to control their phasing, shifting forms whenever they feel anger. This unpredictability, combined with the massive size of the wolf form and the suddenness of the phasing process, makes werewolves dangerous to any humans in proximity to them during the change. Standing too close to a young werewolf during phasing can result in unintentional injury, or even death.
As young werewolves gain more control over their phasing, they have time to remove clothing, preventing it from being destroyed in the shape-shifting process. Most carry a leather strap with them so they can tie their clothes to their legs before phasing.
With experience, werewolves eventually master phasing and can control when they shape-shift.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
APPEARANCE:
The Quileute werewolves are very similar to normal wolves, but are several times larger.
An average Quileute werewolf would stand at about the height of a horse, but with greater body mass. Besides being bigger than a normal wolf, the werewolves are also supernaturally stronger and faster. Their teeth and claws are sharp and strong enough to be able to damage a vampire; they can also run as fast as vampires. (Just as with normal humans, there are individual wolves who are faster than other wolves.) In their human forms, werewolves are stronger and faster than humans, but not enough to take on a vampire without phasing.
The wolves‘ fur ranges in color, through many shades of brown, gray, and black. The length of a tribe member‘s hair in human form affects the length of his werewolf coat. For example, if someone has long human hair, the coat in wolf form will also be longer.
ABILITIES
SIGHT:
A werewolf‘s eyesight is more than ten times sharper than a normal human‘s, twice as sharp as the average bird of prey. Though a normal human can easily spot a vampire at a glance if she knows what she is looking for, a werewolf — even in his human form — sees much more than the pale skin and characteristic eye color. To werewolves, vampires look shiny and angular, almost like moving crystal.
SENSE OF SMELL:
Like wolves and other predators, werewolves have a heightened sense of smell. Of special note, vampires have a distinctive scent that werewolves are particularly aware of, in both their human and wolf forms. In general, for werewolves a vampire‘s scent is uncomfortable to the point of pain — a sickly sweet smell that burns. Individually, each vampire has his or her own personal scent, which is easily distinguishable to werewolves. They can pick up this scent from a good distance, or from any item a vampire has touched.
SPEED:
Quileute werewolves possess great speed. They can outrun motor vehicles. A fast werewolf can outrun an average vampire. In human form, they are faster and have greater endurance than all normal humans.
TELEPATHIC COMMUNICATION:
Werewolves are pack animals. They are at their most effective, whether hunting or fighting, when they work as a team. In their wolf forms, the werewolf pack shares a group mind; every member of the pack hears the thoughts of every other member. This telepathic communication allows them to work as one, coordinating instantaneously and moving with perfect unity. The pack‘s true power isn‘t in each individual wolf‘s strength, but in this ability to work together as a cohesive group.
When in wolf form, werewolves have no privacy.
The ability to smoothly act as a team comes at a price. When in wolf form, werewolves have no privacy. All thoughts, no matter how fleeting or seemingly insignificant, are transmitted to other pack members who are also in wolf form. Feelings are transmitted, too — even those that are personal or potentially embarrassing.
When more than one wolf pack exists at a time, werewolves from one pack cannot communicate telepathically with werewolves from the other pack. The only exception is the Alpha, or leader, of each pack. The Alpha can decide whether to share his thoughts with another Alpha and can select which thoughts to send, in the same way that he would choose to speak aloud.
HEALING:
Quileute werewolves heal very quickly, in both human and wolf form. When they are wounded, they immediately begin to heal. Minor injuries heal in as little as a few seconds. More serious injuries, like broken bones,
