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werewolf_physiology

Werewolf Physiology

Mercy Thompson Series

Moon Called

Mercy Thompson Series #1: Moon Called

  • have a distinctive musk-and-mint scent03
  • some people will tell you that werewolves can only shapechange under a full moon04
  • werewolves, even in human form, do have the strength they're credited with in the old movies09
  • a werewolf won't freeze to death sleeping outside, however bad the weather11
  • werewolves can take as much as fifteen minutes to shift shape—and shifting is painful for them12
  • werewolves aren't the most friendly animals anyway, but if they've just shifted, it's a good policy to leave them alone for a while13
  • most of them felt that becoming short-tempered and occasionally furry was a small price to pay for extraordinary strength, speed, and senses—not to mention the fringe benefits of a body immune to disease and old age24
  • there are no drugs that work on werewolves24
  • werewolves, fully changed, weigh upward of two hundred and fifty pounds27
  • werewolves heal too fast27
  • drugs don't work on werewolves; their metabolism is too high34
  • super strength; super healing40
  • werewolves usually have markings that are more doglike than wolflike47
  • for all their size werewolves still resemble their gracile cousin the timber wolf more than the mastiff or Saint Bernard who are closer to their weight61
  • when weres run, they move with a deadly, silent grace; they aren't really built for running, they are built for fighting61
  • werewolves are tough65
  • werewolves heal incredibly fast86
  • werewolves needed a lot of food92
  • werewolves are very densely muscled; they tend to have a difficult time swimming even if they want to, because, like chimpanzees, they have too much muscle and not enough fat to float96
  • are very good at sensing arousal; not just smells, but elevated temperature and increased heart rate129
  • arousal in werewolves tends to bring out the fighting instinct in all nearby males129
  • a lot of werewolves can smell a lie142
  • cells repaired themselves and removed damage of age, disease and experience168
  • werewolves can run faster than greyhounds178
  • werewolves' front legs are built more like a bear's or a lion's than a timber wolf's198
  • werewolves use their claws to rip and tear flesh198
  • the average life span of a werewolf from his first Change until his death is ten years; most werewolves died in dominance fights with other wolves201
  • because of their high metabolisms, werewolves usually feel warmer to the touch250

Blood Bound

Mercy Thompson Series #2: Blood Bound

  • servant of the moons phases02
  • when werewolves finally admitted what they were, the scientists immediately started looking for a virus or bacteria that could cause the Change03
  • cannot be mistaken for wolves; much bigger and a lot scarier02
  • have strength; semi-retractable claws and inch long fangs15
  • werewolves can be very long-live creatures23
  • werewolves don't like the heat237
  • heal fast, but their bones still break and a punch still hurts94
  • werewolves aren't immortal, just immune to age; time is their enemy anyway; after so long, nothing matters anymore and death looks better than living another day108
  • even werewolves need sleep114
  • werewolves heal incredibly fast; they are strong, graceful; never grow old131
  • a werewolf's shoulder is articulated more like a tiger or bear than a wolf, giving them lateral motion and the ability to use their impressive claws132
  • with some of the bigger males, the effect can be almost grotesque132
  • when they move they look gracile and strong, just not entirely canid132
  • a wounded werewolf is dangerous, the wolf nature superceding the human control—and a werewolf is a very nasty creature212
  • werewolves heal very fast once they're able to change241

Iron Kissed

Mercy Thompson Series #3: Iron Kissed

  • werewolves are tough03
  • make having a private conversation difficult05
  • can smell a lie at a hundred yards11
  • most werewolves are attractive; it goes with the permanently young-and-muscled look41
  • werewolves like things a little cooler98
  • are fast112
  • never seen a werewolf that was out of shape or fat; the wolf is too restless for that157
  • can jump down entire staircases207
  • werewolves can't swim; they have too little fat; they're too dense to float209
  • werewolves can take a lot of damage212
  • werewolves can't talk in their wolf shape213
  • werewolves in their wolf form, are not always angry—just as a grizzly bear is not always angry; it only seems like it214
  • don't die of old age221

Bone Crossed

Mercy Thompson Series #4: Bone Crossed

  • supernatural strength13
  • werewolves have very good hearing30
  • werewolves don't die of old age the way humans do, it can kill them just as effectively37
  • most werewolves carry dark glasses or wear hats that can shadow their eyes55
  • werewolves don't like the heat237

Silver Borne

Mercy Thompson Series #5: Silver Borne

  • they have a distinctive odor11
  • most werewolves are attractive regardless of bone structure; perfect health, permanent youth, and lots of muscle are a pretty surefire formula for good looks11
  • werewolves take a lot of food to keep themselves fueled up25
  • a werewolf pack can feed off any of its members, borrowing energy39
  • they can't swim; their bodies are too dense50
  • werewolves all have different relations with their wolves139
  • think of werewolves as conjoined twins; some are quite separate, barely sharing anything at all with their wolves; just two entities under the same skin—they all start out this way139
  • when their human side is able to take control, wolf and man work out a balance; just as their human soul loses part of what it was to be human, the wolf loses part of what it means to be wolf139
  • werewolves tend to lose their human halves when badly injured, but they can be recalled to themselves by a mate or by a more dominant wolf168
  • no painkillers work on werewolves for long170
  • werewolves deal with germs better than people do175
  • nifty werewolf superpowers of healing183
  • werewolves are pretty immune to the cold184
  • werewolves, even the same werewolf, will heal wounds at different rates depending upon a number of things230
  • medicine among werewolves is, in many ways, much simpler—if more brutal—than for humans242

River Marked

Mercy Thompson Series #6: River Marked

  • werewolves can't swim; their muscle mass is too dense to be buoyant, so they sink to the bottom like anchors47
  • werewolves are seldom out of shape48
  • werewolves are quick; not cheetah fast, but faster than timber wolves or dogs48
  • werewolves don't age at all73
  • infection wasn't a concern with werewolves178
  • medical procedures you have to work quickly on a werewolf; they heal pretty fast181
  • werewolf teeth are sharp enough to make an impression206
  • a werewolf can stay wolf for a while; a couple of days, no trouble; a few weeks, not so good, but most of them will be okay afterwards261
  • months were possible—one or two; after that, he would be all wolf with no human261
  • smoothly muscled280
  • werewolves are tough309
  • being a werewolf halts and reverses the aging process42

Frost Burned

Mercy Thompson Series #7: Frost Burned

  • muscle-bound werewolf11
  • always thought that werewolves were invulnerable to drugs; SDK Cocktail: Silver Nitrate, DMSO, Ketamine20
  • most of the wolves that got hit with stuff were fine; but new werewolves are more vulnerable20
  • able to boost their metabolism20
  • baring the threat of infection, which isn't an issue for werewolves34
  • a werewolf's scent changes when they are in human form, becomes diluted78
  • hard to land quietly on a hard surface with werewolf-sized claws81
  • unless you are a werewolf, bare feet can't do much damage82
  • smelled of musk and mint that said werewolf104
  • werewolves never died of old age because they didn't age106
  • werewolves are different when they are in their wolf shape, less human and less caught up in human manners132
  • conservation of matter is a funny concept when expressed by a werewolf; who knows better that magic makes science blink than a 170-pound man who turns into a 250-pound werewolf</sup>
  • older werewolves didn't make a lot of noise when they ran226
  • the colder the better for a werewolf239
  • even in human form, werewolves have strong jaw muscles243
  • werewolves are good runners, but even a werewolf can run only so fast in their human form257
  • werewolf fangs are more impressive than vampire fangs310
  • werewolf claws are a good weapon319

Night Broken

Mercy Thompson Series #8: Night Broken

  • too much testosterone07
  • werewolves don't age physically88
  • werewolves smell like musk and mint124
  • can smell emotion, can smell when something is off124
  • werewolves have retractable claws that don't dig into the dirt unless they are running—almost like a cougars's128
  • a lot faster than any human158
  • werewolves don't have extra fat on their bodies; they burn calories in the change from human to wolf and back, and they burn calories moving because a werewolf doesn't have the proper temperament to be a couch potato176
  • werewolves were edgy around moon time; edgier290

Fire Touched

Mercy Thompson Series #9: Fire Touched

  • don't lie to a werewolf; they can tell05
  • werewolves were two-hundred pounds of fang and claw who mostly healed nearly as quickly as they could be hurt21
  • werewolf jaws do fine with rending and ripping37
  • werewolf claws are like those of a grizzly58
  • werewolves heal fast, which was good up to a point—but if a bone wasn't set correctly, it would heal just as it was; then it would need to be rebroken82
  • are not fragile creatures264
  • werewolf shoulders are built more like those of a bear or a cat; it meant that they were excellent climbers316
  • magic resides in werewolves; it produces their condition but the werewolves themselves could produce and use magic336

Silence Fallen

Mercy Thompson Series #10: Silence Fallen

  • werewolves bounce back from a little thing like a car wreck a lot faster than humans15
  • distinctive musky mint scent57
  • had huge claws that give them traction like the bigs catd do60
  • dual-natured210
  • werewolf blood was enticing and addictive to vampires26
  • alcohol would give a werewolf a momentary jolt, then the effects dissipated171
  • even a werewolf could get drunk by drinking Everclear, the 190-proof version, fast enough171
  • vampire bites heal as slowly on a werewolf as any wound on a mortal288

Storm Cursed

Mercy Thompson Series #11: Storm Cursed

  • advantages of speed and strength that being a werewolf bestowed10
  • werewolves either regenerate lost limbs or they die, exception: Sherwood Post 56
  • could smell goblins143
  • werewolves have to eat a lot; and “hangry” just doesn't describe what happens to a werewolf when he is hungry227

Smoke Bitten

Mercy Thompson Series #12: Smoke Bitten

  • werewolves, all of them, are hard-muscled because the wolf is a restless creature116
  • werewolves don't float—they sink; too much muscle, not enough fat; or maybe it was something about the way their magic worked163
  • werewolves have lots and lots of big sharp teeth228
  • werewolves couldn't talk in their wolf form228
  • werewolves don't feel the cold as much272
  • they need fuel for shapeshifting272

Alpha & Omega Series

Alpha & Omega Novella

Alpha & Omega Series #0.5: Alpha & Omega Novella

  • being a werewolf gives you greater strength and endurance173
  • werewolves shouldn't let themselves get so thin—it could be dangerous to those around them185
  • you have to eat more as a werewolf to maintain your weight210

Cry Wolf

Alpha & Omega Series #1: Cry Wolf

  • giving first aid to werewolves was fraught with danger; pain could make a wolf lose control30
  • best not to startle a wounded werewolf; even one in human form34
  • never seen a feverish werewolf34
  • werewolves seldom scar on the outside118
  • werewolves whose human and wolf were almost entirely separate—usually didn't survive long; either they attacked someone older and stronger than they or they were killed because they had no control over the wolf131
  • werewolves are very fast184
  • cold doesn't bother werewolves261

Hunting Ground

Alpha & Omega Series #2: Hunting Ground

  • senses, werewolf sharp; werewolf reflexes01
  • some werewolves talk as if they and the wolves they shared their skins with were one; some werewolves had nothing wolfish about them, even in wolf form, than a nasty temper and a need to kill things that ran from them46
  • to function, most werewolves have to make their wolf obedient if not completely subservient; after a while, the wolf spirit is reduced to a part of the man's spirit; an unthinking, violent part full of instincts and desires but no true thoughts61
  • werewolves are denser than humans106
  • injured werewolves, when not attended by more dominant wolves, tended to be violent237

Fair Game

Alpha & Omega Series #3: Fair Game

  • werewolves were, as a whole, young, healthy, and muscled118
  • werewolves can be whatever color154
  • werewolves could control themselves when they ran as wolves—though they tended to be hot-tempered228
  • all werewolves had to change during the full moon, but most of them could change whenever they wished it228
  • mostly werewolves were immune to drugs and alcohol; their metabolism just ran through it too fast239
  • drugs might not work right on werewolves, but enough drugs could knock her out for a few minutes264

Dead Heat

Alpha & Omega Series #4: Dead Heat

  • werewolf DNA is just like human DNA; you can't tell the difference unless the sample is taken when in werewolf form—then it's different06
  • there's no way to use a blood test to see if someone is a werewolf or not06
  • a werewolf didn't mind the cold32
  • werewolves have two natures; the human part and the wolf part60
  • the wolf isn't like a real wolf—it's a lot more angry than that60
  • being a werewolf is not a panacea to death80
  • well-fed werewolves are easier to deal with than hungry ones140
  • werewolves could live forever, but on average lived far shorter lives than their human originally could have expected to142
  • it wasn't healthy for a werewolf to stay in wolf form for very long204
  • werewolf bodies were not exactly designed to climb ladders233

Burn Bright

Alpha & Omega Series #5: Burn Bright

  • there wasn't a werewolf on the planet fast enough to dodge a bullet55
  • werewolves can climb trees; like a grizzly, they could climb as far up as a tree would hold them64
  • werewolves were tough but not indestructible69
  • werewolves could probably stroll around carrying a VW Bug from the bumpers and not show much strain112
  • werewolves smell of musk and mint152
  • all the werewolves had a bit of multiple personality disorder—the human half and the wolf half sometimes existed in a state of conflict177
  • a werewolf doesn't need to worry about poison216
  • hunger tended to destabilize even the most controlled werewolf254
  • it was usual for an out-of-control werewolf to eat his victims254
  • wrestling with werewolves was complicated by the fact that weight didn't hold a werewolf unless his opponent was the size of an elephant, maybe; joint locks still worked though261

Wild Sign

Alpha & Omega Series #6: Wild Sign

  • hyperfit look most of the werewolves acquired03
  • werewolves can live a long time08
  • werewolves can smell lies26
  • werewolves are immortal33
  • even a werewolf had limits234
  • werewolf endurance and speed272
  • werewolves couldn't swim314

Mercyverse Short Fiction

The Star of David

Mercyverse Short Fiction: The Star of David

  • being a werewolf seems to settle physical age at about twenty-five246
  • being agitated wasn't smart if you were a werewolf246

Roses in Winter

Mercyverse Short Fiction: Roses in Winter

  • werewolves have very good reflexes284
  • no one could afford to have a werewolves who couldn't be trusted287
  • werewolves were not hounds, they did not need to make noise when they hunted295
  • can't be killed by a little cold300

Werewolves & Fertility

Mercy Thompson Series #1: Moon Called

  • female werewolves cannot have children; the change is too violent to allow the fetus to survive80

Mercy Thompson Series #2: Blood Bound

  • female werewolves can't have children; their pregnancies spontaneously abort during the moon's change47
  • human women can have children with werewolves, but they can only carry to term the babies who have only human DNA47

Mercy Thompson Series #3: Iron Kissed

  • women don't survive the Change as well as the men for some reason; the women who do cannot bear children95
  • they're fertile enough, but the monthly change at the full moon is too violent and they abort any pregnancies when they shift from human to werewolf95
  • werewolves can mate with humans; but they have a terribly high miscarriage rate and higher than usual infant mortality96
  • the only children who survive are completely human96

Mercy Thompson Series #12: Smoke Bitten

  • male werewolves could father children; but female werewolves could not carry them108
  • the moon's call ensured that all werewolves had to change108
  • the change from human to wolf is violent, too violent for a fetus to survive the first trimester108
  • surrogate; maybe someone who wanted to become a werewolf109
  • if there is a reproductive specialist willing to work with werewolves; there would be a long line of werewolves who want children109

Alpha & Omega Series #0.5: Alpha & Omega Novella

  • werewolf women can't have children; the change is too hard on the fetus; they miscarry in the third or fourth month191

Alpha & Omega Series #3: Fair Game

  • female werewolves couldn't carry babies to term; the moon called and they changed to wolves, the violence of it too much for the forming child116

Alpha & Omega Series #4: Dead Heat

  • werewolf DNA is just like human DNA; there's no way to tell if an embryo is human, genetically, or werewolf06
  • there's no way to tell which embryo is werewolf, human, or some combination of the two, there's still a good chance of spontaneous abortion, the same problem human mates of werewolves have07
  • the issue of what happens to a human woman who carries a werewolf baby for nine months; will she become a werewolf07
  • werewolves should consider a surrogate who wants to be a werewolf07
  • it would eliminate problems if such a pregnancy does make her Change, if the child is a werewolf instead of human07
  • no one knows if carrying a werewolf baby and giving birth would infect the mother; or if so, when07

Blue Jay Woman

Blue Jay Woman
Moon Called

  • when she became pregnant she used the knowledge of magic her father had given her to keep from changing at the full moon80
  • has some magic of her own; managed to carry Charles Cornick to term but so weakened by her efforts that she died soon after his birth80

Iron Kissed

  • she was from a family that was gifted with magic native to this land and not Europe as most of our magic-using humans have96
  • she was able to hold off the change every month until Charles' birth; weakened by her efforts, she died96

Alpha & Omega Novella

  • her father was a person of magic and he helped her when she told him that she needed to stay human until Charles was born191
  • so every month, when Bran Cornick and Samuel Cornick hunted under the moon, she stayed human191
  • she grew weaker and weaker; she was killing herself191
  • she held out until Charles' birth; weakened by the magic of fighting the moon's call, she did not survive it192

Dead Heat

  • werewolves weren't genetic; Blue Jay Woman was a Flathead, one of the Salish tribes, a wisewoman with magic of her own60
  • werewolf woman can't have babies, but she did anyway60

The Effects of Silver

Chat Transcripts

  • werewolves scar with wounds caused with silver Chat 2007-06-24

Mercy Thompson Series #1: Moon Called

  • dart of experimental drugs; combined silver nitrate with DMSO and Ketamine114
  • Ketamine has been used as a recreational drug but started out as an animal tranquilizer114
  • Silver Nitrate is used to develop film; a convenient way to get silver in a solution114
  • DMSO—Dimeythyl Sulfoxide can carry other drugs with it across membranes114
  • take DMSO and mix it with a silver nitrate; the silver is carried through the werewolf's body, poisoning as it goes so that the Ketamine goes to work without interference from the werewolf metabolism that would normally prevent the drug from having any effect at all115
  • some werewolves were more sensitive to it than others253
  • prolonged exposure to silver increases sensitivity258
  • silver ammo makes wounds that don't heal fast; there is a chance of bleeding out259

Mercy Thompson Series #5: Silver Borne

  • silver is harder than lead, and the bullets sometimes blow right through and leave the wolf sick, in pain, and alive50
  • silver shot works a little better, but unless rigged just right, it can take a long time to die50

Mercy Thompson Series #6: River Marked

  • silver bullet doesn't mushroom like a lead bullet does179

Mercy Thompson Series #7: Frost Burned

  • painful; silver hits werewolves like that21
  • werewolves and silver do not mix131
  • their body rejects silver133

Alpha & Omega Series #1: Cry Wolf

  • silver's bad for werewolves200

Alpha & Omega Series #5: Burn Bright

  • silver didn't mushroom like lead; it was too hard; silver bullets, then, were not as deadly to werewolves as legend would have it71
  • the wounds they made were more like the wounds from arrows than from lead bullets: a neat an tidy hole71
  • werewolves mostly healed human slowly from such wounds—but as long as the hole wasn't in the wrong place they survived71
  • the silver bullet that killed Hester behaved more like a lead bullet than a silver one; it hadn't mushroomed exactly; instead it opened up like a flower with sharp-edged petals71

Alpha & Omega Series #5: Wild Sign

  • silver is purifying—which is why it works on werewolves258

How to Kill a Werewolf

Mercy Thompson Series #1: Moon Called

  • werewolves are hard to kill29
  • shot in the back of the head from less than six feet away62
  • suicide is difficult for werewolves95
  • even silver bullets don't always defeat the wolf's ability to heal itself95
  • decapitation is effective95
  • drowning works very well; werewolves are very densely muscled; they have too much muscle and not enough fat to float95
  • massive allergic reaction to silver; combined silver nitrate with DMSO and Ketamine114
  • most wolves died in dominance fights with other wolves201
  • you have to take out the spinal column if you want to kill a werewolf without silver259

Mercy Thompson Series #5: Silver Borne

  • werewolves are too tough to die easily50
  • there aren't many ways for a werewolf to commit suicide50
  • self-decapitation just isn't all that easy50
  • silver bullets have some difficulties; silver is hard than lead, and the bullets sometimes blow right through and leave the wolf sick, in pain, and alive50
  • silver shot works better, but unless rigged just right, it can take a long time to die50
  • the most popular choice is death by werewolf50
  • drowning is the next popular choice; werewolves can't swim; their bodies are too dense; even a werewolf needs to breathe50
  • most werewolves die before they have spent a decade as a wolf; fight for dominance235

Mercy Thompson Series #9: Fire Touched

  • hard to kill a werewolf but 560 foot drop from the Lampson crane might do it235
  • would die if they had to go for food and water for an extended period of time205

Mercy Thompson Series #12: Smoke Bitten

  • werewolves are hard to kill36

Mercyverse Short Fiction: Silver

  • a werewolf could suffer a great deal before he died12

The Change & Shifting

Chat Transcripts

  • most disabilities would be healed by the Change Chat 2008-04-05

Mercy Thompson Series #1: Moon Called

  • werewolves can take as much as fifteen minutes to shift shape13
  • the most prevalent of the cautionary tales werewolves tell each other is what happens the first time a werewolf changes if he doesn't know what he is20
  • any person bitten by a werewolf doesn't turn into another werewolf; it takes an attack so vicious that the victim lies near death to allow the magic of the wolf to slip past the body's immune system21
  • in the US, most werewolves are brought over by friends or family21
  • there are occasional attacks by rogue werewolves; it is one of the duties of a pack to kill rogues and find their victims21
  • no drug in the world that would undo the Change24
  • few werewolves considered their state a curse after the first few months24
  • the change is not easy or painless at the best of times, and it was worse without the aid of the moon's call46
  • some werewolves can change relatively quickly with practice46
  • shifting is not easy or painless at the best of times, and it was worse without the aid of the moon's call46
  • sometimes the shift helps werewolves heal faster; usually the shift from human to wolf but the other way works as well95
  • most people don't survive the Change if they're already too sick104
  • usually when a wolf lives through the Change but doesn't survive his first year, it is because the human cannot control the instincts of the wolf110

Mercy Thompson Series #2: Blood Bound

  • when werewolves finally admitted what they were, the scientists immediately started looking for a virus or bacteria that could cause the Change03
  • Johns Hopkins had a whole team devoted to the issue03
  • werewolves are made, not born; to become a werewolf, you need to survive an attack so vicious that you nearly die—which allows the werewolf's magic to defeat your immune system47
  • females don't survive the Change as well as males124</sup * it's not that easy to become a werewolf; you have to be nearly killed<sup>214

Mercy Thompson Series #3: Iron Kissed

  • the change is very painful, especially if they wait too long to change at a full moon and the moon pulls the change from them17
  • werewolves, with one exception, are made, not born95
  • a human who wants to change must be savaged so badly that he either dies or becomes a werewolf and is saved by the rapid healing that is necessary to surviving as a hot-tempered monster among other such beasts95
  • the change is a slow process and it hurts; if they are tearing up clothing as they change, it just hurts that much worse; makes them grumpier than usual—so mostly they take their clothes off first208

Mercy Thompson Series #5: Silver Borne

  • most werewolves have all the change they can deal with the first time they become wolf; other kinds of change are tough on them25
  • for a werewolf the change is slow and painful57
  • werewolves whose wolf had superseded the man often occurs with the newly Changed wolves; they are vicious, unpredictable, and dangerous even to the people they love65

Mercy Thompson Series #6: River Marked

  • Bran Cornick requested the wolves refrain from changing where others could see; the werewolves were beautiful—but the change is horrific234
  • werewolves are moon called; they have to change during the full moon, and it is harder for them to control the wolf during that time234
  • a lot of werewolves only shift during the full moon—two or three days a month235
  • the shift is painful and takes a lot of energy235
  • shifting more than a couple of times a week was beyond a lot of wolves' abilities235

Mercy Thompson Series #7: Frost Burned

  • a werewolf's skin is pretty sensitive when he is changing19

Mercy Thompson Series #9: Fire Touched

  • most werewolves take a while to change—ten minutes or even fifteen or twenty32
  • its freaky looking32
  • it's hard for a werewolf no to change when something's trying to kill them32
  • a werewolf in midchange isn't helpless, just not as good in a fight because he's distracted; not a likely to be able to control himself33
  • werewolves had to strip to change307
  • werewolves in the middle of shifting could and did protect themselves, but they couldn't do it well until they were fully in either form307

Mercy Thompson Series #11: Storm Cursed

  • around ten or fifteen minutes it would take for the werewolves to change23
  • its not easy to get Changed to a werewolf; you'll be in no doubt about it if ever it happens to you43

Mercy Thompson Series #12: Smoke Bitten

  • when a werewolf takes his wolf form, the first thing to change is his eyes228

Alpha & Omega Series #0.5: Alpha & Omega Novella

  • there are rules31
  • first is that no person may be changed against their will31
  • second is that no person may be Changed until they have been counseled and passed a simple test to demonstrate that they understand what that Change means31
  • a werewolf took a lot longer than five minutes to change back to human form188

Alpha & Omega Series #1: Cry Wolf

  • something horrible about seeing someone's arms and legs twist and bend—and there was that stomach-churning part in the middle where there was neither fur nor skin to cover the muscle and bone26
  • usually when a wolf Changed someone, it was drawn back to the new werewolf for a while; some genetic imperative to make sure that an untaught, uncontrolled werewolf wasn't going to draw too much unwanted attention201

Mercyverse Short Fiction: Silver

  • the first transformation from human to werewolf is harsh under the best of circumstances07
  • most people attacked brutally enough to be Change die07

Mercyverse Short Fiction: Seeing Eye

  • surviving the Change was nowhere near a certainty139

Mercyverse Short Fiction: The Star of David

  • shivery, icy pain slid over his bones while fire threaded through his muscles, reshaping, reorganizing, and altering what was there to suit itself258
  • experience kept him from making noise—it was one of the first things he learned: how to control his instincts and keep the howls, the growls, and the whines inside and bury them in silence; noise can attract unwanted attention259
  • his lungs labored to provide oxygen as adrenaline forced his heart to beat too fast259
  • his face ached as teeth became fangs and his jaw extended with cheekbones259
  • his eyesight blurred and then sharpened with a predatory clarity that allowed him to see prey and enemy alike no matter what shadows they tried to hide in259

Mercyverse Short Fiction: Roses in Winter

  • October was the month of Change at the Marrok Pack283
  • strangers came to Aspen Creek, Montana to be Changed283
  • the inductees—the Marrok's word for the humans who wanted to become werewolves, filled the Marrok's home to bursting283
  • the wolves and, in some cases, the human relatives who had come to support the inductees, took over the small hotel in town283
  • the Marrok required anyone who wanted to be Changed to come two weeks beforehand; he told them it was so he cold make sure they knew what they were getting into283
  • it also gave him one last chance to talk them out of it283
  • the Marrok's rules about Changing had save countless lives—and probably the werewolves as a species—but it had not been without personal cost288
  • no child survived a werewolf attack to be Changed: exception Kara Beckworth296
  • the Marrok built a pole barn about thirty years ago because he did not like Changing people in the school auditorium; too much blood and misery leaves a mark on a place301

Werewolf Different Forms

Mercy Thompson Series #3:Iron Kissed

  • like one of the between forms a werewolf takes on when he's changing255
  • more complete than that, as if the between form had become finished and useful255
  • covered from top to tail with black fur and his hands looked very functional—as did his teeth-laden mouth255
  • stood upright, but not like a man; his legs were caught halfway between human and wolf255
  • huge claws255
  • voice was guttural and oddly accented from speaking out of a mouth meant for howling rather than talking256
  • roared more like a bear than a wolf256
  • dropped to all fours and pulled the power of the pack to change; only took five minutes; either it was easier to change from a transitional stage, or the pack sped his way257

Mercy Thompson Series #11: Storm Cursed

  • his body caught halfway back to human; stuck in a bizarre mismatch of human an wolf limbs and features that looked incredibly painful and completely unsustainable112
  • caught-between-change shape of his mouth; words mangled112
  • couldn't change his whole body quickly enough for his purposes; just changed what he needed117
  • a few of the older werewolves can do this: Asil Moreno Bran Cornick Sherwood Post

Mercy Thompson Series #12: Smoke Bitten

  • his face a nightmare version of a werewolf's face228
  • massive lower jaw was undershot and more like a bulldog's than a wolf'; but it was wider than the upper jaw, too; the whole muzzle was too long for the width of his face228
  • teeth would have done credit to a T.rex; they were black228
  • his eyes were entirely human228

Alpha & Omega Series #3: Fair Game

  • dangerous to stay half-shifted, though some of the most dominant wolves could do it for a while239
werewolf_physiology.txt · Last modified: 2021/07/22 12:03 by linda