Stephanie Tyler - Dire Desires

abilities:The now-immortal Dire wolves were all born with abilities, except for Rifter, who was cursed with his at birth. These abilities were looked at with fear by the Dire population at large. In fact, the Elders were once Dire wolves who were sacrificed to Hati, the creator of the Dires, because they had abilities. The abilities range from dreamwalking to communicating with the dead, and can often be seen as both a gift and a curse to the wolves trying to balance them out.

Adept:An immortal, master witch.

Brother Wolf:A Dire wolf is a dual-natured beast who lives with his Brother Wolf inside of him. These Brother Wolves are also depicted in a life-sized glyph on the Dires’ backs, the glyph coming out fully after a Dire’s first shift at age twenty-one. The Dires and their inner wolves have an even balance of power and a deep respect for one another. They both run the show, bowing to each other’s needs and wants when necessary. This differentiates them from Weres, who, when shifted into wolf form, cannot communicate or control their wolf sides.

Catskills, NY:Place where the Dire wolves currently call home. Also home to the supernatural world of witches, vampires and other shifters who are not friendly and remain hidden; it coexists alongside the human world.

deadheads:Old Dire wolf word for vampires. Current meaning: fans who follow the Grateful Dead.

Dire wolves:(*Also see Brother Wolf) Dire wolves are alpha, immortal wolves who live in tandem with their Brother Wolf and take on human form to survive in the world. Dire wolves are differentiated from Weres because they cannot be killed by any means, thanks to a curse of immortality cast upon them by the Elders. When first in existence, the Dire wolves lived a long time, with an approximate one-hundred-year life span, but they were not immortal. The majority of the Dire wolf population—which was quite large, since it preceded the Were population—was killed during the Extinction, and the curse on the remaining Dire wolves with abilities was cast at that time.

However, with their gifts, immortality is exhausting for the Dires—it forces them to remain in hiding and move quite often because their human sides will not age, unlike Weres, who, although immortal in theory, can be killed and will age, albeit slowly, in their human forms.

The Dires were trained in the warrior ways. They are powerful fighters, far more powerful and violent than Weres. However, both Dires and Weres can shift at will and both are pulled by the full moon, although the Dire wolves will never fall prey to moon craze, which often happens to young Weres during their earliest shifts and can last from the age of sixteen until they are twenty-one.

Dire ghost army:These are the Dire wolves killed during the Extinction. They are raised by Seb, the master witch, through a black magic spell and are intent on harming the living Dire wolves. They then plan on spreading their destruction outward to Weres and humans.

the Elders:The Elders are a mythical group of otherworldly spirit wolves responsible for the creation of both the Dires and the Weres, and also responsible for meting out justice to both populations when necessary. One example of this was the Extinction. There were originally four Elders: Hildr, Eydis, Leifr and Meili. Hildr asked to be released from her duties (aka killed) when outvoted on an important matter concerning the Dires and their abilities rather than go against what she believed in.

the Extinction:In Norway, the Dire wolf packs committed a massacre of humans (who will later form the weretrappers) in direct opposition to orders from the Elders. The Elders killed all Dire wolves except for five Dires who were out on their Running—Harm, Rifter, Vice, Jinx and Rogue. Later the Dires discovered that another pack of non-immortal Dires in Greenland had also been saved by the Elders. Stray and Killian are immortal, since they have abilities, but the rest of their Greenland pack isn’t.

fated:In the time of the Dires, their word for love was fated, so when a Dire talks about being fated, he’s really talking about love.

Greenland pack:A pack of non-immortal Dires kept alive by the Elders after the Extinction so that wolves in that pack could give birth to brothers who would have abilities and thus fulfill an old prophecy.

hunters:A human antidote to the weretrappers, they’re a group of humans who are on the side of good and therefore trying to weed out the bad supernaturals from the good, rather than use them or kill them at will, as the trappers do. In the supernatural world, they’re seen as just as dangerous.

mating:Weres can mate with humans or Weres and sometimes with other shifter species like lion shifters. For the Dires, it’s a very different story, as the old ways dictate that Dires can mate only with other Dires and it must be ceremonial. First and foremost, a mating can never happen during first-time sex. It’s too dangerous to try to mate with a new wolf because shifting for the first several times is too hard and new wolves are uncontrollable. Mating happens by consent on both sides during the third time a male and female Dire lay together—that is the Dire custom because they don’t encourage sex without mating. Sex for the last remaining Dires is painful, because it goes against their mating protocol. During the mating, the non-shifted male is chained and the female will shift uncontrollably at the end. Thus mating equals danger for the male—will he be able to handle his proposed female wolf? After a mating, the Dires must come before the Elders to have the mating blessed. Mating makes Dires stronger.

the old country:The Dire wolves were created by Hati during Viking times and lived primarily in Norway, with a large pack also in Greenland.

the Running:An adult Dire has a great responsibility to his pack. Even before his shift, he trains as a warrior, as Dire culture is a warrior one. Also, because the shift for a Dire requires great strength, their lives are devoted to gaining the necessary strength before they turn twenty-one. After their shift, there is an importance placed on sensuality and play. The Running happens after their first several shifts, while they are allowed to run and play apart from the packs for six months in order to see if they are truly independent and able to blend well with humans now that their wolves have emerged.

Skinwalker:There are many myths about how skinwalkers are created. The Dire wolves know that they can become skinwalkers if they commit matricide and/or patricide. Since this killing is an unnatural act, they become unnatural beings, although they remain, first and foremost, Dire wolves. A skinwalker can shift into other beings, taking on various personas for short periods of time. Some can see the future, and others are thought to be able to curse those who speak out against them. Some are seen as witch doctors, and typically, they are cast out and live alone.

Weres:(See Dire wolvesfor more differences between Weres and Dires.) Were who are newly shifted can experience moon craze, in which they become uncontrollable and therefore dangerous to themselves, their packs and the human race. Many young wolves are put down because of this. The Dire wolves will often take in moon-crazed Weres they believe have the potential to become great warriors.