Werewolf Social Roles

Hierarchy of Rage

For many years, biologists attributed pack roles to wolves, based on the packs they'd observed. These roles - alphas, betas, and omegas - were so codified that assumptions about how they functioned not only influenced zoologists, but general culture as well. Before too long, though, biologists realized that these designations were artificial - they were the roles that wolves in captivity evolved to cope with their imprisonment. Like humans in prison, they developed violent and antagonistic pack roles as a response to the psychological stress their captivity inflicted.

So while these dynamics are not natural to wolves in the wild, they do develop among wolves in captivity...including those wolf-spirits that are imprisoned within the souls of humans by the Curse. As such, werewolves do develop these roles, which have come to impact their society.

Omegas

Considered scavengers, half-feral, and generally all kinds of trouble, omegas are usually shiftless wanderers. Because their lack of a pack makes for a tempestuous relationship with their Feral Wolves, they often have a hard time avoiding trouble. An Omega that is accepted into a pack becomes a Beta. These werewolves all have the Omega Condition.

Betas

Most werewolves are betas - members of packs, with the kind of control over their Feral Wolves that both Harmony and the presence of a pack can grant.

Alphas

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