Archive of Our Own ^beta

So I watched a National Geographic show on Wolf Packs and totally recorded it for research for Teen Wolf fic, not gonna lie.  And Mom asked me why I was watching it, and I told her "because I write werewolf stories." LOL  

Now I am meta-ing hardcore about Pack Dynamics in real wolves and how it relates to Teen Wolf and the relationships the wolves will have with others (specifically Derek and of course Sterek).  If you’re interested in wolf dynamics, you might enjoy this.  Most of this is how wolves actually interact in a pack and how that can correlate to our Teen Wolf werewolf canon.

There are two Alphas in a pack.
I am interested by the idea that there are technically two Alphas in every pack, not just one.  There is the Alpha male and his female (or the mating Alphas).  Now generally the pack would be made up of the Alpha male and female and their children (basically the wolf family) rather than a bunch of wolves that aren’t related, but obviously a wolf pack has to start out somewhere and the wolves won’t all be related right off the bat.  

I’m about to research on the probability of homosexuality in wolf Alphas though, because we know that homosexuality in animals exists, but I want to know if we have any documented cases of two Alpha males/females in a pack rather than an Alpha male and female pair as that would be quite interesting to see.  Of course the whole point of having an Alpha male and an Alpha female is that they are the only two in the pack that mate and repopulate within the pack (unless prey is abundant then it will allow for other wolves in the pack to “copulate”), so I suppose homosexual pairings would bring about complications unless betas inside of the pack were doing the mating.

So at the head of the pack is the Alpha pair.  However there is a dominant Alpha and then that Alpha’s mate is then brought up to the rank of Alpha by mating with him or her.  The head Alpha is not always male, because the Alpha is chosen only by strength and adversity in fighting against other wolves (both within the pack and against wolves outside the pack).  If that is the female, then she is the leader of the pack.  But despite this, the Alpha’s mate is still considered a leader of the pack and has the same status.  The mate eats first with the Alpha, is submitted to by the other wolves just as the Alpha is, and shows dominance over the pack (though ultimately the mate wouldn’t be the one who is challenged for the seat of Alpha since they don’t hold that position).  When another wolf within the pack (or outside of the pack) challenges the Alpha, if they win, they will generally take the Alpha’s mate as their own.  

Wolves do not technically mate for life.
Wolf pack hierarchy is very fluid.  The alpha is challenged all the time.  I think that Teen Wolf showed this very well with the way that Boyd and Erica left him so willingly because of how things were going - while generally the Omega wolf is the only wolf that just up and leaves a pack, it is a symbolic way of showing that Alphas are not the be all and end all of a pack.  While wolves do challenge one another for dominance underneath the Alpha to move up in the pecking order, the Alpha is obviously the one who gets challenged the most (both from within and from outside of the pack).  

It is also the Alpha’s responsibility to assert dominance over his pack and his mate whenever either is threatened.  Beta wolves that are higher up on the totem pole will attempt to mate with the Alpha’s mate during mating season and the Alpha will have to chase them off.  Obviously it probably doesn’t work quite the same in the werewolf world, but you could probably expect to some extent that with there being that animalistic instinct thrown in, that there could be some pull toward the Alphas mate just because “oh hey, it’s mating time and that mate sure does look fuckable and I’m pretty damn good looking, I could totally get in on that action!”

Like I said before, though, when Alphas lose their dominance battles, they don’t take their mates with them.  The mates stay with the pack and the new Alpha takes the mate for their own.  And when mates get old or sick, they are also set aside for a stronger, better mate who can essentially continue the pack breeding.  Wolf Alpha mating is all about breeding, and while the Alpha will stick with the same mate until he or she is no longer able to perform the duties in the capacity needed, there does come a time in which they are given up on.

What this means for Teen Wolf, I’m not certain.  I’ve read about how Derek mentions in the Teen Wolf novel how he wants to have Kate as his mate and be a “power couple” within the pack and that he talks about mating with her as a wolf (after having made love as humans) and this was when he was sixteen and definitely not the Alpha.  I would think that because they are also partially human, they wouldn’t necessarily hold to all of the same standards - because allowing another Alpha to jack the love of your life from underneath you would be pretty weird, however I am sure that there might still be a dynamic where another wolf challenges the Alpha by fucking around with his or her mate (in whatever way that might be - kidnapping, trying to seduce, what-have-you).  

I would think that because wolf mating is essentially a product of opportunity in the wild and is subject to rivalries between wolves, injury, illness, or death, that werewolves would have parts of this included but not all of it.  They are still human and so they know how love (we see this through Scott, of course) so maybe Teen Wolf is taking this in the direction of human love plus wolf bonding/mating for as long as is possible until the relationship is contested by outside forces - which would be by another wolf, by illness, injury, death, etc.  This seems to be most likely from what we’ve seen so far from Scott, but he’s not an Alpha either, so we don’t know the rules for the Alpha yet.

If/When Derek does get a love interest in the show - and now I sort of understand why they haven’t given him one yet, besides the fact that he just doesn’t trust anyone enough thanks to being burned by Kate - it will be an interesting thing to see.  I would not be surprised if the Alpha pack is not influential in that, probably messing with whoever that person ends up being.  And with those all being Alphas, it definitely would make it an even more interesting dynamic.

Betas and Omegas.
The beta wolf and omega wolf are basically kind of what they are shown as on the show.  The beta is the next rung on the ladder under the Alphas, and they get to eat after the Alphas and are dominant over the omegas.

However omegas are still part of the pack.  They are the most likely to leave the pack, though, so I assume that is why Teen Wolf decided to call them the “lone wolves” and consider them singular entities most of the time.  Omega is a very important part of the pack, strangely enough, though they are terribly mistreated most of the time.  They are the ones that eat the slim pickings behind the rest of the pack, they get beat up on constantly - but in a sense an omega is like the comic relief of the pack.  When tensions get high an omega will initiate play between pack members to defuse the anger and calm everyone down.  Omegas get tired of being punching bags though, and if they are unable to fight their way up in the pack ranks, some will leave the pack for good - in this instance they usually attempt to start their own pack , because joining another pack that is already in existence is apparently a rare occurrence.  I find that very interesting because they will go from omega to Alpha of another pack rather than joining another pack and attempting to become just a beta?  That seems pretty crazy.

It has apparently been noted that in packs that have lost their omega, they pack has gone into a mourning period where they would not hunt and would lie around and look completely miserable.  The omega might be the lowest and weakest of the pack, but it shows that all three are important, as is suggested by Derek’s triskelion.  

Pack management.
While it’s not terribly important, I found it interesting that it is generally the duty of the Alpha male to control the males in the pack and the duty of the Alpha female to take control of the females in the pack.  However either leader can dominate any subordinate of either gender at any time, it is just a way of keeping things organized.  

Wolf Intelligence and Communication.
Even without being part human as werewolves are, wolves are highly intelligent and communicative.  So I actually find it really interesting in the way that Tyler Hoechlin plays Derek because I feel like he does the best job in portraying how a real werewolf would actually act as a “true wolf.”  I haven’t quite seen that in the others, but it’s possible that considering they are more “new wolves” they wouldn’t quite have all these subtle influences like Derek has.

Derek, as we all know, is entirely expressive in the way he looks and stands.  Wolves communicate mostly through audible (noises), somatic (body language), and olfactory (smell) means - their body language is communicated through their face (ears, eyes, mouth), posture (stance, shoulder), and of course the tail.  While Derek is in his human form he is always using posture and his face to express his mood and he also uses audible communication sometimes too, though not as often as somatic.

Audible.
We know audible is more often the growl, usually a low rumble that is a way to warn someone else that they are doing something that is not okay, whether it be getting too close (to the food source when it’s not their turn, to the Alpha’s mate, to someone who just doesn’t want to mess with them at the moment, etc), they just aren’t in the mood, what-have-you, the growl is the essential noise for “don’t fuck with me” and is a threat that will either make the other wolf back down or be followed by a fight.  There is also yipping, barking, whining and whimpering.  The last two are pretty self explanatory - a means to show physical or emotional discomfort - and yipping is generally something to show fright or hurt during play or ritual combat.  Barks and woofs are usually used as warning signals for other pack mates.  Howling is something done for many different reasons, sometimes just because , sometimes to let others know where they are, to rally the pack or to attract mates.

Somatic.
Somatic communication is a lot more subtle than audible communication, but it’s something that we have all taken notice of on Teen Wolf.  Derek is a master at it, but the other wolves have done some of the somatic communication as well.  Showing the subordinance was a really good tactic on Jeff’s part, in 2.02 he had Derek show dominance over Isaac and Isaac was on the floor and covering his head with his hands with a frightened look on his face and of course Derek had the smarmy, smirky look on his face when he explained what he’d done to Stiles.  It was all about body and facial expressions and while it may seems superficial, it’s extremely important when it comes to the pack dynamics and how they understand one another.  They take those social cues quite well from one another almost instantaneously and they need that information to know how the others are feeling.  In 2.12 when Isaac is watching Jackson “dying,” his stance shifts and Derek puts a hand on his shoulder - he can’t see Isaac’s face, but he knows how the teenager is feeling just by his stance alone and that is a very important wolf pack dynamic that Jeff is incorporating - and doing a fantastic job of it, as are the actors in portraying them in a human form.

Olfactory (This may be a bit graphic for some people).
Olfactory is the sense of smell, which is highly intensified for wolves.  Teen Wolf has touched on this a bit; in 2.02 Scott attempts to use his sense of smell to find out who the new werewolf is on the lacrosse team.  Wolves have scent glands all over their bodies, including on their cheeks, behind their ears, on their hind paws, the top of their tails, and on their anus.  Some of these won’t apply to our Teen Wolf werewolves since they don’t fully transform, but they might apply to an Alpha, which is interesting, I think.

Wolf scat (or poop) but especially urine is an olfactory signal for other wolves.  These scents indicate personal identity, mood, health, and sexual arousal to other members in the pack and other canines.  Now we know that our werewolves don’t go around pissing on things since they are human too, but we have seen in fanon that there have been some attempts to use scent marking by rubbing on or using saliva as an alternative to this.   The odors that a wolf has rolled in or rubbed against tells others where he or she has been and doing.  I think that if anything, this would probably be what would be adapted to Teen Wolf, if anything.  We haven’t really had anything in canon to show whether it’s going to be adapted yet, but wolves do mark territory and Beacon Hills is Derek’s territory and he has to have marked it in some way, - and with the Alpha pack here he would definitely need to stake a claim - so that might come into play in Season 3 and we just haven’t seen it yet because of time limitations (and having 24 episodes may allow for that).  

When wolves greet one another they will sniff one another’s muzzle, genitals, tail, and anus - this greeting confers a great deal of communication to each wolf about the other.  Sense of smell also plays an important role in courtship and pre-coitus arousal.  I’ve seen a lot of scent incorporation in this fandom, of course, so this is fairly spot on as far as scenting goes, since wolves use their sense of smell to help out with their sexual arousal a lot, apparently.

“Scent marking is quite important during mating season, when the male will mark over the female's urine and scat, and visa-versa, to indicate their mutual scent to others as being mated. This procedure is often referred to as "double-marking," and is accomplished by following the female around and immediately lifting leg and urinating over where she has recently defecated or peed. Double-marking is a very important aspect of pair bonding, and it is thought that the pair comes to associate each other's union through the consistency of their mutual marks; this may well be a kind of lupine wedding band made of golden fluid, rather than golden metal.”

Courtship & taking a mate (Again, this is graphic).
Mating season is pretty much what you’d expect, but I’ll explain it for people who may not know that much about canines heat cycles/mating rituals in case you ever want to write fanfiction about it.  /wink /wink

Wolves will generally disperse from their birth pack until the opportunity or urge to take a mate presents itself.  Meetings between two wolves are usually tense and violent as they are for any strange wolves meeting each other for the first time; distrust and suspicion run high in wolves (and that’s even when when they haven’t been burned in the past!)  Greeting is never done face to face, but shoulder to shoulder with tension high as they sniff one another’s noses and muzzles.  I would like to see this happen in human form on the show, haha.

Courtship is a bonding phase where the wolves get to know one another better and a mutual emotional attachment develops.  The bond can become so strong that the wolves become lifetime mates, however external forces can always exert on them and force them apart.  (See earlier part about mating for life).  As courtship progresses there are playful attempts at mounting from the side or front, mutual licking, parallel running which incorporates nuzzling under the other wolf’s jaw or ear, and pricking the ears sideways while together.

“If she hasn't already, the bitch soon enters a period of bleeding and frequent urination called proestrus, which lasts for 7 to 10 days during which her vulva will swell significantly. Following proestrus she will enter actual estrus and blood may be replaced by a clear or yellowish discharge having a very erotic effect on the male. Nuzzling or sniffing the croup of her tail while in estrus may cause her to flag; that is, lift her tail up to the side and assuming the "lordosis" posture to entice mounting, intromission, and coitus. Estrus lasts 4 to 7 days during which time the bitch is insistent that her dog mate with her over and over as often as possible. The final stage of estrus is called diestrus, and like proestrus lasts 7 to 10 days. During diestrus the bitch will be unreceptive to mating and may sit down or get grumpy with the dog if he attempts to mount her.
                       
During and after mating the dog and bitch will spend much time, cuddling, playing, and hunting together, until seven or eight weeks have passed when the bitch loses interest in her mate for a while as she prepares the den and whelps their litter of pups 61 to 63 days after conception.”

Denning and Puppies.
While I don’t think we’ll ever get this far on Teen Wolf with our main characters, there might be discussion of it (with Scott and Allison, blech ) and maybe wolves that move in that have pups so that would be fun to see.  I’d love to see baby werewolves - and also see with a werewolf and a human if they have both human and werewolf children.

A wolf bitch creates a den for her pups about two to three weeks before she whelps the pups.  She will try to sniff out an old den (a fox hole or a cave) to repurpose as her own.  Wolf packs often use the same denning site year after year, however she and the pack only remain around the site in early spring when she prepares to rear the puppies.  

The den is an entrance tunnel that leads to a chamber that is large and adequate enough for both the puppies and the mother and even other wolves to fit inside.  However the den is considered a sacred place and the Alpha female won’t even allow the Alpha male to enter the den, though she sometimes will designate a female from the lower ranks in the pack to help her rear the pups.  Eventually the entire pack will participate in rearing the puppies when they are older, though.

The pups will usually remain in the den for the first three to four weeks of their lives before they are developed enough and mother allows them to venture out.  She is entirely dependent on the rest of the pack to bring her food, generally in the form of meat that is regurgitated for her.

Sterek and how it could bring brilliant angst thanks to wolf pack dynamics.
While a lot of this will be adapted differently to deal with the fact that these are humans too and not just werewolves, I am definitely interested to see how Jeff works with these things.  We’ve seen quite a lot of it already and I’m really happy with how he’s handled things so far, but some things are definitely up in the air still - like the Alpha pair as opposed to the singular Alpha and how that would be handled if it was introduced.  And if they did consider bringing Sterek into the mix, that would obviously throw a huge wrench into the Alpha female/Alpha male pairing and the fact that the Alphas are supposed to be the mating couple of the pack.  If they can’t procreate, what is the point of their relationship - besides the obvious fact that they are in love?  This has been a question raised to homosexual couples that has quite obviously been answered (just like it has been for hetereosexual couples who were unable to produce offspring).  

But when we are talking about werewolves , it’s not like Derek and Stiles can run down to the surrogacy center or adoption agency and adopt little werewolves to claim as their own.  This would be all the angst in the world, obviously, because Derek as an Alpha is supposed to mate and procreate in his pack and if he can’t do that with the person he’s mating with, well - that creates the hole for his betas to challenge him for Alpha status because he’s not fulfilling his duties.  That or one of the females could attempt to mate with Stiles, since they have the ability to produce pups from him...  So I think that this would be one more great reason to bring Sterek to the mix because it would show how werewolves are similar but also different from regular wolves and what awesome television it would make.  Yes and yes .

Resources.
America the Wild: Inside the Wolf Pack
Lupine Behavior: http://www.wolfhowl.org/behavior.php
Pack Mentality: http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/wolf-pack-mentality1.htm