The Wolf Folk Series by Charlie Bird
Prologue:
Jeremiah Tate is nearing 16 years old and struggling to become a man in a family without his father. What he does not know can hurt him, yet what he does know leads him to explore further. On his 16th birthday, he is confronted with a situation that turns his entire world upside down, everything that he had believed in was suddenly suspect. When he finally works it all out in his mind, he is no longer the boy he thought he was, nor was he completely human.
Background:
The Wolf Folk are an ancient race, their exact origins are lost in the mists of time. They are likely the origin of the legends about Werewolves, however they are neither werewolves nor are they wolves. They are shape-shifters who have the ability to modify their physical appearance. They take on all aspects of real wolves in their changed shape. They are telepaths of considerable power and they mentally convince their observer of their wolf status and are able to contact the minds of their fellow shape-shifters over considerable distances and those of ordinary humans are open to them. There were originally six great houses or families of shape-shifters that lived in peace with their human brothers. As civilizations began to grow, those jealous of the Wolf Folk began to harass them. They held humans in great esteem and refused to fight back. As continents began to emerge from the ice ages, the Wolf Folk emigrated away from their homelands and arrived in Alaska about 10,000 years ago, crossing the land bridge with the peoples who became the Hopi, the Cherokee and the Athabascans. The latter betrayed them and were subsequently shunned by the Wolf Folk, although they retained legends of shape shifters as their descendants became the Navajo and the Apache peoples. The senior Family was the Family Zed and the Pack Leader of the Zed was the traditional King of the Wolves. They had few laws among them, however, their traditions would not allow them to hurt a human, nor, for that matter, eat one, despite what old tales said. In fact, the Oath of the Prime Pack Leader states, in part, "in sight of the Great Creator, I shall allow no harm to come to our cousins, the Humans, through fault or deed of my own or those holding allegiance to me. I swear this upon my Ring and my life, so help me God!"