This story begins when the capitol started a series of genetic mutation experiments on humans from the Quileute tribe in district 13. They kidnapped these men suspecting no one would notice if they went missing because the Quileute tribe was poor and lived in slums. The goal of the capitol's experiments were to crossbreed humans with other animals, forming a genetically mutated sub-species that would still have human anatomy, but have special animalistic attributes such as strength or speed. These experiments were started during the Dark Days of PANEM. The capitol wanted to create super soldiers to serve in the civil war, hoping to squash the rebellion of the districts. They had already tried and failed many experiments, trying to cross many breeds of animals, but they finally found success with Canis Lupus. It was discovered that ironically wolves were the only breed they could synthetically merge with human DNA, creating a man-wolf, or werewolf, as ancient folklore called the mythological monster talked about in many scary stories or horror films from their nation's history. They also found that unlike the tales of a transformation on the full moon, fur grown from the skin, and extending fangs and claws, the change they saw in their human subjects was much different. Their entire bodies would shift, seemingly exploding into the form of a horse sized wolf. This change took place only when the subjects were agitated or threatened. The capitol tortured the subjects in order to bring about their transformations or shifting as they called it. The mutation came with other attributes in human form as well. The subjects showed signs of increased aggression, high body temperature, superhuman strength, speed, and stamina, enhanced sense of smell, sight, hearing, and balance, high durability, regenerative healing, substantial size and muscle increase, and no signs of aging. One ability they kept secret from the capitol scientists was the telepathic connection they shared while in wolf form. This allowed them to communicate without the officers knowing and also helped them to plan their escape.
The Quileute men, gradually gained control over their shifting abilities and used their power to escape. Five out of the seven men survived the escape and the five ran in wolf form all the way back to their home in district 13. When they arrived hoping to find their families, they instead found the charred ruins of the entire district. To their horror they realized the capitol had destroyed the city killing their tribe. They were the only remaining Quileutes. Having nowhere to stay they decided to settle in the woods outside of district 12. They could hunt and grow vegetation in the wilderness and live where no one would find them. Their plan worked well for a while until one day the alpha of the wolfmen's pack, Ephraim Black ventured too close to the outskirts of the mining district. He spotted a group of people outside near a market and one woman caught his eye. When he saw her something changed. His whole attention was immediately fixed on her. He could suddenly smell her scent clearly and hear her heartbeat ringing in his ears calling him to her. Everything she was and everything she did was his world. Suddenly she was his reason for living and her happiness was his purpose in life. He wanted to be closer to her, so he tore part of the fence and snuck into the district unseen. He approached her in the market that day and as soon as she met him she could instantly feel a connection. He became her focus as well. He learned that her name was Martha Young. They became closely attached after that, meeting in secret every day. Ephraim's pack mates saw their meeting through their telepathic connection in wolf form and they could tell Ephraim and Martha's connection was extraordinary. They believed it to be instinctive mating from the wolf genes. They called this process imprinting.
Months passed and as Martha's belly began to swell with child she decided to leave her life behind in district 12 to start her family with Ephraim. She left in secret to live with the pack in the woods and they all did their best to make sure she was safe, well fed, and cared for. They found it interesting that she not only shared a bond with Ephraim, but she had a sort of motherly instinct with all the men in the pack, and they in turn, felt the need to take care of her. She was happy and felt deeply respected by the pack, and she never once regretted her decision to come to live with them.
One day while the wolfman called Levi Uley was patrolling the woods he found an old friend he had long thought was dead in the destruction of district 13. Her name was Ellen Longtree. As soon as he saw her he instantly felt the imprinting bond that he had witnessed in Ephraim's mind when he had met Martha. He immediately went to her and found out that there had been survivors from the Quileute tribe and they were taking shelter in a group of caves on the outskirts of district 13. He took Ellen to Ephraim to tell him the wonderful news and the whole pack ventured to the caves to reconnect with their tribe. They soon established their home with their tribe in the caves and surrounding woods and vowed to become the tribe's secret protectors.
As the years passed the rest of the men in the pack imprinted on women from the tribe and started families. They only allowed their mates to know of their abilities to shift. The rest of the tribe was ignorant of the supernatural wolfmen except the tribal council. The pack was happy and secure knowing their secrets were kept safe. The capitol had no knowledge of their existence and they hoped to keep it that way. They had children and hoped to keep shifting a secret from them too, until they realized their kids had adopted the same wolf genes from them and they began to turn also. This continued through two more generations of wolves. And finally our real story begins when Jacob Black, Ephraim's great grandson learns the secrets of the Quileute protectors.
