Marcus raised his clawed hands over his head. He turned in a slow circle.
"Two alphas fight for you here tonight. One of us will leave the circle alive. One of us will feed you tonight. Drink of our blood, eat of our flesh. We are pack. We are lukoi. We are one."

(The Killing Dance, page 323, paragraph 8)

* Lukoi is Greek and comes from King Lyckaon of Arcadia who was a werewolf and didn't hide his nature. In honor of his openness, the present day werewolves name themselves the lukoi.

* Many of the terms used to identify the positions of leadership in a pack are Norse in origin, because the pack is old

* The pack hierarchy is established as follows:

* Werewolves have a highly evolved system of laws and rules governing their actions. Pack law stipulates many things:

1) Pack leaders much fight all challenges to their dominance personally, or forfeit leadership. (LuC-92)

2) To ask a pack member for their protection is to acknowledge they are of higher rank without having to fight them. The pack must then accept that person as a dominant.  (LuC-101)

* During the full moon, the wolves gather in a special place of power called the lupanar. Here, they may call upon the munin and shift into their animal forms. This is also the place where formal challenges might be made, like succession fights.

* When a pack member dies, his/her body is eaten by the rest of the clan in order to preserve the munin. Munin was Odin's raven, also known as memory. These are the spirits of the clan which remain behind as "spirit-guide" types, providing wisdom and sometimes power when called.

* A vargamor is a pack's wise woman or wise man. Usually a witch, although sometimes a psychic, it is a position held by a normal human.

* When a Lupa wishes to open the chance to mate with her to other werewolves instead of the Ulfric, she declares herself Freyja. The procedure is as follows:

(1)
The Lupa first cuts the chest of the Ulfric with a knife.
(2)
Next, she cuts her own chest, just over her heart. Neither  wound is deep.
(3)
Words are spoken:
"Your heart to mine, mine to yours. Lupa to your Ulfric. But not to your bed nor you to mine."
(4)
The knife is thrust into the ground where a surge of power bursts from the earth. The munin then burst forth and affect every male werewolf in the vicinity, announcing the challenge that has been made.
(5)
Final words are spoken:
"Catch me if you can, my Ulfric."
And the Lupa runs until one of the werewolves catches her and mates with her. If he changes into a wolf before he is able to mate with her, he is instantly disqualified.

* Knowledge of natural wolves is sometimes useful in understanding werewolves. Good authors include L. David Mech and Barry Holstun Lopez, who wrote "Of Wolves and Men."

* To ask for protection, a wolf can petition a dominant by moving into the dominant. If it is granted, the dominant will touch the submissive which then signals to any other lycanthropes in the area that he or she will protect that petitioner from their enemies/pursuers.

* To greet another pack member, the general method is to rub one's cheeks and then bury one's nose behind the ear of the other, and vice versa, smelling the skin found there.

* When a submissive greets a dominant in public, it is usually a soft kiss, but in private, they must lick the lower lip of the dominant.