Werewolf Widow for a Year

Prologue

There have always been certain rules the Night Pack, and its allied packs have to follow. Most of these rules have been in affect for hundreds of years. The rules are not just rules-- in fact they are the law of the land. Those who break these laws are shunned, disowned, imprisoned or worse, put to death. The punishment is meant to fit the crime. No crime is worse than breaking a vow to one's mate. The mating vows are considered to be the most sacred of all. Mating vows are placed under a special category of laws known as customary laws. Now every group, pack, town, city, etc has customary laws of some kind. But the customary laws set forth by the Night Pack are the most worshipped and feared of them all. Within Blur and for nearly one hundred miles in each direction from it, these customary laws are to be obeyed to the letter. There are no exceptions to these laws, and no one lives to tell the tale after breaking any of these laws.

Now many question how any law outside of killing someone else, could possibly lead to another person's death. Well the laws below are that cherished by this pack. The following customary laws are to be upheld without faulting or the guilty will face execution.

1.Men are not allowed to work as cooks, housekeepers, in midwifery, or as grade school teachers. But are allowed to work outside of the pack lands

2.Women are not allowed to work as builders, architects, law enforcement or doctors and must stay within pack lands unless chaperoned by a male relation (17 or older)

3.Women are considered minors. A woman before mating is under the guardianship of her father; upon mating, her husband takes over guardianship from her father and upon his death, guardianship is transferred to the eldest son or if the woman so chooses to mate again, to the new mate

4. Men (15 and older) are not allowed to wear their hair below their chin and women (15 and older) are not allowed to wear their hair shorter than their shoulders

5. Any man or woman (15 and older) in the warrior class and up are required to train and fight any outside or domestic forces that go against the pack

6. An elderly, unmarried woman (35 and older) may be granted a pass to work outside of the home, but not outside of the pack, at the discretion of her father, eldest brother, Alpha or village elders --should she not have any living male relations

7. Vows presented in mating ceremonies must be upheld throughout the mating

8 No one is allowed to choose their mate, one must be assigned to you by the Moon Goddess with following stipulations:

a. As there are fewer women than men, once a mate has been found, men are not allowed to reject their female mate under any circumstance, unless in mourning

a. Once found women may reject their mate for the following reasons ONLY (mate is lame of mind and/or body, mate is found guilty of breaking customary laws, mate is in mourning, mate is human)

b. Should a man still not have a mate after the age of 45, he may be assigned one of the elderly women upon request

10. Should a mate die, the surviving mate may not claim another person for one year and one day as they must present themselves in mourning. Mourning laws applies to the loss of a loved one (spouse, child, parent, sibling, first cousin)

a. Mourning for a spouse must be one year and one day

1. Women must be fully covered in public wearing all loose fitting grey clothing, showing no skin and black veil over face for six months, and only allowed to shift out into the lupine form on mourning grounds or feral cages for the first nine months.

a. Allowed to uncover face in public in sixth month and one day of mourning

b. Not allowed into any unmated males' home without 1 male and 1 female chaperone until ninth month of mourning

b. Allowed to show wrists, ankles and neck in ninth month and one day of mourning should she be looking to mate again

c. Allowed to wear any article of clothing she chooses after one year of mourning

d. Allowed to mate again after one year and one day of mourning

2. Men must be fully covered in public wearing all loose fitting grey clothing, showing no skin for six months and only allowed to shift on mourning grounds feral cages, or when needed for battles for first six months.

a. Allowed to show arms and neck after six month of mourning

b. Not allowed into any unmated females' home without 1 male and 1 female chaperone until eight month of mourning

c. Allow to wear any article of clothing he chooses after ninth month of mourning

d. Allowed to mate again after nine months and one day of mourning

All of these laws applied and one would think that with such laws, they were living in the eighteenth century. Yet this was in fact still the main laws of the late twentith century in Blur, Washington. The way things were headed, there didn't seem to be any changes on the horizon any time soon.