Ghost Wolves aren’t a tribe. They’re the werewolves who have rejected the Firstborn and turned their backs on Luna and the spirit courts alike. Many are simply ignorant. The People can’t be everywhere, and sometimes a First Change goes unremarked. Others try to deny their natures and cling to their human lives. Still others simply find no resonance with the Tribes of the Moon or the Pure, and strike out to make their own destinies.

Ghost Wolves aren’t accorded much respect among the Forsaken. If you’ve got Mother Luna’s blessing, you don’t get the luxury of turning your back on your duty to Father Wolf. You want to go back to your husband and your kids? Too bad. Your old life’s gone. The few who do get a small measure of respect among the tribes are those who acknowledge their part in Father Wolf’s legacy but don’t feel they fit in with one of the extant tribes. These Ghost Wolves tend to join multi-tribe packs or gather like-minded Ghost Wolves around them into their own packs. Lacking the support structure of tribe membership, Ghost Wolf packs have a harder time making inter-pack alliances, but most consider that a fair trade for freedom. Ghost Wolves are rare in otherwise single-tribe packs — if a werewolf is comfortable enough with a tribe’s ethos to surround herself with members, chances are she’ll join that tribe herself in short order.

Since they aren’t a tribe, Ghost Wolves have no Firstborn patron. Most are perfectly fine with that; if they wanted a patron, they’d have joined a tribe, after all. Others form lodges to find a semblance of spiritual support, and tales of Ghost Wolf packs journeying into the deep Shadow in search of a forgotten Firstborn to serve as totem to a sixth tribe are common in Forsaken lore. To date, no such hunt has met with success, but that doesn’t mean it’s an impossible dream.

Each Ghost Wolf hunts something that matters to her personally. Their motives are more human than the tribes: a Ghost Wolf whose mother was killed by a vampire might devote herself to hunting the undead, while one who sees the social injustice inherent in society might focus on the wealthy and privileged who escape justice. Simple desires drive their hunts: Protect what you love, revenge yourself on those who harm you and yours. Many hunt entirely on instinct, choosing their prey in the blind madness of Kuruth. Others try to deny the urge altogether, resisting their instincts when they can and chaining themselves up when the wolf inside rages. The latter approach never works for long. After all, The Wolf Must Hunt.