Blood on the Moon - Wolf Series Characters 2 - Anton

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I'm no longer posting an episode of Blood on the Moon and I'm feeling a little... lost.

All good things must come to an end - of course I know this.

So I've decided to not only remind myself about the characters, but I figured I'd give you something to sink your teeth into too.

Here's the second in this series – Anton

Anton is a loveable rogue. I based him a little on older guys I’ve known. His sense of fun, despite his age, is entirely down to a refusal to ‘grow up’ and who can blame him?

He mentors Hazel in the beginning of her life as Wolf and as she devoured his lessons and learned fast, he delighted in teaching her. I strongly suspect the fact that she was the Prophesised One had a lot to do with his fascination, as much as it had to do with her willingness to learn.

Anton in the stories is the once (and future?) Lycaeon. He abdicated in favour of his granddaughter, Victoria because he no longer wanted the responsibility of the title.

Anton has only one descendent left to take over the mantle of Lycaeonship and that is because his sons and their families were all slaughtered for plotting to remove Anton from the throne. Victoria and her sister were too young to be involved in the plotting and therefore, survived. Anton took them under his wing and brought them up.

He is older than he looks (who isn’t in the Wolf society?) and he is wise beyond his years. He tutors Hazel (Red) whenever possible and though she has learned more than he can teach on some subjects, she still finds he has a lot to teach her about Wolf society and the First Laws.

Anton has studied with wise men from all walks of life and the one enduring friendship is with the Ojibwe Tribe from Northern America and Canada. He studied over many years with the tribe’s elders and eventually learned the practice of shape-shifting. He used the new skill to great effect in the first book, turning into a large black dog. Hazel and Nichasin managed to evade capture because their pursuers were searching for three adults.

Though Red and Anton sometimes argue and even fall-out on occasion, Anton regards her like a great-granddaughter, with affection and patience when he teaches.

Red has a deep regard for Anton and appreciates everything he has done for her, but also resents his interfering in her ‘Sentinel work’ where she is by far more knowledgeable than he is on matters that he has never had reason to learn.

Anton is of indeterminate age – basically, we don’t know how old he is because he’s not told me yet. He was born a Wolf and is one of the ‘pure side’.

Wolfkind stems from two brothers – one had the other brother bite a woman that he took for a mate (to avoid the Throwback anomaly). The other brother waited until he could take a ‘born Wolf’ as his mate. That side of the family, the side that has never mated and produced offspring from a bitten (Piaculum) mate, is known as the pure side and because their blood is pure and from all ‘born’ Wolf, they are accepted as the ruling class.

Heavy weighs the crown, because the First Laws say the Lycaeon must produce an heir from a ‘Born Wolf’.

We haven’t seen much of Anton’s life before he met Hazel, but I think the next story will delve more into his history. Anton’s first meeting with Hazel was in the woods after she had been bitten, but before she had experienced her first Full Moon and therefore turned Wolf.

Though he is no longer Lycaeon, his word still holds weight and even Victoria will listen when he advises.

Anton has always had a fascination for Wolfkind and the science of their transformations. The bloodwork and use of hormones has been studied intensively and his fascination for the anomaly of Throwbacks has been a source of enlightenment that Hazel shares.

Anton knows why Wolves go for specific areas of the body when they make a kill – it’s instinctive, of course, but there is also a scientific reason behind it.

He also understands (and has passed-on that understanding) how Wolves may sometimes age and other times not, why they can be stronger than (in)humanly possible and heal faster than nature allows other species.

There is one thing that baffles Anton – why silver is so utterly destructive to Wolfkind. He has, of course, studied that too – and he has the scar to prove it.

In the past, when he tutored Hazel (and Nichasin), Hunters were prevalent and very real danger to Wolfkind in general. Anton devised methods of teaching Whelps. He taught how they could recognise a Hunter, and also how to withstand the methods utilised in recognising a Wolf in human form. The most valuable lessons, that of how Hunters bring the Wolf out and force it to change to Wolf form and therefore how to avoid and resist those methods, were taught to Nichasin and Hazel on one night, forging an unbreakable bond between the three.

Anton is loyal to his Lycaeon - his granddaughter, Victoria - and he is just as loyal to Hazel – for different reasons, of course.

I think Anton is a source of great stories that he hasn’t yet told me, but in my next book - Ancients and Gods – I believe we’ll learn even more about the enigmatic Wolf.

Which one of these do you see at Anton - or do you have another in mind?