Pack (canine)
Animals which typically predominate over others are associated with the term "alpha". Among pack-living wolves, alpha wolves are the genetic parents of most cubs in the pack. Such access to mating females creates strong selective pressure for intra-sex competition.
Survivors (novel series)
A novella telling of Moon's past, and how she came to join the wolfdog's Wild Pack, set between "Alpha's Tale" and "The Empty City", released on 5 May 2015. Long before the Big Growl struck, Moon belonged to a different Pack, a Pack of twelve including herself. She and her sister Star were the daughters of the Pack's Alpha and Beta. The Pack also consisted of Hunter the big burly gray-and-brown male great dane mix (who was at first Moon's betrothed), Meadow the small beige female terrier mix with dark ears, Rush the male golden brown short-haired terrier mix with a short tail, Pebble the black female mongrel with sleek fur, and Fly the big brown-and-white snub-nosed male mongrel with long legs. Also in this Pack were Snap, Mulch and Whine. But when that Pack was threatened by a lethal case of canine distemper, Moon found unexpected help - and a difficult choice - in an English mastiff newcomer called Fiery, who had stumbled across Moon's Pack while he and the rest of his small Wild Pack of six were seeking out new territory. While Hunter, Meadow, and Rush abandoned Moon's Pack, most of her own Pack died from the illness with only Snap, Whine (Moon's Pack's original Omega), Mulch, and Moon herself remaining. They, of course, join Fiery's Pack, increasing its numbers to ten.