human or another shifter unless he or she is sure that said person is
unclaimed and, in the case of women, not fertile.
Unclaimed in the human vernacular means single, not just unwed. We can tell if a woman or a man has a steady partner.
Unclaimed in the supernatural world means un-mated. Most
supernatural beings mate for life. In some cases, like shifters, this
means they find their soul mate, the one person in the entire world
that is their perfect match. In other cases, like weres, this means
that the two make a verbal pledge before their pack to be together
forever. The big difference is that any two people can make the
pledge whether they are in love or not, and if they fall out of love
with each other, then oh well, they are stuck with each other. Most
weres don’t enter into the pledge lightly. All of this means that the
chances of running across a claimed male or female in a bar looking
to get laid is slim. On the off chance you run into one, you want to
stay far, far away from her or him.
The same goes for humans. I’m not saying that shifters can’t
sleep with humans. We can. We do all the time. We just have to be
very careful not to impregnate one. Most supernatural species have
certain heightened senses that let them know whether the human
they’ve encountered is fertile or not. Knowing whether a woman is
fertile or not doesn’t matter to most species, such as Vampires,
because they can’t breed with humans. Shifters, on the other hand,
are human in all the ways that matter. The problem is that these
senses are dulled when we are intoxicated or otherwise mentally
handicapped. In those moments, we are human. We are unable to
shift or use magic.
Human women can carry shifter babies with no problem, even
deliver them. Not until the kid hits puberty and begins shifting does
the problem come into play. Most humans are unable to accept that
the supernatural exists. You would think that with all the
supernatural themed entertainment floating around out there that
people would be more accepting of shifters, but they aren’t;
therefore, we tend to stick with our own kind.
A pack occasionally brings in new blood from the human world,
but there are enough different packs throughout the world that the