Here is a mix of wolf information you may or may not find helpful. Even though this site is mainly all fantasy, the species used are real, as are the weight, length and height (exceptional to the divine beings).
WOLF SPECIES
Mexican Wolf -
Canis lupus baileyi
-- Weight: 60-90 lbs
-- Height: 22-26 in
-- Length: 53-78 in
-- Life Span: 15 Years
Gray Wolf -
Canis lupus
-- Weight: 55-115 lbs
-- Height: 26-32 in
-- Length: 60-85 in
-- Life Span: 8-12 Years
Red Wolf -
Canis rufus
-- Weight: 40-80 lbs
-- Height: 25-26 in
-- Length: 55-65 in
-- Life Span: 6-15 Years
Maned Wolf -
Chrysocyon brachyurus
-- Weight: 45-50 lbs
-- Height: 26-36 in
-- Length: 110-130 cm
-- Life Span: 7-12 Years
Ethopian Wolf -
Canis simensis
-- Weight: 11-20 kg
-- Height: 24-30 in
-- Length: 100 cm
-- Life Span: 6-12 Years
Arctic Wolf -
Canis lupus arctos
-- Weight: 100-175 lbs
-- Height: 25-31 in
-- Length: 3-5 ft
-- Life Span: 6-10 Years
WOLF BEHAVIOR
Hierarchies
Wolf packs are based on a leadership hierarchy. The dominant male (alpha male) and dominant female (alpha female) are at the head of this society. They can be identified by their erect posture, with their ears and tails held high. The alpha male and female have definite responsibilities in maintaining order in their pack. The alpha male is usually the only male to breed and it is partly his job to make sure that no other males attempt to breed with the alpha female. He is also the center of activities such as pre-hunting rallies, pack ceremonies, bonding activities, and feeding. The alpha female is also usually the only female to breed. Her most important responsibility is choosing a den site but she also shares the responsibilities of the male. Since she controls mating in the pack, her actions determine the future genetic makeup of the pack. The breeding season can ultimately fail if she chooses a poor den site, in an area of low prey density. During the breeding season all of the pack’s activities are based around the alpha female.
A subdominant wolf can be identified in the pack through its body language as well. Subdominant wolves will lower its body, tuck its tail, and pull its ears back when confronting a wolf of higher standing. At the bottom of the hierarchy is the omega wolf. This wolf can be either male or female. This wolf is used as an outlet for aggression for the rest of the wolves, especially the alpha. The alpha wolf will decide if and when other wolves are allowed to eat. The omega wolf usually goes last and must pick over what everyone else has taken. The omega also initiates play.
Within the hierarchy, younger individuals are constantly trying to better their status. When a new alpha male takes charge, it occurs very rapidly. The old alpha male is still treated with respect by the other subdominants. It has been suggested that the dominance hierarchies serve to maintain order and conserve energy within the pack by reducing aggression. Basically it prevents a fight each time a wolf contests something.
Hunting
Wolves prey on a wide variety of animals including deer, elk, moose, bison, rabbits, and beavers. The hunt is led by the alpha male, who is accompanied by all the adults and yearlings. The wolves locate prey by chance encounter, airborne scent, or a fresh scent trail. Once located, the wolves stalk the prey, looking for signs of vulnerability. Their main targets are the old, young or sick. Since wolves prey on the most vulnerable animals, they play an integral part in improving the genetic variability of their prey. In the end, the wolves outrun the prey, drag it down, and tear at it until it is too weak to fend off the pack. A good success rate is considered to be 5-10%.
Pair Bonding
Breeding, for most wolf packs, begins in February. Pair bonding by the alpha wolves is the first sign of the breeding season. During this time the alpha male and female begin to spend more time together and engage in pair bonding activities. The two wolves will travel together, play frequently, groom each other, and sleep side by side. Joint scent marking is also a sign of pair bonding.
When the breeding season begins the alpha wolves become more aggressive toward other members of their pack. The alpha female will attack any other female who shows interest in her mate. The alpha male will also show aggression to other males that approach his female. It also becomes the job of the alpha female to make sure that no other females in her pack mate. If other females come into heat, she forcibly prevents them from mating. If another female somehow does become pregnant, the alpha female may stress out the pregnant female to the point where she will abort her puppies. Normally the alpha female succeeds and is the only female to mate. This is done to ensure that their pack does not get too large or to the point where their resources cannot support their pack size. If the alpha female feels that their territory can support more wolves she will allow another wolf to breed
In some cases a subordinate male or female in the pack will have a strong desire to breed. He or she may decide to leave the pack in order to find a mate. The wolf’s solitary scent mark lets other wolves know that it is present. When two wolves pair up they will mark their new territory to claim the area. However, in many cases vacant territories are hard to find and a wolf may have to travel hundreds of miles in search of an area. A lone wolf takes a great risk in traveling alone. It must cross other packs territories and will be vulnerable to predators without it’s pack’s protection; therefore, some times the lone wolf will fail and will be forced to return home to his/her pack.
Communal pup rearing
Pups are born in the spring. A normal litter is 6 pups, weighing about 1lb each. When more than one litter is born, a combined litter is formed and tended to by all of the mothers. Because pups rely on the mother for warmth, other members of the pack feed the mother. When the pups are ready for solid food, other pack members will feed them. At first some adults feed the pups regurgitated food from their last meal. When the pups are old enough to eat kill, the older adults will carry the meat back to the den and give it to the yearlings. The yearlings will then feed the pups the fresh meat. This is known as "relay feeding". When the adults are hunting, the yearlings will often stay and baby-sit the pups. However, when food is not plentiful, the adults will feed the yearlings before the pups. This, along with disease and accidents is why only 25% of pups usually survive the first year.
All of the pack members spend time playing with, or socializing, and caring for the pups. The pups will quickly begin to watch and mimic the activities of the adults. One pup of the litter usually assumes the role of the alpha male and tries to dominate all of the play and fights. The role of alpha is passed around to many of the pups; however, the pups do not actually establish a hierarchy position in the adult pack until they reach breeding age. Training the pups to hunt begins in the late summer. The pups are taken out on a short hunting trip and are allowed to lag behind as the adult hunts the prey. The adult wolves will stop at different places to allow for the pups to sniff out the scent of their prey and learn to establish the scents meaning. When the prey is caught they immediately share the reward with the pups. The adults will later allow the pups to travel on longer hunting trips and will eventually force them to become active, contributing members of the pack.
Territories
Wolves mark their territory by scent marking. The alpha male and female engage in this regular ritual of marking their boundary with urine or feces. Howling is another method used to let other packs know that an area is inhabited. Howling is also used to locate other wolves, gather individuals to hunt, and to raise alarm (especially at the den site). The most likely time to hear a wolf howl is at night. The most important of these functions is in establishing boundaries. The size of territory the wolves occupy is determined by the availability of prey. If food is plentiful the territory may be smaller.
The territories can be limited by the presence of a road. Even a motorcycle path in a park will prevent a pack of wolves from crossing into an area that might have a good supply of food.
Taken From Here
Note: This is a rough rubric. The mainly realistic thing is pack structural and wolf interaction. I would prefer if you followed a similiar structure as this.
Howling
There are many misconceptions regarding the reasons wolves howl. Contrary to popular belief, wolves do not howl for the sake of howling at the moon, and despite the traditional imagery, wolves do not always sit when they howl - they often remain standing. Also, wolves do not howl only at night. They will howl during the daytime, evening or early morning. They often howl together in a group, and one wolf in the pack will usually start the howling session by pointing its nose towards the sky and howling. The other members of the pack will soon join in excitedly. Under ideal conditions, wolf howls can be heard from as far away as 10 miles (16 km).
While howling, wolves often alter their voices considerably. As a result people are often "fooled" into believing that there are more wolves present than there really are when they hear wolves howling. People have often guessed, based on listening its howls, that a pack of wolves contained up to 20 individuals, when there were only 3 or 4. Some people have claimed that wolves do that deliberately, in order to fool neighbouring packs into believing that there are more animals present than there really are. However, many naturalists and wolf biologists do not accept that idea.
Wolves seem to howl for many reasons. They often howl before they go on a hunt, possibly to rally the pack together, and they often begin to howl after a successful hunt. That suggests that howling serves to assemble a pack together, as wolves often become separated from each other during a hunt. They do not, however, howl while they are hunting, as that would alert potential prey items to the wolves' presence, giving them more time to escape. In addition, a wolf may howl alone if it is having troubles locating its pack, as pack members seem to recognize each other's voices, since individual wolves often have their own characteristic way of howling. Wolves will also howl in apparent grief after the death of their mates, and lonely wolf pups often howl in distress. And, as R. D. Lawrence has written in his book, Trail of the Wolf, "somewhat like humans, they [wolves] enjoy a singsong."
Wolf packs may also howl to communicate with other packs, as two different wolf packs will sometimes answer each other's howls. Wolves will also often answer the calls of humans mimicking wolf howls. L. D. Mech (1970) notes that wolves often remain silent for 20-30 minutes after a howling session. He suggests that such a silent period would allow each pack to listen for other wolf packs. If different packs repeated their howling right away, it would be difficult for any one pack to determine how many other packs were in the area.
Wolves howl less frequently during May and June than they do during the rest of the year, likely because that is the time that packs are most likely to have young pups present. It is possible that wolf packs who have young pups present often keep silent so they do not attract attention to their whereabouts, since pups are vulnerable to predators like bears and cougars.
Other
In addition to howls, wolves can also produce whimpers, growls, barks and squeaks (Mech, 1970). Whimpering tends to serve as either a submissive or friendly greeting sound, since young wolf pups and wolves attempting to appear submissive often whimper. Wolves growl when they are attempting to threaten another wolf or are behaving aggressively. Wolves rarely bark, but may do so as an alarm call or during play. Captive wolves who have been exposed to domestic dogs may bark more often than wild wolves or captive wolves who have not been exposed to domestic dogs.
Social Order and Visual Communication
Wolves typically live in family groups called "packs." In the wild, most packs consist of two parents and their offspring, although some packs may also contain a relative, such as a sibling, of one of the breeding wolves. In exceptional cases, an unrelated wolf may be adopted into a pack. A dominance hierarchy exists within all wolf packs, and because pack hierarchy is very important to wolves, much of the body language wolves use is related to affirming it. There are four different classes of wolves within a wolf pack. These include:
(1) The alpha pair. Sometimes referred to as the breeding pair, the alpha pair consists of a male and a female wolf. These are the two wolves which will, generally, mate and produce offspring These are the two top-ranking wolves in the pack, and they are dominant over all other wolves in the pack. They often (but not always) direct the activities of the pack.
(2) Mature subordinate animals. These would include the other wolves in the pack who are subservient to the alpha pair. Often, there are two separate dominance orders within a pack - one for males and one for females, but Mech (1999) notes that is not always the case in wild wolf packs. The highest ranking wolves among the mature, subordinate animals are often referred to as beta wolves.
(3) Omega wolves. Many wolves packs contain one or a few omega wolves which may be appear to be mistreated by other pack members. Such wolves often avoid the other members of the pack and may be ambushed by other pack members should they try to approach the pack.
(4) Juveniles. These would be young wolves that have not yet secured themselves a position within the pack's hierarchy. However, young wolf pups will "play-fight" and this often results in the formation of a dominance hierarchy among the juveniles. This juvenile hierarchy often changes frequently.
The assumption is often made that some wolves are born "alphas" and that others are inherently subservient. This is not necessarily true, nor is it true that the alpha wolves are the largest, strongest or fastest wolves in the pack. In the wild, subservient wolves often disperse from their natal packs when they are about two years old, and should such a disperser find a mate and breed, it will become an "alpha" wolf over its offspring. In addition, the dominance hierarchy within a wolf pack can change if one member of the pack passes away, or another wolf joins the pack. Wolf pack hierarchy can change during the mating season, when interactions, both aggressive and friendly ones, between the animals becomes more intense than normal. Ritualistic fights become more frequent, though wolves rarely injure each other during conflicts. .
It is also not always true that an alpha wolf is the "leader" of the pack, although in many cases, an alpha wolf may direct the activities of the pack. For instance, it may lead the other wolves during a hunt, determine where the pack is to sleep and when it is to get up and it may lead a defence attack against other dangerous animals such as bears. However, any motivated wolf can do these things and pack activity can be based on the impulses of several pack members. Mech (1970) notes that there can be an element of democracy in wolf packs. The alpha wolves may appear to lead the pack in some cases, but in others, what the alpha or lead wolf does may depend on what other pack members are doing.
Wolves use a variety of facial gestures and body postures to show where they stand in the pack's hierarchy. The position of a wolf's tail can be used to tell whether or not it is a dominant wolf or a subservient wolf. During social interactions, the alpha wolves of a pack generally hold their tails up very high, and the subservient wolves keep their tails hanging down. Very low ranking wolves will hold their tails between their legs or curved alongside their legs, and subservient wolves often tuck their tails between their legs when approaching an alpha wolf to show that they acknowledge the alpha wolf's place in the pack's hierarchy. The position of a wolf's tail can also be used to tell what kind of a mood it's in. A confident wolf holds its tail up high, and a frightened wolf will hold its tail between its legs. The normal position for a wolf's tail is down, and wolves typically hold their tails this way when relaxed.
The position of a wolf's ears can also be used to tell where it stands in the pack's hierarchy or how it is feeling. Alpha wolves always keep their ears erect, while lower ranking wolves often keep them flattened, particularly when they approach an alpha wolf. A wolf who is feeling cautious or apologetic will hold its ears back against its head, and a happy, confident or playful wolf will hold its ears high and erect. A wolf that wants to threaten another will hold its ears forward. Also, dominant wolves (regardless of sex) urinate with the raised leg position and subservient wolves squat down to urinate .All of the guard hairs on a wolf's body will stand on end if it is trying to threaten another wolf, and it will also raise its upper lip to bear its teeth..
Wolves also have many more specific ways to show where they stand in their pack's hierarchy. A low ranking wolf will often greet an alpha wolf by keeping its body low to the ground, with its fur and ears flat. It will then reach up and gently lick or nip the muzzle of the alpha wolf. This behaviour is very similar to the food-begging behaviour often displayed by young pups. Sometimes, all pack members will greet an alpha male in this manner when he returns from being absent . This behaviour is called active submission.
If a subservient wolf tries to resist the authority of an alpha wolf, the alpha will try to get the subservient wolf to submit. Sometimes, the alpha will only need to give a stern stare to the rebellious wolf. The dominant wolf may have to growl and bear its teeth at the rebellious wolf or it may crouch on the ground as if it were going to pounce on the offender. A dominant wolf may also hold the muzzle of a subordinate wolf to assert its authority A dominant animal may also place its front paws across the shoulders of a subordinate animal or try to stand over it to assert its authority. When the subordinate wolf is ready to submit, it will lie on the ground and expose its side and belly to the alpha wolf. The wolf may also urinate. This act is called passive submission, and the alpha wolf will accept it as though it were an apology.
So, in general, much of a wolf's behaviour is directed towards asserting its own status or showing that it accepts the higher status of another wolf, though wolves certainly don't go around constantly trying to reaffirm their place in the dominance hierarchy. This helps keep pack activities relatively stable and prevents fighting within the pack. However, fights may occur between contenders for the alpha position if an alpha wolf dies. Aggressive encounters between females often occur during the mating season, as the alpha female of a wolf pack often becomes quite aggressive towards subordinate females during this time. She will physically assault any females who attempt to copulate with a male. Dominant males will also disrupt any subordinate males who attempt to mate with a female. Serious injuries, however, are quite rare.
Wolves within a pack may also behave aggressively towards a low-ranking omega wolf. Dominant wolves will often pounce on and ambush such a low-ranking wolf if it approaches the pack too closely. In addition, minor disagreements often occur while a pack is feeding on a carcass. It is not true that dominant wolves can take food from a subservient pack member. In wild (Mech, 1999) and captive (Mech, 1970) situations, subservient wolves with protect pieces of food in their possession from being taken by dominant wolves.
Play
Wolves also use different gestures to ask each other to play. When a wolf wants to play, it will approach another wolf and it will bow down with its front feet on the ground and its rear in the air with the tail wagging. It may also wipe its paw against its face. If the other wolf wants to play, it will approach the initiator, who may then stay in the crouched position or who may then bound away. The two will play fight or chase each other until they are tired. While wolves play, they may growl at each other playfully, let out loud, high-pitched dog-like barks, or gently bite and nip each other. Wolf pups are very playful, and adult wolves occasionally will play. During such relaxed situations, exceptions to the normal pack hierarchy often occur. For instance, during play, a dominant wolf may behave as though it were subservient to a lower-ranking wolf, and a subservient wolf may appear to be dominating a higher-ranking wolf.
Taken From Here
