Gael, a character in the Alpha series, is a werewolf and alpha of the Portland chapter of Alpha Tau Sigma. He is first seen in Book 1, Chapter 10.
Appearance
Gael has light brown skin, brown eyes, and short spiky black hair. He wears a long-sleeved black-and-orange raglan shirt and black pants. You characterize him as handsome and burly.
Personality
Gael is friendly, open, and easygoing. You describe him as being like "a big puppy,"[1] and he describes himself as a good listener and "the biggest dad friend on earth."[2] He's widely-respected and liked by all members of ΑΤΣ. Despite his typically-relaxed demeanor, he can be a forceful and commanding leader, as evidenced when he easily shuts down a brawl between multiple ΑΤΣ packs in Book 1, Chapter 11.
Background
Gael is alpha of the Portland ΑΤΣ pack. Since Portland is the main chapter of the frat, that makes him de facto leader of all Alpha Taus.
Chapters
Alpha
Book 1
- Chapter 10: Reunion
- Chapter 11: Dissension
- Chapter 12: Disruption
Book 2
- Chapter 1: Transcendence
- Chapter 2: Disturbance
- Chapter 3: Adherence
- Chapter 4: Exuberance
- Chapter 5: Vigilance
- Chapter 6: Variance
- Chapter 7: Interference
- Chapter 8: Resilience
Relationships
Channing Lowe
Gael is a very close friend and confidante to Channing. Their friendship is one of both fondness and mutual respect, with Gael irreverently teasing Channing while also trusting his/her leadership decisions. They communicate often via text and Channing tells Gael things that he/she hides from most others. Because of this, Gael knows the depth of Channing's feelings for you long before he/she is able to admit that to anyone else.
Your Character
You first meet Gael when he calls a summit in Colorado immediately after Markus Barnes' defamatory article about the frat. You assume the meeting is about your potential role in leaking info to Markus, and you're afraid of what the other frat chapters will decide to do with you. Gael surprises you by being friendly and excited to meet you after hearing so much about you from Channing. He called the meeting to discuss a series of poisonings targeting the frat, not to talk about you or Markus's article. He doesn't believe you had any part in what Markus wrote, never intended to kick you out of the frat, and is apologetic that you mistakenly spent so much time fearing he would.
Powers and Abilities
- Shapeshifting: All full werewolves can intentionally transform into a wolf at any time. This transformation can be partial, as shown in Book 1, Chapter 6 when Channing grows fangs before reverting to human form. Inexperience or stress can also cause werewolves to shift in and out of wolf form involuntarily.
- Superhuman Speed: Werewolves are consistently shown to be considerably faster than humans, most notably in Book 1, Chapter 8 when the members of Alpha Tau need to hold themselves back while competing in athletic events against normal college students. You and Kala demonstrate lesser but still-inhuman speed in Book 1, Chapter 1 prior to becoming full werewolves, which indicates that anyone with the potential to become a werewolf has some measure of this power.
- Superhuman Strength: Werewolves are stronger than humans. This is demonstrated most clearly in Book 1, Chapter 18 if you choose to punch a boulder, which leaves a fist-sized crater in it.
- Superhuman Healing: Channing states that werewolves are able to heal faster than humans after being wounded.
- (Pack) Telepathy: Werewolves use pack telepathy to communicate, especially while they're in wolf form. It only goes both ways if both want to share their thoughts with each other. Soulmates also have the ability to use a deeper type of telepathy which allows them to listen in on each other's thoughts even if those thoughts aren't being projected.
- Scent Tracking: Werewolves can track the scent of various animals or humans.
- Cold Immunity/Body Warmth: Werewolf blood runs hot, which is why they usually spar and sleep naked and only wear clothes in such circumstances out of courtesy. In Book 1, Chapter 10, you must wear warm clothes to be comfortable in a Colorado winter, but Channing and all the other wolves are fine in their normal clothes.
- Lucid Dreaming: Werewolves can lucid dream and see the future in their dreams. If a werewolf lucid dreams, they can control how the dream unfolds, and there are no rules and limitations that forbid them from acting on their desires.
- Dream Walking: Werewolves can dreamwalk into the minds of other werewolves.
- Compulsion: All alpha werewolves have some ability to command the behavior of non-alpha wolves. When an alpha issues an order, either deliberately or through the carelessness of not controlling their dominance, lower-ranked wolves are incapable of disobeying. Such orders are usually short-term, such as telling someone to calm down or take a walk; there's no indication that an alpha could permanently alter another werewolf's behavior through a single command. Alphas also have some ability to use this power on each other if one is stronger, though it's unclear if other factors may influence the success of such compulsion. Because Gael is the head alpha of ΑΤΣ, his dominant aura is so strong that it's described as "oppressive" on the rare occasions he chooses to use it.
Weaknesses
- Silver and Wolfsbane: Both can be lethal to werewolves.
- Feral: Each wolf has a risk of going feral. This means they lose their humanity and turn into a beast that needs to be put down as they would be a danger to themselves and others.
- Smoke Bomb: In Book 1, Chapter 12, Channing tells you that the Hunter's smoke bomb ruined his/her sense of smell and left him/her unable to follow a scent trail.
- Ultrasonic Whistle: In Book 1, Chapter 19, Markus uses an ultrasonic whistle to put all werewolves in a state of confusion and pain. Channing orders you to transform back into human form, as you would go deaf if you stayed in your wolf body.
Gallery
Other Looks
Miscellaneous
Trivia
- His character model resembles Zeph Hernandez from The Elementalists.
References
- ↑ Alpha, Book 1, Chapter 10
- ↑ Alpha, Book 2, Chapter 1