Compendium Character Sheet: Sasha

Character Sheet: Sasha 

Sasha is, unquestionably, the ray of sunshine in this series. He's sweet, he's friendly, he gives people the benefit of the doubt...but that doesn't mean he won't get vicious when his pack is threatened. 

Nineteen-years-old in 1942, Sasha was born and raised in Tomsk, Siberia, the son of a comfortable trapper and fur trader, who was attending classes at Tomsk University, studying to take over his father's business some day. While Siberians living in the permafrost zone hadn't suffered under the farming collectivization programs the way those nearer the capital had, by '42, casualties in the Red Army were so high that Siberian boys were being conscripted and shipped to Moscow and Stalingrad. In a real-world sense, if not for being selected by the Institute, Sasha would have been a foot soldier, and likely dead. 

(This is what Nik tells himself at night when the guilt eats at him and he can't sleep.)

But Sasha WAS chosen (thanks, Val), and in '42 was turned into a werewolf by the mage Philippe. 

A note on werewolves in this series: as much as I love Lon Chaney Jr.'s The Wolf Man, I've always been struck by the fact that Lawrence Talbot never behaved like a real wolf. A rabid one, perhaps, running wild and wreaking havoc. The first order of business, in writing my own werewolves, was to make sure they behaved like real wolves, and not terrors. Second order of business: despite the growling, clawing, and figurative marking of territory, I wanted our main wolf, Sasha, to defy some of the more contemporary werewolf character tropes. Instead of hulking, and scowly, and brutish, Sasha is a delight...who will still tear your throat out if you touch one of his people. 

Sasha is the heart of his family. He's the voice of reason, and of optimism; the one to roll out the welcome wagon. It'd be easy to think of him as naïve, but he's not; he sees the good in people, but he can see the dark, too. He's secure enough, alpha wolf that he is, to be kind even if someone doesn't necessarily deserve it. 

Philippe told him that wolves didn't have mates, because Philippe was a lying liar who lies, and who was dishonest about pretty much everything. So meeting Fulk and Anna was a revelation for Sasha; he wants to love and be loved. He loves a certain someone in particular. (Golden Eagle!) 

I can't wait for all that's in store for Sasha. Unlikely though he may be, he's the strongest wolf in this series, and nothing but a joy to write.