Appearance

Vera is a well aged woman of medium stature and medium coat thickness. She is average for her species, and shows a small bit of aging in her face, noted with a few wrinkles below her soft grassy green eyes. The most notable thing about this wolf is her odd coat color. For her species, it is not typical to be covered more than 50% of the way in white fur.. But she was born with the genetic coding for Piebald Syndrome, meaning her fur never grew into the typical dark browns and blacks of her kind. Still, she holds her head high and prides herself on her uniqueness. Her lack of pigment was never a physical issue for her growing up.

Personality

Accepting, Open-Minded, Wise
—— Vera is a kind, almost motherly soul. She is non-judgemental and refuses to be otherwise without a plethora of proof. Wise beyond her years, Vera can tell much about someone based upon a glance. She has been through enough to know when someone is troubled or hurting.
Prideful, Loving, Tender
—— Vera does take pride in how far she’s come. Being raised to believe you would be another predator’s meal did much to the motivation and determination of a child. For her, she made sure to prove that sentiment wrong. She cares for outcasts and strange folk like herself, often finding herself soft for others of backgrounds filled with similar grief and trauma. She wants to be the support others need.
Self-sabotaging, complaisant, easily enchanted
—— Vera often takes on more than she can chew. She is always willing to help others in need, even at her own expense. For this reason she has grown to be quite the defender, but it doesn't come without its drawbacks. She also has become a doormat to some others. She falls for others both platonically and romantically so quickly she can never tell that it is superficial until it's too late. She has suffered much heartache for this reason.

History

Vera Hargrove was the firstborn and only survivor of her litter; not only this, but she came out wrong. When Lily Hargrove gave birth to a litter of 5, only one of them came out breathing. Mourning the taken lives of her fresh born pups, she cherished her only living child, Vera, attending to her with the utmost care and love. When Vera was only a few weeks old her father, Grimshaw confronted Lily and accused her of adultery. He believed that because Vera was mostly white, she must’ve slept with another wolf. That couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Vera came out with a rare genetic mutation known as piebald syndrome. Her skin lacked pigment in certain areas causing her fur to turn mostly white. Lily tried to explain this to Grimshaw but he refused to believe otherwise. He was a man of short temper, always quick to aggression and quick to blame. This was not his first instance of accusatory behavior or physical aggression toward his mate.

After the argument, Lily was left in tatters, her heart broken and her body bruised and battered. Grimshaw had lashed out, pinning her to the ground and sinking his fangs into her throat. This was the first act of violence that had been viewed by Vera’s hardly adjusted eyes, and it would shape her entire being. Grimshaw waltzed out of the den feeling proud of his punishment, leaving Lily to tend to Vera alone for nearly 4 months of her life. Vera’s father was hardly in the picture after that. He used the accusations as a means of weaseling out of the relationship, finding other wolves to bed and romance while his mate was left alone to raise their child. He rarely showed his face again, but Lily never once stopped loving Vera.

By age 1, Lily had taught Vera how to hunt. Vera became exceptionally good at doing so, her instincts and power much like her father’s despite her size. She had single handedly taken down young doe and bucks to feed her mother. Lily sang nothing but praise and showed nothing but pride for her daughter, and Vera ate it up. Of course.. She had a lingering want to please her father despite everything he had done.

At age 2.5, Vera set off to find her father to show him up and prove that she was not only his child, but a prodigy like Lily had always claimed. Of course, when she found him, Grimshaw left her with nothing but a bruised ego and broken heart. He told her she would never be good enough for him; that she could never be his and would never hold a candle to his family heritage or history. Enraged and hurt by his words, Vera lashed out. She pinned him to the ground with teeth bloodied in his neck and told him to never show his face to Lily or herself ever again. After a bit of squabble and a few lashed claws and teeth, she had proved to him that she was formidable and far more worthy than he ever gave her credit for. Spitting his blood from her maw, she left with a new sense of dignity and pride. When she returned home she celebrated her new freedom with Lily.

By the time she hit 3 years old, her mother started to slow down. She was aging, finding it harder to get up in the mornings, harder to run. Lily was suffering from her old age and the years of physical abuse from Grimshaw were starting to show; yet her grayed muzzle still smiled at the sight of her strong and independent daughter. Vera took care of Lily until she passed, often catching her small meals that were easy to chew, feeding her medicinal herbs when she got ill, and bringing her water from the nearby riverbeds to sustain her and keep her comfortable. The day before she passed, Lily showed signs of improvement, she bit her tongue and suffered through her physical pains to spend her last day walking through the woods with Vera, admiring the greenery and life that she had always appreciated. It was that night when the two went to sleep in their den that Lily passed, nestled up to Vera, basking in the warmth and the young woman she had raised.

Vera buried her the next morning beside their den, laying a lily flower on the new grave. The soil wetted with her tears, and she vowed to keep the den for herself and her future children, vowed to never let anyone suffer the way her mother had and vowed to never let another child feel unwanted and unloved as she did. After a year and a half of searching for purpose, Vera grew tired of only further enduring pain. She had met men that used her, friends that took her for granted, and all but gave up on her vows.. But every time she returned home to her mother’s grave, with a new lily to set at its place, she regained her vigor, and her strength to carry on.