Ilio Hihiu is Hawaiian for 'wolf' or 'wild dog,' and is the proud name of a small pack located on the small island of Ni'ihau - also called the Forbidden Island. Hiding in plain sight, the Ilio Hihiu pack is hidden from the human populations, helped to stay hidden through agreements with the SUA and human governments. The island is called the Forbidden Island, as there are only about 130 known occupants, and outsiders are not allowed on the island in order to preserve the spiritual, cultural, and ecological elements of Hawaiian culture. Ilio Hahai is known to the human settlers, who also keep their pack secret.

Ilio Hihiu, sometimes called Ilio ('dog') or Lupo ('wolf'), is a small pack of only about 100 members. A deeply spiritual pack, they are deeply intwined with nature and the world around them. Often in their wolf forms, this pack is full of natural swimmers. Over time, some of the pack member's wolf forms have evolved with webbed paws. Their wolf forms are naturally sleek, adapted to the heat and aquatic space of the pack. Smaller and leaner than many wolf forms on the Mainland, they are more easily hidden and faster than the majority of those wolves. Also known for their lung capacity, these wolves - both in human and wolf form - can stay underwater far longer than what is natural. Able to stay underwater for anywhere between 20 and 40 minutes (for context, the world record for humans is 24 minutes 37.76 seconds). Hunters, they mainly hunt fish, leaving most of the animals on the island alone. Also with a heavy vegetarian diet, they are really more pescatarian than anything else.

Around long before anyone settled the Mainland, their inception - in pack lore and history - dates back to Creation itself. They derive from the Moon Goddess herself, who created their Great Ancestors. Those two were Hā (Breath/Life), Make (Death, pronounced Mahkay), and 'Uhane (Spirit). Both Hā and Make are treated as agender by the pack, with Make usually taking on a more feminine connotation and Hā taking on a more masculine one - though, perhaps confusingly, the exception is that Hā is often referred to in maternal terms and Make in paternal terms. 'Uhane is treated as genderfluid, though is not spoken of in such labels. The leaders of the pack are referred to as Hā and Make, in honor of their ancestors. Their leaders are always a mated pair, and one of them must be of the Akua (Divine) line, and unless extenuating circumstances prevent this, the leaders must be 33 years or older. 'Uhane is not represented in their leadership, except in specific circumstances which will be addressed later.

A long-standing custom in the pack pertains to their AFAB members. Their AFAB members are allowed to go on what they call the Hele Malihini (the Pilgrimage), which is their rite of conception. These folk go to the populated Hawai'i islands, and in rare cases the Mainland or other Polynesian communities, in order to fall pregnant. Though it perhaps seems like an archaic custom, it spawned from the near extinction of their pack nearly 200 years ago. A plague wiped all but 12 pack members out, taking their numbers down from about 300. They have never gotten back to that status. The remaining 12 wolves were numbered at 10 AFAB folk and 2 AMAB folk, but with the complication of all but three of the remaining pack members being related, they needed to build up their numbers somehow. Praying, they were blessed with the knowledge of the Hele Malihini, and slowly built their numbers from there. Those born of the Hele Mahilini rite are given the title Makamae (Precious One) and are born as full-blooded werewolves, so long as they are born in the highly sacred Moon Pool, hidden even from those who know of their existence. AFAB folk who struggle with infertility also go on the Hele Malihini as a last attempt to conceive, even if mated, and can be blessed with child that way. Those going on the rite are allowed to leave for only one year at a time, though if they fall pregnant they are meant to return home as soon as they find out.

Children are sacred to this pack, and highly protected. Due to their history with the plague, and the very slow rise in numbers, they do everything they can to make sure their children survive into adulthood. Their children are raised communally, with everyone in the pack raising them in addition to their biological parents.

Mating is also highly sacred, whether the bond is fated or chosen. While some mated folk go on the Hele Malihini, they must go through extra rituals before they are allowed to embark. They do not believe mating much be kept between two people, and the most perfect, most divine mateship is actually between three energies - the masculine, the feminine, and the fluid, though this need not reflect in gender identity, just their energies/spirit. In the case a mated partnership of three leads the pack, that is when 'Uhane is used as a title. In Ka-hi-ko-lu (Trinity) mateships, each person marks the others, so that they hold two mating marks. Ka-hi-ko-lu mateships are considered rare and the most sacred, and all three parties must be fated mates. They are only considered Ka-hi-ko-lu if all three are fated mates, otherwise they are not sacred, but still openly accepted.

Members of this pack, though his secluded, are granted travel years between the ages of 18 and 30, and 50 and 60, unless extenuating circumstances come into play. These members must petition their leaders and be granted permission to leave, and they must be blessed by the Goddess - or, by her representative on Earth, the Kahuna (a spiritual leader). However, on diplomatic missions, anyone of any age can go, so long as they are chosen by pack leadership and blessed by the Kahuna.

The Kahuna is their spiritual leader, and this is an appointment for life. The Kahuna must never marry or have children or any mortal relationships beyond friendship. The Kahuna is known from their birth, as appointed by the current Kahuna. When the next Kahuna is born, the current one raises them, and the title passes on after their death. There can only ever be two Kahuna's at a time - the reigning and the heir. Once the reigning passes on, the heir takes their place, and a new heir is born, and then the cycle repeats. The Kahuna is tasked with all spiritual and religious matters, and they live in a treehouse overlooking the Moon Pool. They are also tasked with delivering the babies of the pack; all children are born in the Moon Pool, unless something prevents it. Those not born in the Moon Pool are not seen as less, but they are seen as weak - not in a bad way, really, but because they are. Everyone not born in the Moon Pool is physically and spiritually weaker and are fiercely protected by their pack. The Kahuna's are also treated as healers.

The pack lives in the more dense areas of the island, protect from aerial imaging and intruding eyes. Given that the island is prone to helicopter tours, this comes in handy. The members of this pack lives in the trees and on the ground, in a central location - they all live together. Run more like a commune, everyone has their positions, and they all know and protect one another. A tightly woven pack, they love one another even if they don't like one another - though, luckily, they are a rather harmonious, peaceful pack with little in-fighting.

No outsiders are allowed into their territory or on their island, save for the humans that live there, and save for destined mates. Some, in their traveling year or on their Hele Malihini, find their destined mates. Only in that case may an outsider be allowed into the pack with open arms. Even the humans that live on the island are not allowed in their territory - they mostly leave one another alone.

Then there is the legend of the Kaupe. In Hawaiian culture, a Kaupe is a malevolent spirit, a 'dog-man' that lures people to their death once a month, in a coalescence of white mist. The people of Ilio Hihiu are responsible for those myths, but more specifically a branch of them that is all but extinct. These folk, the Kaupe, are more like lycan's than werewolves, but truly fall somewhere between a full-lycan shift and a partial werewolf shift. Creatures unto their own, they exist through a strand of mutated genetics that resulted in these forms. The Kaupe are malevolent, and as such typically live in exile from the rest of the pack. While their borders once spread over many islands this exile was easier. Today, should a Kaupe exist, they are kept/live in a small cave system located in the center of the island, unknown to humans. While the Kaupe aren't inherently evil, they are helpless to their primal urges, giving into those baser instincts, which means they can be dangerous. At this point, the exile of the Kaupe is mostly a self-exile, as they have made the cave-systems their own. Only four Kaupe currently exist, though it is always possible for a Kaupe to be born to the non-Kaupe wolves so long as they carry the gene. While the Kaupe are respected, they are also feared, hence the divide. However, a recent shift in the younger generation means that many of them escape into the caves to visit with the Kaupe. These little adventures sometimes yield dangerous results, sometimes not. The full moon is especially difficult for the Kaupe, whom the leaders of Ilio Hihiu typically seal into the caves for the day/night so that the humans of the island remain safe. While the Kaupe are seen as different, and are treated different, they really aren't too different from the rest of their pack. But fear and superstition can go a long way.

A very free and open pack, they are off the grid. They have satellite phones and radios, but otherwise they have no technology to connect to the outside world. That said, they do know more about the modern world than people would expect, upon hearing that. Communicating mostly through letters and old-school Morse Code or transmissions, they get by just fine. Some of the younger generation have been coming back with mobile phones from their journeys, and are allowed to keep them so long as they don't interfere with their daily lives and customs. Their mail ends up in the hands of the humans on the island, who then get it to them. They have one computer for pack use, but they hardly ever use it. Perhaps they will integrate with modern society more as the generations progress, but they are happy with what they have for now.

Current Leadership:
Hā Ulani (U-lawn-ee) Akua
Make Nakoa (Nah-Koh-ah) Akua
**Ulani is the biological Akua, her mate took on her last name**

Kahuna Koah (Co-ah) Akua
**Koah is Ulani's brother**