Age of Empty Cradles

The Age of Empty Cradles was a term first coined by Werewolf philosopher Kazimir of Moscow in 1689. It should be noted that Russian werewolves are still Anti-Purge and are not on speaking terms with the packs of Europe who are. The Great Purge began in 1487 and, two centuries later, Kazimir was simply remarking on the facts. Werewolf birth rates plummeted in Pro-Purge packs and this was not just attributed to higher maternal mortality rates, but also a steep drop in fertility, as well. 
Ever since the purge began, all of the Western European-derived werewolf packs have been struggling with ever-dropping birth rates and have had an increased number of children born with congenital defects and a general failure to thrive. There are several theories speculating that the packs who participated in these atrocious acts have been cursed by their own ancestors or even their Pack Spirit. There is one documented case in which a pack alpha has been personally cursed with infertility. Alberto Lopez of the Guadalupe Pack is said to have angered his pack spirit in some way back during World War I and is not known to have been able to sire a single child since.
Certainly much of the problem can be attributed to natural causes - killing the female shifters of one's own species would logically have a negative impact upon birth rates, as would the distressing practices done with Prima girls and any associated with the Bride Market. However, this cannot possibly explain the whole of the problem as the statistical likelihood of conception for a wolf-blooded woman keeps dropping. The number of false heat cycles between ovulation keeps growing. In some of the recovered books of werewolf medicine, the number of years between offspring was listed as six or seven and in modern times it has extended to between ten and fourteen on average. Additionally, girls are going through three to five years of false heat cycles before their first fertile window occurs. Where werewolves used to be famous for frequent twin births, now the number of twin conceptions is near enough to match the human average. All werewolves agree there is a problem, but truthfully the species is facing a very slow extinction.

Type

Natural