Wyldwolves (Wild-wolves)

Wyldwolves are the genetic neighbours of lycanthropes, being the species most likely to have inspired the original curse placed on them before being officially recognised as their own independent species rather than merely cursed humans. An artificial creation from Expin, wyldwolves are much more feral than their lycan counterparts, being much larger and more wolflike than human, mentally regressing further than the original restrictions of the lycan's curse into a truly bestial state. Roughly the size of bears, wyldwolves are driven by their instincts to hunt, often being a threat to their surroundings. Most wyldwolves alive today are present on the lycan isles, both as a deterrent to outsiders & as partially tamed pets, the similarities between the two species apparently allowing for a connection other species have been unable to make.
As only a limited number of species are known to be susceptible to the wyldwolf parasites, as well as lycan tribes often taking personal responsibility to assist with late-stage wyldwolf infections, their HaEBaC rating is considered Medium
Infection
Wyldwolf teeth contain dormant parasitic DNA that are injected into the victim by being bitten. The parasites once within a human (or other species with similar internal workings) become active & begin to attach to native cells, slowly converting them to wyldwolf cells. Whilst this is the most common way for infection, the parasites also remain within a wyldwolf's bloodstream, and so ingesting or injecting wyldwolf blood can also lead to infection. A lycan's ancestral fangblade may also contain wyldwolf teeth, though without the living organism replenishing the DNA the risk is much lower & not sustainable.
Incubation
The wyldwolf strain is a much slower acting infection than lycanthropy. Where lycanthropy will complete its transformation of cells within a matter of months, the small, slow nature of the parasite converting cells often will take years to completely finish from a single bite, though repeated bites speed up the process as more parasites are active in the body at once. Because of the large potential for variance in the condition, medical professionals observe the transformation in a number of stages.
  Stage 1 is the resistance stage. During the weeks immediately after the parasites have entered the body, the host experiences standard flu-like systems as their antibodies attack the invading cells. Stage 2 is the incubation stage; once the parasites have resisted the antibodies long enough to convert some cells & stop being recognised as a threat, the host's body will return to normal for a prolonged period of time. Assuming a single bite, this stage averages for around a year. Stage 3 is the habitual stage, where the changes to the host's DNA starts to materialise physically on the smaller scale, with shifts in diet & behaviour, as well as a gradual increase in brain fog & difficulty at times with words. This stage averages around 6 months before entering Stage 4, the shifting stage. This is the point where enough of the host's DNA has been changed to fully shift into a wyldwolf, & the parasite will begin forcing it to on a 28-day cycle. 
The shifts at first are painful & slow, causing the host to black out from the pain before the transformation completes, leaving them with little to no memory of the changes, but as the body becomes more familiar with the transformation, it takes less time & dulls the pain. There are a variety of reports of people undergoing these shifts with varying levels of consciousness of their actions, though all remain consistent in their inability to control the beast once transformed, as well as the transformations always happening at night. Suggestions of ties to the lunar cycle have been investigated but correlation appears circumstantial.
 The transition between stage 4 & stage 5 has the most variance between all the stages, with some starting stage 5 earlier than others, but the two stages combined usually average the same period of 8-10 months. Stage 5 or transformation stage follows the same patterns as stage 4, but with longer times spent shifted compared to the single nights of stage 4, as well as the reversion being less complete each time. In cases of a short stage 4, the initial reversion changes are minimal; sharper teeth, more body hair, acute senses and such, but those with more stage 4 shifts before stage 5 kicks in have been known to immediately find themselves reverting back with ears and tail remaining unchanged. These changes will continue until the transformation is complete, their final shift having little to change, and never reverting, leaving the poor host in a body beyond their control driven by pure instinct.
Treatment
Fortunately, as the causes of infection are rather limited, most people infected can be tested shortly after being bitten, & therefore can be treated by common anti-transformatives such as devobraü. If undetected within the initial two stages however, it becomes much more difficult to manage. Whilst still treatable in stage 3, stages 4 & 5 are deemed too far gone to be cured. It is however possible for a lycan to infect a wyldwolf victim during this timeframe, and due to the faster acting nature of the virus, the host can be spared from the mindless, instinct-driven life of a wyldwolf & reintegrate into society as a lycan.

Type

Parasitic