Name: Winn Woods
Species: Werewolf
Occupation: Hockey Coach
Age: 28 Years Old
Played By: Zee
Face Claim: Lewis Tan
“Y’all can try to outrun the past… But trust me: It’s a fast fucker.”
Winn was born into greatness, destined to be a winner. As sole heir to his single mother’s political legacy, Winn quickly learned two things: 1.) Don’t ask about your father. 2.) Excel. And so, Winn molded himself into the perfect, All-American Teen. His grades? Passable enough, for a future politician. Extracurriculars? Winn captained his high school hockey team and led them to victory at states, twice. Raised at campaign events, Winn learned his mom’s best tricks for making people happy, even without lying. And why shouldn’t he make folks happy?
Through all of this, Winn never gave much thought to what he wanted. His mother wanted success, so he’d give her success. So long as he was moving along his predetermined path, he could be content, right? Winn was the vessel for his mother’s hopes—for herself, for the future, for America. With the right phone calls (and a well-placed donation), he could attend a good college, get a degree, any degree would do, and claim his destiny. And if Winn didn’t quite know what that was, so what?
But college changed things. Left to his own devices for the first time, Winn felt like he could finally be himself. Given a sip of freedom, Winn drank heavily of it. Parties, after all, were filled with happy people. And the best parties were thrown by the Dogs. More formally known as the brothers of Alpha Rho Phi, the Dogs were the usual mix of salmon shorts and homoerotic subtext, sure, but there was something… more. The best part, though? The Dogs didn’t care about who Winn was or who he was supposed to be. Shit, his mother’s name meant nothing. By the time Winn finished rushing, and had proven his mouth could do more than just talk pretty to a number of the brothers, Winn was in and the Dogs’ secret was out.
The truth? The brothers were more than just a fraternity, they were a pack of born werewolves. Winn was a curiosity—a human—but the pack had agreed. They wanted him there, wanted Winn to join their pack. With them, Winn saw a chance to be more than what his mother had wanted. What was a little risk when he’d finally realized the alternative was so suffocating? This was his choice. And one night, under a moonlit sky, shivering in the forest outside the university, he decided to leave behind the person he was, forever. The change was brutal, but his packmates were good at keeping a young wolf under control—or knowing when to lock him in the cellar, at least. Winn had enough grit for it, he figured. After all, it was a new lease on life—hell, most days, Winn was happy.
Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last. Three perfect years ended in one drunken mistake. When Winn finally came to, he couldn’t remember much. But the pack told Winn that they’d found him with a silver dagger lodged deep in his chest, courtesy of the worst possible one night stand, a hunter. None of his packmates blamed Winn; they pulled every connection they had to cover the hunter’s death up, to protect their own. But while that asshole was nothing more than a stain on the frat house floor, Winn couldn’t forgive himself. He’d put his pack, his family, at risk.
That guilt was nearly the death of him. Winn stuck around long enough for graduation, then he ran. But without the support of the pack, Winn’s wolf left a trail of blood. Didn’t matter whether they were hunters or just a “threat.” Winn killed, again and again, all for the sake, he kept telling himself, of those who hadn’t already bloodied their hands. It took time, and magic, to come back to himself. And even when he did, Winn ran again, this time to White Crest—where all things wicked come, eventually, to rest.
But you can’t run forever, and, while it wasn’t easy, Winn found a way to come to terms with all of it. No more running. No more magic. Winn wanted to learn from his mistakes, to try and atone, and, maybe, to finally let go of his guilt. After all, it’s never too late for an old dog to learn new tricks… Right?
Personality: Genuine, curious, discreet, sentimental, discontented, obsessive, guilt-driven, undemanding, energetic, uninhibited
Though still getting the hang of having a social life, Winn’s been the on-and-off co-coach of the local boys’ hockey team, the White Crest Cryptids (“Crypteens,” as he likes to call them), since the beginning of the 2019-20 season. They’ve been doing really well… and have learned to not question Winn’s long absences.
Winn’s father, Daniel, has kept tabs on Winn since Winn was little. Daniel finally reached out when Winn turned up in White Crest and the two have slowly built a foundation of trust. It’s still a mystery to Winn what actually happened between Daniel and Winn’s mom, but Winn hasn’t mustered up the courage to ask.
Winn’s relationship with his mother, Elaine, is best described as “frosty,” and has been since Winn was turned—not that she knows what caused her son to abandon all of her plans.
Owns a Giant Schnauzer named Denny—short for “Pawsible Deniability,” named for Winn’s habit of taking him on long walks in the rain. (Winn says he was drunk when he wrote the name down and he was… but he genuinely thought the word was “pawsible” and not “plausible.” Don’t ask him what he thought pawsible was supposed to mean.)
Since facing his past, he’s reached out to his former packmates, still technically is a part of their pack. They don’t know all of what happened, but they’ve made it clear that they want him back in their lives, if he wants them back in his. Winn’s still trying to convince himself that he deserves their trust.
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