Mundi Luporum

Although the characters in the story don't know of it, Mundi Luporum (Latin for "world of the wolves") is the official name for the world in which the story is set. Although the wolves in the story only see the forest in which they live and the mountains beyond, Mundi Luporum is in fact a massive world, which includes everything from vast deserts, to tropical rainforests, to (on the opposite side from where the Northwood pack lives) an ocean.

Description
Mundi Luporum came into existence a few thousand years ago. The reason is not exactly known; it just formed, an alternate universe which is similar to our own but different in one major way: humans did not exist there, nor had they ever been heard of. For this reason, the beautiful and untamed lands of Luporum remained just that. The air remained clean and fresh, the forests lush and green, the waters so clear that you could often see straight through to the bottom. Almost every wild species of animal lived here, although domesticated animals used by the humans did not appear, and all but one behaved just as they do in our world. That one species is the wolves.

Wolves, in possession of human intelligence, live everywhere in Luporum - even the places they wouldn't be found in our world, such as rainforests, or the beach. They have, of course, adapted to their various climates and lifestyles, sometimes in extreme ways - beach wolves, for instance, have coats that are practically waterproof, while wolves that live in the rainforests have lighter fur and yet are much bigger and stronger, as they have to fight off predators such as leopards. In the forests, where the main characters of this story live, the wolves have not needed to adapt so much. They are, for the most part, classic grey wolves, although red wolves can also occasionally be seen.

Climate
The climates are, of course, different in the various areas of Luporum. In the forests that make the main setting, the climates are classic and vary greatly: summers are long and hot, with the forest life lush and green; autumns crisp and cool and much more colorful than most of the ones we see here; winters brief, but all the colder to make up with it, with snowstorms that turn the forest white; and springs new and beautiful, often covering the forest with flowers. Weather is likewise extreme. Although storms and rain are somewhat less than common, they almost never come in small measures. Once it has begun to rain, it is rarely more than a few moments before it is pouring in torrents, and a Luporum thunderstorm is something you never want to be outside in.