#hidnight

The most important thing you need to know about Accalia (the other main antagonist) and Canagan's dynamic is demonstrated in the scene where she denies him the bite that would turn him into a werewolf. The very thing he prayed for his whole life; that would finally make him "clean." Yes, she still wants to have the Hunter's Association as a card in her deck but it goes beyond that. Accalia values bloodline purity and spiritual worthiness over everything else. Even though she loves Canagan and knows he'd do whatever she wishes regardless, she likes feeling superior to him. Living in the cult, members don't really interact with humans much. Canagan is a novelty. He reaffirms her position just by existing near her because he's human and therefore unclean. As the born leader of the pack and the one who successfully made contact with the Wolf Goddess, Accalia is already as pure and worthy as she can be in the eyes of the cult. But it's emphasized further with the human Canagan at her side. So her power over Canagan is more important to her than his happiness.

Meanwhile Canagan grew up as the only human in a cult of werewolves who've been arranging marriages based on the purity of their potential offspring for generations. He was a stain on his mother from the moment he was born and she was forbidden from having any more children after him because of it. His family resented him greatly and the rest of the pack debated just killing him all throughout his childhood. So Canagan dedicated himself completely to spirituality. They couldn't kill someone who basked in the Goddess's light, and isn't it only natural that a filthy creature like him would so desperately crave her touch?

When Canagan and Accalia become secret lovers, he dedicates himself to her just as wholly if not more. He'll kill for her. He'll die for her. He'll commit crimes against mortals and gods for her because none of them matter if it means she can get what she wants. To Canagan, Accalia might as well be the Goddess herself.

(I'm still debating whether or not I want Connor and Neoma to be romantically involved or just have a very fucked up friendship.)

Connor joins the cult because with them the bad things he did are not only justified, they're good. He can escape his guilt and do whatever he wants because he's pure and worthy. He doesn't even need permission from Accalia, really. Neoma is a product of his new power. Connor turned her into a werewolf with his bite. Granted, it was an accident, but it's reminiscent of the same control that Accalia has over Canagan. Despite being accepted by the cult, Connor is still, fundamentally, an outsider. Neoma is his only real friend because she's the only person who can truly understand what he's gone through. He uses his influence to keep Neoma by his side and their relationship starts to warp with the more bad things Connor does and has her do in pursuit of his mission as the Wolf Goddess's vessel. It becomes more important to him than her happiness.

And Neoma, despite being a werewolf now, is also ostracized by the pack because she isn't pure enough for them since she was born human like Canagan. (Connor is the Wolf Goddess's vessel so he gets a pass.) She spends most of her time shut in the library because what else can she do? Connor is her only real friend because he's the only person who can truly understand what she's gone through and he's off doing vessel stuff most of the time. So Neoma asks Connor to bring her along. She serves him. She sins for him. She follows him down the dark path he chose for them but she isn't as convinced by the cult's philosophy as Connor is. But that doesn't matter. Connor cares. And he's all she really has in this place. To Neoma, Connor might as well be a god himself.