Chapter Text
Edward, like the rest of his family and many other covens, has accepted that he'll probably never be chosen by a wolf.
As the years have passed fewer and fewer have been born. Not for lack of trying. The wolves that were around, as well as their chosen vampires, understood the importance of heirs. The problem is, that just because someone's parent is a proper wolf doesn't mean they will present as one later. Whatever gene that seemed to be passed down to them must be recessive in nature because it seemed to quickly disappear. It's been a real concern for the entire vampire community.
Vampires without wolves are practically ticking time bombs. As vampires grow older they detach more and more from the world. Even with strong coven relations, after a while it was hard to keep up with the ever changing, fast pace world. To stay connected despite these changes. Eventually that vampire begins to die as they disconnect. Not physically but in every other way that matters. Eventually death, true death, becomes a relief.
Wolves prevent this.
When a wolf choses a vampire they share something with them. it's never been fully understood but the more poetic among them like to think of it as sharing a soul. Wolves bring back emotion and joy to those dying vampires. They make life worth living again. They become the very thing that those vampires can now live for. Their one constant in the Hell of their constantly changing world. To be chosen by a wolf was true a guarantee of eternal life. True eternal life with no expiration date, unless one was murdered or their wolf in question died. So, you can imagined how coveted they were. How many laws and restrictions went into place for the sake of their protection.
The Volturi in particular had many procedures regarding wolves. All three of their leaders desperate to be chosen by one themselves. Caius in particular was apparently pretty obsessed with the idea. Traveling the world in search of a free one in hopes of courting them and being chosen. There are even rumors that he killed one vampire in hopes of the wolf choosing him next. Though, those claims have never been proven.
With those rules often came rule breakers. for instance, those foolish vampires who killed their wolves imprints. One wonders why they would ever hurt most loved like that but it is rather simple. Where a wolf's love was selfless in nature a vampires was selfish. They feared more then anything the loss of their wolves once they were chosen. A human imprint practically solidified that future. After finding said imprint the wolves often chose to stop shifting in order to grow old and eventually die with their imprints. There is no worse fear for a vampire then that.
Still you'd think they'd just, turn that imprint into a vampire as well right? All three live forever, problem solved. However, with that comes the fear that their wolves might leave them for the sake of choosing their now turned imprints. That, also, was unacceptable. Vampires would sooner kill imprint and suffer seeing their wolves in despair for a while.
Only, they quickly learned, it was not just for a while. Whatever it was that wolves felt for these supposed imprints must be similar to whatever it is that vampires feel for their wolves because recovery is impossible. After the loss of an imprint the longest a wolf has recorded to survive was a month. That was only because her vampire refused to let her kill herself. Still, her body eventually gave out on it own. Not even three days after that the vampire in questions asked to be killed by the Volturi. They may have granted that mercy if it wasn't for the fact they'd cost the world yet another wolf who hadn't the chance to even sire children first. As punishment for their actions the vampire was forced to live three more torturous years after that. Only finally being killed when they managed to escape their prison and tried to reveal themselves to humans. A smart move on their part to speed up execution.
All this to say, wolves have gone all but extinct. In the last two generations, none having been found in all of the world. That is... until Edward and his coven moved to Forks.
If they chose not to reveal and instead shelter the wolves from the dominating, likely problem bringing, vampire elite that was their business.