Blood and Chocolate is a 1997 paranormal romance novel for young adult readers by Annette Curtis Klause. It is set in the contemporary United States. The Loups-garoux In Klause's novel, the loup-garoux are a separate species from humans and wolves, but with elements of both in behavior and anatomy - referring to themselves as Homo lupus. There are two differing accounts of their origins alluded to in the book; some believe they are descended from a prehistoric breed of canine which absorbed protean matter from a meteorite which enabled them to shape-shift into humans, others that they were a tribe of ancient human hunters blessed by the moon goddess Selene. Most loup-garoux follow the latter account and thus worship Selene as their patron and mother. Loups-garoux are portrayed as glorious beasts who revel in their dual nature, but do not reveal this truth to humans at the risk of violent backlash. In keeping with the traditional werewolf lore, silver is poisonous when introduced into the bloodstream, often proving fatal, and death is a real danger in that "anything that will sever the spine will do". Loup-garou is the French word for "werewolf". Its plural form is loups-garous. A faux-French plural could be loups-garoux. Synopsis Vivian is a sixteen-year-old loup-garoux who has just started high school in a new town, she explains the circumstances that brought her there; formerly, she and her pack lived in another town, the teenage pack members started to become more feral, using their wolf forms to scare humans, one day, a loup-garoux named Axel lost control, killed a human girl and was witnessed changing back from wolf to human form. While Axel was in prison, the other teenage loups-garoux killed another human to make it look like the "real" killer was still on the loose and Axel was released. Vivian's father, the pack leader, killed Axel for endangering the pack, but Vivian pleaded with him to spare the lives of the other teenagers. Not long after, suspicious neighbors set fire to the pack's house. Vivian's father and a few others were killed, and the pack had to relocate. In the new town, Vivian has no friends because of her reserved and secretive nature; many girls she attends school with find her intimidating and are jealous of her beauty. However, she is intrigued by a boy named Aiden who has written a poem about werewolves that is