Did you know there is a war in your very city, at this very moment? A war so vicious that if it were not secret by necessity, every human would be caught in the crossfire. The secrecy keeps us from all-out confrontation, but you may have seen glimpses of it; that shoot-out at the club, the bodies unearthed in the remote areas of the state. We keep it from you, for as a rule you humans, as a group, seem unable to cope with the existence of the supernatural.

Shall I introduce myself then? I am Artemis, alpha of my pack. You�ve probably met my kind and not known it. We are very good at blending in with humans, just as we are good at being unnoticeable when hunting our prey. Of course, we don�t hunt very often anymore. It�s difficult to find the time with this war.

Not all of my kind are involved in it. I�d rather not be, to tell the truth. But as alpha I am forced to take a stand. I�ve never really had anything against the vampires; they�ve never harmed anyone in my pack. Politically speaking, though, I must campaign against them. Being without a mate as I am, I cannot pick my battles�yet. I cannot stand alone in my desire to end this war, so I must accede to the greater wishes of the loupcour, the governing body of werewolves.

Werewolves, you say. No such thing. Since you cannot see me shift at this moment, you will have to believe me. Shake your head as you wish, but I could tell you it is what you could become. I was once as human as you. Shifting is a disease, a mutation passed on in violent contact with a shapechanger. Some people have natural immunity to it; others choose to let the virus take hold. Others, like me, were forced into it�but the one who did this to me would not be pleased to see the place he put me in: leader of his pack.

I was given the name Artemis by my people when I ascended to the alpha position. Who I was before is not really important; I had my share of human glory and pain a lifetime ago. No one noted me then, no one but him. Sean Garrett made me what I am today, and I give you his name because it now means nothing but leaves on the wind.

But you want to know who I am. Here then, is my story�