Amanda parked the van in the parking lot across from their apartment building. She pulled a handicap permit from her glove box and hung it in their window before climbing out of the driver's seat and locking the door. She'd gotten the handicap sign off of an old vet for fifty bucks a few weeks ago. It really freed up their parking options.

She waited for a few beat up cars to pass before crossing the street to head into their building. She ignored the jeers from a few men on the corner as she walked by and stepped inside. The building itself was old, the plaster on the walls was cracked in some places and covered in dirt. It was called home by many eccentrics of society. She didn't mind. She had one neighbor that told pretty crazy stories about the holocaust (which he was too young to have experienced) and another that could sell her any drug she wanted. It was loud sometimes, many of the couples that called the building home had no qualms about others hearing their arguments or judging them based on their content.

It was particularly enjoyable a few nights ago when the wife of a man that lived a few doors down had suspected him of sleeping with her sister.

Amanda walked up the flights of stairs, jingling the keys in her hand all the way as she did. She reached their floor and heard a loud banging reverberating through the halls. She slowed her steps to listen.

Bang. Bang. Bang. "Eric! Open the fuckin' door!"

Amanda lifted her brow and continued forward at a faster pace. She didn't care to get involved in whatever was going on down the hall. As she shoved her key into the lock, the man turned to her.

"Hey." He sounded pissed off.

"Hmm?" She turned to glance at him.

"You know where Eric is?"

She shook her head and walked into her apartment. She heard the man cursing and banging on the door some more. The door he was banging on was Mrs. Gregarison's. She was a nice older lady, though her son seemed a bit on the shady side. Amanda had never tried to spend more than a few moments with the man, but he'd made his intentions clear from the beginning. After he wouldn't take the hint that she wasn't interested, Max had gotten involved, which was really just a big mess.

But, Eric hadn't bothered her since, so….

Amanda sighed as she looked around the empty apartment. The sounds of the man banging on her neighbor's door continued. She always hated it during the full moons. She'd broken ties with a lot of her friends after she stopped selling herself for money. It wasn't as if they were that good of friends. But, they made her loneliness dissipate, even if it was just temporary. She'd met Max a little over a year ago. He needed a place to stay and she needed a roommate.

She'd already started to get her life back together and could afford her apartment on her own, but she'd wanted a roommate that could help her when she got the urges to call up some of her old friends.

Max was pretty much the opposite of what she'd wanted. He didn't talk much and was pretty secretive. He would disappear for a few days at a time, but it wasn't until a few months ago that she figured out the truth.

It still felt a little unreal.

They'd started sleeping together around that time, which was probably why she was able to figure it out, if she was honest. After becoming physical with someone, you start to want to know more about them.

Max was pissed when she first started to pry into his life.

He scared her.

He pulled away from her.

They barely spoke, then one day he ended up needing a ride out to BFE. He usually left early in the morning, took the bus to the outskirts of town, then walked/jogged the rest of the way, or hitched a ride. He got back too late that day and didn't have time to ride the bus or walk, so she gave him a ride. He'd told her to meet him back there in three days.

On her way home, she wondered what he was doing out there on his own for three days, she even suspected he was some sort of serial killer and wondered if she even should go and pick him up. If maybe she should find a new apartment. That night, she'd noticed the moon and things started to take a weird turn. She started thinking back to every little thing that had seemed off about him.

His taste in food.

His sensitive senses.

His disappearing once every month.

The weird phone conversations she'd over heard.

Finally, when she'd gone back to pick him up, she asked him. Well, she didn't ask him if he was a werewolf; that sounded crazy. She asked him if he was human instead, because that sounded less crazy in her head.

He didn't answer her. He just sighed and asked "What do you want me to say?"

Since then, there was kinda an unspoken agreement. They didn't talk about anything related to what he was. Even if she asked. They worked together when he was given a job. Though, that usually was just him borrowing her van at times, or her answering a phone to tell the person on the other line that he wasn't around. She didn't know what he did, he just told her he does odd jobs that clients call him and ask him to do for a set price.

She wasn't sure what the two of them were. Were they boyfriend and girlfriend? That didn't seem right. They didn't really talk enough for that to be the case. Really, she didn't know much about him at all. Where he came from, how old he was, how did he become what he was? These were all questions that he'd always refused to answer, ones that would probably be basic if they were in a relationship.

She kind of saw herself as lucky, sometimes. Who else can say that they knew a werewolf? Who else can say that they lived with one, even called him or her a friend?

Sort of.

Amanda sat on the couch and began flipping through channels absentmindedly. She settled on something that looked long and boring and curled up, waiting to zone out. She wondered how long their arrangement could last. Wondered if she was putting herself in danger being around him. She didn't want to leave, though. Despite the dangers, she wanted to know more.

There was a whole other side to the world that she thought she knew. She wanted to be one of the people that "knew".

Max shoved his bags into the back of the van. It was pretty early, around seven. Though, he usually woke up early after a full moon cycle. It was a habit left over from before he'd moved to the city. He had to be one of the first up, to make sure he was safe.

He glanced at Amanda from the corner of his eye as she drove them through the winding countryside. He knew he needed to push her away. Knew that he couldn't have friends. Or that he shouldn't. He didn't deserve them. He really shouldn't have moved in with a woman. At least, if it was a man then he probably wouldn't have cared where Max went once a month. He probably wouldn't have noticed Max was gone most of the time.

But then…Max didn't like men. He preferred women. The thought of sharing a space with a man…made him think that he'd probably end up ripping the guy's head off. And, he couldn't do without a roommate. The amount of work he received varied greatly. And he was new to the business; he needed to gain the surrounding packs' trust. He wasn't the only one that worked here, there were a couple others, though most people like him preferred to live on their own, away from other wolves and living a life of privacy and freedom.

Max couldn't do that. He needed the security that a pack offered, without having to actually join a pack. He was done with that life. Never again would he allow someone else to dictate his life. Not like before.

He watched the scenery go by as they drove. He preferred the wilderness. Preferred the privacy that living in it offered. But, that wasn't something that was available to him, not yet. Maybe someday in the future he'd be able to leave the stifling and dirty city behind.

He understood why a pack might call the city home; they had members that needed a place to live, obviously. But as a Jackal….It took him a while to get used to it. It caused his senses to go on over drive, most of the time. There were too many sights, sounds and smells in the city. It was easy to get overwhelmed.

He shifted in the seat; his joints ached as they usually did after a full moon. He was tired. The last few nights were hard. He ended up running into another wolf and getting into a fight. He won, obviously, as he was still breathing. The other…wasn't so lucky. He wondered if one of his competitors was out of his way at first, but after inspecting the body, he realized that there was no way. The only ones that could really compete with him over his clients were other Jackals and the kid last night looked like a run of the mill whelp. Probably in his first few years as a wolf. Max didn't feel too bad about killing a kid.

He'd done it before; he'd probably do it again. That was one of the risks associated with being what they were and being alone. One of the reasons Max needed to live in the city, for now.

Amanda fidgeted in the driver's seat. It was a habit she had when she wanted to say something, but was holding back. Max ignored it. Maybe he'd get lucky and she'd think it best not to mention it.

He wasn't so lucky.

"So…was everything okay? You don't look like you were injured or anything."

Max closed his eyes, treating her questions as nothing more than background noise. He never meant for her to learn anything about him. He didn't intend to give her more information than she already had. Amanda continued her string of questions for about a mile, but gave up after she realized he had no intentions of answering or even acknowledging them. They rode in silence once again.

Max must have fallen asleep at some point, as the next thing he knew, he heard Amanda's door slam as she climbed out of the van. He grunted and began to gather his things from the back. Amanda seemed quieter than usual, though Max did his best to ignore it.

As they made their way to the front door, Amanda went ahead of him, unlocked it and shut it in his face. Max stood staring at the door for a moment, when a laugh caught his ear.

He turned to see a neighbor, Eric, watching and laughing from outside his door.

"Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise." He laughed again.

Max wanted to hurt him. He wanted to feel the silky, sticky texture of the man's blood between his fingers. He could imagine it. Could imagine the feel of the man's bones breaking in his grasp. Or against his knuckles. Could imagine his blood dripping from his maw. The cries of pain; the smell of his fear.

He must not have hid his murderous intention too well, as Eric quickly lost his smile. He turned, coughing, to walk back into his apartment. His door shut firmly behind him.

Max turned back to the closed door of his and Amanda's apartment. He tried the handle and found that she hadn't locked the door. He walked in to find her in the living room, flipping through the channels. Max chose not to ask and walked by her, into his room.

He stayed there for the majority of the day. The full moon could really take it out of you. He came out briefly to eat. Amanda must have gone to work as she didn't appear to be home.

He sighed.

He wasn't sure if staying there was the best idea. Amanda seemed to want to know more and more everyday and seemed to be getting bolder with him each time. He should never have slept with her. Should have left after she began to suspect something was up. He should be packing his bags now and running; trying to find another place to stay. But he wasn't…he didn't know if that was because he was lazy, or he didn't want to lose the one person in his life that hadn't hurt him.

Or that he hadn't hurt. Or killed.

Yet.

Late that night, Amanda was still giving him the cold shoulder, though he didn't mind it much. It just meant he could finally find that silence that he'd been seeking before. He lay in bed reading an old worn out copy of A Tale of Two Cities, when his phone rang.

Glancing at the ID, he felt a headache coming on. He answered.

"Hello?" He knew that his tone sounded sharp, he didn't care.

The voice on the other end hesitated.

"This is Nick. We spoke on the phone a few days ago?"

Max inwardly groaned. He really didn't want this job.

"Yeah."

"We discussed a price, somewhere around $1,300?"

Max lied back onto his pillow. He thought over their offer, then decided to press his luck.

"No. I want two grand if you want me to take the risk of entering Jackson's territory."

"Two grand?! Uh…I'll have to get the authorization for that…"

Max shrugged. "Then call someone else." He went to move the phone away from his head to hang up when the one on the other line called out to him.

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait. Yeah? Yes. We agree."

Max was momentarily stunned. He was intending to keep rising the price every time they called so he wouldn't have to accept the job. He could still decline… As if he were able to read Max's mind, the man on the other end spoke up.

"Three grand."

Max sank into contemplative silence. If he had three grand…with the amount he's already saved, he could get a new apartment and buy a beat up old car…. Max clenched his teeth. He closed his eyes, his expression almost pained.

"Alright. Tell me the details."