Free Hierarchy by Madelaine Montague

particularly when she saw that there didn’t seem to be nearly as many people in the streets as there usually were. Dismissing it after a moment with the reflection that it was Sunday—
    which no doubt accounted for the thinness of people on the streets—she decided to take a short walk and maybe get a bite to eat since she hadn’t eaten since the night before.
    She hadn’t actually set out to stroll past the club—not consciously—but she found herself standing on the curb staring at it before she realized she’d headed there on autopilot. After considering simply strolling by for a few moments, she finally decided against it. She didn’t want Constantine to get the idea that she was a stalker if he just happened to be there and happened to look out and see her.
    A man stepped out of the entrance to the club even as she turned away. Cutting her eyes to catch a glimpse of him, she began walking more briskly when she realized it was Marco, hoping to hell he hadn’t spotted her.
    * * * *
    Luke Gray Wolf had been studying the building across the street for hours waiting for an opportunity to confront Tommy Two Horses regarding the disposition of their territories. The street where he waited was, in actuality, supposed to be neutral since it bordered both his own territory and Two Horses’ but Tommy didn’t seem to see it that way. In point of fact, he’d crossed into his territory one time too many. One time was too many!
    It was a challenge if there ever was one and although they’d managed to keep 36
    things fairly civil in the city up until recently, war between their clans now seemed inevitable … unless he could nip it the butt here and now by facing off with his rival.
    There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that Tommy knew he was waiting. He hadn’t actually seen Tommy go inside, but he could smell him and he’d seen a number of Tommy’s pack members strolling casually up and down the opposite side of the street over the past several hours.
    What he couldn’t decide was whether Tommy was playing a waiting game with him, or if the fact that Tommy hadn’t come out to counter his challenge meant that Tommy was acknowledging that he’d erred.
    Well, he wasn’t taking a no-show as a capitulation, Luke thought angrily. He’d come to teach the bastard a lesson and he had no intention of leaving until he did!
    A new scent joined the mingling of scents of his own pack and Tommy’s and Luke’s gaze followed his nose to the source. Near the corner of the block he was guarding, he spotted a man—human—crouching beside a car. Ordinarily he wouldn’t have spared the human more than a glance, but there was just something really weird about the dude. He wasn’t changing, or checking, a tire. For one thing, he wasn’t anywhere near the tires. For another, he kept bobbing up and peering through the window glass at something on the other side.
    Curious now, Luke followed the direction of his gaze. He couldn’t see anything.
    Whatever it was that held the wormy bastard’s attention was out of his line of sight.
    Lifting his head, he tasted the air, figuring it was undoubtedly another human, although he couldn’t fathom what sort of game was in play.
    As long as it didn’t interfere with his game he didn’t give a fuck either, but there was a chance it might seeing as how the asshole had chosen his road to play his game and he was currently awaiting Tommy Two Horses to accept a challenge.
    He didn’t detect anything out of the ordinary—which didn’t particularly surprise him—and he was about to dismiss the humans, whatever it was they were up to, when he caught an exotic scent unlike anything he’d ever smelled before. Instantly intrigued, he began trying to ‘taste’ more of it to identify it.
    Whatever it was was coming closer. He dragged in a lungful that nearly sent him reeling. His cock popped to attention and every hackle on him rose as his beast lunged to the forefront, threatening to escape his