Free Bear No Defeat by Anya Nowlan

by each step. It was leading him out into the massive parking lot and he broke into a run again, his sense of urgency growing. He ran through the endless rows of parked cars until he picked up two more scents that made his hackles rise.
    Much of the crowd was made up of shifters too, but to a predator, people smelled very different depending on the state of mind they were in. The two scents that Jax picked up now made him think of danger and his teeth bared in a snarl.
    If anything happens to Alice…
    His brow furrowed and when he passed through a seemingly endless line of parked RVs to see the bus stop, he practically roared with anger. Two men were standing close to Alice, who was clutching her suitcase like it was a lifeline, while the men were speaking to her with nothing but malice evident in their faces. One of them shoved her back with a rough hand and Jax saw red.
    He shifted before he could even attempt to stop himself and the polar bear was given full control. The large, hulking, deathly fast bear barreled down on the two men, who noticed him thanks to the angered roar, and turned to face him. They shifted as well, turning into two tigers. Jax’s vision seemed to fade at the edges as he focused on the two men threatening his mate and he tore into them with reckless abandon.
    At any other time, he would have laughed at the possibility of getting into a fight with not one but two tigers. They were some of the toughest shifters around and were not to be messed with, but right now nothing could have kept Jax from making sure that they got as far away from his mate as they could.
    He could feel a hot flash of pain in his side as one of them jumped him, trying to lock its powerful jaws around his neck just when he barreled into the other, pushing him to the ground. Jax rose up before stomping down on the fallen tiger with both paws, ripping and shredding before his teeth found the soft skin of its neck and chest. The tiger yelped when Jax felt the bitter taste of blood in his mouth and the heavy crack of a bone as he captured one of the big cat’s paws between his jaws and chomped down.
    Then Jax threw himself on the snow, rolling over so the tiger that’d been on his back had no choice but to let go. Jax was on him before he could put any distance between them, his fury obviously catching the twin tigers off guard. His eyes were ablaze with rage as he caught the tiger by the tail as it tried to escape, pulling him back so he could slash his claws into the sides of the predator, hacking down and feeling tough flesh give in.
    Jax got a better hold of the tiger and pushed him over on his side now, ready to maul him. The other tiger was bleeding in the snow, unable to get up properly because of the damage to its leg. Jax was sure nothing could stop him from killing both of the fuckers when Alice’s voice cut through his bloodfury, rooting him to the spot.
    “Stop! Jax, stop!” she begged, running to him and standing opposite of him, behind the tiger he was looming over.
    Her beautiful eyes were filled with fear and remorse and he could see the streaks the tears had left on her cheeks. That more than anything else seemed to clear his mind a little, his attention on her now rather than the desire to rip the tigers to shreds.
    “Wait a second,” she said, catching her breath as she glanced from him to the tigers. “You two realize that he’ll fucking kill you, right?” she asked, her voice shaking. “I don’t care what the hell your issue is with my father, this is not the way to go about it. You either promise me right now that you leave both him and us alone or…”
    She trailed off and Jax could see the bluff in her eyes, behind the worry and the guilt. He nodded his head slightly, urging her on.
    “Or we’re going to hold you here until the sheriff comes around and throws your oversized asses in jail.”
    Now that was another surprise. He’d expected her to say that she’d let him loose on them or