Free Bear No Defeat by Anya Nowlan Page A

something along those lines. Internally, he smiled.
    The tiger farthest from Jax shifted back, slowly though on account of his injuries. He was ursing his broken arm. He had a dark look in his green eyes, glaring daggers at both Jax and Alice, but with obvious reluctance, he nodded his head.
    “Fine. I’ll tell Joe that the debt’s paid.”
    The debt?
    Regardless, Jax stepped back and let the other tiger out from under his crushing weight. The feline practically bounced away from him, snarling, though when Jax growled back, he seemed to cool his heels a little and consider his options. One on one, there would be no chance for him against one of the best enforcers in the league.
    Jax could hear the murmur of the crowd getting closer. In a minute or two, they’d be there and there would be no more privacy for them. Thankfully, the tigers seemed to realize this as well and while both of them were bleeding and injured, the man and the tiger backed away a few steps before breaking into a run in the opposite direction of the oncoming crowd.
    Jax allowed himself a moment of relief before shifting back, feeling the jersey stick to his sweaty skin and the taste of blood still lingering in his mouth. Wordlessly, he grabbed Alice’s hand and her suitcase and pulled her along quickly, looping back into the parking lot. She trotted behind him and he could feel her uncertainty in every move she made and every breath she took.
    He didn’t say anything before they were at his truck and he threw her suitcase in the back seat while they both got in. Only when he’d grabbed a bottle of water left in the cup holder and taken a swig to clear out that coppery taste did he finally turn to her, his expression stern but gentle.
    “Alice, talk. Right now.”
    It didn’t take a genius to understand that she had been trying to leave. The suitcase and the bus stop were clear enough signs of that. He felt his heart throbbing painfully, needing her to explain.
    Why the hell was she running from me? And who the fuck were those guys?
    “I… I’m so sorry,” she started, and already he felt pain coursing through him.
    “That’s not what I need to hear. Where were you going and who were those guys?” he asked firmly.
    “I was going back to New Hampshire. I didn’t want to leave before the game ended because you said… well, I didn’t want to leave too early. But I couldn’t stay. Those guys… my dad got into trouble. Real trouble. He owes money to these guys back home. He took out a big loan. I don’t know how much he paid back but they were asking me to get them six hundred thousand or something would happen to him. When we were in Gallant Falls, my dad called me and confirmed it.”
    She quieted, looking down at her hands. Slowly, Jax’s shoulders relaxed.
    “I would have given you the money,” he said bitterly.
    “I know. That’s why I needed to leave.”
    Jax looked up, turning her gently by the chin so she would face him.
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “I knew you would have given me the money if I’d asked. I didn’t want that to be… to be us. There’s no way of knowing if those guys would ever stop and if the first thing we did together would be paying off some crazies because of my dad… Jax, I couldn’t live with myself then and I couldn’t do it to you. I wouldn’t. That’s why I was leaving. If they couldn’t find me, they’d leave you alone and come after me and my dad and we could figure it out from there.”
    She bit her lower lip and it was the sweetest little thing. Jax cracked a slight smile, letting out a tense breath. So he hadn’t been wrong about her. All this time when he’d felt more and more sure that he’d found the woman for him, there’d been a nagging worry at the back of his mind that he was only going through with it to appease his father. But now, understanding how upset he was at the possibility that she would leave and he’d be left without her made it all make sense.
    He