Page 37 of Bear

But they only hit harder. It was an all-out brawl now, feral and vicious.

Then the flash of a knife glinted in Justin’s hand. Before I could take a breath to scream a warning, he drove the blade toward Bear’s torso.

Bear caught his wrist. And twisted.

Bone crunched. Justin gave an agonized scream.

In a blur, four men surged into the cage. It took me a second to recognize their faces - they were all members of the Alpha Riders MC. Mack, Tank, Brewer, and Crow. Tank and Mack tackled Justin to the floor. Brewer and Crow went to Bear but he held up his hands, signaling he was fine.

The announcer declared the fight was over and the referee held Bear’s arm above his head.

“Ladies and gentlemen, your champion!”

But his gaze fell only on me. He didn’t look like a winner. He looked tired and beaten to within an inch of his life.

I pushed my way through the crowd to the back of the cage and climbed inside. For a moment, I balked at the threshold when I saw the blood on the floor. Brewer met me at the door, holding a hand out to stop me.

“Shelby, you shouldn’t be here.”

I shouldered past him and headed straight for Bear. He was a mess, covered in blood and sweat but I carefully slid my arms around his neck anyway, pressing a kiss to his lips as gently as I could when all I wanted to do was devour him right there in front of everyone.

Bear stiffened in surprise. Then he slowly brought his hands up, placing them lightly against my back. His hold on me gradually tightened until I was enveloped in his embrace, crushed against his chest.

Wolf whistles swept through the crowd. Someone cracked a crass comment that earned a sharp look from Bear.

“So you made your decision.”

I turned at the sneer in Justin’s voice. He looked utterly miserable. And angry. Bitter. Then again, he’d been that way ever since the injury that robbed him of his football career. Nothing had made him happy ever since. Not even the birth of his own daughter.

“Yes,” I replied. “I have.”

“And what about my kid?” Justin countered.

I snorted. “Yourkid? The one you’ve ignored since the moment I said I was pregnant? The one you never comforted when she cried? The same little girl you abandoned when the eviction notice kicked us out of our home?”

“Okay, all right, I get it. So I screwed up. But you’re not giving me a second chance here.”

“No,” I replied. “I’m not. I’ve given you second chances, over and over. Maisie has a family of her own now - people who love her and pay attention to her. They hold her when she fusses and they make her laugh. I have a man who loves me, supports me, protects me. You left me withnothing. Bear has given meeverything.I know how lucky I am. And I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Someone whooped in the crowd. Someone else shouted, “Yes, Queen!”

“If you’re planning on fighting for custody,” Crow said to Justin. “I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you. Since you brought an illegal knife to a fist fight, the cops will be very interested in you.”

“I’m not pressing charges,” Bear said. “But your record will still be marked up.”

Justin swore as Crow and Brewer dragged him out of the cage. Bear gently touched my cheek. I glanced up at him.

“Let’s go home,” he whispered.

Chapter Thirteen

Bear

“I’m mad at you, by the way,” Shelby said with no heat in her voice.

We had returned to my apartment where she’d coaxed me into the bathtub. Maisie was still asleep in her car seat, tucked into a dark corner of my bedroom. Shelby had gently stripped my clothes off, leaving them in a bloody heap by the door, then perched on the edge of the tub and scrubbed the blood from my tender, bruised skin.

“For what?” I asked.

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