Page 14 of Wild Card (Foster Bro Code #2)

Dalton

I’d never spent time around Axel when he wasn’t provoking me—either with sexual innuendo, his sketchy behavior, or both at the same damn time.

I wasn’t sure how to talk to him in a normal setting. If you could call touring an animal shelter normal.

We stood in strained silence until Sherlee Dillon, the director of the shelter, came to the lobby. She’d agreed to meet with us and discuss the animal abandonment concerns in the city.

I hadn’t brought up Axel’s specific situation.

I wanted them to meet first. But now, I was second-guessing the whole idea.

Axel was over six feet tall, covered in tats, and looked more like a criminal than a dog rescuer, and Sherlee was a dainty Black woman in her sixties, her hair full of strands of white, dressed in loose linen slacks and a fuchsia top that was a bright pop of color in a drab environment.

They appeared to have nothing in common.

“Sherlee, thanks for making time to see us. This is Axel Wilder.”

“Good to meet ya.” Axel’s hand dwarfed hers as they shook, and I couldn’t help but notice the tattoo on the underside of his wrist: an infinity symbol with the words Bro and Code set in each loop.

“Well, come on, then,” Sherlee said briskly, heading for the nearest door off the lobby.

We followed her inside, dozens of barks greeting us.

“These are our dogs waiting for adoption.” She waved a hand to the row of cages that extended the length of the room. “There’s far too many of them, I’m afraid. We’re at full capacity.”

“It’s a damn shame,” Axel said, crouching in front of a cage to pet the snout thrust through the bars. “They deserve better.”

“They sure do,” Sherlee said warmly, “but we do the best for them we can. Volunteers come in to play with them twice a day. They get as much love and affection as we can offer.”

Axel moved to the next cage, where a little wiener dog was whining for attention. “They know this isn’t a home, though.” He glanced over his shoulder. “It can never be the same.”

“No, it can’t,” she said softly. “Maybe you’d like to adopt?”

Axel tilted his head, looking thoughtful. “Maybe I could accommodate a few more…”

“A few?” Sherlee said, forehead creasing. “How many dogs do you have?”

“Five,” he said. “I used to have two others, but I found good homes for them.” He glanced at me. “Some kids came out to the junkyard with their dad, and it was love at first sight—for the kids and dogs, anyway. The parents were just along for the ride.”

He laughed at the memory, his face lighting up, and my heart skittered. Damn. I’d never seen this side of Axel before. Not entirely. I’d seen how he’d fight for Banshee, but not how he’d love her. And he did, didn’t he? Not just Banshee.

All of them.

He wasn’t doing anything remotely illegal—and he’d never been more dangerous to me.

“Junkyard?” Sherlee’s mouth tightened. “Wait, you’re the reason people dump their dogs outside town, aren’t you?”

“I’m the reason?” Axel said, straightening up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“People know you’ll pick them up. Instead of bringing them here where they can get proper care and medical attention?—”

“I take care of all the dogs I take in. They have regular visits to the vet.”

“Still, it encourages bad habits,” she said. “Can’t you see that?”

Axel’s eyes sparked hot, and I stepped between them.

“That’s why we’re here, Sherlee. Maybe we can go somewhere and talk about a solution?” Axel looked ready to blow a gasket, so I added, “One that works for you both.”

She gave me a clipped nod and started toward the door.

“Hang on a second,” Axel said.

Sherlee and I watched while he continued down the row of cages, giving a pat, stroke, or quiet word to every dog there.

“His heart is certainly in the right place,” Sherlee murmured.

“Yeah,” I said. “He loves those dogs he takes in. They’re happy critters.”

“Well, that’s something,” she allowed. “I don’t condone folks dumping their pets on the side of the road?—”

“Neither do I,” Axel said as he reached us. “But it was a problem long before I started taking pets in. My foster dad used to haul them over to the shelter, and…” He waved behind him. “You’re full capacity as it is.”

“You’re right about that,” she said with a sigh. “They come in faster than we can place them.”

I reached past her to open the door. “Seems like you need to expand?”

“I wish we could.” She shook her head as she led us across the lobby and down a short hallway. “We’ve got a small conference room over here. Would either of you like a drink?”

“Coffee would be great,” I said.

“Just a water,” Axel said. “Thank you, ma’am.”

She loosened up enough to smile at him again. It was obvious to me that Sherlee and Axel were kindred spirits. They both wanted what was best for these animals, but they were on two different sides of the same issue.

While Sherlee went to fetch drinks, Axel turned to me. “She doesn’t like what I do, but I’m saving the shelter more expense.”

I nodded. “Sherlee just doesn’t want owners to think it’s okay to dump their pets that way.”

“Neither do I,” Axel said. “But I can’t stand the idea of them in cages like that.

When I was a kid, my foster dad took me along once when he brought in a stray.

He showed me all the pets they took in because I was upset about dropping off the little mangy mutt we’d found.

But all I could think when I saw the cages was, what if that was me? ”

“You?”

“I was a foster kid, Dalton. I was abandoned just like those pups. More than once.”

“Oh, Axel…”

I couldn’t help the sympathy that leaked into my tone. My heart squeezed tight, and suddenly, the hard man beside me was small and soft, afraid that he, too, could be relegated to a cage because nobody wanted him.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he groused. “I don’t need your pity.”

“I know. You’re a huge pain in the ass. I get it.”

“Not yet.” His scowl transformed into a sinful smile. “But I sure could be.” He followed the statement with an outrageous wink.

My stomach fluttered nervously. Axel was using sex as armor. It didn’t take a psychology degree to figure out he was deflecting the conversation.

But damn, it was working.

I licked my dry lips. “I thought you already got what you wanted from me.”

He smirked. “Well, maybe I’m feeling greedy. Fucking around with a deputy turns me on. It’s so wrong , don’t you think?”

Heat flashed through me, and I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted the copper of blood. Now was not the time or place to get hard for Axel. There was no proper time or place, not given his penchant for trouble with the law.

We were water and oil. Neither of us could change who we were, no matter how much we tried to mix. I needed to remember that.

The door opened, and Sherlee returned, saving me from my spinning thoughts.

She set a mug of coffee in front of me and handed a bottle of water to Axel. “Now, then, how about you tell me why you really asked for this meeting?”

Sherlee took the seat across from us, one eyebrow raised expectantly.

Axel shrugged. “Don’t ask me. Deputy Do-gooder here asked me to come in.”

Sherlee’s lips quirked with amusement. “Well, Deputy Harvey. Let’s hear it, then.”

I gave her the highlights of the dognapping situation that had prompted our visit. She tsked. “That would never happen if those pets were surrendered properly.”

“Exactly,” I said. “But Axel fosters these dogs, essentially. Surely, there’s a formalized program he could join so that he’d have some protections.”

“I don’t care about me,” Axel interjected. “But Banshee deserves better than to be stolen back and sold to the highest bidder. She was just settling in, and now she’s all antsy again.”

Sherlee clucked in sympathy. “You care about those animals, and I appreciate that. And you’re saving the shelter space and money. Don’t think I don’t see that. But as long as folks can just dump pets without guilt, they’ll keep doing it.”

Axel tensed beside me. I braced for an explosion.

“You’re saying I’m part of the problem?” he asked, voice soft and pained.

My hand strayed to his thigh, squeezing gently. I shouldn’t be touching him like this, but how could I not offer some comfort?

“Oh, sweetie,” Sherlee said, “it’s not your fault. Folks have been dumping their pets for much longer than you’ve been around. But you assuage their conscience, making it a bit easier for them.”

“Which is why I was thinking that Axel could join a program,” I said. “If there was a drop-off that was part of the shelter system, and Axel was a registered foster owner, could we bring this all in line?”

Sherlee drummed her fingers on the table as she pursed her lips in thought.

After a moment, she shook her head. “I don’t think so.

We’ve got a foster program, but it’s pretty flimsy because we don’t have staff or funding to devote to it.

Our budget was cut by twenty percent for this fiscal year, and it’s taking a toll. ”

“That’s a shame,” I said. “You deserve more support.”

Axel nodded along. “Politicians line their pockets while shorting good programs. They’re the real criminals.”

“At any rate, even if Axel registered with us, he’d have to bring the pets to the shelter for proper intake and hold periods during which the owners could reclaim their pets. He couldn’t be taking them off the street.”

“But that’s a waste of resources, isn’t it?” Axel said. “Why scare them and cage them up if they’re going to end up with me anyway? Besides, their asshole owners don’t deserve a second chance.”

I winced at his blunt delivery, but Sherlee only chuckled.

“You’re preaching to the choir, honey. I hate the way people treat their pets like property rather than living creatures deserving of a home.

” She sighed. “Maybe if we had more funding, we could expand and do more outreach, but as it stands, we’re falling back on animal rescues to take the dogs and cats we can’t accommodate so we don’t have to euthanize. ”