Axel: Single Daddy Shifters #1 Read online

  Axel

  Single Daddy Shifters #1

  Tasha Black

  13th Story Press

  Copyright © 2020 by 13th Story Press

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  13th Story Press

  PO Box 506

  Swarthmore, PA 19081

  [email protected]

  Contents

  Tasha Black Starter Library

  About Axel

  Axel

  1. Axel

  2. Delilah

  3. Axel

  4. Delilah

  5. Delilah

  6. Delilah

  7. Axel

  8. Delilah

  9. Axel

  10. Delilah

  11. Axel

  12. Delilah

  13. Axel

  14. Delilah

  15. Delilah

  16. Axel

  17. Delilah

  18. Delilah

  19. Axel

  20. Delilah

  21. Axel

  22. Axel

  23. Delilah

  24. Axel

  Bane - SAMPLE

  1. Kelly

  2. Bane

  Tasha Black Starter Library

  About the Author

  One Percent Club

  Tasha Black Starter Library

  Packed with steamy shifters, mischievous magic, billionaire superheroes, and plenty of HEAT, the Tasha Black Starter Library is the perfect way to dive into Tasha's unique brand of Romance with Bite!

  Get your FREE books now at tashablack.com!

  About Axel

  Delilah might think she’s conning bear-shifter Axel, but he and baby Noah are stealing her heart…

  Axel adores baby Noah. Becoming a dad is the best thing that has ever happened to the burly bear-shifter mechanic, even if raising a child alone is hard. When help arrives in the form of a live-in nanny, Axel is ecstatic. His baby, Noah, loves her, and Axel's inner bear is driven wild by the curvy little human woman. His bear doesn't care if she has secrets, he just doesn't want to let her go.

  Delilah doesn't do commitment. As a con artist, she moves from city to city, keeping to only one rule: never con a mark who can’t afford to lose. When her conscience has her bailing out of a job gone very wrong, she winds up in the tiny Pennsylvania town of Tarker’s Hollow. Hoping to hide from her furious partners, she finds herself mistaken for a nanny and plays along, treating it as the perfect cover to lay low for a few days. But as she begins to have very real feelings for the baby and his achingly sexy single dad, it gets harder and harder for Delilah to remember she’s only pretending.

  When Delilah’s treacherous partners track her down, her fragile new world is suddenly in danger. Can the bear shifter and the con artist trust each other with the truth in time to save everything that is important to them? Or will she run away with the big bear’s heart?

  If you like strong women, sexy shifter men and unbelievably adorable babies, you will love the Single Daddy Shifters series, set in the steamy shifter world of Tarker’s Hollow!

  Single Daddy Shifters:

  Axel

  Bane

  Chase

  Dax

  Axel

  1

  Axel

  Axel Swann took a deep breath, anticipation building in his chest as the change took hold. He let the air out with a whoosh, his whole body expanding as he dropped to all fours.

  By the time his hands hit the lawn, they were no longer hands.

  Tender blades of grass tickled the pads of his massive paws.

  He shook his thick pelt and lifted his snout to the swollen moon, drinking in the delicious sounds and smells that rushed toward his enhanced senses.

  Fall had begun working its magic on the landscape. The colorful leaves still held fast to the trees, but he could practically hear their stems loosening, and he could taste the edge of cold in the fresh night air.

  He loped off towards the trees, yearning for the scent of pine that his paws would kick up. His muscles sang as he leapt.

  He had so few chances to indulge the beast within, and it had been so long…

  “Hal, is that a bear in the neighbors’ yard?” a woman’s voice called from the deck next door.

  “It’s not a bear,” the husband yelled back in a bored way.

  “I think it’s a bear,” she repeated.

  “Edith, it’s not a bear,” he said. “We live in the suburbs. There’s no bear.”

  Axel froze, holding his breath.

  There was a loud crackle of static, followed by the faraway sound of wailing.

  He sighed, and let his body shift back to its human form.

  The scents and sounds faded.

  And his sense of fear returned.

  Shit.

  He scuttled back to the house, grabbing his bathrobe from the back porch in one hand and the baby monitor in the other.

  He managed to get inside and lock the door before Edith could come over to investigate. But he knew she’d be over in the morning to tell him all about the animal she’d spotted in the yard.

  He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.

  Shifting at home was a risk. The backyard was so small - just a wooden fence, and an expanse of lawn with a stand of pines in the back.

  But it wasn’t like he could go anywhere else.

  No matter how seductive the call of the moon, Axel would never leave the radius of that baby monitor.

  He placed the monitor on the kitchen table and pulled on his robe, tying it firmly around his waist.

  The baby had quieted, but Axel would check on him anyway. He liked any excuse to visit Noah in the night.

  The doctor had told him not to hold and feed Noah so much if he wanted him to sleep through the night, but it was difficult to let the little fellow cry alone in his own room. Given their situation, Axel figured he’d rather err on the side of indulging him.

  He moved through the dining room, still decorated with his ex-girlfriend’s frilly tablecloth, through the living room with his big chair and small fireplace, and up the creaky stairs.

  Noah’s door was the first one at the top of the steps.

  Axel stood in the hall for a moment, listening.

  No sound came from inside, but he wrapped his big hand around the knob anyway, and closed his eyes before easing it open, as if not watching the door might make it quieter.

  The room was filled with Noah’s sweet scent. Technically, Axel knew it was mostly the scent of baby powder and the delicate detergent he used to wash the baby’s sheets and clothing. But there was an undertone of pine and cinnamon he swore was the woodsy scent of his little one.

  Noah was asleep again, his little body splayed on the crib mattress, tiny hands open wide like stars, the moonlight from the window playing up the dimples of his chubby cheeks.

  His tiny eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if he disapproved of whatever he was dreaming about.

  “It’s okay, buddy,” Axel half-whispered, half-sang, caressing his son’s pillowy cheek with a calloused index finger. “Daddy’s right here. Daddy will never leave you.”

  Noah smacked his lips in his sleep and his forehead smoothed.

  Axel felt his heart melt, for the millionth time.

  “My boy,” he whispered.

  Axel stayed just where he was for a long time before finally sneaking away for his own night of sleep.

  The next morning, he woke up early and headed to the Tarker’s Hollow Community Ce
nter, as planned.

  The air was crisp and fragrant, and Noah was making happy growling noises.

  “You’re excited to see your friends, huh, buddy?” Axel murmured to him as he dug in his pocket for the keys to the building.

  He and Noah enjoyed their mornings at the baby playgroup once a week.

  Axel had volunteered to open up the place and clean up the toys at the end, hoping to get in good with the tight group of stay-at-home moms who seemed to run everything in town. After all, Noah would be going to school with their kids one day - Axel needed to prove he was a trustworthy presence for playdates.

  But so far it hadn’t seemed to win him much goodwill. No matter how friendly Axel was, the women hadn’t taken a shine to him. The other single dads in the group had theories on that, but Axel didn’t like to presume. He hoped that in time he would be accepted.

  Balancing Noah on his left hip, he opened the door and jogged up the stairs to turn on the lights.

  The huge arched windows that lined the north side of the room looked out over verdant views of the Tarker’s Hollow College campus and soccer field.

  The space used by the playgroup was as big as a ballroom. It had been used for the high school’s required dance classes back in the fifties, as his great-aunt liked to remind him.

  Now, it was mainly rented out for parties and used by the playgroup twice each week. Axel could only afford to close the shop one morning each week to attend with Noah, but his buddies Dax and Chase came Wednesdays and Fridays with their kids.

  He opened the big closets on the near side of the room and pulled out a nice selection of toys for different age groups.

  Noah was too little to do much more than lie on a play mat and kick his legs, but the toddlers at playgroup used the bikes and the toy kitchen and other items they cycled through week by week.

  Satisfied with the offerings for the “big kids,” Axel lowered his backpack to the floor, opened it with one hand and pulled out a fuzzy blanket. He spread the blanket on the floor and sat down with Noah just as heavy footsteps jogged up the stairs.

  “There’s Noah,” a voice boomed.

  “Hey, Chase,” Axel said with a grin. “And hello, Jacob!”

  Chase Bowman always brought his nephew to playgroup. His sister worked a nine to five in the city and Chase’s job fundraising for the college meant he sometimes worked late nights. He’d told Axel that when he’d asked for flex hours so he could spend mornings with his nephew, the dean had granted his request on the spot.

  “How are you guys?” Chase asked, spreading out his own blanket and sitting down with little Jacob.

  “We’re great,” Axel said.

  “You look tired,” Chase said sympathetically. “Were you out late last night?”

  Axel knew they were alone, but he glanced around out of instinct before replying.

  “I can’t really run with the moon these days,” he said. “I tried last night, but the neighbor yelled something about bears and then Noah woke up…”

  “Wait—what?” Chase asked.

  “Well, I try to be quiet, but the yard is so small…” Axel began.

  “You tried to shift in your yard?” Chase asked, incredulous. “Dude, that’s hilarious!”

  “It’s not hilarious,” Axel said, though he was pretty sure Chase was right and he was just too grumpy to see it. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t leave Noah.”

  “Why didn’t you call Hannah Harkness?” Chase asked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “She watches him all the time.”

  “Who watches him all the time?” Jenny Wilks-Andrews asked brightly from the stairwell.

  Chase’s eyebrows shot up.

  Jenny was a shifter too, so her hearing was enhanced. She was also a stay-at-home mom and thick as thieves with the little clique of mostly human moms that ruled the roost at play group.

  “Hannah Harkness,” Axel said. “How’s it going, Jenny?”

  “Great,” she said firmly. “Daniel is having a pleasant day, right, Daniel?”

  “Horse,” Daniel trumpeted and galloped over to the rocking horse Axel had set up by one of the windows.

  “He’s getting so big,” Axel said, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “He’s only in the eighty-seventh percentile,” Jenny barked out defensively.

  Dear Lord. He had done it again.

  Axel could never seem to say the right thing with these women.

  “I only meant he’s so active and so tall,” he said quickly.

  But the damage was done, Jenny brushed her hands together as if she were washing herself clean of him, then took off for the top of the stairwell where her best friend, Megan had appeared with her newborn.

  Chase rolled his eyes and Axel smiled. At least Chase understood.

  “Anyway,” Axel said. “Hannah’s only in high school. It’s fine for her to watch Noah during the day when I’m at the shop. If anything goes wrong, I’m in shouting distance. But not at night. Besides, summer’s over - she went back to school this week.”

  “What are you going to do?” Chase asked, his eyes full of sympathy.

  The opening bars of Hungry Like the Wolf rang out suddenly.

  “Oh, man, that’s my phone,” Chase said, slipping it out of his pocket and swiping with his thumb. “Dax is here, hang tight.”

  “You can stay with Uncle Axel,” Axel told baby Jacob, who was sitting up in his boppy-pillow, wriggling his fingers and chuckling at a fascinated Noah.

  Chase jogged down the stairs and returned a moment later carrying one twin, Dax right behind him with the other.

  “Soon they’ll be walking up the steps,” Axel said.

  “From your lips to God’s ears,” Dax said. But he was smiling.

  As far as Axel could tell, Dax tried to be smiling all the time. He had lost his wife the night she gave birth to the twins, but Dax was determined to solider on and give Maddie and Mason the happiest childhood possible.

  They were almost a year old now, and it looked like he was smashing his goal. The twins seemed to be made of blond curls and drooly smiles.

  “Bane is coming later,” Dax said as he sat down with Maddie.

  Chase sat Mason down on Dax’s other knee and seated himself again.

  More women came up the stairwell, greeting each other and cooing over the babies.

  None came over to the sunny spot the guys had set up.

  “Bane’s back, huh?” Axel asked. “How does he seem?”

  Dax shrugged. “He just lost his sister, and he wasn’t exactly planning on a life in the ‘burbs with a baby. But he sounded pumped to see us.”

  None of the men had planned to be single dads - or part-time caregivers, in Chase’s case. But together they were bringing up some pretty special children, and learning to appreciate the privilege more every day.

  “Welcome to Playgroup,” Jessica McAllister’s bright soprano voice chimed crisply. “Your first visit is free. Here’s a form to fill out if you want to come back.”

  That wasn’t her usual effusive spiel.

  “Thanks,” said a familiar voice.

  “Bane,” Chase called, looking over Axel’s shoulder at the top of the steps.

  “Please be very careful with those beverages,” Jessica said with a frown. “We rent this space from the College.”

  “I guess Jessica’s worried this whole place will be taken over by single dads soon,” Dax whispered to Axel, his eyes twinkling with humor.

  Axel turned to see Bane approaching with his nephew Oliver. He had one hand wrapped around Oliver’s, the other held a flat of paper coffee cups.

  Bane was tall, dark-haired, and covered in tattoos, though you wouldn’t know it with the long sleeve t-shirt and jeans he wore today. Axel figured Bane was trying to make a good impression on the moms of Tarker’s Hollow too.

  Good luck with that.

  “Look at your handsome nephew,” Axel said. “You’re getting so tall, Ollie.”

  “M
y handsome son,” Bane said quietly. “The adoption went through last week.”

  Axel felt a pang at the mixture of pain and pride evident in Bane’s deep voice.

  “That’s awesome, man,” Dax said appreciatively. “Congratulations.”

  They all watched quietly for a moment as Oliver immediately began putting together a wooden puzzle. Ollie was a super smart kid - he was only a toddler, but you could already tell.

  “So, what’s new with everyone?” Bane asked.

  “Axel’s babysitter went back to high school this week,” Chase said immediately.

  “Oh wow, what are you doing for childcare?” Bane asked.

  “I found a nanny through one of those services,” Axel said. “She’s coming into town today.”

  He held his breath, hoping his friends wouldn’t judge him. He loved his son, but he had to work, and he couldn’t keep asking his apprentice to babysit.

  “What, like Mrs. Doubtfire?” Chase asked.

  “Well, hopefully not exactly like that, but yeah,” Axel laughed.

  “Aren’t there a dozen women in Tarker’s Hollow who would love to help you with Noah?” Chase said with a playful wink.

  “Very funny,” Axel said. “I’m not looking for any kind of entanglement. I just want a professional.”

  There was a moment of awkward silence in which Axel cursed himself.

  His friends knew he had some trust issues especially when it came to Noah. After all, the child’s own mother had abandoned them.