Logan was the only one who recognized Will for what he was.

“A dog?” the others asked, murmuring between themselves as they pulled the pair up and out of the water.

“Bring me my med kit!” Logan called, running across the icy deck. He pulled the woman gently off of the wolf and wrapped her in a warm blanket.

As the ship’s captain, Logan acted as their medic. He checked the woman’s vitals, and then had his men take her below deck to warm her and keep an eye on her.

Logan looked down into the wolf’s eyes, which were dazed, but alert and full of soul as they met his own. Logan’s heart suddenly throbbed, his whole body ached with purpose. He felt connected to the soaked wolf in a way he had never felt before, and he knew with all of his being that this was his mate, the omega to his alpha.

“Fuck,” he whispered. How far into the Bering Sea did a wolf have to go to avoid his fate? Apparently, he hadn’t run far enough.

He gathered his omega, who intelligently hadn’t shifted into a human, into his arms, and carried the wolf below. The rest of his crew watched him in confusion.

“Captain?” one of them asked. “We aren’t taking a bloody dog on board, are we?”

Logan snarled, his Kiwi accent coming out through his anger.

“This dog saved that woman’s life, and is alive. Back to work, all of you!”

He took his mate to his own quarters, and laid him gently down on the bed.

“It’s all right, you’re safe here,” he assured him, and then, the man shifted.

The omega was a slender brunette, with soaked dark curls on his head and big brown eyes. His body was tight and toned but not particularly muscular. Still, Logan thought he had never seen anyone so beautiful in his entire life.

The poor young man shivered so hard his teeth gnashed together. Logan grabbed several thick towels to wrap him in, then began to dry his hair. He paused, his hand on the man’s head, and looked into his eyes, which shimmered with intelligence beneath all his sorrow.

Something terrible had happened to his omega, and Logan wanted nothing more than to hold him close and comfort him. He was already practically wrapped around him as he tried to dry and warm him at the same time.

“I’m Captain Logan Harris. You’re aboard the crabbing vessel Seawolf, we picked up your distress signal, luckily we were only a few miles away. Your friend is alive, pretty cold, but alive. The Coast Guard is still an hour out but they’ll be here soon to get her proper medical care.”

Logan spoke gruffly. It was just how he was. He’d hardened himself against connections after a tragic loss of his own, one he never spoke of and rarely thought of. He was not a warm man by any means, but when he spoke to Will, his heart softened. The alpha inside of him yearned to be connected to his omega.

“I’m Will,” the young man finally managed to speak, and he seemed breathless as well as he stared up into Logan’s hazel eyes. “Doctor William Blanchard. Your accent…”

Logan chuckled softly. “New Zealand. Not Australian.”

That drew a half-hearted smile out of Will.

“Got it,” he murmured. “Not Australian. Captain Harris, I can’t thank you enough…”

He was still disoriented, but the young man had clearly been raised with manners.

“You can thank me later,” the alpha assured him. “And you can call me Logan. Your crewmate, what is her name?”

“Tracy. Giddens. She might have ID on her, if the water didn’t—” Will froze mid sentence. He curled around himself. “Were there any other survivors?”

Logan shook his head, frowning.

“How many were aboard? We didn’t even see your boat.”

“There were two others,” Will said, trembling with sadness now rather than cold.

Logan wrapped himself around the omega, unable to resist the contact.

“Grey, that’s Doctor Peter Greyson, and Roger—Roger T—Tipton.”

Will choked up when he tried to say the man’s name. Without having to ask, Logan knew Roger must have meant a lot to Will. He had no words of comfort to offer the young man. In the dark, stormy seas, his crew had seen no others, and he knew from personal experience that the most likely fate for a man overboard in these waters was a gasping lungful of deadly sea.

“Can I see Tracy?” Will finally asked, after a long, sad silence.

“Of course,” Logan said, and then he realized he couldn’t follow through with that promise, and winced. “Wait, I’m sorry. No. You can’t. My crew saw you as a wolf. If you go out there like this, there’ll be questions, and…”

Will sighed. “You can’t afford questions.”

Logan shook his head. “You’ll just have to stay here until I can find a safe way to get you off the ship.”

Will was thoughtful.

“What if I go out as a wolf? I just want to see her, see that she’s okay.”

The captain considered. None of his crew knew that he was a shifter, and he wanted to keep it that way. He hadn’t wanted anyone to ever find out, but here was Will, ready to ruin all of that. Logan didn’t lack compassion, however, and the alpha in him wanted to do anything in his power to comfort his omega.

“Fine,” he agreed. “But you stay a wolf the entire time, or so help me…”

Will gave him a little smirk.

“What? You’ll throw me overboard?”

The alpha growled in warning, and Will held up his hands in surrender.

“I’m kidding! I’ll stay a wolf, I swear. I don’t really want anyone finding out about me, either.”

Logan nodded.

“All right. You can come with me when I go to check on her,” he decided.

“Thank you,” Will said, and he pulled away, and was about to shift, when Logan stopped him.

“Wait. One more thing.”

“Yes?” Will said, looking up into Logan’s eyes, and Logan was hit with another wave of desire and attraction toward the beautiful young man.

Logan took a deep breath, searching those big brown eyes.

“You know, don’t you?”

“You mean, that you’re an alpha? Yeah, I know,” Will said, breathlessly. “Believe me, I know…”

“No,” Logan said. “Not just that.”

He stared into Will’s eyes, but he didn’t want to be the first to say it.

“I know,” Will admitted meaningfully, maintaining the intense eye contact. “I know who you are. I just can’t… I can’t deal with this right now,” he said.

The omega turned away and shifted into his wolf form, shaking the last droplets of water out of his dark coat.

Logan watched him quietly, warring with himself. Should he force the issue? Will was his omega. His mate. What were they going to do?

He had a ship at sea in the middle of a vicious storm, a woman in his sickbay, two dead scientists in the water, and the Coast Guard on their way. It turned out, he couldn’t bring himself to deal with it, either. Silent, he led the way out of his quarters, a large wolf at his heels.

* * *

When they entered the sickbay, Tracy was already in warm, dry clothes, wrapped in blankets with hot water bottles in her armpits and groin. She lay on the small cot, shivering violently still but awake, conscious and responding to questions, albeit briefly.

Will watched as the captain went over to her, and for posterity’s sake, he asked her the same questions he had asked Will. Long ago, Will’s parents had told him about alphas and omegas, and that one day he would meet the wolf destined to be his mate. He’d never expected it to happen like it had. When he’d imagined meeting his alpha, he hadn’t exactly pictured sunshine pouring from the sky as a choir sang, but something close. Logan, and his steel ship, rocking violently on the Bering Sea, were a far cry from the scene as it had always played out in his head. He’d pictured someone clean cut, respectable, maybe a doctor or a lawyer, and maybe they’d meet at a coffee shop or a library. Faced with the reality of his fate, Will felt dizzy, and the omega fell back onto his hind legs to observe the man with his teammate.

Tracy looked at the wolf, obviously confused, when she spoke of Doctor Blanchard, but she didn’t mention the connection between the two. She didn’t even know for sure if the wolf that had arrived just in time to save her was Will, but she clearly suspected. Will just had to hope that she would keep his secret, and he looked at her with pleading golden eyes.

Logan was wise, and led the conversation away from the subject of her lost crew, and the miraculous rescue by the wolf. Instead, he reassured her.

“The Coast Guard is on their way, they’ll take you to a proper hospital, and search for your lost teammates. I’m so sorry, Ms. Giddens.”

Tracy nodded, traumatized and exhausted, and let her eyes slip closed to rest.

“Thank you, Captain.”

With that, the Captain left, and Will followed him. To his surprise, the alpha didn’t just take him back to his quarters. Instead, he walked around the rest of the ship, checking on everybody, with Will still following him.

Will got a tour of the ship, and he got to see Logan’s manner with his crew members, the way he dealt with a crisis.

He was a strong alpha. Incredibly handsome, too, with short brown hair and a dark stubble on his jaw. He had heavy brows and full, expressive lips. Serious, penetrating hazel eyes. Those eyes, Will lamented to himself. How would he ever be able to resist his alpha’s intense gaze?

He was too curious. It was a fault that had been a boon to him in his career, but it got him into trouble at times. For example, at the moment, he couldn’t tear himself away from his fascination with this strange man. He’d never met anyone like Logan before. His life thus far hadn’t led him to be associated with men who were so rugged and wild. Could Logan really be the love of his life?

Logan’s voice was deep and confident as he spoke to his crew, a soft growl in every command. That Kiwi accent drove Will crazy, making him ready to jump the captain the moment they were alone, but he got the impression that, despite their draw to each other, that would be unwelcome.

Guilt rushed over him. Will’s best friend and his wisest mentor had both been lost in one night. He shouldn’t even be thinking about sex, or anything else. The strangest thing was, he was truly miserable, but the comfort of his alpha’s strong, muscular arms seemed suddenly like the only antidote to his grief.

No. He had to contain himself. Grief was no better a reason to fall into this stranger’s bed than lust. He was a scientist, damn it, where had his ability to think gone? He felt like it had been sapped from him the moment he’d hit the cold water. Or maybe, the moment he’d been rescued by his magnetic mate.

It was Aegis who first noticed.

“That ain’t a dog, you know, Captain.”

Will looked up at Logan in panic, but the captain kept his calm.

“What do you mean? Looks like a dog to me.”

“No, that ain’t no dog. That’s a wolf,” he said.

“Oh,” said Logan, glancing down at Will with a little smile. “Well, he seems pretty tame to me. Maybe one of those Inuit wolf-dogs, you know? I think he must have belonged to one of the researchers. A brave animal, I’d say, saving that girl.”

Aegis nodded, looking at the wolf thoughtfully.

“Did the girl have a name for it?”

Logan shook his head. “No, I didn’t ask. But he didn’t belong to her. I think I’ll keep him.”

Will fought a growl, but turned to leave.

“Hey!” Logan whistled. He whistled at him. Will glared at him and left. He’d been introduced to the whole crew. He would go and stay with Tracy until the Coast Guard came, but he was tired of being paraded around like a new pet.

* * *

Aegis chuckled as he left. “Looks like he’s not so keen on that plan.”

Logan bristled with hurt pride and dropped the subject.

“When will the Coast Guard be here?” he asked, no longer smiling.

The other man became serious, as well. “Any minute, Captain.”

With a nod, Logan turned, and followed Will below deck. He got to the sickbay and saw Will lying with Tracy, trying to warm her.

“Tracy, the Coast Guard will take you to a hospital, somewhere much warmer than here,” Logan promised.

Will wisely got off the bed, and then disappeared out of sight. Logan was glad he didn’t have to tell him to disappear. The Coast Guard would have questions about a wolf, questions his crew wouldn’t think to ask.

The captain knelt to speak softly to Tracy.

“Please don’t mention how you were rescued,” he murmured in her ear.

It was their only hope to keep Will’s cover.

Oliver helped him get Tracy onto a stretcher and they met the Coast Guard above deck. Logan answered their questions to the best of his ability in the raging storm, and they kept it short, rushing Tracy to safety. The Coast Guard requested they move their ship away from the scene, so that a proper search could be conducted, and Logan promised to oblige.

After they left, and Logan had given orders to the rest of his crew, he found himself outside the door to his quarters, breathing slowly, his head pressed against the wooden door.

The stress of the evening washed over him, through him, faded almost instantly into exhaustion, melting his hardened exterior and leaving him tired, fearful, and alone. He knew his mate was on the other side of the door, but how could he take comfort in a stranger, knowing that this stranger was his mate? If he dared to do so, Will would become much more than a stranger. Will would become his family. That was how alphas and omegas worked.

He couldn’t lose another family. That meant he couldn’t have another family.

Logan would have to deal with this alone. He could be strong for Will, until Will could find safety, but he couldn’t lean on his omega, he couldn’t let himself be seduced by their connection, or the young man’s beauty, or his admirable resilience.

The captain was used to shouldering things alone. He took another deep, shaky breath, contemplating whether or not he should go into the room and try to comfort his omega. He wasn’t ready, he decided. He wouldn’t be strong enough, to support him or to resist him.

Grimacing, fighting himself, he finally gave a soft growl and turned on his heel. He stomped back up the metal stairs to the wheelhouse.

“You’re relieved,” he told his deck boss, who looked at him in confusion.

“Captain, shift change isn’t for another—”

“You’re relieved. I’m taking the night watch. Enjoy,” the captain said, and he wasn’t argued with any further.

Logan sat back, putting his feet up, and watched the storm rage. Their huge ship could take it, and although there would be a rush to pull the pots in a few days, weather be damned, for now, it posed little danger to them. As thunder rolled, not far from them, but far enough to signal the storm passing away, Logan didn’t find that comforting enough. The fate of Will’s smaller vessel, and his friends, served as a dire reminder not to underestimate the deadly seas that he’d made his home.

He’d found his mate. Most alphas would be happy. Part of him was—joyous in a way he wasn’t comfortable admitting yet. He was also extremely worried. How could he have a child with the man, and somehow raise that child, while still at sea? He couldn’t, not really. Some of his men had families, but he’d seen how hard that was on them. He’d always thought the job was for the young and single. He wasn’t young anymore, but for the longest time he had been blissfully unattached, running quickly from anything that threatened to matter to him.

For years and years, most of his life, the only thing that had mattered to him was the Seawolf. If he had a baby, he’d have to give her up.

Will, this man he barely knew, was supposed to be his husband, his mate and partner in everything, but Logan was married to the sea. How could a man tolerate that? How could he expect him to?

Logan sat on the bridge for hours, his inner turmoil raging along with the storm outside. Just like the storm, it eventually faded and lessened to pelting rain and rough seas, but nothing more. He’d figure it all out, at some point, but for the moment he just tried to stay awake.

When dawn broke and he was relieved, he gratefully wandered down to his quarters and sat on the edge of the bed, tugging off his boots. Things had returned, mostly, to normal, and his crew could survive a few hours without him.

Without even taking off his damp clothes, he passed out there on the edge of the bed, barely having enough time to lay down and curl up before sleep took him.

Next to him, Will shifted in bed, going from a wolf to a young man without waking much at all. Acting on instinct alone, he wrapped his slender arms around his mate, and held him while they slept.