Love at Sea

by Preston Walker

  For the moment, the conversation was dropped. Ash took the hint and kept his concerns to himself over the next few days. He tried to help move the furniture around but he wasn’t strong enough, so he was delegated to the unpacking brigade. He, along with the older children and the omega females, was in charge of unpacking the rest of the boxes, sorting everything into room-specific groups, and then breaking down the boxes into their flat form for easy storage in the basement.

  It was mind-numbing work, incredibly boring, but somehow still taxing. He managed to keep occupied for a bit, until the fourth day came and there were simply no more boxes. Except for some random piles of odds-and-ends that would soon probably be allocated to a junk drawer or two, everything had been put away. The house resembled the normal sort of home where children had free reign and the adults didn’t so much control anything as they did seek to lessen the inevitable damage.

  By that point, the familiar smell of the wolf pack had started to leech into the carpet and walls. People were finding their favorite places, and a routine was slowly establishing itself. Arguments were less frequent, although they never disappeared entirely; scuffles and short brawls were simply part of a wolf’s way of life.

  That would have been all very well and fine, but now it meant that Ash had nothing to occupy his time. He didn’t have a convenient excuse. He managed to bide his time for all of that first day of leisure, but when he came downstairs on the fifth he was met with such a powerful stink-eye from his grandmother and knew it couldn’t be put off any longer.

  Sighing, the omega boy went up to Matthew. He was standing in front of the stove, juggling four skillets that all contained a different sort of meat. Ash identified them by their scent alone: turkey sausage, regular sausage, bacon, and ham. Normally, he would have been dying for a bite, jaws slavering, but today his stomach was turning at the thought of even eating anything at all.

  “Hey, Dad.”

  “Hey, Ash,” his father echoed, smiling fondly. “Need something, kiddo?”

  He didn’t say anything for a moment, gathering up enough courage to just blurt the words out. “I’m going to go down to the docks today, to try and find out about…about that man who’s my mate.”

  Matthew gave a small frown. “Don’t tell your mother that, okay?”

  Ash sighed. “I won’t. I know she’s disappointed that I—”

  “No,” Matthew cut his son off. “It has nothing to do with you. You are who you are, and you can’t help that. No, son. Sometimes adults get their hopes up just like kids do. But, you see, we’ve had our hopes longer than our kids have even been alive. Sometimes, it’s hard to let go of what we’ve been wanting for that long. Do you understand?”

  He thought he did, but that really didn’t make everything better. No matter what, his mother was still disappointed.

  “Anyway,” Matthew said with sudden cheer, “you go out and do what you need to do, okay? Just…be careful. Take your phone.”

  A sudden thought occurred to Ash. A quiver of fear ran down his spine and he grabbed at his father’s sleeve, like he used to do when he was much younger. Matthew slid his eyes across towards his son. “What is it?” he asked, not quite unkindly but a little impatiently.

  “Dad…is it possible to be mates with a bad person?”

  Matthew didn’t answer for nearly a minute. Ash watched as his father flipped over the meats in each pan, obviously using that as a distraction so that he could think of an answer.

  “I think people can be people,” he finally answered. “But if you’re worried about your mate, you shouldn’t be. I’m not. I’m more worried about those other fishermen, especially the human ones.”

  Ash nodded, a little relieved. He wasn’t likely to have a mate who was evil. That was just stupid. “Okay. I’m going, then.”

  His father bid him farewell, and he set about making his way through the crowded living room to the foyer. His shoes were buried nearly at the bottom of the pile on the very top of the rack, but he didn’t complain about it as he normally would have. Lacing them up, he simply went out the door and started off down the road.

  It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining strongly across the hills. The constant breeze was chilled by the sea but not uncomfortably so. Ash sank his soul into the feel of nature all around him, enjoying the chatter of small birds scuffling around for seeds and insects in the grass. There weren’t any trees to speak of in this colder climate, not even hardy pines, but he thought he saw a squirrel anyway. Stubborn little creatures, brash enough to fight back against a full-grown wolf when cornered.

  Out of respect for Regina, he chose not to tromp on her roof anymore and took the long way down. Along the way, he discovered that the street swung out wide past the farthest end of the dock before heading back around to the depths of town. The boats there on the edge seemed a bit…lackluster, to be kind about it.

  Thinking of Regina made him realize that was the best place to start his search, so he headed over to Whimsy Wares and stepped inside.

  The old woman called out, “Welcome!” and poked her head up from behind some shelves. A stocking cart full of boxes at her side showed that she was hard at work. Noticing who her visitor was, her eyes lit up and Ash grinned.

  “Well, hello there! I’m almost surprised that you actually came back.”

  “Are you?” Ash asked, walking over to meet her. Much to his surprise, she threw her arms around his neck and embraced him; she smelled of candles and baby powder. Patting her back fondly, he pulled away only when she did.

  “Well, if it was anyone else but you I would be terribly surprised. But you’re such a polite young man, I probably shouldn’t have doubted at all!” Regina smiled up into her eyes. Looking into them, noticing how pure and blue they were beneath the haze of age, Ash found himself wishing that he had been attracted to someone like her. A kind person, not some gruff sailor-type.

  “Oh, but this isn’t just a personal visit, is it? You have something you want to know?”

  “Maybe,” Ash admitted.

  Regina smiled a different sort of smile. “Very well, then. We’ll kill two birds with one stone then, shall we? I’ll make us some tea and you can tell me all about it.”

  A few minutes later, they were both sipping tea at the cash register counter. This second time around, Ash thought it tasted a little better. Floral and bitter, but not too bad, really.

  “So, what’s on your mind?”

  “That man who was in here. Who came in for that shipment the first time we had tea.” Ash held his breath and looked at Regina. Her expression was carefully guarded, and he plunged on. “Who is he?”

  “I’m afraid I can’t tell you much more than you already know,” the old woman said. She glanced sideways, and Ash knew she was lying. “His name is Linden Smothers, and he’s a crab fisherman. That’s all. No one of any real importance. Why do you ask?”

  I’m asking because he’s supposed to be my mate, just wasn’t going to cut it. Then again, now that he’d expressed interest, he couldn’t say anything too far from the truth or she would know that he was also lying.

  “I’m interested in him,” was what he said. That seemed about right.

  Regina’s lips quirked up in a slight smile, although the wariness didn’t fade from her expression. “You should bark up a different tree, my dear Ash. Linden is a good man but he’s not the sort for you.”

  “Why?” he asked, a little surprised that she hadn’t outright refused him anything.

  She sipped at her tea a moment before answering again. “Well…maybe I know him well enough. He certainly shops here often enough. And he is a good man, make no mistake. But he’s…different. He’s wild. Many men of the sea are. He wouldn’t be good for you. You should look for someone your own age. Someone who hasn’t become so disillusioned with the whole world.”

  No matter what else he tried to ask after that, Regina refused him. She wouldn’t tell him where to find Linden or anything. Sighing, he finished
his tea and thanked her. On their parting, he couldn’t help but notice that she watched him go with something like concern on her face.

  Well, there went that chance. It sounded like Linden had some sort of reputation, so maybe others would know more.

  Unfortunately, no one wanted to talk to him. He was a stranger in their midst still, and none of the townspeople trusted him enough to go telling him what they knew. After stopping about six people in a row, all of whom quickly ended the conversation almost before it began, Ash realized he was being suspicious.

  Grumbling, he gave up on that course of action and went to walk down along the docks. However, even though he tried to keep as far away from the boats being loaded and unloaded, he still kept managing to get in the way. The fishermen snapped at him sharply, jostling him around, back and forth between them; the words that fell from their lips were crude, and he couldn’t help but blush at them.

  He turned away from one person who was scowling down at him and ran immediately into another. “Sorry!” he apologized immediately.

  The man said nothing, and Ash took in a nervous gulp of air. As he did so, the other’s scent slid into his nostrils. Musky and overpowering, and distinctly…alpha.

  Hardly daring to look up, Ash had to force himself to do so. Looking down at him was exactly the wolf he’d been looking for.

  “Linden!” he said, surprised. Surprised and…happy, for some inexplicable reason.

  Linden stared impassively down at him, his shirt and hair damp with ocean spray. His clothes were thin and ragged, hanging off his impressive body. Ash felt an urge to touch those defined muscles pressing through the tears in the fabric and could only barely restrain himself from actually doing so. Shyly, he ducked his head down and was about to back away as a submissive omega should.

  Then he remembered his grandmother’s words. If the alpha wasn’t going to do this, he would have to.

  Squaring his shoulders, he lifted up his head and looked right into the alpha’s deep brown eyes. “Hi!” he belted out.

  Linden blinked at him, and then a fierce grin curved on his lips. “Well, damn,” was all he said for a moment. He looked off to the side, out across the docks to the sea. Ash admired his strong profile for a moment, forcing himself not to look away when the alpha looked at him again. “What’s your name?”

  “Oh…Ash.”

  “Ash,” Linden said slowly, as though trying the word out. Then he nodded. “Okay. Ash, then. I’m Linden.”

  “Hi,” Ash said.

  “Hi.”

  Oh, the awkwardness. Can you die from it?

  Linden looked out at the water again. “Do you want a job?”

  “What?” Ash repeated blankly.

  “A job,” Linden said. “I’m offering you work. Unless you already have some? Maybe with a certain crazy old bat?”

  Ash growled. “If you’re talking about Regina…”

  “Down, pup,” Linden growled back. His snarl was thunder compared to Ash’s faint little purr of sound. The omega backed off instantly, his pulse speeding up. “Yes, I’m talking about Regina. I call her an old bat, and she calls me a mangy cur. We’re actually quite friendly. Now, do you have work already?”

  Ash’s mind was reeling from this sudden flood of information. “No. Uh… No, I don’t.”

  “Then, you’re free to work for me on my boat.”

  Are we not going to talk about how we’re mates?

  Apparently, they were not. Linden completely ignored the subject and spoke right over the awkward connection between them. “You might be scrawny but you’ve got the look of a sailor to you.”

  “I do?”

  The alpha glanced him up and down, a sharp stare that went from the top of his head, down the length of his body to his feet, and back up. That look missed nothing, and Ash felt strangely overheated and chilled all at once.

  “If you had more muscle, yeah. I think I could use you. October is the start of the next season and we have a quota to meet.” Ash struggled to follow along. “I don’t have enough crew since my greenhorns quit last season, but with you along, we’ll be better off.”

  “But I…don’t have any experience?”

  Linden shrugged. “We’ll take you out on the boat a few times beforehand. Give you some training. It’s more of a hands-on job than anything else. No tests to take, no assessments to pass. Just work. Are you in or not?”

  Ash was about to refuse the offer when something suddenly occurred to him. Maybe this was the alpha’s way of having him nearby, of getting to know him better. Maybe this was his way of furthering their nonexistent relationship?

  “Okay,” he agreed. “I’ll do it.”

  “Good,” Linden said, looking like he didn’t quite mean it.

  Silence fell between them. They looked everywhere but at each other, although the wolf counterparts inside them were aching for some sort of contact.

  “So, can you be out here tomorrow at eight a.m.?” Linden finally said. “I’ll start showing you the ropes.”

  Ash agreed, and then the alpha turned and walked away without so much as another word. Something in Ash told him to run after him, but he held his ground. He was a prize. He would be chased, not the other way around.

  It sounds better when a wise old woman says it, he thought and turned to start heading back home. How on earth was he going to explain that he just suddenly picked up a job out of nowhere? They would want to know all sorts of details that he just wasn’t able to give, such as who he was working for. If he told his family that he got a job from the same unknown man that was his mate, he thought Bridgett just might have a heart attack.

  Frustration nagged at his spine until he was practically running, struggling to escape his problems, but he couldn’t go fast enough in this puny human form. Pushing through the crowds of people, he finally managed to make it up over the bend of a hill just outside of Dutch Harbor. Hidden from sight, he transformed quickly and a slender red wolf appeared where he stood.

  For the rest of the day, there would be rumors of a small wolf roaming the hills, racing around as fast as it could like it was in pursuit of something. Ash discovered that when he finally came home and found a lecture waiting for him. His parents scolded him to be more careful for his own safety, while the other parents warned him to be careful for the safety of their own pups.

  Everyone always had an ulterior motive when it came to these sorts of things. Ash took his stern talking-to in silence and then slunk away to try and sleep, but he couldn’t get that thought out of his mind. Finding a mate was supposed to be the one thing in shifter life that came easy. If that was hard too, if that was no longer simple and pure as he was told it would be his whole entire life…honestly, what was the point?

  Chapter 5

  “Well,” Linden announced as he walked into the apartment, “I did something that I’m probably going to regret.”

  Matteo was the first beta wolf to look up, one eyebrow raised. “Eh? Did something happen in the throes of passion between you and your young bride?”

  Linden growled warningly. “I didn’t sleep with him. He hardly looks like he’s old enough to be slept with, anyway.”

  “So, now it’s a forbidden love story!” Matteo gestured grandly and gave a simpering grin. “You surprise me, Captain. I didn’t know you had such a capacity for romance.”

  Putting one hand to his forehead, Linden sighed. “One of these days, I’m going to go alpha on you and bite you.”

  He knew the second he said it that they were going to use it against him. He didn’t think it would be Skip, however. His second-in-command muttered under his breath, “We’re not the ones you should be biting.”

  “You people are impossible,” Linden snapped, his frustration rising to new levels. He couldn’t sustain it for very long, however. Slumping down slightly, he went to his favorite chair and collapsed into it. “Am I really so transparent?”

  Degasi spoke up now, although he didn’t take his eyes off the TV sc
reen. “Love will do that to people. Oh, and we are wolves. We can scent him on you.”

  “I didn’t even touch him this time. I found him down at the docks, though. I think he was looking for me. Don’t say a word!” he warned, having seen a teasing light flash in the betas’ eyes. “The wind must have put his scent on me.”

  “Sure, Linden,” Skip said.

  “I offered him a job on the boat.”

  That got their attention. Degasi shook his head, dreads bouncing all over the place. “You are serious? I bet you that kid hasn’t done any sort of fishing in his life! Omegas are so sweet and wonderful but they really do lack in any sort of real-world experience.”

  “I’m sure the desert animals would be delighted to know that you expect them to be fishermen,” Linden said dryly.

  “Hmm, point taken. But you know what I mean. It’s almost cruel, really. This business is no place for a sheltered omega.”

  “What else was I supposed to do?” Linden said, feeling honestly bewildered. “We have to be in top shape or else we’re sunk, but I can’t stop thinking about the damn kid! I’ve tried! The only thing to do is have him nearby on the ship. Two birds with one stone.”

  “Very romantic,” Matteo said sarcastically. “Do you even know his name?”

  “Ash.”

  Matteo seemed a bit disappointed. Maybe that’s not a romantic-enough name for him, Linden thought unhappily.

  “It won’t be that bad,” he tried to reason. “Maybe he’ll surprise us, but in a worst-case scenario, you can have him do all those chores that you hate. The cooking, the cleaning…”

  That seemed to have convinced them, although he saw that Skip looked saddened by what he said. “What?” he asked irritably. His patience for this conversation was just about done.

  “I realize this makes sense to you but I don’t think this is the right way,” Skip said. “You’re my captain and I’ll do what you say, but it’s not fair to the boy and you know it.”

  What choice do I have? Even if I wanted him as my mate, if I dropped everything to be with him, I wouldn’t be able to provide for him or give him the life he deserves. This way, I’ll be able to focus and we’ll have a chance to get it all sorted out, in the end.