Matthew "Wolf" Steel

Nickname
 Significant other
 Child(ren)
 Team Affiliation(s)
 Core group of friends
Hunter "Cookie" & Fiona Knox
Sam "Mozart" & Summer Reed (children April and Sam Jr.)
Faulkner "Dude" & Cheyenne Cooper (child Taylor)
Kason "Benny" & Jessyka Sawyer (children Sara, John, Callie, James, Matthew, and Jessie)
 Other friends
Cooper Nelson
Slade "Cutter" Cuttsinger
SEAL of Protection: Legacy team
Keane "Ghost" Bryson
 Other family
 Career

## Biography

### Early Life

Wolf grew up observing the love his parents had for one another, and aspires to have a relationship like theirs. By the beginning of *Protecting Caroline* (2014), his parents have been together for almost 40 years.

### Career

Wolf earned his nickname during boot camp. He would often eat quickly, and often ate off others' plates. His fellow sailors named him since he was always "wolfing" down his food, but Caroline thought it was after the Duran Duran song "Hungry Like the Wolf."

At the start of *Protecting Caroline* (2014), Wolf has been a SEAL for 10 years, and been on a team with Abe and Mozart for the last eight. At some point Dude and Benny joined with the others. Cookie is the newest member of the team, which is how he received his moniker.

At the beginning of *Protecting Caroline* (2014), Wolf is headed to Norfolk, Virginia, with Abe and Mozart. They have two weeks of leave before they're scheduled to leave for their next mission from Norfolk, and they want to spend that time with their friend Tex. They decide to fly commercial, as a free MAC flight might have taken longer to arrive.

### *Protecting Caroline* (2014)

Wolf formally meets Caroline Martin on a plane from San Diego to Norfolk. (They informally met when they both arrived at the airport, as Wolf helped Caroline with her faulty luggage before heading to the security checkpoint.) They strike up a companionable conversation, realizing that they're attracted to one another. They are interrupted by an active terrorist plot taking place on their plane. Once they return to relative safety in Norfolk, however, they continue seeing one another, until Wolf needs to leave for a mission.

Upon Wolf's return, their relationship is again impeded by terrorists retaliating against Caroline for foiling their plans. Wolf shows extreme distress at the thought of Caroline being in danger. He finds her in FBI's witness protection, and maneuvers his team into helping protect her. Wolf and Caroline share a bed each night, though their relationship doesn't progress past intense makeout sessions. One night Wolf notices some strange sounds, and upon investigating, he is knocked unconscious by an explosion. Caroline drags him back to their room, where she fruitlessly attempts to revive him. The house is on fire, and she works with Mozart to get Wolf out of the house before escaping herself. Caroline and Mozart run into trouble when they're surrounded by a group of terrorists, who beat both Mozart and Wolf while abducting Caroline.

Caroline is held hostage and tortured while her abductors question how she knew about the terrorist plot. At the same time, a now-conscious Wolf and his team (minus a now-unconscious Mozart) try to find clues as to Caroline's whereabouts. With help from Tex, they find a video of her being tortured, where she sends them a subtle message about boats and seagulls. The SEALs rightly deduce that Caroline is being held at a civilian port, and head out to investigate. Undercover as a fisherman, Benny sees two men hauling a severely beaten Caroline away from their hideout. He attempts to send her a comforting message, but she doesn't recognize it.

Wolf asks Abe to take point on the mission, as he feels he would be too emotionally compromised to ensure Caroline's safety. The SEALs head out after a yacht transporting Caroline to a secluded part of the ocean. There the terrorists once again interrogate Caroline, but she refuses to give into them. They attach weights to her feet and toss her overboard, watching her struggle before they start shooting at her. As Caroline intentionally sinks to get away from the bullets, Wolf, Abe, and Benny arrive in their boat. Before arriving, they let Dude out to create a diversion, while Cookie (the best swimmer) headed to find Caroline. They demand that the terrorists surrender, which they refuse to do. Having tried to negotiate a safe conclusion, their camera films Dude's diversion, which is an explosive device that decimates the boat and its terrorist occupants.

Caroline struggles to get to the surface when she is grabbed by behind. She initially fights for her life, until she realizes that Cookie is there to save her. Cookie swims them far away from the explosion before surfacing and signaling to his teammates. The SEALs (with Dude onboard) arrive at their location and gently extract Caroline from the ocean. Wolf attempts to comfort her, as she is in shock and eventually passes out at the bottom of their boat. They take her directly to the hospital.

Caroline awakes in the hospital to see three unfamiliar men surrounding her bed. Dude and Benny introduce themselves with the nonverbal signal, while Cookie wraps her in a gentle hug. As Caroline and Cookie now have a special bond, he bestows upon her his Budweiser pin, which is the most precious physical award he has to offer, and they all have a tearful moment. Caroline begs the men to take her to her apartment, as she can't stand being in hospitals.

Meanwhile, an infuriated Abe approaches Wolf, who believes that his job is what got Caroline into danger. As a result, Wolf refuses to allow Caroline to be close to him again. Abe informs Wolf that Mozart regained consciousness, and revealed that Caroline was the one who rescued Wolf from the burning building. Abe is furious with Wolf for writing off Caroline, and encourages him to go after her. A few minutes later, he sees his team leader leaving the building, and Abe hopes Wolf is on his way to Caroline.

Caroline is trying to rest at home when Wolf breaks into her apartment and rouses her. She is angry with Wolf, as she feels abandoned by him. Wolf agrees, and apologizes profusely. He starts to care for her, including making her lunch and ensuring she takes her medication. Caroline is still unsure of Wolf's intentions, until Wolf informs her that he is all in for their relationship, and they reconcile.

A month later, Caroline is moving back to San Diego and into Wolf's small house. They tried to have a long-distance relationship, but Caroline has no ties to Norfolk, and her previous job is still available. They settle into life together.

### *Another Moment in Time* (2020) (story: "Caroline's Surprise")

In this short story, Wolf plans a surprise 25th anniversary party and vow renewal for Caroline. He invites all their friends to partake in the celebration.

### *A Moment in Time* (2018) (story: "The Boardwalk")

In this flash-forward, we see Wolf and Caroline, years after the events of the other series. Caroline has dementia and is unaware of Wolf's identity, yet he continues to follow after her and care for her.

## Characteristics

* By the start of *Protecting Caroline* (2014), Wolf is ready to find a long-term partner, though he does not want to force it. At this point he's said to be the "least likely to hook up with a random chick who just wanted to bag a SEAL"
* "Had a wariness...that came from too many missions overseas"
* Drinks beer  and orange juice
* Enjoys spending time at Ace's Bar & Grill with his friends
* Has a deep voice
* Hyperaware of surroundings, even when appearing to relax - though Caroline manages to startle him
* Protective

## Physical Description

* Muscular, especially his biceps
* Good-looking, in a rugged, masculine way
* Tall (was cramped in the middle plane seat)
* When he first meets Caroline, he's wearing boots, cargo pants, and a long-sleeved shirt

## Relationships

### Romantic

* Caroline "Ice" Martin
	+ Wolf first officially meets Caroline after she offers to swap seats with him on a plane, so he could have more room.  Initially, Wolf assumed Caroline was hitting on him, and dreads having to turn her down. She soon does her best to ignore him, though, which intrigues him.  He introduces himself as "Matthew," instead of his nickname, because he doesn't want to scare her away.  Caroline later reminds him that they met walking into the airport in San Diego, when Caroline's suitcase wheel caught at the entrance.

### Team Members and Families

* Christopher "Abe" and Alabama Powers
	+ Children: Tommy, Brinique, Davisa, Kate
	+ Wolf is likely closest to Abe, out of all his team members.
* Hunter "Cookie" and Fiona Knox
* Sam "Mozart" and Summer Reed
	+ Children: April, Sam Jr.
* Faulkner "Dude" and Cheyenne Cooper
	+ Child: Taylor
* Kason "Benny" and Jessyka Sawyer
	+ Children: Sara, John, Callie, James, Matthew, Jessie
* John "Tex" and Melody Keegan
	+ Children: Akilah, Hope
* Patrick and Julie Hurt
	+ (Child)

### Colleagues

* Keane "Ghost" Bryson
* Penelope "Tiger" Turner

### Family

* (Wolf's father)
* (Wolf's mother)

## Appearance(s)

* *Protecting Caroline* (2014) - main character
* *Protecting Alabama* (2014)
* *Protecting Fiona* (2014)
* *Marrying Caroline* (2015) - main character
* *Protecting Summer* (2015)
* *Protecting Cheyenne* (2015)
* *Protecting Jessyka* (2015)
* *Protecting Julie* (2015)
* *Protecting Melody* (2015)
* *Protecting the Future* (2016) - main character
* *Rescuing Rayne* (2016)
* *Shelter for Elizabeth* (2016) - mentioned
* *Rescuing Emily* (2016) - mentioned
* *Protecting Alabama's Kids* (2016)
* *Shelter for Adeline* (2017) - mentioned
* *Marrying Emily* (2017)
* *Protecting Kiera* (2017)
* *Protecting Dakota* (2017)
* *A Moment in Time* (2018) - main character (story: "The Boardwalk")
* *Securing Caite* (2019)
* *Securing Sidney* (2019)
* *Shelter for Koren* (2019) - mentioned
* *Securing Piper* (2019) - mentioned
* *Shelter for Penelope* (2019)
* *Securing Avery* (2020) - mentioned
* *Securing Kalee* (2020)
* *Another Moment in Time* (2020) - main character (story: "Caroline's Surprise")
* *Shielding Ember* (2021) - mentioned
* *Shielding Sierra* (2022) - mentioned

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 *Protecting Caroline* (2014), chapter 2
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 *Protecting Caroline* (2014), chapter 1
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 *Protecting Caroline* (2014), chapter 3
4. ↑ *Protecting Caroline* (2014), chapter 5
5. ↑ *Protecting Caroline* (2014), chapter 4
6. ↑ *Protecting Caroline* (2014), chapter 9
7. ↑ *Protecting Caroline* (2014), prologue