Chapter 50
Ice was given several days off to heal up from his time with the unknown mercenaries. He used the time to rest, knowing that his body needed it to return to peak physical condition. He also did light workouts, some with Hazard, some on his own. Now he needed to get caught up on his mission reports.
Late in the afternoon, he left their barracks and went up to HQ. As a captain, he had an office on base. It was a utilitarian space. The walls were covered in cheap paneling and the floor was plain gray linoleum. He’d elected not to display any of his awards or commendations so the walls were as bare as the day he’d moved in. His furnishings were the basic necessities.
There was a tan, metal file cabinet, a metal desk with a faux wood top and a wooden rolling desk chair. Two more chairs were in front of the desk and a tall bookcase stuffed with manuals and guides stood behind it. It was small space, but it gave him the peace and quiet he needed while doing admin work.
Thanks to his recent capture, he had several forms he needed to fill out in addition to his usual reports. Although he didn’t enjoy paperwork, he didn’t like letting it pile up and then having to rush to beat deadlines either. He’d rather get it out of the way and submitted in a timely manner.
He’d asked Ortiz what the plan was to track down the mercs and find out who they were and why they’d taken his blood. She’d frowned and said she’d inquired herself and been told to stand down on it for now. Perhaps the higher ups were waiting for his report before they made any decisions.
Ice sat down, turned on the desk lamp, and pulled the stack of papers and folders sitting on the corner of the desk toward him. Pen in hand, he began working his way through all of the reports he needed to submit and files he’d been sent to review.
The office was quiet, save for the tick-tock of the wall clock and the scratch of his pen over paper. Noise from the hall and outside the building filtered in, muffled and low. The white noise let him sink into the dull task without his focus wandering.
He was a little over half way through the pile when someone knocked on his office door. Ready for a break, Ice set his pen down and cracked his neck, letting out a satisfied grunt at the resulting pop .
“Come in,” he called out.
The door opened and Colonel Trent walked in. The officer was in charge of all personnel for Fort Grove, working directly under base command.
“Colonel Trent, sir.” Ice rose from his chair and stood at attention.
“Good evening, Captain Anderson. How are you?”
“I’m well, sir.”
“Good. Good. Have a seat.”
Ice waited until Trent sat in the chair in front of his desk before he sat back down. He was curious as to why the colonel was in his office of all places, but waited patiently for him to reveal the purpose of his visit.
Colonel Trent leaned back in his chair and crossed one leg, resting his ankle on his knee. He adjusted the sharp crease of his uniform pants so that it fell precisely down the center of his calf before he spoke. “You’ve done good work during your time with the 448, Captain Anderson.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“And it has been noted by your superior officers. Your record and the way you handled yourself during your recent capture are worth a commendation. And perhaps something more.”
“More, sir?”
“Yes.” Trent leaned forward in his chair. “We want to retain and reward exemplary soldiers like yourself. With that in mind, both a new post and a move up the ranks are on the table. The new post would have you taking on deep covert work. You’d go back to being a solo operator with a handler and transport. You’ll be based out of Florida for this position. Do that job well and another promotion will be in your very near future. How does that sound?”
Ice answered automatically. “It sounds excellent, sir. Would this go into effect in the next round of promotions?” Promotions were done on a twice-yearly basis in the Legion. The next round was next year in February.
“Actually, they want to get you started immediately. You’d have to leave the 448 and ship out by the end of the week.”
Something in Ice’s chest gave an unpleasant lurch. Leave his squad, leave Hazard by the end of the week? “That’s a fast turnaround.”
Trent raised an eyebrow. “You sound reluctant to accept this post. There isn’t anything holding you here is there?”
Ice didn’t have an answer to that question. He couldn’t very well say he didn’t want to leave his lover. That was an unacceptable reason for turning down a new post. And Colonel Trent would have him hauled off to the brig for fraternizing with an enlisted man. But the colonel partially guessed the reason for his hesitation.
“I understand, Captain. It can be hard to leave a team you’ve served with and that you’re loyal to. But that’s the nature of this beast we serve.”
Ice nodded. “It is.”
“But you’re still unsure.”
Ice nodded again.
“In that case, take some time and think about it. But not too much. I need a firm yay or nay by tomorrow end of day.”
“Will do, sir.”
Trent made to rise and Ice stood as well. He saluted as the colonel turned to go.
“End of day tomorrow, Captain,” he repeated on his way out the door.
Once Colonel Trent was gone, Ice stood there trying to absorb what just happened. He’d been offered an immediate promotion. With another all but promised as long as he did his job well. Those two bumps up the ranks would fast track him to his goal of becoming the first shifter soldier to receive a star on his chest. He’d be a lieutenant colonel after the two promotions and would only have one more to go before he reached Brigadier General — the first Legion star rank.
His goal was closer than it had ever been. But to get that first promotion, he’d have to leave Hazard and the rest of the 448 behind. Again he felt that unpleasant lurch in his chest. It was his Instinct, rejecting the idea of leaving Hazard.
Ice slowly sank back down into his chair. What the fuck was he going to do?
* * *
An hour after the colonel’s visit, Ice returned to the 448 barracks. He hadn’t finished his paperwork. The remaining files sat untouched in the center of his desk. Instead, he’d spent the time working out his decision. After going back and forth, he’d finally decided what he was going to do.
When he walked in, Hazard and Jax were in the kitchen good-naturedly arguing over which of the two Star Wars movies was best. They paused their discussion to greet him.
“Evening, Captain.”
Hey, Cap. How’d you do on those reports?”
“Fine.” Ice shortly answered Hazard’s question. He continued on before they could rope him into their conversation. “I need to talk to you.” He nodded toward his bedroom. “Alone.”
“Sure.” Hazard pushed off from his spot leaning against the fridge to exit the kitchen, leaving Jax with one final shot. “That reveal alone makes Empire Strikes Back the better movie.”
Jax shook his head in amusement but didn’t offer a counter argument in defense of A New Hope.
When Hazard reached him, Ice stepped to the side and let him go first into his room. Ice followed him inside, then closed the door for privacy. He didn’t go too far into the room, remaining near the door. Hazard turned to face him, curiosity in his expression.
“What’s going on?”
“Colonel Trent came by my office this afternoon.”
“Oh yeah? What’d he want?”
“To let me know they want to give me another commendation.”
The curiosity on Hazard’s face was replaced by a big, genuine smile. “That’s awesome. You deserve it.”
“Along with a promotion.”
Hazard’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Damn, they really are impressed with you.” His green eyes sparkled with a teasing light. “Looks like I’d better start calling you Major Anderson, huh?”
“Not yet.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “Before they promote me, I’ll be leaving.”
“Leaving? To go where?”
Ice answered in a clipped tone, getting all of the information out at once. “They’re transferring me out of the 448 to become a solo operator again. Deep covert ops. Lots of travel. And my home base will be in Florida.”
“Florida?” Dylan asked incredulously.
Ice nodded once. “Yes.”
His smile gone, Hazard whispered his next question. “When are you leaving?”
“By the end of the week.”
Hazard looked crestfallen at that, his shoulders slumping and lips turning down in a frown. After a few moments, he shook it off and straightened his spine.
“Okay, well long-distance phone calls are expensive but we don’t need to call each other often. I actually like writing letters. And we can match up our leaves—.”
“Hazard.” Ice cut him off. He needed to make things clear before Hazard got too far in his plans. Walking over to him, he took both of Hazard’s hands in between his own. “We’re not going to do long distance calls,” he said quietly.
“Why not?”
“Because we’re not going to do a long-distance relationship.” The second the words were out of his mouth, the space behind his breastbone constricted into a tight knot, with a ball of red-hot heat in the center of it. His Instinct was in physical pain at what he had to say next, but he ignored it to push forward and continue. He lightly squeezed Hazard’s hands. “I think it’s best if we end things between us. Right now, today.”
“You’re kidding.”
Ice silently shook his head.
After staring at him in disbelief for several long seconds, Hazard snatched his hands from Ice’s grasp. In an instant, anger bled into his scent, so bright and sharp it burned Ice’s nose when he inhaled.
“So that’s it? They wave a new piece of gold at you and we’re instantly over?”
“Yes. You know achieving a star rank is my goal.”
“I fucking know that!” Hazard shouted. “But why do we have to split apart for you to go after it?”
“Sooner or later, the brass is going to get wind of our relationship. Especially now that so many people know about it. If we’re still together when that happens, my career is over,” Ice calmly explained.
Hazard crossed his arms over his chest, pressing his lips together until they were reduced to a thin white line. “You’re saying this breakup is my fault,” he said tightly.
“No! That’s not what I meant.”
“After all we’ve gone through and the way we felt for one another. You want to end us just like that?”
Ice couldn’t remain calm any longer. He hated the choice he had to make, but it had to be made. “What do you want me to do?” he asked as he yanked off his balaclava and angrily raked a hand through his hair. “Give up my career?” He couldn’t do that. He’d worked too hard and too long to throw it all away.
“Of course not. But I hoped that you’d be willing to at least try and figure out a way you could have both. Our relationship and your career. Guess I’m not important enough to you for you to even consider that.”
“Damnit, Hazard! It’s not like you’re a civilian. It’d be different if—.”
“It’d be different if I was a soft, sweet omega waiting on you at home,” Hazard cut in with anger glowing in his pale green eyes. “You had your fun with the big, muscular freak of an omega. But now you’re off to find a proper one to mate and help you advance your career.”
The knot in Ice’s chest tightened even more. It hadn’t once crossed his mind that he needed to leave Hazard because of the way he looked. Ice couldn’t let him think there was anything wrong with him. He took a step forward. “Hazard —.”
“Fuck off.”
His face set in cold, hard lines of fury, Hazard brushed past him and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Ice stood unmoving, fists clenched, every muscle tense. The scent of Hazard’s anger lingered after his departure. Beneath it, Ice detected the smoky smell of hurt. Ice was hurting too. But he was sure that he’d made the right decision.
So why was he fighting the urge to run after Hazard and take back everything he’d said?