Page 1 of Issued

Chapter One

Jim

What I wouldn’tgive to be lugging around a sixty-pound rucksack and coating my boots and fatigues with dust instead of standing in front of my commanding officer as he thumbs through a file about me. Hell, I think I’d even take one of those grueling two-mile Atlantic Ocean swims through ball-shriveling, sub-seventy-degree water over this. My teeth grind as Commander Redding shuffles through the thick pile of papers, scanning the reports from the Navy doctors and shrinks before he delivers the verdict. I only hope it’s not too bad. Not much worse for a SEAL than being injured while on duty. Unless we’re talking being pulled from my men and getting stuck stateside.

I clear my throat and straighten to my full height. “Sir?”

Commander Redding grunts but doesn’t look up from the papers fanned out across his desk. So I wait in his compact office on the Little Creek base, watching the top of his silver-streaked head while my ears focus on the faint ticking of a clock. Even within the secure walls of this office, the briny scent of the Chesapeake Bay reaches my nose. My muscles are stiff and sore and in desperate need of a hot shower, but for now, my aching body and throbbing head would be thrilled to collapse into the empty chair to my left. Still, I keep standing the way years of training dictate. Shoulders back. Chest out. Eyes straight ahead.

“Take a seat, Jim.”

Thank fuck. I bite back a sigh of relief, walk over to the chair, and sit.

Redding compiles the papers into a neat stack and then places them back into the manila folder with my name on the tab before arranging the file in the middle of his spotless desk. Not surprising, given how even his camos are always immaculately pressed. He sits back in his chair and every flicker of relief evaporates when I get the first good look at my C.O.’s expression since I walked into his office. His furrowed forehead and tight lips are noticeable even within the creases of his sun-weathered face, a sight that ratchets up the anxious energy bubbling in my chest. Redding is known for being tough, but fair. Which means the doctors’ reports must be worse than I thought.

Fuck.

I clench my hands together in my lap until my bones grind. Bracing myself for the worst.

“Can’t return you to the field right now and, based on these reports, I’m not sure when—or if—that will ever happen.” As expected, my C.O. pulls no punches when delivering this information. Even as prepared as I am, his words still hit like a series of iron fists to the chest.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I sit there in a daze with my mind spinning. I can’t be kicked out over some stupid head injury. I’m meant to be a SEAL. This is my entire life. If I’m not a SEAL, who am I? What the hell do I even do with myself?

I lift my chin. No, this isn’t fucking going to happen. I won’t let it. “Sir, you can’t discharge me. Not yet.”

“Only so much I can do.” Redding drums his fingers against his desk. “But—” He pauses, pinning me with his sharp, blue eyes.

I lean forward, my muscles urged into action by a flicker of hope. “Anything. I’ll do anything to return to the field.”

Redding nods. “Remember the discussion we had about a new program the military was considering? The one where you did all of those extra evaluations and signed papers, allowing us access to your files?”

“Yes.” I frown at the abrupt change of topic. I don’t see how those touchy-feely tests I volunteered to take have anything to do with my current predicament.

“Well, the military has decided to move forward with the project. And I recommended you as one of the first to participate.” Redding straightens in his chair and studies me. “Of course that means your participation—your performance—also reflects on me.”

A light goes off in my head. Now it’s all starting to make sense. The program must be some kind of a new treatment for brain injuries. Hell, Redding doesn’t have to ask me twice—I’m in. I’ll even start taking the damn medications the doctors have been prescribing me,andI’ll cave and agree totalk about my feelings. Which will undoubtedly be just as terrible as it sounds but, hey, I’m good for a little group therapy, so long as all of that talking gets me back together with my men.

For the first time since I entered the sterile, immaculate office, my shoulders don’t feel compressed by an invisible weight. I meet Redding’s gaze. “I’m in.”

My commanding officer offers up one of his rare chuckles. “You don’t even know what the program is yet.”

My nerves start rattling again. Redding could be a tough old goat who’d just as soon swim naked through shark-infested waters as dole out too many compliments, but up until this moment, he’d never laughed at my resolve. My shoulders stiffen. I’m a SEAL through and through.All in, all the time.That SEAL motto has always been a perfect fit. In my years of service, I’ve protected my men and excelled at every mission they’ve thrown at me.

An image of the anger etched across Lux’s face during our last assignment flashes through my mind and my throat tightens at the memory.Almostevery mission.

I clear my throat and shake my head to chase the image away. “What is the program then?” Not that I’m worried. After all, I survived the grueling SEAL training and countless life-threatening missions. How tough can some woo-woo program with entrance exam questions like “what do you enjoy doing in your free time?” and “if someone hurts your feelings in an argument, how are you likely to react?” be?

Maybe the faint smile lingering on Commander Redding’s typically humorless lips should have clued me in, but nothing could have fully prepared me for his response. “A spouse-matching program.”

What. The. Fuck.

I cough when the saliva goes down the wrong pipe and the sound is harsh in the otherwise quiet room. It takes me a moment of hacking to recover. I blink rapidly as I try to find the words to respond.

“Is this some kind of a joke?” I blurt, before I have time to think.

“What do you think, Stephens?” All traces of amusement vanish from Redding’s face, and his voice is stern. Right. Of course it’s not a joke. Redding is a good guy, but he wouldn’t know a joke if one walked up and punched him in the balls. No way he’d ever pull a prank like this.

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