All Chapters of Captain's Ice Slave : Chapter 41 - Chapter 44

Practice was already in full motion when Coach walked back onto the ice deck.Jax sat in his usual place along the boards with the tablet, marking notes between drills. The rest of the team moved through a cycle of rush sequences under one of the assistants. Nothing about the morning had felt unusual until Coach’s voice cut across the rink.“Rivera. My office, now.”The whistle from the assistant died mid-call. Several players slowed. A few stopped completely. Jax looked up. Coach’s expression was closed, the same hard focus he had carried out of the archive room earlier. There was no private gesture, no quiet signal to wait until after practice. The summons was public.Ethan, standing near the far circle, exchanged a quick glance with Tyler. Eli eased to a stop near the boards. Even Marcus, usually careful about where he placed his attention, turned his head.Jax set the tablet down on the bench. “Coach?”“You heard me. Office.”The assistant coach recovered first. “Keep moving. Same

Ethan barely slept.By morning the folder was open again on his desk, pages spread under the lamp like they might change if he stared long enough. He paced the short length of the room, came back, and read the committee log for the third time. It was still an incomplete paperwork with withdrawn materials and no granted offer or sabotage entry under Jax’s name.Marcus’s voice sat against every line. ‘You really think Jax is innocent?’Ethan stopped at the window, then turned back to the desk. “The file says you collapsed your own application,” he muttered. “That’s what it says.”The empty room offered nothing back.He picked up the summary sheet again. Jax’s words from the before replayed without permission: I’m not hiding anything. I didn’t sabotage him. The same tone he had used when Ethan asked if the new rumors worried him.“And if you’re lying too?” Ethan said under his breath.The question landed harder than he wanted. He sat, then stood again, unable to stay still. Every p