Ice_Reaux - Laura Wright Page 0,3

tugging her to her feet.

“Are you okay?” he demanded, his tone clipped.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She glanced around the shattered room that now looked like a war zone. “What the hell was that?”

Ice’s expression was grim as he reached to grab her hand, tugging her out of the room.

“First we make sure everyone is safe. Then we’ll figure out who attacked us,” he growled. “And how we intend to punish them.”

***

Ice was stronger, faster, and more ruthless than most Pantera. Which was what made him such a good Hunter. But after hours of searching through every inch of the Wildlands to make certain there were no enemies lurking in the gathering dusk, he was exhausted.

Still he forced himself to make another sweep to search for any wounded Pantera before he at last headed toward the communal area where the majority of his people were gathered. His gaze instinctively sought out his parents who’d returned home the previous week. They were with his grandmother as she moved among the wounded, using her Healer gifts on the handful of injured people. Next, his gaze skimmed toward Cammy as she stood guard over a group of young who were huddled in the center of the clearing.

At a distance she looked as weary as he felt, but she was standing with her spine straight and her head high. Which assured him she wasn’t injured.

A tightness he didn’t even realize was wrapped around his chest slowly eased.

He didn’t know when his cat had decided Cammy was his to protect. It’d come on so slowly he hadn’t recognized the danger until it was too late. Now he simply accepted that his cat wasn’t going to change its stubborn mind.

Even if she was obsessed with Rage.

Shaking his head, he veered around the edge of the mossy area. He had returned to report to Parish. Once he finished speaking with his leader he was going to grab some food and head back out to do another search of the outer perimeter.

It didn’t matter how tired he was. There would be no sleep for any of them tonight.

At last finding his leader near the badly damaged Headquarters, Ice waited for Parish to finish his conversation with Raphael and Xavier. Five minutes later Parish was moving to stand directly in front of him, his expression grim.

“You finished your sweep?”

“Yeah. They’re gone,” Ice assured him. “I count at least a half dozen entered, although it was impossible to determine if they all left.”

“You checked the caves?”

Ice nodded. The magic of the Wildlands included several deep caverns, despite the swampy landscape.

“I searched them,” Ice said. “And then I returned to search them again before heading back here in case they doubled back.”

“How many entry points?”

“One on the northern edge.”

“That matches with Keira,” Parish said, referring to his sister who was one of the best Hunters in the Wildlands.

Ice glanced toward the Headquarters, which was leaning at a drunken angle and still smoldering. “What’s the damage here?”

Parish folded his arms over his chest, his jaw clenched. “It’s going to have to be bulldozed and rebuilt, but that’s not the worst part. Xavier’s equipment was trashed when the floor collapsed. Plus we had to use water to put out the fire that was started by the explosion.”

Ice grimaced. Fire and water wasn’t a good combo for electronics. “What about the computers that belonged to Benson Enterprises?”

“Destroyed.”

Ice’s breath hissed through his teeth. Fury scoured through him like lava, but he was doing his best to keep his emotions leashed. He’d learned from his sensei that anger was the enemy.

Only a clear mind could reveal a pathway to success.

“Damn,” he muttered.

“Xavier has everything stored on a remote server,” Parish continued, “but it’s going to take time to get him back up and running.”

Knowing there was nothing he could do to help the Geeks, Ice turned his attention to the Pantera who were huddled in groups in the center of the large clearing. “What about casualties?” he asked.

“Several injured, but no one dead, thank the Goddess,” Parish responded. “And thanks to you. If you hadn’t spotted the intruder who knows what might have happened.”

Ice waved aside his leader’s words. He was lucky to be standing where he’d had a clear view of the trail leading out of the bogs. “Did you check with our newest pack members?” he asked, referring to those living on the edge of the Wildlands.

“They didn’t sense any intruders in their area,” Parish answered.

“Good.”

Parish nodded, although they both knew it’d been sheer luck that