Page 106 of The Hyena’s Guardian

Matt looked at him flatly. “Seriously?”

Neither of them spoke for a second.

To Matt’s surprise, enough tension left Theron for his posture to ease.

“The mountain amplifies instinct,” Theron said more quietly now. “But corruption feels different than what you’re describing.”

Matt tilted his head. “You sound relieved.”

“I am.”

Matt had no joke ready for that.

Theron reached toward him, leaving Matt plenty of time to pull away.

The contact sent a sharp pulse through Matt’s chest, and the bond surged hard enough to steal his breath.

Theron’s eyes widened as the same force struck him, and his grip tightened around Matt’s wrist. “What the hell was that?” Matt whispered. Theron did not answer immediately.

His attention seemed fixed on something deeper than the pulse beneath his fingertips, as though he were listening beyond Matt’s body.

Theron spoke almost to himself. “That should not be possible.”

Unease threaded through Matt. “You want to elaborate on the deeply concerning ancient wolf statement?”

Theron met his eyes, genuine uncertainty breaking through his composure. “The bond is growing too quickly,” he admitted. “It should take far longer for instinct to settle this deeply.”

“Is that bad?” The question came out more carefully than he intended.

Theron held his gaze for several seconds. “No,” he said finally.

But he sounded unsettled by the answer. A grinding vibration passed through the corridor, and the whispers sharpened into anger.

Theron checked the dark corridor, then returned his attention to Matt. “The First King can influence fear. Hunger. Rage.” His voice lowered further. “But some things exist outside his control.”

Matt blinked. “Like what?”

Theron’s thumb brushed once across the inside of Matt’s wrist, directly over the hammering pulse.

“Choice.”

The word settled between them.

Far below, something ancient screamed in fury.

Chapter 15 - Matt

The mountain no longer felt still. Matt noticed it first in the walls.

The deeper they moved beneath the ruins, the more the stone seemed to pulse beneath the sweep of mounted lights. At first he thought exhaustion was playing tricks on him, but after several minutes he realized the movement had rhythm. The rhythm was slow, uneven, and far too deliberate to be caused by shifting stone.

Nobody commented on it. That worried him more than if they had.

The surviving Valker teams advanced carefully through another descending corridor carved into black stone. The passage narrowed in places before opening abruptly into wider chambers filled with broken pillars and collapsed walkways. Every surface carried the same dark mineral veins now, thick beneath the rock like diseased arteries spreading through the mountain itself.

Matt stayed near the center of the formation beside Theron. He no longer bothered pretending it was entirely tactical.

Every instinct inside him revolted at the thought of losing sight of Theron.