Page 59 of The Hyena’s Guardian

Theron looked almost stunned.

“So,” Matt said softly, trying and failing to sound casual, “I’m starting to suspect this bond thing may be medically relevant.”

To Matt’s surprise, Theron laughed. A real laugh, brief and rusty with disuse, but warm enough that something deep in Matt’s chest tightened painfully at the sound.

Then voices echoed faintly through the tunnels beyond the chamber. Human voices.

Both of them turned toward the corridor entrance.

Matt straightened. “The others.”

Theron rose carefully to his feet beside him. The silver glow had completely disappeared from his eyes.

Chapter 9 - Matt

The voices grew louder as they moved deeper into the tunnels.

Matt caught fragments first. Low commands. Stone shifting. Someone coughing hard enough to echo through the corridor ahead. Relief hit him almost painfully after hours of hearing nothing except monsters, collapsing ruins, and Theron’s increasingly strained breathing.

The tunnel widened gradually before opening into another collapsed chamber lit by portable flood lamps scavenged from the excavation above. Their harsh white beams cut unevenly across broken stone and fractured support pillars while several operatives worked near a partially collapsed passage farther ahead.

Weapons came up instantly the moment Matt and Theron stepped into the light. At least four rifles locked onto Theron simultaneously. Matt reacted before anyone else could.

“Easy!” he snapped, stepping halfway in front of Theron before he realized what he was doing. “Don’t shoot.”

The chamber froze.

Commander Vale stood near the collapsed passage with blood running down one side of her face while two wolves guarded the rear corridor behind her. Baptiste remained closer to the center of the chamber beside an injured operative whose arm had been hastily bandaged with torn tactical fabric.

All of them stared at Theron. Then at Matt standing directly in front of him. Baptiste recovered first. “Well,” he said, “that is significantly more concerning than I hoped.”

Matt exhaled sharply. “Good to see you too.”

One of the wolves near the rear raised his rifle higher. “That thing attacked us.”

Theron stepped backward into the shadows, shoulders tightening as the low growl beneath his breathing returned.

Matt caught the movement.

Fear crossed Theron’s expression. Not that they would shoot him, but that they would force him to defend himself.

“No,” Matt said sharply. “One of the hungry ones attacked you. He pulled me out of there alive.”

Nobody moved. The tension hanging through the chamber felt dangerously thin. Vale’s eyes narrowed while she studied Theron carefully. Unlike the others, she did not look frightened. She looked analytical. Evaluating threat.

Theron met her stare without aggression, though Matt could feel the restraint tightening through him again beneath the bond. The floodlights reflected faintly across the black fur still covering portions of his body while dried blood darkened the torn fabric hanging from his shoulders.

Matt stepped closer without thinking. The growling beneath Theron’s breathing quieted at once. Baptiste noticed. So did Vale.

The commander’s expression sharpened subtly. “Explain.”

Matt rubbed one hand across his face. “Honestly, I would love to. Unfortunately most of the explanation involves ancient prison magic, immortal guardians, underground corruption monsters, and whatever the hell is currently trying to wake up beneath this mountain.”

One of the wolves muttered something deeply uncomfortable under his breath.

Vale ignored him. “Start simpler.”

Matt glanced briefly toward Theron before answering. “He’s not our enemy.”