Page 81 of The Hyena’s Guardian

Heat wrapped around him, loosening muscles that had remained clenched for far too long. He exhaled as the warmth settled across scarred skin and old injuries alike. The water reached just above his waist near the center, deep enough for him to duck beneath the surface entirely.

For a long moment, Theron simply stood there beneath the drifting steam before glancing down at himself.

The change was subtle at first.

The dark veins that had once crept visibly beneath the skin along his ribs had faded almost completely. The roughened patches of skin across his shoulders, marks left behind after decades spent too close to the mountain’s corruption, had softened back toward flesh instead of stone. Even the faint distortion along his hands had lessened, leaving them looking more human than they had in years.

Theron stared silently at the reflection rippling across the water. He had almost forgotten this version of himself. For so long the mountain had taken from him piece by piece, reshaping him so gradually that he had stopped noticing the losses as they happened. Now something was giving those pieces back just as slowly.

He did not know whether that realization should have filled him with hope or fear.

For several minutes, he simply stood there with his eyes closed while water moved gently around him. The mountain remained distant here, not silent, but quieter.

Theron reached for the soap near the edge of the pool and worked it across his skin. Dirt, old blood, and months of neglect dissolved beneath the mineral water, revealing the map of scars beneath. Some had faded with centuries, pale remnants of battles fought long before most kingdoms now standing had even existed, while others remained newer and far angrier, carved into him during far more recent years.

“You know,” Matt’s voice echoed lightly from the tunnel entrance, “most people just say they want alone time instead of disappearing into mysterious underground bathing caves.”

Theron closed his eyes briefly. He should have been annoyed that Matt had followed him. Instead, the sound of his voice eased something tight inside his chest, and Theron found that far more unsettling than the interruption itself.

Matt stood near the mouth of the cavern with a towel over one shoulder, trying and failing not to stare openly at Theron standing waist-deep in the water. The effort might have been more convincing if his ears were not turning red.

Theron found his attention lingering on the faint flush spreading across Matt’s ears before forcing himself to look away. “You should still be resting,” he said.

Matt leaned one shoulder against the stone wall. “You have a bad habit of disappearing whenever the conversation gets too close to you.”

Theron dipped water across the back of his neck. “I needed to think.”

“Uh huh.” Matt’s mouth twitched faintly. “And the dramatic glowing cave spa was part of the thinking process?”

Despite himself, Theron felt a quiet laugh threaten.

Matt noticed instantly. “There it is,” he said softly, smiling now. “I’m getting better at making that happen.”

The honesty in the statement unsettled Theron more than the teasing itself.

Matt pushed away from the wall after a moment and glanced toward the water. “You mind if I join you? Because I’m pretty sure I smell like fear, dust, and dead things.”

Matt reached for the buckles on his tactical vest, but his hands slowed before he released the first one. For a long moment he simply stood there, rubbing the back of his neck with an expression Theron had not yet seen on him. It was a kind of uncertainty that looked strangely out of place on a man who had walked toward monsters without hesitation.

Theron watched him. “What is it?”

Matt let out a slow breath and laughed under it, more at himself than anything else. “I probably should've mentioned this before I followed you into the magical underground spa.”

Theron waited.

Matt's smile faded into something more thoughtful. “I've never done this before.”

Theron's brow furrowed. “You have never bathed?”

That drew a genuine laugh from Matt.

“No. Not that.” He looked down at the stone for a moment before lifting his eyes to Theron's again. There was no humor left in them now, only quiet honesty. “I've never been with a man.”

The words settled between them as steam drifted lazily across the surface of the pool.

“I've thought about it,” Matt admitted after a moment. “Wondered what it would be like. But I never met anyone who made me want to find out.”

His gaze never left Theron's.