Page 138 of The Hyena’s Guardian

Theron felt amusement flicker weakly through the bond before Matt crossed the room and opened the door.

Vale stood outside holding a tablet beneath one arm while Baptiste leaned against the hallway wall nearby. Both looked exhausted enough that Theron suspected neither of them had properly processed surviving the mountain yet.

Baptiste’s attention settled on Theron first. Relief crossed Baptiste’s expression so quickly that most people would have missed it entirely. “Good,” Baptiste said. “You’re really here.”

The simple statement landed strangely inside Theron’s chest.

For centuries, survival had never felt like something worth acknowledging. Inside the mountain, survival had simply meant enduring long enough to continue carrying the burden placed on him.

Now people looked at him like surviving mattered.

Matt leaned against the doorframe beside him. “Barely.”

Vale ignored him completely. “Quick operational update before you both collapse.” She glanced down briefly at the tablet in her hands. “Seismic activity is stabilizing. The fracture appears sealed, and every lower chamber we were monitoring has collapsed.”

“The King?” Theron asked.

“No sign of his influence,” Baptiste answered. “No whispers, no energy signatures, and nothing moving beneath the collapse.”

Finality settled through the bond.

Theron lowered his eyes briefly.

The First King had been a monster long before Theron was born. Entire bloodlines had suffered beneath his rule and countless lives had disappeared into the mountain because of him. But he had also been the last living remnant of the bloodline and kingdom Theron had been born into.

And now that world was truly gone.

Baptiste seemed to understand something of that from the look on his face alone. “You ended it,” he said. “That matters.”

Theron did not know how to answer.

Vale shifted her attention toward Matt instead. “You,” she said flatly, “are a catastrophe.”

Matt looked offended. “That feels personal.”

“You reentered a collapsing mountain after I explicitly ordered you not to,” Vale said. “The fact that it worked does not make it less idiotic.”

“In my defense—”

“There is no defense.”

Matt considered that briefly. “Fair.”

Despite everything weighing through him, Theron felt the faintest pull of amusement through the bond again.

Vale noticed.

She just shook her head once like she had decided not to comment on whatever she was seeing there. “Debrief is at nine. Full incident reports, survivor confirmation, containment review, and medical evaluations.”

Matt made a quiet sound of protest. “Nine is deeply unreasonable.”

“You destroyed a supernatural prison beneath a mountain,” Vale replied. “I’m being generous.”

Matt glanced toward Theron with exaggerated suffering. “See? No appreciation whatsoever.”

This time, the warmth blooming through the bond belonged to Theron.

Vale's eyes moved briefly between them before she shook her head again, apparently deciding there were disasters she did not need to investigate tonight. Her expression softened almost imperceptibly before she stepped backward into the hallway. “Get cleaned up. Get some sleep. Preferably without triggering any additional catastrophes.”