Page 149 of The Hyena’s Guardian

“The King is gone,” Baptiste added from near the windows.

A final silence settled across the room, too solemn for celebration.

Another operative glanced toward Theron carefully. “Was the seal always supposed to fail if he died?”

Theron’s attention shifted toward the monitor displaying the collapsed mountain. “The throne chamber existed long before it became a prison,” he said softly. “The First King built it as a place of power. A throne. A source of control tied directly to the oldest bloodlines.”

Several uneasy looks passed around the room.

“By the time the corruption spread beyond his control,” Theron continued, “the wolves serving beneath him realized the chamber itself had become part of the problem. They turned the seal against him and bound him inside the very power he created.”

“The corruption,” Vale said carefully. “That started with him?”

Theron nodded once. “The throne chamber amplified it across connected bloodlines for centuries. Aggression. Instability. Obsession with dominance. Some wolves resisted it better than others, but none of them escaped it completely.”

One of the younger wolves looked unsettled. “You’re saying all of that came from him?”

“In part,” Theron answered. “Not every cruelty belongs to magic. But the mountain strengthened the worst instincts inside wolves tied to those bloodlines. Fear became paranoia. Pride became violence. Hunger for control became obsession.”

Silence settled briefly after that.

Then Baptiste spoke from near the windows. “And now?”

Theron looked back toward the monitor again, toward the image of the shattered mountain burying the throne chamber beneath thousands of tons of stone.

“Now the seal is gone,” he said. “And whatever remained of that influence died with him beneath the collapse.”

Relief moved subtly through the room in quieter breathing and loosening shoulders. The realization that something ancient had finally ended.

Matt leaned back carefully once the medic finally released his arm. “So officially speaking, how bad were my decisions down there?”

Vale stared at him flatly. “Historically catastrophic.”

“Okay, but hypothetically?”

“You turned a controlled extraction into a suicide mission because apparently self-preservation is optional for you.”

Matt considered that seriously for a second. “In fairness, I was emotionally compromised.”

“You were absolutely compromised.”

Theron spoke before Vale could continue. “He returned because of me.”

The room quieted.

Matt looked up at him. “Theron—”

“It is true.”

“No,” Matt said firmly. “I went back because leaving you there was never an option.”

Warmth moved through the bond after that. Theron held his gaze for a long moment before something softer briefly crossed his expression.

One of the younger operatives near the far side of the room cleared his throat awkwardly. “Sir… what exactly are we supposed to call him?”

Matt shifted his weight. “Uh.”

The operative looked increasingly uncomfortable beneath the attention suddenly shifting toward him. “I just mean for reports and documentation. We don’t exactly have protocol for…” He gestured vaguely toward Theron. “This.”