Page 54 of The Hyena’s Guardian
Matt held his gaze for several seconds before speaking again. “Maybe not intentionally.”
Silence settled heavily between them.
Theron looked away first, and somehow that hurt more than either of them wanted it to.
Matt exhaled before motioning toward the wall behind him. “Sit down.”
The low growl that followed sounded more irritated than threatening. “You give many orders for someone who has only just met me.”
“I survived the military. Bossing people around is basically muscle memory at this point.”
To Matt’s relief, Theron finally lowered himself against the stone wall.
Up close, the corruption spreading from the embedded shard looked worse than before. Dark fractures spidered beneath the skin around Theron’s shoulder and neck while thin silver veins flared and faded beneath the black fur, as though they were fighting to contain what had taken root there. The shard pulsed beneath the flesh with every distant tremor that rolled through the mountain. It no longer looked like a wound. It looked like a doorway struggling to stay closed.
Matt crouched beside him carefully. “This is going to hurt.”
Theron snorted softly. “You think I'm not aware?”
“I’m legally obligated to provide warning labels.”
Theron held his gaze a fraction longer than before. It wasn’t a smile, but somehow it felt more intimate.
Matt reached carefully toward the shard beneath Theron’s skin.
The moment his fingers brushed the fractured skin surrounding it, Theron’s entire body tensed hard enough to crack stone beneath one clawed hand.
Matt stopped. “Too much?”
Theron glanced down at the black veins spreading from the shard. “Every time we’ve touched…” His gaze lingered on the spreading darkness beneath his skin. “It pushes back.”
Matt's gaze turned assessing. “I thought it was reacting to the First King.”
“It is.”
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
“But not like this.” Theron continued studying the black veins branching beneath his skin. “It should be drawing me toward him.”
His gaze lifted to Matt. “Instead, it recoils.”
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. “I’ve never seen it do that.”
Matt swallowed once at the roughness in Theron’s voice. Whatever was happening between them had become impossible to dismiss. Every accidental touch sent heat and instinct surging beneath Matt’s skin, stealing his breath for several heartbeats. Judging by the visible effort Theron spent holding himself still each time, the reaction struck him even harder.
Matt still didn’t understand it, only that it was becoming impossible to ignore.
He forced himself to focus on the black shard instead. “How did this happen?”
Theron was silent for so long Matt thought he wasn’t going to answer.
Finally he said, “The Hand.”
Matt stared. “He did this?”
Theron nodded once. “Not all at once.”
Silence settled between them.
