Page 63 of The Hyena’s Guardian

“That doesn’t mean you deserve it.” The answer came out sharper than Matt intended.

Theron studied him briefly, but the next tremor interrupted whatever answer he might have given.

One of the younger wolves cursed under his breath. “How much time do we actually have?”

Nobody answered right away. Matt noticed Vale looking toward Theron again. So did everyone else.

Theron’s jaw tightened. “I do not know. Rest while you still can.”

The honesty in his voice silenced the chamber.

Baptiste rose from beside the injured operative and crossed toward them. “The eastern passages collapsed entirely,” he said. “If we want any chance of reaching the surface, we need another route.”

Theron hesitated before answering. “There is one.”

Vale caught it. “But?”

Theron looked deeper into the tunnels beyond the chamber. “It passes near the source chamber.”

The atmosphere instantly changed. Even without fully understanding the mountain yet, everyone understood enough to know that was bad.

“The thing powering the prison,” Baptiste said.

Theron nodded once.

“And the First King?” Vale asked.

A distant roar rolled upward through the catacombs before Theron answered. “Growing stronger.”

Nobody liked that response.

Matt rubbed one hand across his face. “You know, I miss normal classified operations. I really took boring military conspiracies for granted.”

To his surprise, a few strained laughs actually broke through the tension.

Theron looked toward Matt, confusion briefly overtaking his expression. Not at the joke, but at the way it eased the room around them.

He looked as though he had forgotten tension could lessen instead of simply escalating.

Baptiste stepped closer a moment later. “You said the source chamber may destroy the prison if it collapses.”

“Yes.”

“And you are certain?”

“No.”

“Well,” Baptiste muttered, “that’s horrifying.”

Theron’s gaze shifted toward the deeper tunnels again, and Matt noticed the change in him. Enough of the brief calm from earlier had faded to leave tension gathering between them again.

Theron’s shoulders had tightened again, and fresh blood darkened the torn fabric over his ribs. One claw flexed against the stone before he deliberately forced his hand to relax.

Their eyes met briefly. Theron looked away first. That alone told Matt how hard he was fighting to keep control again.

Another roar echoed upward through the mountain.

The floodlights flickered violently before dimming all at once. Cold rolled through the chamber hard enough that several operatives instinctively tightened their grip on their weapons while shadows shifted uneasily along the fractured walls.