Coyote Shivers 소설 & 이야기

She turned to the pack, her green eyes blazing with focus, the wind whipping her cloak, the frost dusting her shoulders, the plateau a challenge they faced as one, the chill a test of their resolve. The ground shuddered violently, the ice cracking with a sharp snap, the runes on the ice shards flaring with a sickly blue light, the air crackling with dark energy, the frost crunching as shadowy forms began to rise from the ice—marrow shades, spectral entities of shadow and bone, their forms humanoid but twisted, their bodies a mass of writhing darkness, bones protruding from their shadowy flesh, their eyes glowing with a fierce blue light, their movements jerky and unnatural, the air around th

The rain isn't cleaning the city. It is drowning it. Water cascades off the eaves of the crumbling baroque buildings, turning the cobblestones of Via Roma into slick, treacherous mirrors. It lashes against my face, cold and stinging, soaking through the cheap grey hoodie in seconds. The fabric plasters to my skin, a wet, heavy second skin that chills me to the bone. I shiver. A violent, full-body tremor. Good, I tell myself. * shivering keeps you awake. Shivering means you aren't hypothermic yet.*

To a shifter, it was a sensory garrote. The hum started in the teeth. It was a vibration that bypassed the eardrum and struck the trigeminal nerve directly, a persistent, jagged needle of sound that made the thousand Unbound in the courtyard collapse in a fresh wave of agony. They weren't turning into wolves this time: they were being forcibly "un-tuned."

"We have about ten seconds before the rest of the trucks get down the ridge." I stumbled out of the SUV, my boots sinking into the fresh powder. The wind hit my face like a thousand tiny needles. I'd never been this cold in my entire life, not even close. My fingers went numb immediately, useless dead weights at the ends of my wrists. I watched Vane and Ronan strip out of their ruined clothes, their breath fogging in the frozen air. The shift wasn't majestic. It was gritty and violent, the sound of their bones breaking and reforming echoing over the howling wind. They hit the ground on four paws, massive and terrifying, their fur bristling against the blizzard.

Their teeth gnashed as the bodies of ferals flew through the air. “Let me out,” Verity said. Her lips curled over her teeth and she snarled. But I’d never shifted before. I didn’t know how. And this didn’t seem like the time to try. “No,” I told her. “Not now. But can you help?” Verity responded by moving rocks on the ravine wall. Within seconds, an avalanche was barreling down the side of the mountain. Korrigan’s wolf hollered at me. His teeth bit into my sleeve and he pulled me away just in time. Behind me, Thistle and Thor stumbled backwards. Korrigan’s pack dove, narrowly missing the cascade of rocks.

Its surface was shattered, spiderweb cracks spreading out like fractured veins. I reached out and touched the cold glass. The broken reflections fractured my face into jagged pieces, distorting my features into something unrecognizable. A shiver ran down my spine. This was no accident. Someone had been here — sending a message I wasn’t yet ready to read. --- That night, sleep was a stranger. In the darkness, I heard a whisper, faint but clear. *“Find the truth beneath the surface.”* I told myself it was the wind, the city playing tricks on a tired mind. But deep down, I knew it was something more. Something waiting.

“They’ve learned how to disguise their scent. We were taught that in the labs, remember?” Oh yeah. She remembered that now. They’d found a way to disguise Coyote Breeds’ marker scent. It wasn’t easy, and it was irritating to the Breeds’ senses, but they could do it. “We need to contact Del-Rey,” Sharone said, voice low. “Ashley, get ahead of us. Run hell for leather and find help. I have a feeling shit’s going to get ugly if those bastards catch us on that trail. We’ll be sitting targets.”

I pressed my palms flat against my sternum, closed my eyes, and whispered to myself, “Breathe. Pull it down.“ The first shiver was always the worst. It was the part where my sorcery met my flesh and scolded it for daring to stay warm. Mentally, I coaxed the chill up from my bones and let it bleed through skin, dulling every ache and every bright cut of feeling that wanted to dig me out from the inside. It was a poor imitation of relief, but it was mine. My wolf growled once again pushing through to my body to stay warm. I welcomed the small shifting in my bones. “You are punishing us.“

It's time to be on high alert. Hearing a rustling sound in the bushes, I instinctively chased after it, only to come face to face with a coyote. What's a coyote doing all the way down here? The creature, ready to attack, forced me to go into a defensive position. Fending off the coyote, I engaged in a fierce struggle, ultimately managing to overcome it and, unfortunately, ending its life. The encounter left me on edge, questioning the unusual presence of a coyote in our territory. Something wasn't right, and my senses were on high alert as I continued to scan the surroundings for any more signs of trouble.