The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 100

Although he didn’t say it, I think the idea implied that under no circumstances should we attempt to go to the sawmill to rescue them.

I didn’t like the “plan” very much (especially for fear that something would indeed go wrong); but it was enough for Alexander to say he agreed for no further word to be spoken.

What I didn’t expect was for Andre and Nika to protest-and without delay Alexander calmed them, convincing them how important it was that they would both have something useful to do: the boy, to protect me; and Nika, to protect both of us.

It was starting to get dark, and the window of useful time was shrinking. The temperature would drop even more at night, and the snowfall would continue. Soon there would be no tracks left to follow, and everything would become far more confusing. And far more dangerous.

Imagining Álvaro’s phosphorescent yellow eyes in the dead of night made me tremble.

My mind was beginning to turn into a cauldron of paranoia.

I felt it was my fault that we had delayed so much; my stomach twisted in terror. I was fiercely hungry and my throat was dry, but it wasn’t the time or place to complain. Nor was I prepared for something like this, evidently. My weak side needed to know Alexander was close and would protect me; my need for him grew. I slid my hands under my coat and gripped the butt of the pistol tightly, impatient.

Even though Rex and Alexander were two strong werewolves, fully capable of fighting (and knew that because I had seen them), even though the panther was injured and might not be very effective in combat, even though they were only going to try to get a phone-I couldn’t get out of my mind the possibility that something bad might happen to them. Or to us, even if Nika was a good sniper and had several weapons to defend us.

It did not please me to think that we would have to wait, hearts in our throats, until the other two returned and everything was over.

I didn’t like it.

Fear was eating me alive! Even Andre noticed how terrified I was and threw himself into my arms to comfort me! I felt sorry for the little boy and stroked him between the ears, the way I had once seen Alexander do. Nika made no comment, fortunately. She just kept looking at me as the sun set and the forest darkened.

Finally, when the silence could bear no more, she said:

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“…we shouldn’t stay. This is a death trap. This whole plan is shit.”

And I agreed with her.

How were we supposed to know we were being watched?

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I mean, I would never have noticed, but Andre was the first to realize we weren’t alone in the forest. He pulled away from my embrace and stood at the edge of the hole his father had dug (at some point, as it grew dark, we had curled up there again), and his large blue eyes scanned the gloom nervously. He moved his ears very slowly, and his lips trembled.

My fear intensified by several dozen heartbeats per minute when I finally understood what his

behavior meant.

Alexander had told me. Andre had a great sense of hearing-he could “interpret silence.” Or something like that. I assumed he meant the boy was capable of perceiving very distant or almost imperceptible sounds if he concentrated, and that frightened me even more.

When Nika noticed it, she approached Andre and lifted the rifle. The problem was she couldn’t put herself in a fully defensive position because her back was vulnerable either way, so she grabbed the boy and pushed him into the hole (so I could receive him in my arms) and placed her back against the rocks, crouched in the snow.

Very slowly, I saw her move a latch to chamber a round into her massive weapon, without stopping scanning the surroundings. I didn’t know what model rifle that was, and I didn’t want

to know either.

I searched again for my pistol inside my clothes and hugged Andre against my body. I didn’t know whether to say something-or not. What if I gave away our position? I bit my lips.

It occurred to me that it might be Luke. What if he was looking for us?

That ray of hope made me open my mouth in an almost inaudible whisper:

“…Nika, what if it’s Luke? If he has come to help us?”

She raised a hand in silence, but even in the faint light of the stormy dusk I could see her expression change, as if hope had taken hold of her. She let the rifle hang in a sling over her shoulder and pulled out the pistol she carried in her bulletproof vest.

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Chapter 100-1

Chapter 100-1

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I suppose she discarded the higher-caliber weapon because it was easier to aim and fire at short distances with the pistol. Then she crouched and moved toward the trunk of a tree, crawling, moving away from us. She rose slowly, the weapon ready to fire, and in a clear, firm tone, asked the empty air:

“Who’s there? Identify yourselves! We can hear you!”

Silence was the only answer.

And it scared me more.

Because even I realized it wasn’t the same kind of silence’ as a few minutes ago.

I swear I don’t know how, I don’t know from where, I don’t know exactly what happened, but suddenly the gloom moved and Álvaro’s dark shadow burst out from between the trees at full speed.

I hugged André tighter, hid his canine face against my chest, and dropped with him, both of us bundled inside the hole, pistol in hand, the moment I heard the first shots.

Nika let out a savage scream, and with the rifle hanging, she set out to tear the panther to pieces whose roars mixed with laughter echoed through the empty forest in a chilling way.

–

With that weapon, she only had nine chances to hit – the same as I had with my pistol.

I counted the shots one by one, my face hidden in the bend of my elbow, trying not to start

screaming.

We were alone. ALONE.

And if Alexander or Rex heard the shots and came to our help?

That hope calmed me a little, but every detonation that reached my ears made me tenser, and after the fourth there was no way I could stop shaking.

André’s arms wanted to wrap around my whole body, and the poor thing couldn’t manage it.

His defensive growls, in another circumstance, would have made me smile…

But not then.

After the fifth shot, I heard a howl too inhuman to be Nika’s, and it made me lift my head.

Had she hit Álvaro?

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Another shot.

One more – seven.

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Then I heard a muffled sound, and as I searched desperately in the dimness, propped on my elbow to peek my eyes over the edge of our shelter, the eighth shot rang out.

The ninth never came, because Álvaro had already caught Nika and had her face-down. against the snow, her right arm stretched out and his claws dug into her hand, forcing her to drop the weapon.

My heart rose into my throat when I saw it.

She threw her head back and smashed a brutal blow into the panther’s nose. The dark shape twisted with pure rage and howled in a gurgling hiss, in pain.

Álvaro’s claws drove into Nika’s hand and then she had to scream, as the creature sank its fangs into the curve of her neck to immobilize her.

At some point their positions flipped and they started fighting again with fierce determination, rolling in the snow, between roars and her screams.

The cold of the gun’s stock in my hand reminded me I could do something – stupid me.

I got up immediately, with André protected by my own body.

I ordered him to stay still, and I raised the pistol with the intention to kill.

And it was something I had never felt before:

REAL desire to kill.

The desperate intention to erase that monster’s existence from the world with a single pull of the trigger.

I wanted to kill him.

I wanted Álvaro to stop breathing, right now.

Nika saw me (the expression on her face twisted with horror and mine surely did too: the she-wolf had the right side of her face bloody, victim of the panther’s nails), and she kicked Álvaro away from her with a kick to the groin.

The creature’s howl of pain mixed with laughter, as if instead of hurting, it had tickled.

The German woman forced herself upright and yelled at me:

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“… You know? In a humid environment like this, it’s normal for guns to stop working.”

His words, said in a syrupy tone, made me shiver again.

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I dropped the useless gun, and in a quick motion I pulled the knife from inside my clothes.

“Do you ever run out of tricks, beleza?” Álvaro growled, with mockery.

“Don’t come near me!” I shouted, and André’s growls backed up my threat. “This time you won’t laugh at me! I won’t let you hurt André!”

The panther-man smiled.

I only made him out by the whiteness of his fangs cut out against the night, and because his yellow eyes narrowed against the black of his fur.

He kept coming closer, limping very noticeably, and kept purring a little laugh through his teeth.

“…Please, Johanna. I’m not going to hurt you or the boy, I promise. I only had to get rid of that bitch, she was in my way,” he said then, and in a solemn act he placed a hand to his chest, elegantly. “All I want is for you to come with me to the sawmill. Your friends are there, waiting for you.”

I frowned, but I didn’t stop holding the knife up.

“…Who are ‘my friends”?”

“… Who do you think?” he answered mockingly, and he crouched a little to speak to André. ” Your dad is there too, menino. And he has a surprise for you. Don’t you want to see what it is? I think you’re going to like it a lot.”

André bared his puppy teeth – a bit uneven and not impressive at all, but fierce.

“Who else is at the sawmill?” I asked, and my voice betrayed me.

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“A friend of mine who wants to talk to you. We’ve been watching you.”

What kind of sick watching was he talking about?

I wouldn’t realize what mattered until a moment later:

the lion was there, guarding.

It was still two against one, wasn’t it?

Couldn’t Alexander and Rex fight him together and win?

From my humble opinion, it seemed they had a chance.

I ignored the last thing Álvaro said in his favorite seductive tone, and I risked asking:

“You mean you captured the werewolves?”

“Why don’t you come and find out?” he replied innocently.

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His smug, self-satisfied smile told me yes that they had prisoners.

That somehow, a wounded panther and an unknown lion had brought down the two strongest creatures I had ever known.

But what if it was all a bluff, to take André and me as hostages?

I narrowed my eyes, distrustful.

Rex had been very clear about that.

If Alexander knew his son and I were in danger, he wouldn’t be able to fight calmly, he

wouldn’t be able to win.

Maybe he would even surrender blindly to the enemies as long as they didn’t hurt us.

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And that made me feel useless and vulnerable, like a broken chess piece that, instead of helping win the game, could cause it to be lost.

Of course, given the circumstances, I couldn’t even try to escape.

Álvaro would kill both of us right there instead of waiting.