The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 109

Chapter 109-1

The red wolf reacted slowly, lifting his enormous head toward me and looking at me with glassy eyes. He was not well. He was sitting on the concrete floor, crammed inside the cubicle that wasn’t wide enough for him to stretch his legs, with his right shoulder and temple resting against the metal mesh. He looked at me; but I couldn’t decipher what he was trying to tell me. A stab of pain gripped my heart, and then I realized:

“André! ANDRÉI” I shouted again, and I panicked.

“Shut up and walk! Damn it, get in there!”

Álvaro tried to shove me into an open cubicle, but I resisted.

Where was Andre?

I was not going anywhere until I saw him, and that monster would not be able to force me.

I moved my head frantically, searching for him, when the small white shadow passed quickly behind me: a barred door had burst open and the small growling figure launched himself at Álvaro without hesitation, ramming into him violently. The panther fell into the open cubicle where he had meant to put me, and I let out a scream.

1 suppose weakness from his wounds and exhaustion made Álvaro react slowly, because he tripped over his own feet and fell into the cramped enclosed space, onto some boxes. Andre took advantage and immediately slammed the cubicle door shut, trapping the black monster inside, and moved the latch to keep him there.

He stepped back toward me then, without taking his eyes off the panther, ears pinned back and muzzle wrinkled, growling. I stood there open-mouthed. He had been so fast!

How did he get out of his cage, if they locked from the outside?

Álvaro’s furious growls and roars snapped me out of my shock at once, and the first thing I did was hug Andre, instinctively protecting him. The boy sought refuge in me, yes-but he did not depend on me to save himself, I had already realized that. A boundless pride filled me, and even more so when I saw Rex stand up, leaning against the bars, but with a wide smile full of very sharp fangs.

They had helped each other.

The door of his cage opened outward, slowly, the padlock hung from the hook, in a false lock.

“Well done, boy!” he congratulated him, laughing. “It worked perfectly. Don’t forget the latch.”

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Chapter 109-1

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Andre opened his hand and showed the golden padlock he was holding inside his fist, over his rough gray paw pads. He approached the furious feline’s cage and placed a bolt in position without fear, closed the padlock over it and removed the key from the device-even as Álvaro hurled himself against the metal mesh and shoved his fingers through the holes, those enormous retractable claws extended outward.

He was no longer a person. He never had been, to begin with.

The black monster roared and tried to sink his teeth into the wires; he hissed, spat, twisted his tail, and rammed the door two or three times again-but the structure was too strong for him in that state. I couldn’t help noticing that some of his fingers were missing claws, and with a shudder I remembered the one I still kept in the back pocket of my dirty, damp jeans.

I felt even more pride and deep relief. We had a few more chances.

Rex stepped out of his cubicle slowly, though upright. He was badly injured, but he seemed capable of moving on his own and walking without problems.

“Were you pretending?” he asked, with a nervous smile.

“A little.” He reached us and placed his paw on Andre’s head, between his little ears still crackling with rage. “It was my plan, but the boy did all the work. He’s the only hero here.”

He looked at the panther mockingly, and Álvaro spat back at him. It didn’t reach the wolf’s fur, but the provocation was enough to make him angry and growl.

At that moment, I realized Andre’s chest and hands were dirty with blood, and I crouched. beside him to examine the wounds, worried. Had Álvaro mistreated him while taking him to his cage? I searched for cuts in his fur quickly and found they were only scratches, though one or two were deep and still bleeding a little. I took his head in my hands and forced him to turn his muzzle toward me, desperation in my voice.

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X-Chapter 109-2

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Chapter 109-2

“André! What happened to you? Was it Álvaro?”

When he finally looked at me, I saw him very different. Something in the innocent blue shine of his eyes had changed, and for a moment it terrified me to think that-

“What is he saying?” I whispered.

“I don’t want to know. Let’s get out of here,” Rex said seriously, growling. “He can’t do any more damage. He’s dying.”

I wanted to ask him how he was so sure of that, when Álvaro threw himself once more against the closed door and then stayed there, very still. He remained standing only because his fingers were hooked into the metal mesh, head lowered, ears flattened against the wire.

He was breathing in huge gasps, whining. He began to tremble and fell to his knees without letting go of the bars. His hisses sounded hoarse, like the yowls of a strangled big cat…

“He smells funny,” Andre said, with the same somber cadence as Rex.

“He’s going to go into adrenal shock at any moment,” the red wolf explained. “It’s not a pleasant experience for a child to witness. Walk, let’s go. We need to see if we can give your

father a hand.”

Rex once again placed his bloodied paw on the wolf-boy’s head and guided him toward the exit, and the latter in turn pulled me along by the hand.

Following them was my only option.

It was an ending-one of those that were still yet to come.

Upstairs, in the workshop, the roars and blows continued, and I became aware of them again as we climbed the corridor.

There was nothing more to do.

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Chanter 109-2

And I didn’t want to stay there to watch Alvaro die.

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