The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 149

Chapter 149-1

+25 Points

He had it. He could be polite, patient, and civilized, but he could also amaze me. Away from prying

eyes and ears, where it was only the two of us. Sometimes I didn’t quite know what to expect from him when we were alone, in our so precious intimacy, and that filled me with excitement and fear in equal parts, but I trusted that he wouldn’t do anything that displeased or made me uncomfortable.

Alexander had his whims and I had mine, and it was good to see that we complemented each

other even in those delicate aspects. He never got tired of repeating it: he was a man before a

beast; his instinct was strong and he knew what he wanted. It could be said that after two years, I was only just beginning to know him deeply, to discover all the nuances of his personality. I think a part of me always knew there was a lot about him I didn’t know, and perhaps I was afraid to accept his company and confirm that I had fallen in love with an incomplete and imprecise idea.

What mattered was still there: his nobility, his intelligence. The calm he gave me.

Sometimes I would have liked to ask him about that, about whether he had been completely happy with Anya even when half his life was a taboo he didn’t feel capable of trusting her with. And a moment later, I would tell myself there was no point in digging into painful memories. It made me happy to know that he lived fully when we were together. Alexander was not afraid to make comments about his nature or joke about it; or to explain things to me whenever I asked something. It fascinated me, and at the same time he liked talking about it with me. That was how I learned many things about his people and their most private customs, what they only did when they were “among their own.”

felt truly privileged, and I liked that. I liked that he gave me all his attention when the children weren’t around; because when they were, the two of us focused more on Andre and Sasha than on

anything else.

“How are things at your parents‘ house?” I asked a while later.

The children and my numerous family of dogs had already disappeared from sight, but we trusted

Andre’s good judgment.

“Very well, they’re eager to meet you. Even my father.”

“… Have you told them about me? That you and I are…?”

He sounded sly, baring his teeth at me, ears pricked high.

“I didn’t have to say anything. Since my mother sensed your scent on me, she hasn’t stopped asking questions. It’s not like I could keep a relationship secret, you know? Everything is obvious to our people’s noses, there are no hidden things… it’s very difficult. She was quite upset that I didn’t

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tell her you’d be with me and the children in Moscow; but I think it hurt her more that I wasn’t with

the rest of the family for the Christmas celebration.”

“How lovely, Alexander, now your mother is going to hate me for keeping you away from her!”

He laughed and slipped his arm over my shoulders, understanding.

“…I doubt it very much, truly. She detests that big party far more than I do, but she has to be there

because she is the wife of the Majority Alpha.”

Every time Alexander mentioned that matter, or his father, I felt like asking him if he had resolved

anything about it, or about the suspicions he once had regarding Illya and his actions concerning the supposed eighth family he had mentioned once. Although I was curious, I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable with something he might not want to talk about. If he hadn’t mentioned it so far, it probably wasn’t something so bad and I shouldn’t be worrying. Perhaps Alexander had

already solved everything.

My meddlesome journalist instinct, which had gotten me into so much trouble with him since I met him, had calmed down a lot in recent years. I didn’t know whether it was because information came to me served on a silver platter just by asking, or whether I was a little afraid to ask about certain things. We walked in silence for a while longer until, unexpectedly, he spoke again.

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Chapter 149-2

Chapter 149-2

And about something I hadn’t foreseen either:

+25 Points.

“I’m not going to be the next Majority Alpha,” he told me with a sigh of relief. “My brother is going

to keep the position; we’ve already arranged everything.”

“… Really?”

That was all I could say, because I didn’t dare ask why he had decided that. If he was more than

capable of taking his father’s place, from what could be seen: he was a good leader, he had proven his courage, he had faced the consequences and returned to his people. Why wouldn’t he take the

position? Maybe I was the one failing to realize that he had never wanted that responsibility, not out of cowardice but for his own peace of mind. From what he had hinted at several times, being the Majority Alpha of the species was not only heavy work, but also sometimes unpleasant. In one way or another, I felt happier not having to share Alexander with an extra duty on top of the usual

ones. I was being selfish, it’s true, but I also had the right to think about myself, about us. About the

children.

“Really,” he affirmed, this time with more confidence.

“Well. I think you achieved what you wanted, after all.”

“It’s not exactly what I wanted, but it was a pleasant surprise to find Mikhail so comfortable with the idea that he didn’t want to return to me the right that belongs to me by birth. It was the best thing we could do.”

“…and if it’s that good, why don’t you seem even half as happy as you should?”

“I am happy. I’m with you, and everything is fine,” he told me with a fang–filled smile, and hugged me tightly, swaying gently as we walked. He pressed his cold nose against my ear and with a soft lick swept across my right cheek. “I don’t need anything else for now, maybe just you scratching my belly.”

“I’ll give you scratching your belly… Alexander, you left my face filthy! Your breath doesn’t smell like roses. Disgusting, I’ll have to scrub myself with a sponge for half an hour to get the stench of your fur off me, don’t you realize?”

It was a joke, of course, because Alexander knew well that although I didn’t like the smell of his fur when it got dirty, it didn’t bother me at all that he changed forms. He knew that, in fact, I enjoyed tickling him and burying my fingers in his thick white coat. The same happened with Andre, but the boy was even more adorable because he squirmed and whimpered between growls and laughter, trying to escape me. It was like watching a giant puppy, just as fun as playing calmly with Kit and

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Chapter 149-2

Kim.

Alexander rubbed his whiskers against my cheek again.

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“Is that a threat?” he challenged me with a low, dangerous growl. “Because I’ll wait until you bathe,

and as soon as you come out of the bathroom I’ll drag you to bed and mark you with my scent

again, the way I like best. Easy.”

“Don’t even dream you’ll touch me while you’re a ball of fur.”

“You have no sense of humor, Johanna.”

“It’s just that I’m not very enthusiastic about werewolf jokes, you know?”

“If it were a joke, I’d tell you that when most of our neighbors‘ teenage sons were worried about

not growing hair on their chests, I was growing fur. Do you think that wasn’t awkward?” he said

jokingly. “Not to mention asking your friends for advice about shaving. It was ridiculous.”

I had to admit with a laugh that the joke had some grace.

Alexander let go of me and ran off across the field through the trees, leaving the important part of

the conversation unfinished, the one about his brother Mikhail’s mysterious resolution. He had a

special gift, I realized, for avoiding talking about important things at the right time; I would catch

him at a more suitable moment. I devoted myself to enjoying the good mood and followed him,

also running.

Obviously, I would never match his speed or stamina for running, but I tried. Panting like an old

dog, I reached the clearing where Andre and Sasha were building a snowman. Well, Andre was

trying to design the snowman and Sasha was stuffing dirty snow into her mouth; Kit and Kim and

some of their puppies were playing chase with joyful barking. After a few moments, Alexander

was lying on his back in the snow and the children had climbed on top of him. The game seemed a

bit rough to me, but hearing them laugh was proof they weren’t hurting each other. Sasha pulled

her father’s ears between bursts of laughter.

I paused beside a tree to watch them play and smiled happily.

Then my gaze wandered over the snowy surroundings and after observing the clearing carefully, I realized that this was the place where, a little more than two years ago, Andre had led me to find Alexander and his sister. Had they realized it? It was the same place, I was very sure of that. The arrangement of the trees, the pile of fallen logs, the path… it had to be. Silently while they played, I walked to the fallen stumps and sat on them, trying to remember again the images of that dark, cold night, and Alexander’s body stretched over those logs, his blood spilling into the snow.

I closed my eyes when it became too painful to bear.

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Those days were still contradictory for me; I couldn’t classify those memories as good or bad. It

seemed Alexander noticed something, because I didn’t realize when he stopped playing with his

children to come sit with me on the logs.

“Is something wrong?” he asked. “You don’t look very enthusiastic, and this was your idea.”

“No, nothing, it’s just…” I sighed and leaned my shoulder against the warm fur of his chest when he

moved his arm to give me space. “This is the place, you know? The place where I found you, that

night.”

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