The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 20

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“Alright. A cat,” I said, with a sigh. “The bundles of rue you put on my doors and windows are meant to keep this being away from you. So it can’t smell you.”

“It’s a black-haired jaguar, actually,” Alexander specified, in a convinced tone. “And yes, I think we already agreed that rue has a very strong smell. You figured out the rest on your own.”

I placed the meat on the cutting board and looked for the salt shaker, then checked the spice rack, searching for Italian Provençal seasoning to give the preparation more flavor. Were werewolves fond of condiments? What an idea. A few moments of stillness passed, enough time to prepare the meat, place it on a tray, and turn on the kitchen oven so it could start heating up.

Until I heard his calm laugh, and his sigh of regret:

“…You don’t believe me? Well, I don’t know how to take that.”

With the knife in my hand, I turned around and leaned my back against the counter, uneasy.

“I can’t not believe you. If a werewolf comes and tells me that there’s a… let’s say, a cat-man looking for him, the least I can do is believe him. But I’ve seen you, and I haven’t seen that creature. It’s just hard for me to fully trust your words because it seems strange to me that a being with claws and fangs would choose to shoot you instead of using his own… paws.”

“We’re in the twenty-first century. I have a touchscreen computer and a GPS that talks to me. Or had. Even our kind carry weapons nowadays, it’s very common. I’d say I was lucky that this guy was carrying a .38 and not a Kalashnikov[1],” he snapped, and his Russian accent was more marked than ever as he spoke with such emphasis

“Alright, I have just one question: this ‘cat’…”

“Black jaguar.”

“Jaguar, right; this ‘black jaguar, do you think he’s still looking for you?”

C

Alexander pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes, impatient. He thought very carefully about what he was going to say before opening his mouth again.

“…Felines have disadvantages compared to us: their sense of smell and hearing aren’t as good, and they’re not very strong, at least most of them. Also, they tend to act alone; they don’t like working with others of their species… they’re selfish and self-sufficient by nature, very low-profile. By his species I can say he’s not used to cold and show, he answered me cautiously. “But on the other hand, they can see in the dark and are more agile and flexible, so if he finds me in my current condition, I’m the one at a disadvantage: I’m badly wounded. He would try to attack at night, of course. That’s why I’m hoping my people arrive first, and I trust the person I contacted to be here by tomorrow,”

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Chapter 20

“So, yes, you know it. You know he’s looking for you. And you’re waiting for him?”

He lifted his chin very dignifiedly and assured me:

…I’m not going to let him hurt you. I owe you my life and the lives of my children. I will protect you.”

“Oh, God.”

Something cold ran down my back, and then I realized it was me who was sinking toward the floor, that my back was sliding against the metal edge of the counter. The knife slipped from my hands, making a strange sound against the tile. I saw myself curled up on the floor, which seemed to be moving, and I suddenly felt hot. I only lost my orientation like that when my blood pressure dropped, or it could have been because I hadn’t eaten almost anything all day.

What was curious, however, was that I wasn’t short of breath. I just lost my balance, just like that.

“…Calm down, Johanna, you’re one step away from going into shock,” I heard his voice, very far away, and first felt his hands on my shoulders and then under my arms as he lifted me to my feet. The instinct to reject his touch rose in me, but I didn’t have the strength to do it. “You need to eat something and rest. You’ve been through a lot in the last few hours. We won’t talk about this anymore until you’ve eaten and slept properly.”

O

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always traveled on Christmas and on my birthday (and on the anniversary of the accident, when they came to pick me up to travel to Minneapolis to visit Paul’s grave); and my parents did so every two months and stayed for a couple of days. But I always felt pressured, as if they were waiting for me to finally leave Wyoming and return to Minnesota with them. And I had no intention of doing so; Wyoming was my temple and I felt good there. I didn’t need anyone, or at least that’s what I wanted to believe.

Walter and I were enough. Walter was my cat, by the way.

But suddenly, the presence of Alexander and his family in my house made everything seem different, and at times I felt like I was becoming the same person I used to be. The lively, alert person, eager to do and undo. Because they were different, and they made me feel different. With a bit of fear, and somewhat unsure of what to do next, but they encouraged me to take control: they didn’t seem to know very well what to do about themselves either. A part of me felt that they needed to be protected just as much as I needed to protect myself from whatever it was that was happening out there.

Maybe that’s why I couldn’t stop getting involved with them and wanted to get to know them so much.

I took the aspirins Alexander offered me because I needed to get rid of the headache, or I wouldn’t be able to sleep well. And I lay down on the couch again, knowing nothing more about myself or anyone else until the next day.

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