The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 35

Chapter 35-1

There was so much red on the floor-so much.

I swear I thought I was going to die, truly.

In the unconscious motion of brushing my hair back behind my ears, I smeared my face with blood; I felt cold on my cheeks where the fluids left their mark on my skin. I looked at that blood-soaked hand as if it weren’t mine, even so. The red color on my fingers, blurred by tears and by the trembling that clenched my muscles, brought to my ears the furious growling of the feline creature, and Alexander’s voice telling me-

“Johanna! Johanna, can you hear me?”

I felt his hands on my shoulders and let out a scream of horror.

“It’s me, Johanna!” he said again, and my eyes found his face. He had a mark on his cheek, of blood and mud. “Talk to me! How are you?”

“My shoulder! You’re hurting me!” I screamed at him, and I burst into tears.

Yes, really very tough of me. I started crying, like a little girl. The only thing I could do was take refuge in him when he crouched down beside me and wrapped his arms around me, avoiding touching the side of my body where the anorak was torn.

He had protected me, facing that beast.

He hadn’t been fast enough and because of him I ended up injured, it’s true; but Alexander stepped in front first so that that rabid animal wouldn’t kill me. Or his children. Either way, or for whoever he did it, he saved me from that creature.

“…Good God, you’re…” he murmured, and tried to force me to move my uninjured arm to help me get to my feet. Since I didn’t respond willingly, he lifted me up and I let out another scream when the pain pierced me; the injured arm had slipped from my lap. “Easy, easy! We’re going to take care of you-help has arrived!”

“Alexander!” said a female voice, strong and commanding.

That stern woman with the braid I had seen before appeared in the doorway, with a rifle hanging from her shoulder by a strap. It was a truly sophisticated and large weapon, military caliber. She looked at me and I looked back at her, but she didn’t say anything to me. She addressed Alexander directly, in German, and he answered her in the same language. Their conversation was surely about something not very pleasant, because after a couple of phrases he growled harshly and started speaking in English again:

102

& Chapter 35-1

+25 Points

“I can wait! Your brother and Richie are after the cat; right now I need you and Toshi to set up a perimeter around the house, immediately!” I know he shouted at her; his voice boomed with a growl underneath that made his chest vibrate-I felt it through my uninjured shoulder. “Get to the roof, Nika!”

“But what about you? You’re hurt, and my father-!”

“Nika, obey! That thing is not the same one that attacked me in Alaska-it’s a tiger! You saw it. The panther could be waiting for the right distraction to attack! Secure the perimeter, right now!”

“What?” I know I asked, my lips trembling.

“Easy, Johanna, we’re going to look at those wounds-”

“Lai! Why are you being so stubborn?” the woman snapped, angry.

He only had to look at her once, the way he had looked at Rex the day before. I don’t know what kind of power there was in his gaze or his attitude, or what it was, but even I could feel the force of leadership in him. It was something impressive, oppressive. He looked at her, the bridge of his nose slightly furrowed, and I could swear the woman shuddered and took a step back, standing very straight. She lifted the rifle again, and although her lips were pressed very tight, she managed to say:

“Yes, sir!” and turned on her heel to leave.

Alexander carried me toward the living room, to go up the stairs. At that moment, Andre came running out of my bedroom and intercepted us on the stairs, frightened and shifted into his animal form, his tail bristled and tucked between his legs. The way he wrinkled his muzzle, on the defensive, made me think he was so small but so brave-like his father, or

more.

Comments

LUCK DRAW >

Vote

528

Chapter 35 2

Chapter 35-2

+25 Points

He began unfastening the buttons of my coat without delay.

I think that if I had stopped for a second to think about what he was doing, I would have asked him not to touch me-I was still a bit sensitive about hands that turned into claws. But the truth is that at that moment I didn’t realize what was happening or how close Alexander was, and my natural instinctive rejection mechanism didn’t activate. His scent, his warmth, everything reset me to zero. The human, easy prey was very dazed. Perhaps the most primitive part of me knew I was safe with him, and that was why I didn’t panic.

Whatever it was, I’m glad I didn’t have one more thing to worry about. I know that at one point I thought about Andre and Sasha, or I thought I heard the baby crying again, but-

I was numb, and in so much pain that I couldn’t think, only feel under my skin how the flesh that was beginning to swell throbbed, making me want to lock myself away where no one could reach me, and not see or feel again. Slowly, Alexander helped me slip my good arm out of the anorak sleeve and then the injured one. It was a painful task; I couldn’t move that limb, but even so Alexander managed to slide the torn garment off my skin and left it on the floor. He leaned in to examine the sweater and the torn blouse I was wearing underneath and

shook his head.

“We’ll have to take these off too. And maybe the bra-it’s cut and-”

“Just do it,” I know I asked, shrinking a little.

“All right, easy.”

Just then, heavy footsteps ran up the stairs at full speed. I got scared and looked toward the door, with a moan caught in my throat; a blond man (around sixty years old, shorter and less bulky than Alexander) entered the room with a large white bag in his hand. He was definitely one of “them”-he fit right in. He may have smelled my fear, and that was why he stayed near the door instead of advancing.

A few seconds later, he decided to come closer and set the bag down on the bed, to open the

latches.

“Alexander, it’s good to see you again, boy… even if it’s not under the best circumstances,” the man said, in English.

Comments