The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 42

+25 Points

I didn’t turn off the bedside lamp, in case I needed to get up urgently, and I stayed a moment staring at the wall in silence. That bed had never smelled like a man before. I had bought it new when I moved to Wyoming two years ago.

I hadn’t realized how much I missed that kind of essence until that moment.

I snuggled into the pillow, far too comfortable and warm to fear anything. Somehow, Alexander’s imprint in my bed helped me rest.

I had a strange dream, but considering what had happened over the last few days, it wasn’t that strange.

It was a silly dream born of the situation, because otherwise I would never have seen myself in the kitchen with a huge white tiger, almost without stripes on its fur, hissing venomously at me from the back door; and a black panther with the fur on its spine bristling, showing its teeth and claws at the door that led to the living room.

I was standing in the middle (there was no table, only white tile and the bare room), and the beasts growled at me fiercely, showing me how feline and deadly they could be.

Because they were two ordinary animals, like any other, standing on all fours with arched backs in an irate posture. Beautiful, the way only wild beasts can be. The bright, clear eyes of the creatures devoured me with a hungry, fierce flash, and I stayed motionless, pressed against the wall, with no escape. Suddenly, there was no entrance to the laundry room and the only way out was over them. My body wouldn’t move. The air was almost unbreathable; I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t do anything except watch as the animals stalked and slowly approached me, sliding with their natural elegance over the spotless tile. No matter how much I opened my mouth, the words wouldn’t come out.

Until both the black panther and the tiger hunched and rose onto their hind legs, and their beastly bodies slowly mutated into a more humanoid form: their front legs became arms, their paws furry hands armed with claws; their narrow shoulders became human and broad; their legs stretched and their torsos widened, powerful and firm. The monsters grew considerably taller. And I was trapped, prisoner under those eyes full of rage and desire to

kill.

A third roar saved me from being torn to shreds, and another white beast rose behind the felines, crushing their heads with its enormous paws. I didn’t stay to see what it was-in my dream, I ran toward the first exit that opened. I ran. I ran through snow and forest, the road, a stream I didn’t know existed, a clearing, a mountain; I just ran, in my subconscious running as fast as a car, fleeing like the wind.

1.3

<Chapter 42-2

I left everything behind: the roars, the hisses, the screams, the crying of a child…

“Johanna, you’re… what’s wrong?” he asked urgently.

“I just had a nightmare. It’s nothing. You’re here,” I answered when I managed to speak.

I held onto his forearm with my good hand, my cheek resting against his chest, and lifted my face again. He was watching me with obvious anguish; deep in those blue eyes shone a distressed light. He was smart. He knew what I meant. Surely he was thinking it was partly his fault, but before he could say anything, I asked him:

“Can you bring me more pills? There aren’t any left in the box, and my arm hurts a lot.”

He hesitated, yes-but he straightened me upright and let go when he saw I could stand on

my own.