The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 50

“Wait, I…” I began, and stopped at once. I didn’t know how to approach any of it; I had never offered condolences before. My oldest relatives (grandparents, and one or two distant great-uncles) had all passed away during those years of life when a girl still does not clearly understand the meaning of death.

“…I would like to tell you that I know what you’re going through. I’ve been there before, remember? And… it’s just that I think I know how you feel. How much it hurts, you know? It feels like the air has suddenly left you, doesn’t it? I know that your relationship with her no longer… well, it was no longer a relationship, but I understand you.”

“Johanna…”

“No, please, let me…” I begged him, and closed my eyes to gather strength. “I know you have to be strong for everyone, don’t you? That’s what you do-I’ve seen it. You’re their leader. But don’t let that stop you from grieving Anya the way you need to. You don’t restrain yourself like that with the children; so don’t restrain yourself either, alright? That’s what I tried to do for more than a year, and it did me no good.”

Only then did I step closer again and finally offer him the towels.

He only looked at me for a moment, as if he were thinking about what he was going to say- or perhaps he already had it in mind and didn’t dare to say it.

In the end, he extended his arm across the space between us, and his large, wet hand gently gripped my wrist. It was the simplest gesture in the world, the briefest perhaps-but everything was summed up in that. Support. Gratitude. It had been less than a week since I met them. And yet, neither he nor I could deny that we understood each other, and that we both had a debt of honor-or simply a great deal of compassion-for one another.

That was trust, plain and simple.

“…Thank you,” he said, and took the towels gently; then he added, “For this, and for what you did today with Andre. I will never finish repaying all the favors you’ve done for me, Johanna. I think I’ll start by trying to follow your advice.”

“…There is one more thing you can do,” I said, my tone unsteady. “Promise me you’ll take very good care of both of them. Your children, I mean. They’re all you have left of her, right? That’s the only thing I could ask for right now, you know?”

“That-even more than the boys-I will do it,” he swore to me, convinced.

“Good. When you’re done here, there will be something warm to eat on the table, alright?”

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< Chapter 50-1

He bit his lower lip, showing me a fang.

“Alright. Thank you. Again.”

I nodded, because I couldn’t articulate anything else.

+25 Points

Alexander didn’t have to promise me anything, because it was more than obvious that he was willing to do anything to protect his children, and I never doubted that. But hearing it from his mouth helped me feel a little calmer, and able to put my disturbed thoughts in order.

For now, it may seem that I am merely recounting what I did in those days between hours of sleep and food, but I’m sure that’s not the case.

That is to say, in the everyday nature of all these acts that at first glance seem so routine and boring, I felt that something grand was being added to every second of my “ordinary” life. In part, that was what it was about: I tried to see everything openly and with my mind on the goal (not losing my sanity, not getting hurt again, and uselessly praying for that extremely dangerous situation to end as soon as possible), but it was only a defensive reaction born of instinct, so as not to keep thinking about the dreadful news Rex had given over the radio the day before.

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I would have liked to know who those other two were that Rex had mentioned, who,

Chapter 50-2

+25 Points

according to him, did not want to answer the call of their young “alpha”; and what roles they would fulfill. The so-called “Ami” and “Milo.” I wondered how it was possible that, despite having spent eight years apart, the group was still so solid, as if it had never separated. Obviously, I was mistaken. But part of me wanted to trust in that platonic loyalty and did not wish to see the tiny fissures between them. I suppose I wanted to think they were perfect in every sense, even though I knew perfectly well that they were also human and made mistakes. That was why they were in my living room in the first place.

Because Alexander had made a series of mistakes.

“…I don’t like this,” Christian said, between sips of coffee. “They can’t have just vanished. They’re not ghosts. They must have a den somewhere-they must be hiding while they wait for the moment to strike again.”

“And it has to be close,” Ishida murmured, his attention divided between the conversation and an electronic tablet he was working on without pause.

“They won’t come near if the trucks keep parked at the entrance. We should hide them.”

That last one was Richie.

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