The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 59

I remember my cat, Walter, almost by accident.

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It surprised me that, even though my hands trembled sometimes, I still hadn’t succumbed to any kind of depression or hysteria. My injured arm hurt a little, but other than that I didn’t feel very bad. I actually have some experience in that area, and I didn’t understand this state of calm I found myself in after having been so close to not making it out alive. A part of me, however, didn’t doubt that at the least expected moment I would explode and let it all out. And that could be epic or catastrophic.

I think a good part of what kept me sane was thinking about the children. About how they were fine, because I had helped keep them safe. Yes-exactly that. And the adrenaline. God, how I felt when I fired that gun. It was…

I felt willing to do anything. To survive.

When all the whirlwind passed, my first priority was Andre. However, I couldn’t do much because his father took care of him; they locked themselves in the bathroom to change into their “public personas” in privacy. Afterwards, when Alexander was satisfied with the bath and the disinfection of Andre’s scratch, he left him watching a movie in the living room, where he could see him from the kitchen without much effort. He only had a few bruises (too big for me to stay calm, but if his father said they were minor, I believed him. Andre wasn’t an ordinary child, of course) and he looked somewhat tired.

After washing up and changing clothes so I wouldn’t think about bloodstains again, I went to feed Walter. I took the chance to check that he was calm in the garage-my cat watched me from a gap between some boxes and didn’t come out when I called him, but I understand the poor beast. Alexander was very insistent on accompanying me and carrying heavy things for me, because he didn’t want me to go outside alone again (and I appreciated it, truly; he helped me take out the bag with his fur-change and Andre’s).

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In my kitchen, Ishida disinfected his wounds and covered them with skin patches and bandages. It turned out he wasn’t as badly hurt as he’d seemed to me, luckily. The Hattai was certainly a young and athletic man, with a very lean but wiry body-the smallest among werewolves I’d had the grace to meet in those days. But it was very clear that that didn’t make him any less powerful. True to his samurai principle, he didn’t want to accept my help. to clean himself up and bandage, and Alexander didn’t offer him a hand at any moment. He knew him better than I did. At least I tried to put everything he might need within reach, like hot water with a splash of antiseptic, bandages, scissors, and alcohol. Ishida thanked the attentions again with a brief bow, the typical Japanese greeting.

I didn’t know where to put myself-he was so proper all the time…

s Chapter 59-1

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Alexander brought Sasha with him into the kitchen. The baby was close to falling asleep again after so much excitement, so he wrapped her better in the colorful blanket and placed her on top of the table, with the portable cradle. The baby sank into the soft surface and curled up to sleep; she was already changed and fed again. And when I saw Alexander stay there, standing with his gaze fixed on his little daughter (and on how she looked at him in turn, expressing secret things with those attentive little eyes), it was my turn to say:

“Alright, now it’s your turn. Sit down,” I asked, pulling a chair back.

I’d taken some painkillers for my arm, which throbbed painfully. The discomfort wouldn’t pass soon-I’d done too much effort too early, and the muscles in my shoulder and the right side of my body were somewhat inflamed again. Alexander looked at the chair and shook his head.

“There’s no need, I’m-”

“Sit down, please,” I asked again, more emphatically this time, looking at his face scored with small red lines. “Alexander, seriously. Now. You’re still recovering from the operation, aren’t you?”

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<Chapter 59-2

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Chapter 59-2

He looked at me with a certain impatience, chin held high.

He glanced for a second at the Hattai, perhaps looking for his support. But Ishida, even if he wasn’t completely ignoring him, surely didn’t want to get involved, because he didn’t even look at him in response.

“The surgical wound is fine,” he retorted. “I wouldn’t have been able to fight otherwise.”

“Alright, the good news is you’ll survive. And without scars, I imagine.”

Ishida glanced at us for less than a second. Alexander answered me:

“And the bad news?”

“…This is one of those extremely rare occasions where there is no bad news.” I shrugged my left shoulder and gathered all the small dirty dressings into the bowl of warm water, to throw them away later. “Now I just need to put some patches on you and I’ll be finished.”

“Good,” he agreed, and caressed the baby’s little belly.

Sasha had her eyes half-closed, but her fists were clenched around her father’s fingers. For someone who, as Alexander had told me, the small children of their race were very dependent on their mothers, it seemed to me she was also very attached to him and sought him constantly. When she wasn’t seeking me, of course.

I had a moment to feel guilty again, taking up a place that didn’t belong to me in the accident-filled days that adorable little one was having. I preferred to focus on what I had to do, and I blew lightly on the colorless iodine I’d just applied with the little brush over Alexander’s eyebrow. At that moment it occurred to me that I could have been a good mother -I was doing fairly decently at healing injuries and putting on adhesive bandages.

When he spoke again, he startled me and even caught Ishida’s attention:

“So… what is it like to write young adult novels?” Alexander asked calmly.

His question threw me off at first.

I didn’t think something like that could matter to him-wasn’t marketing and numbers more his thing?

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