The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 68

Chapter 68-1

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Chapter 68-1

After hearing that, I understood why Alexander had so quickly and so confidently concluded that there were three felines behind him, that morning when Rex called from Alaska to check in. And the sudden realization that he might have been lying to me perhaps the entire time (to his companions, too) felt like a bucket of cold water. It was horrible. I couldn’t look away from his furious eyes, clouded by the need to unload his rage on something. He felt guilty, of course he did. More guilty than anyone in the world. He had been deceived by one of them, and that was why he was still so reluctant to trust Luke’s words and those of his wife.

Because he KNEW that third cat.

He knows the lion.

The silence that fell over the house was terrifying. A tremor of panic blurred my perception and left his wolf companions completely disoriented. I tried to be objective. Maybe Alexander knew that a feline had attacked his family, but he didn’t know the panther was the lion’s partner, or he didn’t know the lion was such, or who knows! Didn’t he once tell me that he could identify them by smell, but not decipher what kind of cat they were? Like an idiot, deep down, I searched for some way to justify Alexander’s actions and his reluctance to share everything he knew. Not telling me, fine-but his companions? How could he not tell his friends, his family, who had come from so far away to help him?

I needed to think he was the good one. That Alexander was fair, upright, and kind.

I needed to be sure of that, or I would never trust anyone again in my life. I couldn’t…

He couldn’t be a liar.

I clenched my fingers over my lap as the seconds of tension passed one after another, quickly, and the silence became more and more oppressive over everyone. Sheriff McCord finally made an uncomfortable grimace with his muzzle and looked toward the fireplace.

“L

… Well. But what do we have here?” he murmured, surprised.

Hans was the first to react, and he stood almost in front of Alexander. His whole bearing seemed loaded with some violent emotion-I couldn’t tell which, but I suspect that in part he felt more or less like I did: disappointed.

“Alexander, what is this supposed to mean?” the doctor demanded, in an insistent tone.

The big man adjusted the baby better on his lap, and Sasha must have felt so comfortable and safe on her father’s leg that she simply leaned back, resting fully against his stomach, and began sucking on the fist of her small blue sweater, which was a bit too big for her.

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Chapter 68-1

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Andre looked frozen and expectant, but he didn’t stop gripping Alexander’s shirt sleeve tightly, those big blue eyes fixed on his face.

We were all waiting for the same thing. An answer. A convincing explanation. I don’t know about them, but I was waiting with almost deranged anxiety.

Alexander sighed slowly, with a growl at the back of his throat, and began:

“The first time, I smelled him long before I was fully aware that he was there. He had been prowling near my house; his tracks followed the edge of my property into the forest. It was a few months ago, early autumn. I found him camping beside a creek. He had good camping gear, like someone very used to that life. And since he was alone, I assumed he was the only one…” He then looked at the sheriff and continued. “Back then, I firmly believed that felines liked to travel alone, or work alone. At first, I didn’t worry much and thought that once he realized I was there, he would pack his things and leave. That’s what they usually do. But then I decided to talk to him, just to find out what he was doing or whether he had even noticed. that I lived in the area. I didn’t intend to start a fight, but Sasha had just been born and I was a bit on edge for a good number of reasons.”

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Chapter 68-2

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other and talking like civilized people, I thought I’d finally found a cat who was aware that his inner animality didn’t exactly make him an animal; and that there was no reason for him to run from me or think I would try to hurt him.”

“And that’s how he deceived you,” Christian blurted with a growl.

The other didn’t seem angry with his leader, but with rage directed at that phantom entity no one else knew, yet which he felt as the main threat.

“No. That’s how he got to Anya,” Alexander corrected him. Once again, his gaze rested on Sheriff McCord’s, and he added, “Now everything fits, you know? A complete psychopath. There was no way for me to know it back then.”

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