Hideaway Strath I wonder why I'm so afraid

There was something nice about the way she accepted him hitting her in the face if she messed up parenting. He wasn't too sure about the returned offer, though. Charles was afraid that he would mess up, but he wasn't quite ready to actually improve any of that. He just wanted it to be fixed magically, by itself, if he could help it. Certainly not by anyone telling him that he was doing wrong. Just thinking about it all made him want to turn tail and run away, since that was what he was best at.

Instead of actually facing these fears, Charles confidently grinned and he said, Nah, won't be needed, princess. I will do great. He said it so confidently that it was clearly some sort of joke, not a serious statement at the very least.

As Arlette said she was happy that he joined the Saints, Charles couldn't help but feel a little warm inside. Could Arlette really be a replacement for Leta? Could they be best friends, like he'd been with Leta? He knew rationally that she wasn't the same wolf, of course, but there were enough familial traits in there — the kindness, for starters — that made something in his heart grow hope. Yeah, me too. It's good to have a friend here. So far a lot of it had been rather gloomy, after all — the skulls by the entrance, some of the wolves' demeanours — so it was good to have someone he knew. A friend. He hoped to see on her face whether she felt the same way.