Chapter 224

The scared little girl in the midst of the hard-outer shell and the signals she gives off so subtly you almost miss them if you are not looking for them. It’s in glimpses when she forgets to pull her mask up, the tiny wrinkles in her armor, the careless words, or the unintended moments of genuine touch. It makes you want to help her, bring her into the warmth, and remove the shackles she has put around herself to keep people out. The bitch isn’t who she is. The tantrums, the behaviors, and the arrogant outer persona are all a mask to shield this right here. She is more like her mom than I think she knows, and maybe it’s not so unbelievable that her mother is a weaker wolf with no ability to fend for herself. Perhaps that’s exactly why Carmen learned to be this way after watching her mother get pushed around for her flaws. Carmen is fragile in her own way, yet at the same time, so much stronger than I gave her credit for, in a completely different way. She’s more capable than Tawna and