I blinked yet again.
“You lied to Fletcher when you told him you weren’t going to do it again. I’ve come up with an effective way to make it happen. I won’t go through with it until you agree, though. I’d rather you not do it again. But I didn’t think you’d agree to stop.”
“What’s the plan?”
His chest rumbled a little.
He rubbed at it.
His wolf was bugging him. Worried about how the conversation was going, maybe. It definitely wasn’t going well. I didn’t know why he would’ve expected it to, though.
“We’ll close our borders and make an application. Run background checks. Only those who are already identified as groupies and mates will be allowed to fill it out. Mates will come first. Oldest ones at the front of the line. They’ll have to agree to stay with my pack until their bonds are sealed, so we can makesure heat doesn’t screw anything up. We’ll start with anyone who has unstable medical conditions. Having wolves should heal them.”
My throat swelled.
He continued to detail the plan and how it would work. Not just with the wolves, but with the government. The media. The businesses in the city, even.
When he started going into potential issues with the humans and how he would resolve them, I finally interrupted him.
“Enzo,” I said, carefully. “I appreciate that you made a plan and considered everything. I really do. But that’s a separate issue from what we were talking about.”
He let out a harsh breath. “I don’t know how to make love happen.”
“You can’tmakelove happen.”
“I know. That’s why I’m making plans.”
“Because you can control plans?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know how to make love happen either. I don’t really think I’m ready for that.”
He jerked his head in a nod, but his jaw was clenched.
He thought I was rejecting him.
Maybe I was.
“I’m not saying no to you wanting us to be real mates. I can see that happening eventually. But it’s going to take time, if it does. I don’t really trust you. As the Alpha, yes, but not as my mate.”
“Time. That’s… doable.”
I bit back a laugh at the stiffness in his voice.
Enzo wasn’t patient.
A guy like him didn’t really have to be. Not very often, at least.
“We could treat it like we’re dating,” I said. “Like the guys do with groupies.”
He grunted and rubbed the center of his chest again, with his knuckles.
His wolf didn’t like the idea of dating.
“Do you have any other idea?” I prodded.
He considered it. My eyes closed as he ran his hands through my hair.