Chapter 344: Chapter 344

Lila’s POV

Enzo stared at me with his mouth hanging open.

“What?” He asked, releasing his hold on me. I had never seen him look so flustered before. But Enzo genuinely looked as if he didn’t know what to say. He looked completely panicked and it made my self-esteem damper a little.

I was under the impression that he wanted to marry me, but maybe I was wrong.

I wrapped my arms around my body like I was trying to hold myself together.

“I want to marry you,” I said softly, peering up at him and meeting his eyes. “I thought maybe you wanted to marry me too.”

He cupped my face in his hands and peered deeply into my eyes, making my entire body melt.

“I do want to marry you, Lila. More than anything. But I thought you wanted to finish college first,” he said, furrowing his brows together. “I don’t want to disrupt your plans.”

I shook my head; tears were quick to fill my eyes.

“Marrying you wouldn’t disrupt anything,” I told him weakly. “I’m already having your pups. I want to marry before they come into this world.”

“What’s the rush?” He surprised me by asking, making my heart weigh heavily in my chest.

This entire conversation wasn’t sitting right with me. I thought he wanted this, but maybe I misread our circumstances.

“I want us to be a family,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

“We already are a family,” he breathed, dipping down to catch my eyes once more. “I love you and of course, I plan to marry you, but I also know you were set on waiting until after graduation. I don’t want you to make this decision because you are hormonal.”

“Hormonal?” I asked, my eyes widening at his use of words. “You think that’s what this is?”

“You’ve been very hormonal lately,” he continued with a shrug. He was digging himself a grave; I pressed my lips firmly together and folded my arms across my chest.

“I see how it is,” I muttered. “You don’t want to marry me because you think I’m too hormonal.”

His brows rose and there was slight humor in his eyes, which pissed me off even more.

“You think that’s what it is?” He asked, chuckling and shaking his head. “I never said I didn’t want to marry you. I would marry you tomorrow if I knew it was something you truly wanted. But I don’t want you to regret—”

“Forget it,” I barked, stepping away from him, and was about to head back inside, but his hand gripped my arm, stopping me from getting any further.

“I love you, silly,” he said to me, wrapping his arms around me. “Marrying you is not the problem. I just want you to think about it for a bit and then we can discuss it.”

“Okay,” I said, not having the energy to argue with him anymore.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Connie and Tyler are going to have their first dance!” The DJ announced from inside.

“We should get inside,” I said, without looking at Enzo.

I was feeling so hurt; I was open with him and told him what I wanted. I proposed to him for crying out loud and he rejected me.

“He has some nerve,” Val agreed angrily.

As I got inside, I found my table and sat down. Enzo was close behind me and he still had that humor in his eyes, which annoyed me even more.

I folded my arms across my chest, crossed my leg, leaned back in my seat, and fixed my attention on Connie and Tyler who were now wrapped in one another’s arms and dancing for the first time as a married couple.

…..

Enzo’s POV

I loved this woman so much, even if she was incredibly hormonal.

“Probably shouldn’t have said that to her,” Max whined from within me. “Now our mate is angry.”

“She will get over it once she sees what we already had planned for this evening,” I said to him, a chuckle in my words.

Lila sat with her arms and legs crossed and a sour look on her beautiful face. I couldn’t help the smile on my face as I looked at her. She was everything I wanted in life; I was stupid at the beginning of last year when I thought for a second, I’d be better off rejecting her. I couldn’t believe that it was ever a thought.

I looked across the table at Dee and my mother who were engrossed in a conversation. They both knew my plans for this evening, as did Lila’s parents. I wanted everything to go perfectly, but I didn’t want to take away from Connie’s wedding, so I planned this much later in the evening.

Dee glanced at Lila with a timid look before looking at me. I gave her a headshake, indicating that Lila was fine, and this made Dee smile in return before returning to her conversation with my mother.

By the end of the dance, Connie kissed Tyler gently on the lips before turning to the rest of us and throwing her hands in the air in celebration. Most everybody stood to their feet to congratulate them and dance to the now upbeat music.

I was impressed that Lila only threw up once during this entire event and she was able to keep down most of her food.

When the evening came to an end, Lila looked completely exhausted. But she still wanted to stay and help clean up after today’s events.

“There are people here to do that,” I told her, trying to get her to come with me.

She shook her off, staring at me with a pointed look.

“I want to help,” she murmured. “I need to take my mind off stuff.”

I sighed and took her arm gently in my hands, trying to guide her away, but she pulled her arm away.

“Just leave me alone, Enzo,” she muttered, shaking her head.

She looked like she wanted to cry, and it tore a hole in my heart. I didn’t want her to be upset; I wasn’t trying to hurt her.

“I want to talk to you, and I can’t do that when you are buried in dirty dishes,” I told her, narrowing my eyes. “Plus, you know the texture of old food will make you sick.”

She frowned at the dirty dishes and then she sighed, lowering her head and nodding slightly.

“You are right,” she murmured before turning to face me. “Fine.”

She started to walk past me, but I grabbed her arm again, pulling her into my open embrace.

“I want to take you somewhere,” I told her softly.

She peered up at me and I knew she was trying desperately not to cry.

“Where?” She asked, barely audible.

“You’ll see,” I told her.

I took her hand and pulled her along with me. When we got to my car, she frowned.

“We are leaving the packhouse?”

I nodded.

“Just for a little bit,” I told her.

She looked hesitant, but soon she got into my car. We drove for a little while until we reached the riverbank beside the woodland forest. It was one of the best landmarks in the pack and I had everything set up with lights and flowers.

When I parked the car, Lila’s eyes were huge as she took in the scenery before us.

“Oh, my goddess. It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

We both got out of the car, and I took her arm.

“As the future Luna, this will all be yours too,” I made sure she knew as we walked toward the stream. “This is one of my favorite places to go and think, and I wanted to share it with you.”

She wrapped her arms around her body and peered around at her surroundings with a timid frown. I knew questions were surfacing in her mind and I wanted to answer them all, but first, I needed her to know how much I truly loved her. So, I took her arm and pulled her closer to the river.

“When I first met you, I was terrified of finding my mate. I was afraid I was going to put you in danger and lose you. I was afraid that being involved with me would get you killed,” I began to say, peering off into the distance.

She stared up at me, frowning worriedly.

“But then I realized not being with you puts you in danger too because I wasn’t around to protect you when you needed it the most. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you and despite trying hard not to love you, you made that very impossible.”

A smile grew on her lips as I turned to face her.

“You are my perfect mate,” I told her, my voice dropping to a whisper. “You are the mother of my children and the future Luna of this pack. You conquered my entire heart and made me realize that we are stronger together.”

Tears welled in her eyes as she stared up at me.

“When you proposed to me earlier, it threw me off guard,” I admitted, giving her a lopsided grin. “But not because I didn’t want to marry you or because I don’t love you. But because I was planning on proposing to you.”

Her eyes widened as I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small black box. A gasp left her lips, and she covered her mouth with her hands as tears streamed from her eyes.

I got down on one knee, opened the box, and revealed the diamond ring that my mother had given me. it once belonged to her; she said it symbolized a time when she was once happy and wanted me to share that feeling with my mate.

“Lila, I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone else.”

“Oh, my goddess…” She whispered.

“Will you marry me?”