Chapter 20

Christina's POV I stood in the shower like a soggy pretzel, hoping the scalding water would burn the confusion out of my head. Spoiler alert, it didn't. Hudson's words kept looping in my head, "We complete the mating ritual." In other words, "Let's get married for real." Excuse me? Was I concussed? Had I slipped and hit my head and developed some sexy-Alpha-themed delusions? Because, last I checked, we were in a mutually agreed fake engagement. No strings, no vows, no wedding hashtags that would make The Crescent pack gossip mill explode. Just a registered mating ceremony to keep his pack's lawyers from investigating. Wait, did he want a real marriage from the beginning? Was I set up? But what could he possibly want from me? No, Chrissy, don't think the worst of people! And yet, there he was, five minutes ago, standing before me with that infuriatingly composed face and that annoyingly persuasive Alpha voice, dropping a "let's get hitched" like he was suggesting we go for a run under t