The silence after the declaration was louder than any applause.

Hunter hadn’t looked away once, not from her face, not from the stunned crowd, not even from Marissa’s horrified gasp. He said it clearly, deliberately: “Celeste Rivers is my true mate.”

And in that moment, every lie, every staged fight, every ridiculous passive-aggressive plate of overcooked steak they’d suffered through meant something.

But now, walking back to the packhouse in awkward, stilted silence, Celeste ...