Chapter 23: Finally Ours
**Marcus's POV**
Three days after the final battle, after the funerals and the memorials and the endless strategy meetings about rebuilding our defenses, I finally had Lily alone in our quarters.
The packhouse had been in controlled chaos—treating wounded, organizing security details, dealing with the captured rogues who'd surrendered. My father had been in Alpha mode constantly, and I'd been at his side helping coordinate everything. Lily had thrown herself into helping in the medical wing, her gentle presence somehow comforting the injured warriors in ways medicine alone couldn't.
But tonight, my father had literally ordered us both to rest. To take time for ourselves. To remember that we were mates, not just warriors.
So here we were, alone for the first ti
