#6 The Royal Legacy

Chapter 21: Blue Moon - Knox

“The rogues are here, Knox!” Navy screamed through the mindlink, the fear clear in her voice. Alistair howled and ran towards the packhouse in a blind rage.

“I’m coming, Navy!” Alistair roared.

We weren’t the only wolves racing through the packhouse. Other warriors who were getting mindlinks from their mates were heading towards the safehouse. Dover was suddenly beside me, sensing that Natasha was also in danger. We ran as fast as we could through the lobby and the underground tunnel to the bunker.

The scene we discovered was sickening. People were already dead, women and children torn apart on the ground. There was blood everywhere. It only made me run faster. I followed Navy’s scent through the screams and the blood, finding her standing in the center of the packhouse.

There wasn’t much down here, but there was a bathroom and plenty of rations. Navy was using the water from the toilets, the plumbing, and the water jugs to fight back. The water curled around the air like a whip, slashing through the throats of as many rogues as she could reach.

All of the children were hiding behind her, the women who could shift were fighting off as many rogues as they could manage. The elderly were trying to fight as well, but many of them had lost their wolves ages ago. The ground was littered with bodies, both allies and enemies.

Alistair lunged across the room and stood in front of Navy, snatching wolves from the air and snapping their necks in an instant. It didn’t take long before we were able to secure the bunker once more and defend the innocent people who remained. That’s when I heard and felt Dover’s despair.

“No! Natasha!” He screamed, his human body dropping to the floor as he cradled something to his chest.

I shifted and wrapped my arm around Navy’s waist, pulling her close to me. I noticed that she was crying now, her face soaked with tears.

“They came so fast,” She sobbed, “It took me too long to react. I couldn't help her.” She was shaking from head to toe.

“What…” I started to question her, but my focus was pulled back to Dover who was sobbing uncontrollably.

“Wake up! Baby, wake up!” He screamed. I pulled Navy over towards him and noticed that the body he was holding was Natasha’s and she wasn’t moving.

I let go of Navy and dropped to the floor beside him. I pressed my fingers to Natasha’s neck and couldn’t find a pulse. She was covered in blood, her neck had been ripped apart. Her arms were wrapped around her pregnant belly.

“Dover….” I placed my hand hesitantly on his shoulder, “The baby.”

“What? Oh Goddess.” Dover blubbered again, seeming to just now think about his unborn baby, “Get her out!” He screamed, holding Natasha’s head against his chest.

“Navy, go comfort the children.” I said without turning to look back at my mate.

“Knox.” She argued.

“You don’t want to see this.” I said sternly, looking into her eyes. She sighed, wiped her tears, and walked over to the children.

“Dover, you have to let me have her. We don’t have long.” I tried to speak kindly, but I knew I had to move quickly if we were going to save her baby.

I ripped Natasha from Dover’s arms, shoving him away and motioning for some of the warriors in the room to hold him back. He was fighting them, his emotions taking control of his body. I pulled Natasha across the floor and sharpened my fingers into claws, using them to slice open her belly. Performing a crude C-section, I cut through her uterus until I could find the baby. I pulled out the plump, pink body and started shaking it, praying for it to start crying.

The baby came to life suddenly, squirming around and screaming, filling its lungs with air. I cut the umbilical cord and covered Natasha’s body with a blanket.

“Here, Knox, give her to me.” Navy kept her back to Natasha’s body as she walked towards me with a small blanket. She wrapped the blanket around the newborn baby girl and soothed it gently.

“Dover, your daughter needs you.” She spoke sternly to Dover as he was wailing and thrashing in the arms of the warriors.

His head snapped towards Navy and I readied myself to defend her. Instead, his eyes softened and he stopped fighting.

“She’s okay?” He asked in a small voice.

“She’s beautiful.” Navy smiled and laid the baby in her father’s arms.

“Natasha wanted to name her Rosie.” He said, looking into the innocent face of his baby, “Rosie Natasha.”

“That’s perfect, Dover.” Navy smiled, laying her head on Dover’s shoulder as she tried to comfort him.

Then, Navy’s face scrunched up in pain and she dropped to the floor, clutching her stomach. She started to scream, fresh tears falling from her face. I was frozen in fear.

“Luna!” Someone shouted, running over towards her. That single motion seemed to unlock my feet. I lunged towards my mate.

“Navy, what’s wrong?” I shouted in her face. She glared at me and I adjusted my volume, “Is it the baby?”

“He’s coming.” She said through the pain, “He’s coming right now!” She said louder this time.

“We need to get you to the infirmary.” I said, sweeping her up in my arms and running towards the hospital.

Back through the lobby I went, glancing towards the door to see that the fight was still raging outside. I couldn’t believe all this was happening at once. I mindlinked Clay,

“The safehouse was attacked. Natasha is dead, I had to cut the baby out of her. The baby is fine. Navy just went into labor and I’m taking her to the hospital.” I said quickly.

“Alpha….” Clay’s voice was devastated.

“Just, focus on the fight.” I snapped the mindlink close.

“I need help!” I screamed, kicking open the doors to the hospital.

“Knox?” Josie ran over towards us, “What’s going on?”

“Navy is going into labor.” I said. Josie waved over a bed and I gently put Navy on it.

“Let’s get her into a room.” Josie said, ordering the nurses around.

In a matter of minutes, we were in a private room and Navy was being hooked up to monitors. Josie had me put her into a hospital gown and get situated on the bed. Her legs were put into two stirrups and Josie settled between her knees.

“Oh, yes, the baby is coming fast. We’re ready to go.” Josie said with a smile, “When you feel the need to push, give us a big one, Navy.” Josie instructed.

“Knox.” Navy looked at me with wide, fearful eyes.

“I’m right here, baby.” I grabbed her hand and held it tightly.

Navy started to scream, sitting up and pushing hard.

“Good, good! Keep going, Navy!” Josie said encouragingly.

“I can’t.” Navy gasped, dropping back down on the bed.

“Yes you can, Luna. I can see your baby’s head. Navy, soon you’ll have a baby.” Josie said, smiling up at Navy. She nodded at her kind words,

“Okay, okay.” Navy looked exhausted.

“You’ve got this baby.” I ran my hand through her hair and kissed her forehead.

“Shut. Up.” She snapped at me and Josie snorted, hiding her face behind Navy’s knee.

A few more pushes and the feeling of my hand shattering into a million pieces later, and the sounds of crying filled the room. Josie grinned as she held a baby up from between Navy’s legs.

“Knox, do you want to cut the cord?” She asked me.

“Uh huh.” I replied in a daze.

She handed me a pair of medical scissors and helped me to cut the umbilical cord. I couldn’t believe that this was the second cord I’ve cut in the last few minutes.

“Congratulations, you two have a healthy baby boy.” Josie houst the baby onto Navy’s chest as it screamed and cuddled against her breasts.

“Oh, he’s perfect.” Navy sobbed. I dropped down beside her, watching my son’s face.

“He’s amazing, Navy, you’re amazing.” I kissed her again and then kissed the top of our baby’s head.

“Our sweet baby Briggs.” Navy purred, stuffing her nose into Briggs' hair and breathing in deeply.