The Worst Outcome

In the days leading up to the final preparations for the wedding, Syanna had done her best to try to stay out of everyone's way so they could proceed without any hindrance from her. Artorias, Ezra, and Rudyard had all hunted down the monster that had attacked her and carried out a swift sentence of justice, and for that she found immense relief. Still, she was recovering from the aftermath of her ordeal. Gwynevere had told her the recovery process would be slow, and as a healer she knew this to be truth. Her body had been through a terrible ordeal, her mind equally as damaged. Nightmares plagued her sleep, even now after her attacker's death, and poor Ezra was doing all he could to comfort her through the recovery process, bless his heart. It would take time, but she would get better again—of that she was committed to.

However, there was one last lasting outcome from her rape that Syanna still had to contend with. She had been in the thick of her heat when the dire wolf had found her and taken her again and again. He'd been incessant about wanting to put his pups in her, and though she'd been on her contraceptive regiment, the monster had kept her for several days without her herbs. Returning to the castle, Gwyn had given her some silphium as quickly as she could in hopes of counteracting the demon's sperm, but they both knew the slim odds of her circumstances. It wasn't until a few days after she came back to the Hallows that Syanna realized her worst nightmares had come true. Her heat scent had faded away far too soon and abruptly, even before her season had officially ended. Still, she held out hope, praying that it was just a fluke. Then came the nausea and morning sickness, the fatigue, the grogginess and restlessness, and she knew. The first morning she was ill, she chalked it up to an upset stomach. The second day, a coincidence. On this third morning, hurling over the balcony of their bedroom, Syanna's heart gripped with the real fear of what she knew was happening to her.

Ezra had gotten up early for a patrol that morning, so Syanna simply shuffled her way back to bed, her eyes wide and vacant. Her mind was swarming with a million panicked thoughts and anxious fears, trying to piece together how the hell she was going to break this news to Ezra and how she was going to handle it. There was always the option of termination, but at this stage, with how weak her body still was, it would be extremely risky. Syanna climbed back into bed, curling up on her side facing the wall while she stared into space. Her black-gloved paws slid slowly over her lower belly, feeling her stomach churn with disgust. She felt repulsed by her own body, hating herself, hating the slate brute more for doing this to her in the first place. Now she had to find a way to break the heart of the wolf she loved. Gods, why couldn't he have just killed her when he was done with her and spare her this torment?

"Syanna & Ezra"