"I am worried," admitted Kenya Adaeze, as the werepanthress moved a step closer to her werewolf boyfriend. "Perhaps you are right that my parents and sister will be able to hide easier in New York within a city of millions, but what about those of us here in Moon Lake, like my aunt and uncle?"
"I don't know," conceded Ben Twist, as he reached out to put a furry arm around his feline lover. "Yet we should try to look at this positively."
"How?" wondered werewolf Alex Ramsey, standing next to his lupine boyfriend Nate Anderson.
"Well, for one thing, the vote to go ahead with the reveal was 5-4, meaning this is a difficult subject for even the Town Council to discuss," said Ben. "The plan, once one is created and implemented, will only reveal that weres exist, not where we are. The council isn't scheduled to meet again until Tuesday but the way I see it, they're bound to have gotten plenty of feedback on the subject by then. Considering the monumental job ahead of them, they'll hopefully move cautiously to form whatever the plan is. This is certainly something you don't want to rush," to which everyone present nodded in agreement.
"My point," Ben continued, "is that we could still be weeks, maybe even months, away from there even being a plan, provided the Town Council can come up with one everyone agrees on. And even once they actually do have a plan, how long before they put it into motion?"
"So, basically we could just be living on borrowed time, so to speak," commented Nate.
"I prefer to think of it more as a grace period before whatever everyone might be worried about happens," replied Ben.
"Like tracking a hurricane," said Alex. "You know the storm is out there, but it hasn't arrived yet."
"Yeah. But with some of the stuff that's happened around here lately, and that wererat in Seattle*, can you blame the council for wanting to get a jump on this before something else exposes weres? Especially if it's something bad that doesn't cast us in a favorable light?" asked Ben.
"In hindsight, maybe it wasn't a good idea to let all those horror movies paint us in a bad light to add to the myth and make people think we don't exist," said Alex.
"Maybe. But then I wouldn't have longed to be a werewolf, let alone become one and have you," replied Nate, as he kissed his boyfriend.
"I think the point my werewolf is trying to make is that the problem did not occur overnight and it will not be resolved in the same time frame," realized Kenya, while taking Ben's paw in hers.
"True," the three lupines agreed.
"So, what do we do now?" asked Alex.
"Well, I for one intend to spend time with the lady I love," said Ben. "I'll see you gentlemen tomorrow."
"What about the three of us staying together so our parents wouldn't worry?" asked Nate.
"I think weres in general are safe. It's the people who are for the reveal that might be in any danger right now. As long as we keep to ourselves and stay away from them, we should be okay," thought Ben. "Besides, Kenya walked all the way here to be with me, and I certainly want to spend some time with her."
"I do not want to get you in any trouble with your mothers," said Kenya.
"I appreciate the thought my love, but after such a long day you're the one I want to be with right now. Besides, Nate and Alex have each other and they won't rat me out, will you boys?"
"No," said Alex.
"Just be safe," added Nate.
"We will," promised Ben, before walking off with Kenya.
"He does love her," said Alex, once the two of them were alone.
"And she him. You'd have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to notice," agreed Nate.
The young werewolves in love were silent as they walked paw in paw to the halfway point up the hill between the Ramsey and Anderson homes.
There they stood, each with his arm around the other as they stared out into the night.
"Would you do it?" Nate finally asked.
"Do what?" Alex asked in return.
"Go furry around the clock, especially in public, if you had the chance."
"If I could do so without any repercussions or fears of what others might think of me or my family and the two of us, let alone were society, maybe," admitted Alex.
"Maybe?" said Nate in disbelief. "Being a werewolf is what I've dreamed of my whole life, and now that I am one..."
"So you would?"
"In a heart beat, provided public reaction to the reveal went in our favor. Maybe it's different for naturally born weres compared to were inductees but the way I see it, why reveal the secret and then stay hidden?"
"Well, there is that," conceded Alex. "But there's too much at stake here. Too many variables to take into account. As much as I want it to be a success, I'm afraid it could all blow up in our faces, then we'd have to hide even more than we already are."
"I can see that. But to live free. To live as who we truly are..."
"Who I am is a homosexual male in love with another man. There are some parts of Society barely tolerating that as it is. To add revealing our fursonas into the mix..."
"I know," agreed Nate, leaning against Alex lovingly.
The two remained silent for awhile, then Nate asked, "You don't think this will affect our future plans, do you?"
"I hope not!" was Alex's instant reply. "Even though we still haven't figured out who should propose to who, let alone who takes who's name, I still want to spend the rest of my life with the man I love."
"And I you," said Nate, before they kissed.
When their lupine muzzles parted, Alex said, "You know, there's still Julie Stovall's idea that we both hyphenate, each taking the other's name."
Nate readily agreed. "After all, regardless of who's involved, I always thought marriage should be an equal partnership."
"Then that just leaves us with who asks who."
The two werewolves looked at each other as a smile crossed their respective muzzles.
Then suddenly, each dropped to one knee and said in unison, "Will you marry me?"
Neither hesitated to answer "YES!" (*2)
Then both werewolves howled in joy as they lovingly embraced.
When the couple finished howling they looked at each other, their moist nose tips touching.
"The first viable day after graduation Mister Ramsey-Anderson," said Nate.
"Agreed, Mister Anderson-Ramsey," replied Alex, before they kissed again.
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*Yvette Smith and Dymixious Drake in Moon Lake, and Lionel Ulysses there in Moon Lake, Tad.
*2.) SURPRISE! My lady, her brother, and his boyfriend all agreed it was about time considering how Nate and Alex feel about each other. Obviously it will still be quite awhile before the actual marriage, regardless of how the were reveal plot line turns out. But who knows how that possible event might affect other things and relationships?—tmw.