If I Were Allowed To Love You

Seventeen

I'm updating twice today, so don't skip Sixteen!

Seven Years Later

Running. It was freeing. Running always allowed the mind to be set free. Though it had become dangerous for wolves to run around, they were quicker than the average car, and certainly quicker than the average human. Anyone who dared tried to attack them would never catch them. They were too fast.

Theo gripped another rogue by the teeth and dragged him away to the forest. Ryan stood naked in the center with other men and women by his side. The stared down at the dead rogue as Theo shifted. He crossed his muscular arms and stared down at the beast with the rest of the guild. "I caught him about to prance on Layla's newest pup."

"Good work, Theo," Mark nodded as he looked up at Ryan. "What should we do, Alpha?"

In seven years, plenty had changed for the werewolf community. A year after Melissa left to join the circus, werewolves were the next mythological creature to come out. With so many having already come out, it wasn't that big of a surprise for allies. But those who still feared the creatures grew a stronger hatred to the werewolves.

Felicity Green, a famous activist for mythological creatures, was the first to come out. She explained to the rest of the world their code of 'If their eyes are yellow, they are a friend of a fellow; if their eyes are red, you're going to be dead' philosophy. There were still average wolves out in the world, but the only werewolves with red eyes were the rogues who could never transform into humans again. She promised that werewolves were protectors who made sure to keep the humans and all other mythological creatures safe.

Unfortunately, due to biases, those who heard that werewolves killed tended to rally against them. They formed their own group of werewolf hunters, set on eliminating all mythical creatures in the world. A lot of the mythical creatures had died, but no one had given up hope yet.

With his mate gone, Ryan decided he wanted to do what he could to help his werewolves and other mythical siblings. He created a guild of werewolves that were sole protectors. It was their job to help keep mythical creatures safe, something only the mythical creatures knew about. Human allies did what they could to fight against humans who wanted them gone, as there were more who accepted than those who didn't. Even if the hunters believed they were doing good for their community, everyone knew they weren't. Mythical creatures never did anything bad to humanity, at least nothing worse than what any human could do to their own kind.

Other mythical creatures did join the guild, though it was primarily a werewolf's game. It was nothing against the other creatures in any way, merely that werewolves were a stronger breed whose strength would always be more than the average human's. But with the mythical creatures wanting to protect their kind and live in a peaceful world where they could coincide with humans, they were allowed to join and fight with their werewolf brothers, sisters, and emmers alike.

With Ryan having started the first guild, he was known as the Alpha. He had no higher stance compared to anyone else in the mythical community, but he was a respected leader. He was in charge of his home community's guild, and whenever someone recognized him as the founder of the guild, they bowed their head in respect and called him 'Alpha'.

"Take it where the rogues belong. We don't need to worry about any of them being around here," he demanded.

Everyone quickly began to drag the rogue away as Ryan and Theo shifted and ran back home. The moment they shifted back, Theo tossed a pair of basketball shorts to his brother and asked, "Are the hunters still watching us?"

"Yes," Ryan stated. "They have been for a while." Shutting the curtain, he added, "If they see us killing our own kind, they're going to use it as propaganda on why we all need to be put down."

"I don't understand why humans are so afraid of us? We've been living peacefully with them this whole time, so it's not like we've come out just to kill people."

"They're afraid that there's going to be a mass extinction of humans. Just because there is a very likely chance that mythological creatures will outnumber humans with all those that are coming out, that doesn't mean we're going to be a problem and try to kill humans. If anything, we're more likely to be killed by them. And those of us who are dangerous are no more dangerous than any human could be. We're all equal, but hunters don't seem to understand that."

Theo sighed as he slumped onto the couch. "I feel so bad for mom. She's been getting death threats lately. It's horrible."

Hanging his head, Ryan exhaled. "She's strong. No matter what, she still has her loyal fans, and people are still allowing her to work and sing for them. Her mere presence leaves people with chills." He smirked. "The good kind, of course. Even through all the backlash, she is still belting out high notes and bringing people to tears."

"When is she supposed to be coming home again?"

"Check her email."

Walking upstairs to his room, Ryan went through the day as he did every other day of his life. Contrary to popular belief, it was possible for a werewolf to live without their mate. It merely meant that he would not be able to fall in love with anyone else. He could function just as though it were any other day.

Some days were more of a challenge than others. Though it was possible to survive without his mate, he wished he would have been able to have more time with her. Not once did he ever wish he never met her. He was glad he was able to meet Melissa, though he wished he could have proved how much he loved her. Wished he could have soothed her worries about whether or not she should be with him. He wished he could have proved his worth to her, showed her that he would never leave her and always love her and her alone. He wished for more time to spend with her.

If anything positive came out of her leaving, he knew it was the creation of the guild. He wanted to protect his family and community. Without a mate, he had the drive to ease his mind of the pain of her leaving and place the time he would have spent with her into the guild. He now was able to protect everyone.

As he walked downstairs, dressed in clean clothes for work, he popped into the kitchen to say goodbye to Theo. Noticing him stare at the screen incredulously, Ryan hurried over to his side. "What happened?"

"I...I got an email from Melissa."

His heart pounded. Once. Twice. Then stopped. He never thought he would hear from her again.

He did know that she kept in vague touch with Theo, as they chatted online occasionally. He knew her show at the circus was a major success, prompting her to move on to a different life than anyone ever expected. They tended to comment on one another's pictures online, as it was all she had time for compared to her first year gone when they would chat online all the time. With each of their lives growing busier by the day, it became harder and harder to stay in touch.

"A direct email? Not from the circus?" Ryan questioned as he began to make a sandwich to take to lunch with him.

Theo quickly shook his head. "No- Well, it is about the circus, but it's apparently going to be in Delmont."

"That's twenty minutes from here," Ryan said as he spread honey mustard across his bread. Stopping short, he gasped. "That's twenty minutes from here."

"Yeah. She's wanting us to come."

"Us?"

"She said 'you and Ryan.' She wants us to see her show in person."

Leaning against the counter, Ryan smiled to himself. "I can't believe she's back."

"Apparently it's her last show before they're taking the season off. We'll have to invite her over for dinner so you can finally kiss her cheek," Theo exclaimed. "It's finally happening. This Sunday, Melissa is coming home. And you," he smirked, "are about to get your mate back."

Ryan couldn't wait for Sunday. After seven long years, Melissa was finally coming home. He had every intention to welcome her back with open arms. And with the world knowing of werewolves, he planned to tell her he was one. He planned to properly explain mates to her, and he was going to tell her the truth. He was not going to let her slip away again.

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