I know I have another ongoing story but this one was nagging at me and demanding my attention so I decided I could try to write both.
The timeline of this story follows canon closely up until Pan switching bodies with Henry then ventures off to another universe of its own where it picks up several months after Neverland.
Because Regina sacrificed herself to deactivate the trigger and ultimately save Storybrooke, and because she'd helped tremendously in Neverland, it granted her a lighter sentence of house arrest for a year and Storybrooke's Magic Advisor. She was granted a work furlough to leave her home as long as it's for work and she's accompanied by Emma or an approved Deputy. Everyone's crimes, including Regina's, before the curse have been pardoned because they'd realized there were a lot of people that along with Regina, should be in prison. However, Regina had committed a lot of crimes after the curse and thus that meant she had to atone. She's not the only one though.
This story is purely SQ with a dash of Fairy Queen. It's also a Red Beauty fic but if you're reading it mainly for that, you'll probably be disappointed.
Like my other story (and my attitude) this fic is anti-Rumple/anti-Rumbelle and anti-Hook/anti-CS. I don't know if you should be forewarned of anything else other than the fact I almost titled this fic "A Slightly Better Twilight" so...there's that.
Happy reading.
The full moon was eclipsed by nearly white clouds but present nonetheless. The large white circle was made evident by the howling wolves in the distance.
"Where's Ruby?" Emma asked Granny.
Granny nodded to the gnawed off wooden stake that the "indestructible" leash had been attached too. She sighed, cursing herself for buying a cheap wolf-ward from a Level A warlock.
"Where's her coat?" Emma inquired as she crouched down to inspect the simple leash. "And seriously, Granny? A two-year-old could break through this."
"Hey, that's what I told Ruby but she insisted we take Liopen's word for it." She kicked what was left of the stake and knocked it over into the grass. "Her coat was stolen by someone. She had it locked in her room and-" Another howl interrupted her briefly. "We still haven't found it."
Emma cursed silently as she stood back up and shook her head at the mess of the wolf-ward. "Why didn't you call me? Report a theft?"
"David said he'd look into it personally since you were busy."
"David isn't legendary for being able to find things other than my mom."
Again, Granny agreed with the blonde but simply decided now wasn't the time to tell the poor young woman her father was kind of an idiot and only useful in battle with a sword.
"Do you know where she is?" The Sheriff asked just before another long, insufferable howl pierced the air around them.
Granny shook her head. "I can try to locate her but in this form, I won't be as quick."
"You can shift still?"
Granny cocked her head slightly to the left, feeling a little insulted. "Of course I can. I'm just capable of controlling my wolf and I haven't found use for it in twenty-eight years." Life in Storybrooke was peaceful. There were no wolf-hunters, vampires, and other creature enemies of the wolf out to get her and her pack, not that there were many of them left at this point.
"Then why can't Ruby?" Emma asked out of pure curiosity and confusion. She'd watched Twilight and those wolves could shift at will. She chalked that up to Hollywood since Ruby seemed to suffer from not being able to control her wolf.
"There are two reasons," Granny paused, staring at Emma for a moment. Her dark green eyes looked thoughtful as she tried to decide if Emma was important enough to Ruby to know the secrets of her past.
"Ruby wasn't born a wolf." Granny admitted with reluctance. "I'm sure she wouldn't want you to know that. Shifters are legendarily known for their attitude towards naturals and artificials. In this case, Naturals are those born with their wolf, and as you grow, like potty-training or walking and other things you learn to do to control your body, you learn to control your wolf and your shifting. It becomes natural to you. Artificials are anyone that was born human or another creature and have been bitten or marked by a wolf."
Emma nodded, not sure how she should respond.
"Ruby's family was attacked by her mother. When my daughter had come to in her anthropoid form, she'd realized she'd killed a mother and father protecting their newborn and that she'd just barely nicked the baby when started to form back. My daughter carried her home to me despite being sick and tired and hungry. It wasn't until the next full-moon that we'd realized she'd been turned."
"Why did your daughter kill Ruby's biological parents?" Emma wondered if the question was personal or perhaps unwarranted and maybe, definitely, they had more pressing issues but she wanted to know.
"Revenge. Ruby's biological parents were hunters and decreased the werewolf population in the Enchanted Forest significantly. If it weren't for that deal Graham and The Evil Queen struck after he agreed to off your mother, then all the wolves would have been extinct."
They were walking now.
Emma had started to ask about Graham agreeing to kill her mother but decided that was a conversation for another time. "Is it possible for an artificial to be able to control their wolf?"
"Yes," Granny nodded as she led Emma away from her beetle and towards the northern entrance of the forest. "It's extremely difficult and very expensive. Or, it was. I doubt there is a practitioner of magic other than the Dark One that can perform the spell in this land. One must enchant an object of sentimental value that can be worn by the shifter and can withstand the discarding of clothes just as the wolf takes over."
Another wolf howled in the distance yet it was close enough to startle Emma nearly ten feet off the ground. She was thankful her cheeks were already red from the cold, easily disguising her embarrassment.
"Usually a necklace is worn." Granny continued to explain if only to keep up conversation at this point. As they advanced into the forest, Ruby's scent grew stronger. She could sense her granddaughter's wolf. It would be far easier once she transformed into wolf form. "The chain of the necklace would be long enough to fit around the wolf's neck so that when the transformation was complete, it wasn't ripped off like clothes or a bracelet."
Emma took all this information in as they ventured further into the woods. Her phone had been vibrating wildly in her pocket and she suspected it was Mary Margaret. If it was important, the cheap cellphone she'd purchased for herself and whatever deputy was working that connected directly to the sheriff's office, would begin ringing loudly.
Granny stopped suddenly, holding a hand in the air to still Emma though the sheriff still awkwardly stumbled into her from not paying attention. "I sense something...someone."
"Another wolf?" Emma pulled her gun from her holster, immediately alarmed and looking around the dark forest. Her flashlight didn't provide much light but she could at least see five feet ahead of her.
"No," Granny quickly moved away from Emma. "I'm sorry about this, girlie." Suddenly there was a tearing sound and Granny fell to her knees as the last of her clothes fell to shreds on the ground. Just before thick follicles of hair eclipsed her skin, Emma could clearly see the elder's skin and more importantly and disturbing; her breasts.
Emma wanted to turn away but the transformation was...mesmerizing.
Granny's wolf was dark grey with a stripe of white hair from the edge of her skull her to her tail, which was completely white. Her lemon yellow eyes narrowed slightly as she took in the ruins of her clothing. She shook her head and Emma could imagine Granny shaming herself for ruining such a good outfit.
There was a howl in the distance and Emma didn't know it yet, but Ruby's wolf sensed another wolf in the forest. Granny's wolf.