A/N: For Red Queen Week, the prompt of Wolf!Ruby

"You really don't have to do this." Red said, not for the first time. She looked unusually anxious, hands restlessly clenching and unclenching as her eyes darted back and forth.

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, stilling her. Regina gave her a pointed look, smiling a little in amusement. It had been a strange expression to see, at first, on the infamous Evil Queen. But not on Regina, the woman who'd been her girlfriend for these past few months already.

"I told you, I want to." Regina reassured, also not for the first time, before raising a brow. "Besides, do you really think I would do this if I didn't want to?" Even if she was on the side of the heroes now, the former Evil Queen was not someone you could just push around, after all.

Still, she worried. "Are you sure the spell will work?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "I'm not some magical novice, Red. In case you don't remember, I did cast the most powerful dark curse in history."

Undeterred, she pointed out, "So did Snow."

That shut the witch up, as she threw a glare that might've been effective on someone else. Red only threw back an impish grin, feeling her nerves relax at the familiar banter between them.

Gritting her teeth, Regina ground out, "I already checked it with Rumple, and approved it as well." Shaking her head, she muttered, "I hope you're happy, because I had to endure his stupid giggles and even stupider comments about dog mating rituals."

"What?!" The startled cry and the flush of red on those cheeks almost made up for the whole thing, Regina thought. Almost.

Chuckling, Regina added, "Belle gave him a good smack for that when she overheard." Smirking with vindictive pleasure, she noted, "I think Rumple will be worrying more about his mating rituals than ours."

At the sight of her girlfriend's joy, even if it was in someone else's misery (though if anyone deserved it, it was probably the Dark One), Red found herself smiling as well. For a moment, they basked in the comfortable silence, before Regina broke it.

"Now, the moon will be out soon, and I'd really rather we shift at the same time, don't you think?"

Red nodded, heart clenching. Her skin was itching, the wolf already eager to come out. They were really doing this.

This time, the smile on Regina's face was something softer, deeper. The potion in her hands shimmered a deep gold. It had taken months of preparation, but it was finally ready now, just in time.

Without another word, she tilted the potion back, into her mouth. There was a brief expression of distaste on her face as she swallowed, before her expression turned into one of pain. A cry escaped her lips before she could help it, and Red rushed to her side. "Regina!"

"I'm fine." The other woman bit out before Red could even ask. In a rush, she explained. "It's just the transformation working its effects." There were beads of sweat running down her forehead, and her skin had taken on a strange glowing tinge. Her dark eyes were lined with purple, like they sometimes did when Regina got drunk on too much magic.

"Transform with me, Red." Regina spoke, and she was helpless to obey.

Letting her girlfriend go, she stepped away. Her own skin tingled, and she could feel her inner wolf roaring loudly in her blood. As her eyes fell close, she allowed the wolf to take control.

Becoming the wolf had been a strange, hazy experience at first. Before she'd known what she was, she never had memory of her transformations. Slowly, as she learned to accept the wolf in her, so did the wolf accept the human in turn. As the lines blurred between her two selves, her change into the wolf was no longer such a strange, painful, act. It felt more like she was trading on set of clothes for another familiar pair.

Even as a wolf, she was still Red. She hoped the same could be said of Regina. As promised, the two of them had transformed together. In place of the regal ex-queen, there was now a sleek grey wolf with purple trimmed eyes. The moment they locked eyes with hers, she knew.

Regina!

A bark of pleasure erupted from her throat, as lips stretched into the wolfish equivalent of a grin. It was one the other returned, and that was all that needed to be said between them, before Red abruptly broke into a run. Though there was a few moments of delay, Regina soon followed, and then, they were running side by side, practically racing, as the trees whipped passed them at lightning speed. As a wolf, the forest was as easy to traverse as a flat plain, so much more second nature. The sense of belonging and peace she always felt washed over her as she ran, the giddy pleasure at being so free. But tonight, there was more.

Tonight, when she finally stopped, at the height of the hill and howled at the moon, there was someone to answer her call. Tonight, she was not alone. Wolves were pack animals, after all, and tonight, she had her mate with her, to run and to laugh and to play with. And so, she did.