Chapter 2
I Thought I Saw a Pussy Cat
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Regina woke up slowly to the sound of birds chattering. Cracking open her eyes, she took note of the time; almost ten in the morning. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept so late. "It must have had something to do with the dream," she thought to herself. It wasn't the first time the former queen had dreamt that. Ever since she was a child she had been dreaming of being a panther running wild through the jungle. The dream was always the same and never varied.
It was with that thought that Regina suddenly frowned. The dream this time had changed. Never before had she sat in wait for her mate. There was never a mate to even speak of. Confused, she scratched her head, but it was halfway through the scratch that she realized she was using her hind leg to do so. Regina froze and finally took stock of herself. Pulling her arms from beneath the pillow she was resting on, she noted with fear that where her arms should have been were instead two powerful forelegs with massive paws covered in silky black fur. She turned her head and saw the rest of her was just the same. A lithe, muscular body and a very long tail all covered in the same shiny black fur. The brightness of the sun outside allowed her enhanced eyes to notice the faint leopard spots down near her belly.
Regina yelped and frantically got to her feet to go look in the mirror across the room only to get tangled in the sheets and promptly fall to the floor with a loud WHUMP.
"So much for cats always landing on their feet." Regina growled in frustration. Carefully extracting herself from the sheets wrapped around her middle, she padded over to the mirror. She was beautiful and much bigger than she thought she was. Her fur was silky, shiny, and though short, it looked like it would be soft to the touch. Looking closely at herself, the former queen could see that her eyes were mostly green with little golden flecks. She stood in front of the mirror for a long while pacing back and forth and posing in different positions. Regina would never admit that she was vain, but almost everyone who knew her her knew that she was. Most were just smart enough to never make mention of it lest they wanted to add massive scarring to their appearance via fireballs.
A stinging sensation in her groin reminded her that not only had she slept much later than normal, but had also spent quite a long time in front of the mirror. Regina really needed to pee. She walked through the door of the ensuite bathroom and was faced with her first real dilemma; she had no way to actually use the toilet.
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She ran. Harsh breaths being forced out through her nose in tandem with each stride as her Nike's pounded along the trail. Her earbuds were blasting something by Halestorm and held in place by a ridiculous looking sweatband. Ruby didn't care. The band not only kept the sweat out of her eyes, but also kept the music in her ears. Everyone knows that earbuds don't fit perfectly.
The wolf didn't often run this particular trail as it led behind the huge and beautiful houses lined along Mifflin Street. They could be a tad intimidating to the waitress. It was as she was running behind a certain house in particular that she very nearly collided with a large black blur as it leapt across the trail and into the bushes along the other side.
Ruby came to a dead stop and peered into the brush. What she saw, and heard, made her jaw drop. It was a large black panther and it was peeing? Not only that but there were contented hums and moans coming from the panther.
"Ohmygodyesyesyesfinallyholyshit!" Ruby didn't think her eyes could get any wider or her jaw drop farther but that last string of words proved her wrong. She knew that voice.
"Holy shit! Regina?" Ruby exclaimed in a high falsetto.
The panther, who by now was trying to cover up her little bathroom excursion, stilled. The giant cat turned her head to face the interloper. Caught between extreme mortification and anger at being watched, she leapt forward and pounced upon the unsuspecting voyeur. As they fell to the ground, Regina decided to dwell upon the anger. It was easier to channel and fit her personality better, anyhow.
"Do you mind, Miss Lucas? I understand that as a wolf, you are by your very nature a pack animal, but that gives you absolutely no right to willingly bear witness to something so personal!" By the end of her diatribe, what had started as a low growl, had become much more menacing.
Ruby was very aware of the gigantic paw on her chest pinning her to the ground and even more so of the very lethal looking claws that were just shy of piercing her jugular. "I-I'm sorry, Regina," she stammered. "I wasn't intentionally watching, honest." Ruby tried a disarming smile, but it looked more like a grimace. "I was more surprised at the fact that there was a giant panther running out of your backyard and then even more surprised when I realized it was you."
"Yes. Well. If ever you find yourself in a situation like that again, show some decency and turn around at the very least." The panther huffed and released Ruby from her pin.
"I'm sorry, Regina. Really." The younger girl looked so embarrassed and her flushed cheeks gave new meaning to her name. "So, if you don't mind my asking, what happened?"
"I have no idea. I just so happened to wake up this way," Regina explained. "I don't think it was anything malicious, though. My house was still locked up tight and the only scent of magic in the air was my own." Her eyes narrowed as she appeared to be deep in thought.
"So you somehow magicked yourself into a giant fearsome predator while asleep?" Ruby was trying very hard not to laugh, but it wasn't working. Her grin was too wide and the small snorts gave her away. "That sounds more like something Emma would do." Regina may have been sitting there with a glare aimed in her direction, but the waitress could tell that she was at least a little bit amused
"Miss Lucas, if you could keep this a secret for now, I'd appreciate it."
"Sure thing," she agreed readily. "On one small condition."
"And what would that be?"
"That you call me Ruby. It is my name after all and we've been through too much to keep such distance." Ruby smiled down at her and the panther nodded her agreement.
"Very well, M-Ruby."
"Excellent! I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that the reason that we can communicate is because of my inner wolf. Like Snow, I can understand most animals. So with that in mind, you might want to try and keep away from her unless you want the whole town to know about your predicament."
Rather than agree, Regina instead smiled. Well, if one could call it a smile. Ruby shivered at the feral grin adorning the face of the powerful former queen.
"Regina? What are you planning?" the wolf timidly asked.
"Oh, nothing, dear. You just gave me some wonderful ideas." With that, the mayor started to saunter off but before getting too far, she stopped and turned her head to look at the stricken girl she left behind. "Please do remember our agreement, Ruby."
The girl watched Regina walk away until she could no longer see her and with a heavy exhalation, she put her ear buds back in and finished her run. She was going to be late for work and Granny was going to kill her.
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A/N: Thanks for all the follows and favorites! You guys are amazing. I'm sorry that this isn't very long. I'm not a natural writer so it's often difficult for me to just pump out chapters. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed!
