Hey, everyone! It's been a little while since the last chapter, so here's the next one! Enjoy!
"Oh… damn," Ruby breathed, dropping her rag back to the counter and beginning to pace. "That… that's not good."
"What are you muttering about now, girl?" Granny grumbled as she eyed her granddaughter.
"The cloak might not be a good enough solution," the waitress responded, turning to her grandmother anxiously.
Granny cocked her head and waited for an explanation.
"The cloak has failed before, Granny," Ruby explained. "Not while it's being worn, of course, but the temptation to remove it is so strong at Wolf's Time that it might not be enough to contain Regina."
"Nonsense," Granny snorted. "Of course it'll contain her. It did you."
"But there's still the possibility she'll feel the pull to remove it," Ruby pointed out, not stopping her movement. "She'll still feel the itching, the craving, the need to run free. If she does, then with her inexperience, there's a chance she'll take off the cloak. I did!"
"You were a pup!" Granny pointed out, though there was a hint of worry creeping onto her face as she contemplated this. "You were young and didn't like being caged."
"And how is Regina any different?" the red-clad woman demanded. This shocked several of the patrons around as they wouldn't have expected Ruby to defend their former queen so adamantly. "Granny, we don't even know her backstory or much about her outside of rumor. She's still new to the wolf inside of her, which doesn't make her any different than me."
This posed an interesting situation. None of them knew how Regina had come into control of her magic, they just knew that Rumplestiltskin had something to do with it. If she had struggled with it in the beginning, then struggling with a werewolf would make sense. Granny huffed uncertainly at her granddaughter's words, realizing that Ruby had a very good point.
Seeing her grandmother coming around, Ruby murmured, "I'm just… worried. I was hoping this could, you know, die with me. If Regina breaks out and attacks someone, there's a large chance they'll die. If they somehow, by slim possibility, live… Regina will have changed someone. She'll have done the very thing I was trying so hard to prevent."
Granny rolled her eyes, finally putting down her spoon and moving to Ruby's side. She knew the wolf was something Ruby had always struggled with containing, in the Forest as Red and once the curse broke as Ruby. Her little pup was always terrified of hurting someone, of passing on their Curse without permission. She herself knew it was hard, but Granny also knew that Ruby was strong.
"Ruby, the possibility of the wolf being passed on to someone else may worry you, but don't get in over your head. Take this one step at a time. Emma and Marco are going to be staked outside of her house tonight and tomorrow night to be sure there are no mishaps. So settle down; they'll let us know if there's any trouble."
Ruby nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okay," she whispered. "Okay. Thanks, Granny."
The old woman just gave a snort and ordered, "Back to work. There are customers waiting."
Ruby simply smiled and went back to her job. While her anxiety continued to boil about Regina's chances of breaking out of her house, Ruby also wondered what it would be like to see the imposing woman as a wolf. Regina was a natural born leader, so would her wolf also be as large and intimidating as the former mayor was as a human? Would her wolf try to fight Ruby's for dominance of a pack?
A small flutter of excitement beat against Ruby's chest at the thought. Ordinary wolves submitted to her unconditionally because of the added supernatural element to her wolf; she had never been in an actual battle with a wolf before. The thought of having an actual fight in the form made her grin slightly. Maybe Regina wouldn't be opposed to the idea once everyone's magic switched back.
Saving the thought for another time, Ruby focused on her work. The roiling in her stomach would not do her anxiety any good if she kept thinking about it.
…
Emma sighed as she finally arrived back at the loft. Hanging her jacket on the peg, she was met with curious stares from the three other inhabitants. Snow and David looked worried as their eyes checked her over for any visible wounds, while Henry simply held a curious expression. Moving to the kitchen counter, Emma took her seat and turned to them expectantly, knowing questions were bound to come.
"You didn't come in last night," Snow stated, beginning the conversation. "Is everything okay?"
Emma shrugged and grabbed the bowl of cereal Henry poured her. "Yeah, everything's alright," she responded. "Just spent the night at Regina's place." Just as she knew it would, this caught the attention of the other three.
"You spent the night with my mom?" Henry asked in disbelief.
"Mhm." Emma took a bite of her meal and explained, "Wanted to make sure she didn't break out of the basement and ravage the whole town."
"She got Gold's power?" David demanded, his face already showing signs of mistrust and judgment.
Shaking her head, Emma shut him down quickly. "No, she got Ruby's. She locked herself in her basement in an effort to avoid attacking anyone. Thankfully, it worked. She didn't break out last night. Ruby and I stayed up all night keeping watch."
"Ruby was there with you?" Snow sounded relieved; she had probably been worried that Emma had gone alone. It wouldn't be the first time her daughter walked into a dangerous situation alone.
"Along with Granny and Marco," Emma affirmed. "We all kept watch."
There was a moment of silence as everyone digested the information before Henry piped up again. "So, how is she taking the wolf thing? Did you get to see her transform?"
"No, no transforming, I'm afraid," the blonde chuckled. "She actually took it surprisingly well. Though, it has made her hair longer and caused a few wardrobe changes."
"Wardrobe changes?" David inquired curiously, Snow cocking her head.
Emma tapped her chin a moment before settling on something safe. "You know how Ruby wore those revealing clothes before the curse broke?" At her parents' nod, Emma continued, "Well, when we found her, Regina was half-naked." Snow's expression morphed into a perplexed one as David's jaw dropped and Henry shrugged, having seen his mother in such a state several times when he was younger. "Yeah, we were all surprised too. But when she came down from her shower, instead of her usual button-up or sweater and jacket, she wore a tank top and, get this, a miniskirt."
"Regina?" Snow gasped, green eyes widening as she tried to imagine it.
"The one and only." Emma nodded.
"Well, maybe there's an upside to this situation after all," David snorted. "With any luck, that wolf will release some of Regina's wild side and get her to loosen up some."
Snow and Emma shared a quick glance, wondering what a 'loosened up' Regina would be like. After a moment, they dissolved into laughter at the hilarity of the thought. "We can only dream," Emma chortled as Snow and David began getting ready to head to work.
…
As the sun began its descent upon Storybrooke, anyone outside on the streets hurried to do whatever was needed before the light of day gave way to the shadows of nighttime. Granny closed the diner early, knowing no one would come by with the possibility of Regina stalking through the streets. She and Ruby headed into the B&B, cleaning up and going about their usual routine. As they did, Granny noticed her granddaughter shooting frequent glances to the windows, but decided not to say anything about it.
Emma bade goodbye to Henry, leaving him in Snow and David's care as she headed for Regina's place. Marco would meet her there once he closed up his shop and they would remain outside of the house for the entire night. To avoid the mishap of the previous night, they settled on switching shifts every three hours.
Any other time, Emma would love a good stakeout, but since this was Regina in wolf form they were looking out for, the adrenaline in her blood heightened. She still carried Granny and Ruby's words from the previous night about Regina's wolf coming after her. That warranted being on high alert during her shift. Taking off for the manor on Mifflin Street, the sheriff just hoped she didn't get a reason to use her gun; it would destroy Henry if he knew she had killed Regina.
Meanwhile, Regina watched the sun's path with an increasing feeling of unease. The itching below her skin had already begun to heighten and the impulse to run for the woods beat strongly in her mind. She wanted nothing more than to rip the cloak from her body and sprint as far and as fast as her legs would take her.
If this had been her regular magic, Regina wouldn't have paid the restlessness any mind. She had trained herself proficiently in her own magic and knew little tricks to ignoring the more destructive thoughts that came to mind. Unfortunately, this was not her magic. The wolf urged her to remove the cloak, to run free, to stalk the streets looking for prey.
The lower the sun fell, the more intense the feeling grew. Regina knew she needed to resist it, both for her reputation and for the safety of everyone else, but it was difficult. Her skin felt like it was burning and freezing at once.
At last, as the moon rose over the trees of the city, Regina finally succumbed to the urges of the wolf and allowed the cloak to slip from her shoulders. Just like the night before, the need to remove the rest of her clothing presented itself and she stripped until she was in nothing but her underwear. Shaking and shrieking, Regina resisted the instinct to claw at her own skin until the change had finally taken over her.
The large pitch black wolf stood and shook herself, lifting onto her enormous paws, powerful muscles flexing under her fur. Everything was much smaller around her, but this didn't matter. Catching sight of the moon through the windows, she threw back her mighty head and released a fearsome howl.
I promise there will be more Red Queen next time!
Remember, sneak peeks and updates are available on my tumblr, gothalbinoangel-fanfiction. Where you can also ask questions. I just opened up commissions, too!