A/N: Well hellloooooo my precious little readers :) My, my it has been quite awhile hasn't it? By the looks of it... about 8 months. That is a really pitiful record. I don't have a good excuse, other than having this crazy idea that I should finish my first fic, Breaking Through, before coming back to this one... and when that ended up a dud for several months I let life get away from me. A couple of recent reviews and follows brought this story back to the forefront of my mind and so I forced myself to sit down and spend a couple of hours writing this testy little chapter. I had originally planned on Emma changing here... but for whatever reason, my muses were like.. "Nah, this is way more interesting!" So, I hope you like! :D

Anywho, here is your very first update for 2016... Happy 4th of July to my American readers!

XOXOXO

Emma stood in the center of the sparring room, glaring at Ruby who had just landed a hit against the side of her skull with a wooden staff. It was nearing dinner time, and they had been sparring all day without pause. Emma was tired, hungry and sore. The brunette looked a little better for wear, as her wolf was in check and not causing simple distractions that were turning into a liability for Emma.

"Ya know, this could all be over if you would just fucking shift, Alpha." Ruby sneered, a feral grin crossing her face as she twirled the staff and swung again, this time hitting Emma behind the knees and sending her crashing to the floor.

Emma snarled, her wolf clawing at the confines of her mind. She slammed her eyes shut tightly to stop it from breaking loose, or to keep her eyes from tearing up with the pain - she wasn't sure. A trickle of something, blood by the smell of it, ran down the side of her face from the gash that now marked her from the staff's previous blow.

She still refused to change.

"Frankly, I am getting a little tired of beating the shit out of you Em. Like, really… what is the hold up? You have to be in complete control over yourself tomorrow if you want to survive long enough to make it inside the Black Castle." She stood the staff on end and used it as a leaning post while she looked down her Alpha. "The amount of control you're wasting on keeping yourself in check is going to get you killed out there." She spared a finger from it's grip on the staff and pointed in the general direction of the Evil Queen's lair. "Just let go."

The Princess concentrated on the blood trailing slowly down the side of her face, letting the feel and the smell of it overwhelm her until the room dazed out of focus and she could no longer concentrate on the slander was being thrown at her. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion as her senses when into a sort of hyper-drive. Her hearing picked up on the sound of blood rushing somewhere, nose picked up the scent of lavender growing in the fields near the castle, her eyes hyper-focused on a speck of dust dancing in the corner of the room, her skin suction-cupped itself to the stone floor like it was trying to form a permanent bond while the taste of sweat and blood dominated her insides.

Wait. Was she on the floor?

Blinking, time started up again and she realized she was indeed staring sideways at Ruby, who stood with staff at her side, shaking her head and breathing heavily from her nose as she continued to insult and berate the wolf on the floor. Emma ignored her, suddenly acutely aware of the sensation of pain emanating from the other side of her head, fresh and raw as the first snow at the start of winter.

"Get up!" Ruby growled, a flash of yellow eyes glaring hotly into her own. "Are you spending so much time controlling your beast that you can't even defend yourself?!" The staff landed hard against Emma's bicep and she couldn't control the yelp that jumped out of her mouth as she fell fully to the floor, rolling over onto her back and gripping her arm. It hurt worse than the blows to the head and she wondered if it was broken.

This only seemed to anger her Beta further as Ruby came to stand over her body. "You're pathetic!" She spat, "Some Princess of the White Kingdom you are! I should be embarrassed to call you my Alpha!"

A hot rage shot through Emma as Ruby swung again, this time aiming for her exposed stomach, but Emma had had enough of this game. She needed to put her Beta in her place, and fast. This time, she caught the staff mid-swing, claws becoming visible from where her fingernails normally were. A guttural snarl radiating from somewhere deep inside her belly and pulled the staff and her Beta towards her, before bringing her feet up towards her stomach and catching Ruby's body with them.

"ENOUGH!" Emma barked, the dominance of it echoing off the walls of the room as she pushed Ruby's body off of her feet like she was a mere flour sack, the brunette flying across the room and landing with a crack! against the stone wall.

Dazed and confused, Ruby sat on her ass, her feet pointed outwards in a "v" as blue orbs watched Emma spring to her feet and storm towards her. Her look of alarm pleased Emma, and the blonde used her bad arm to hoist the brunette to her feet, claws digging into the soft flesh of the Beta's neck.

If Emma hadn't been so focused on her anger, she might have noted that this was the first time in the history of the Wolves that a wolf had ever taken a partial transition so far. Glowing eyes and a low growl or whine was common for any wolf, but to actually develop physical traits such as claws or the elongated teeth she was currently sporting was completely unheard of. And if she hadn't been so focused on her anger, it would've occurred to Emma that the look of alarm on Ruby's face had more to do with these new attributes rather than her power as an Alpha.

Unfortunately, it was all lost on the blonde as she stared down her Beta with menace. "I AM YOUR ALPHA. I AM THE HEIR TO THIS KINGDOM AND YOU WILL NOT SPEAK TO ME IN SUCH A MANNER AGAIN, IS THIS CLEAR?"

Ruby nodded, having no choice but to comply, the bond between them burning with the command as Emma continued to stare into frightened indigo eyes. The fear in the bond seemed to register with the Princess, and confident her command would be heeded, she dropped Ruby. Turning away, she flexed her fingers as if realizing the full extent of her actions.

Bloodied, weak from hunger and exhaustion, she should not have been capable of what she had just done. She clenched her hands into fists, sharply inhaling as she cut herself with the pointed ends of them. Curious, she flexed them open and stared at the claws that, now that she was aware of them, slowly dissipated and transformed back into fingernails. Odd. Tilting her head to one side, she contemplated the events of the last several minutes, realizing she was having trouble remembering the specifics of what had just transpired.

It was something that she would have to mull over in depth later… but for now, "Ruby Lucas. You will tell my parents that you witnessed my change. You will lie and tell them that I am in complete control over my wolf and prepared for the mission to the Black Castle. Do you understand?" Ruby whined again, obedience thrumming through their bond at the given orders. Emma turned, now fully herself once again. "And you will not mention, to anyone, what has gone on in here today. Am I clear?" A sharp nod from Ruby and another zip of compliance through the bond and the Alpha was satisfied. She turned her eyes away from the bloody mess that her best friend was, and stalked off to her chambers, leaving the brunette leaning against the wall with a bloodied neck wondering what the fuck just happened.