A Kingdom Divided

Chapter 7

Emma and Regina took turns retelling the story of how they were reunited and taken by Maleficent while the group set up camp. "So how long?" Belle asked the young women as they started to eat dinner. "What do you mean?" Regina asked. Red and Belle shared a knowing look.

"There's something going on between you two." Red spoke. Emma avoided having to answer by taking a large bite of her meal. Regina looked down at the ground, warming her hands with the campfire. "Come on. Spill." Red pressured them.

"You know we have bigger things to worry about than this at the moment, such as how we're going to find Maleficent's daughter." Emma said. "We have all day tomorrow to worry about that. Tonight we're catching up. Now, what is it you two are hiding?" Belle argued, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Regina noticed Red's nose twitch and her eyes glowed bright yellow for an instant before fading back to brown. "That's not fair, you know. Using your werewolf powers against us." The brunette pointed out. "I didn't need to use my powers to notice something was different between the two of you." Ruby said.

Regina suddenly noticed that she was practically sitting on Emma's lap. The blonde had her free arm draped casually over Regina's, and their bracelets were glowing. "Okay, you caught us." Emma relented, planting a kiss on her companion's cheek. Regina's face flushed bright red, matching the color of her enchanted accessory.

"So you're together then." Belle stated. "No." Regina cut in quickly, earning an inquisitive gaze from the young woman beside her. "I mean; we don't know what we are yet." She mumbled, fidgeting with her cloak. "Well if the fairy was right, it won't be long now." Ruby winked at Belle.

Now it was Emma and Regina's turn to ask the questions. "What do you mean?" Emma asked. "The night you two were taken back to your kingdoms, Blue told us your paths would cross again. That fate couldn't keep you two apart forever." The wolf answered.

A small smile tugged at Regina's lips, and she intertwined her fingers with Emma's. "Right now we just want to get out of Maleficent's debt and away from our families. That's the only way we can be happy."

"But enough about us. What about you two?" Emma asked the two older women. Belle blushed as Red hugged her tight, tickling her side. "Belle doesn't need a handsome prince to protect her. Now she has a sexy werewolf!"

Regina noticed the small black moon etched into the young woman's wrist. "What's that?" She asked curiously. "That's my mark. Red imprinted on me." Belle smiled as Ruby nodded proudly. "When you two were taken away we feared for our own safety. So we made a pact to protect each other."

Imprinting was a very sacred and cherished tradition among werewolves. Usually the animals would imprint on others of their kind to let the pack know that their significant other was taken, however it had become more common for werewolves to share the tradition with humans as well.

"We found a new cottage in a different village but we still have all of the belongings you left." Ruby said. "We always hoped you would find us again." Belle smiled sweetly at the young women. "Well, once this is done and over with we won't have to worry about being separated ever again." Emma said softly, resting her chin on Regina's shoulder.

After the women had gotten their full, they laid down around the slowly dying campfire. If they were to wake up at first light they needed to turn in early. Regina shivered against the rapidly cooling night air. Emma instinctively put her arms around her to help warm her up.

Regina cuddled closer to the blonde, not realizing how much she missed her until now. This was the first time in years that anyone had given her gentle physical contact. "Are you warm enough now?" Emma asked. "Yes I am. Thank you." The brunette answered. She nearly jumped as Emma placed a tender kiss on her shoulder.