HEXED WOLF: Help for the Hired Help AUTHOR: IrishTomboy@attbi.com RATING: R PAIRING: Thorn/OC, Daphne/Freddy (of course) DISCLAMIER: I own none of them except Jaguar and CĂș and anyone else that aren't part of the original Scooby-verse, though I wish I did. FEEDBACK: Welcome

The morning sun hit Daphne in the back, warming her flesh. She sighed and burrowed deeper into the strong arms that held her.

"Morning." A deep voice whispered. The heiress looked up into the warm eyes over her lover and long time friend. Fred's blonde hair was rumbled adorably and his lips were split into a gentle smile.

"Morning Freddy."

Freddy kissed her tenderly and pulled her closer. "I really don't want to get up." The man mumbled into his girlfriend's hair.

"Neither do I but," Daphne was cut off by a knock on the door.

"You've got to be kidding me." Fred groaned.

Daphne laughed at her lover's frustration. "Who is it?"

"Ms. Blake? It's Sheriff Wood. I need to talk to you and Mr. Jones and the rest of your party."

"All right. Hold on." Both grudgingly got out of bed and got dressed. Glancing back Freddy made sure that Daphne was dressed before opening the door. The forty-year-old man on the other side looked tiered and wired at the same time.

"How can we help?"

"You and the rest of the Mysteries Inc. need to come with me."

"Why?"

"There's a mystery and the Mayor and I need your help."

"A mystery?" Velma piped up, obviously excited about the prospect of another case. She, Shaggy and Scooby were dressed and ready to go.

"Yes. If you come with me then I'll tell you everything." Wood said.

"Okay. Let's go guys." Freddy said.

~*~

At the Victorian home of Mayor Cory the Mysteries Inc. gang sat around the fireplace and waited for someone to explain. It was Wood who spoke up first. The man stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"For the past few nights there has been a string of...killings."

"Killings?" Shaggy and Scooby gulped. They darted for the door but Freddy and Velma stopped them.

"Un uh, guys. You're not going to run off at this point." Velma smiled as she pulled them back. "Now Sheriff Wood. What kind of...killings do you mean? Like animals or," The woman was afraid to say the next part.

"There have been both, sad to say. Mayor Cory has told me of your expertise in solving mysteries and since we can't seem to find our other...help. We decided to enlist you."

"Who's your other help?" Daphne asked.

"That's something that we're not allowed to say." Mayor Cory said. Just then the door burst open and an exhausted but primed Jaguar stood in the doorway.

"Mayor Cory. Sorry that you weren't able to get a hold of me. I had some," She glanced over her shoulder momentarily. "Communications problems." She stepped inside, to soon be followed by Rose, Cerberus and Nodier. All four walked into the front room. The Hunter stopped short when she saw the others. "What are you guys doin' here?"

"Sheriff Wood had asked us to help with some killings that have been happening." Velma explained. Jaguar's eyes flashed to the Sheriff then back at the group.

"All right." Jaguar walked forward. "Under one condition. And I'm not sayin' this to be rude or anythin' like that. If you find anything you come right to me. Is that understood?" The group nodded nervously. Jaguar noticed this and added quickly, "I only want to know everything so I can keep it in order. That's all. Okay. Now that we have that outta the way you can get filled in," She looked pointedly at the Sheriff. "On 'some' of the details."

Wood nodded in understanding, knowing well not to cross the woman. She alone was formidable enough but with that black dog she was nothing short of deadly. He remembered the first time he met the woman, when one of his deputies had gone against her orders. First Jaguar had pinned him to the wall and snapped at him then Cerberus had come over and scared the living daylights out of the young lad. That was the last time anyone crossed her.

"Anyway. Let's get on with this." Cory replied.

Velma watched Jaguar from the corner of her eyes, noting the Hunter's stiff movement and twitchy stance.

"All right. As I've said there have been a string of killings. Three so far."

"Three?" Jaguar straitened quickly but hide the grimace that threatened to give away her weakened state.

"Yes." Wood nodded. "We tried to get a hold of you earlier but Rose said that you were out."

"Yeah. Sorry 'bout that." Jaguar growled as she thumped Rose on the ear. The smaller woman yelped and grabbed the side of her head. Wood chuckled as grabbed a manila folder from off the kitchen table and walked back into the other room. He gave the closest person, Freddy, the folder then stepped back. Freddy looked nervously at the folder. Over the years they'd done burglaries, a few kidnappings and whatnot but never a murder. But he had made a promise years back to help whoever asked for it. "The victim was a woman by the name of Elizabeth Doran. She lives by herself but is well loved. She was found near where Megan was found."

"Who's Megan?" Daphne asked.

"Another victim." Jaguar simply stated. The redhead glanced over at the blonde then back at the sheriff and seeing that she would get nothing more, sighed and looked at the folder over her boyfriend's shoulder. Inside was a picture of Elizabeth and a sheet with all her information. Elizabeth was a middle-aged woman with long blonde hair and gentle green eyes.

"Okay. You know the drill Wood. The basics." Jaguar said in a commanding, business like tone.

'She can be so uptight when it comes to a job.' Rose shook her head at her friend's routine.

Wood nodded. "Course. You all ready know that it was Elizabeth. As well as she was found just three meters away from Megan. A man by the name of Zachariah Gullihan found her and she was last seen alive not three hours before she was discovered at five in the morning." Jaguar nodded. She took the folder when Velma handed it to her. She gave a once over of the information before sliding it in her jacket and standing up.

"Okay. Rose, Cerberus and I will go look at the scene. Could you guys go and talk to this Zachariah guy?"

"Sure." Freddy said as they all stood. Jaguar could see that Shaggy and Scooby were thoroughly scared by the way the two were shaking worse then leaves in a tornado. She felt sorry for them, wishing she could help but what could she do?

"After that go to Thorn's and wait for me."

"Why Thorn's?"

"I'm livin' there. Any ways when I get back we can go out to lunch? My treat."

Instantly Shaggy and Scooby's eyes lightened up at the possibility of free food.

"Can we, like, go to Jack's?" Shaggy asked.

"Sure." Jaguar smiled.

Velma laughed and shook her head. "You're going to regret that offer Jaguar."

"What do you mean?" Jaguar gave a confused look.

"You'll see. Come on guys. Let's go and try to solve this mystery."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~ So??? What ya think? I know, a little more boring then the usual but some times you gotta go down before going back up...that made no sense so ignore that statement. Any who, review as soon as possible. Thanks. C-ya later.