HEXED WOLF: Happy at Last 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 WARNING: If love between two women bothers you then get out NOW!

Velma stood frozen to the spot. Her heart was pounding in her ears and she felt a cold sweat break out on her forehead. 'Oh no.' Fear began to fill the woman but she willed herself to be calm. 'What do I say to him? Sorry wrong room? No no. That wouldn't explain why the door was closed. Maybe the wind had closed it. No that doesn't work either there aren't any windows open. Think Velma think!' But it was too late. The door opened to reveal...

"Freddy?"

"Velma?"

"What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"

"No time for that right now. Let's get out of this place, it's giving me the creeps."

"Yeah. From what I saw Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby want the same thing. Let's go." They walked quickly yet quietly down the hallway, careful not to make too much sound.

"Wait."

"What's wrong?"

"If I don't make some noise Zachariah's going to know that I didn't go to the bathroom and get suspicious. I'll go inside. You wait a could seconds the knock, all right?"

"Okay." Velma opened the door and slipped inside, careful to shut it silently. Freddy waited until he heard the click of the knob before knocking.

"Hey Velma. You all right?" The door opened, following the flushing of a toilet and running water.

"Yeah. Why don't we go and see if Jaguar's back."

"All right." They walked down the stairs and into the front room. Velma tried to be as normal as possible but the blood was still on her mind. There was too much to suggest that he had simply gotten a nosebleed in the middle of the night. It looked as if he had had blood smeared on his lips like a lion after it feeds.

When they peaked into the front room Zachariah was still sipping his drink like a noble man while Daphne, Scooby and Shaggy seemed to have gotten even more uncomfortable.

'If that's possible.' Freddy mused.

"Hey. Why don't we go?" The others lightened up at the prospect of leaving this godforsaken place.

"I'm sorry that you have to leave so soon." Zachariah rose with the others, an evil glint in his eye. One that no one caught. "Maybe we will see one another again."

"I hope not." Shaggy whispered but when Daphne jabbed him in the side he quickly changed his answer to: "Maybe."

"And remember to give Jaguar that note. Tell her it is from...a friend." Zachariah said, either not hearing or pretending not to hear Shaggy's snide comment.

"We will." Freddy called as he and the others quickly walked out of the home into the freezing storm.

"Come on guys. Let's get back to Thorn's and get out of this cold." Freddy yelled over the gale.

Silently agreeing they headed to the Mystery Machine. Immediately climbing inside Freddy started the engine and blasted the heater.

"Ahh." Shaggy sighed, leaning back against the cool wall of the van. "Like, I'm glad to be outta that weather."

"For now anyway." Daphne replied as Freddy pulled the car away from the side and drove to the McKnight residents. All of them were silent, each trying to think about what they had just heard, or in Velma's case just saw.

'Zachariah has to be behind these murders. But why were there dog hairs on the bed? He didn't have a dog.' These thoughts lulled her into deep thought, making her completely miss Freddy talking to her. That was until there was a rude shaking of her shoulder. "What?"

"We were wondering what you had found in Zachariah's bedroom."

"When did you go to his bedroom, Velma?" Shaggy asked.

"Let's just say I didn't really need to use the bathroom." Velma smiled.

"Velma! You never lie." Daphne smiled, hitting Velma's shoulder playfully. The bookworm only shrugged but was still smiling.

Freddy pulled into the driveway and shut off the car. They got out of the car and quickly walked up to the door then knocked.

"Hey guys." Thorn smiled when she finally opened the door. "Like, what are you doin' here?"

"Can we come in?"

"Sure." Thorn sidestepped and gave the shivering group entrance. They walked into the house and shucked off their jackets.

"It's only fall. It shouldn't be this cold, should it?" Daphne shivered.

"It shouldn't be but it has been really cold lately. Probably just some freak weather." Thorn shrugged. "So. What are you doin' here?"

"Jaguar asked us to meet her here."

"Jaguar?" Thorn felt her cheeks color as she remembered the night before. The Hunter's lips on her own, her strong arms wrapped around the singer's waist.

"Thorn? Are you all right?" Freddy broke through the woman's thoughts.

"Oh...uh yeah. Yeah I'm fine." She cleared her throat. "Do you guys want something to drink? Hot cocoa or somethin'?"

"Sure." The group agreed as one. Thorn nodded and walked into the kitchen. As she fixed the hot drinks another blush rose on her cheeks again. Her feelings for Jaguar had increased since that kiss. She knew that these feelings were...love. 'Stop thinking like that. You've only known her what? One maybe two days at most? You can't be in love.' She chided herself.

But the more she thought the more she wondered if it was true.

"Hey Thorn? Like, what's takin' so long?" Shaggy's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She quickly poured the hot water and mix into separate mugs, then set them on a plate and walked into the front room. She handed out each one then sat down.

"What do you need to see Jaguar for?" Thorn asked as she sipped her hot cocoa.

"We're working with her on a case." Freddy explained.

"Case?"

"Yes. There have been these, like, killings or whatever." Daphne said.

Thorn visibly choked on her drink. "Killings?" She paled.

"Yes. We don't know a whole lot just that there have been three. That's it."

"Heavy." Thorn breathed. Just then the door opened and a tired Rose, Celeb and Nathaniel came in. "Hey guys."

The three looked up. Rose gave a half smile. "Hey."

"Where's Jaguar?"

"She'll meet us at the diner. She had a few things to take care of." She leaned against the doorsill. "So. You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah. But are you sure you guys are up to it? You look beat."

"Today has been too long of a day." She groaned, stretching and popping her back. "Actually everyday is a long day, 'specially when Jag's on a case." The woman replied to no one in particular.

"You make it sound like you're cops."

"Well In a way we sorta are. But not the kind of cops you're thinkin'. We're Hunters."

"Rose." Celeb said warningly.

"Hunters?"

"Yes." Rose sat up; cracking her neck then began to talk again.

"Don't Rose."

"Oh they're going to find out. Anyway you've seen things, ghosts, werewolves, things of that sort. But those were fake. What we hunt is real."

"What do you mean real?"

"Let's just say that those stories meant to scare children aren't just stories." Rose said. "Come on. Let's get something to eat."

"Reah!"

"We can take the Mystery Machine."

~*~

Jaguar dragged herself inside the house. Her muscles felt sore and her stomach ached but she stayed true to her word. "Just wish my word didn't have to deal with movin' around too much." She mumbled as she walked up the stairs and into her room. She let out a breath and grabbed a few clothes then walked into the bathroom. Her eyes momentarily traveled to the door across from her room.

Her thoughts moved from the current pain to last nights...pleasure. Thousand of thoughts were racing through her head before her and Thorn kissed but the moment their lips connected all thoughts, all pain, all fear disappeared. There was only a feeling of warmth and something else. Something that the Hunter hadn't felt for nearly a decade and a half, some thing she hadn't let herself feel. The last time she felt it was at her birthday party.

Five winters had passed and she was a happy child just like anyone else of her kind. But unlike everyone else fate had given her a cruel birthday gift. The gift of, "Death." She whispered sadly. "And a curse." Sighing she walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

After stripping down she threw her old clothes into the hamper. For a moment she looked at herself in the mirror. Old scars marred her bronze skin, constant reminders of the battle she was fighting: both with herself and the creatures of the night. "I'm afraid, a battle I don't think I'll win." She let out a breath and turned to the shower.

She turned on the water as hot as she could stand before stepping in. The stream cascaded down her body, releasing every knot and washing away all the tension with the dirt and grime. When most of the stiffness had disappeared from her muscles she grabbed the soap and washed her hair and skin, careful of the stitches still on the belly. Jaguar ran a hand gently over them, inspecting them. "Guess I should take 'em out. I should be healed."

She pulled back the shower curtain enough to grasp the knife from her boot and pulled back before the cold air could create goose bumps on her flesh. Carefully she cut one of the wires and pulled it out. The feeling of wire rubbing against tender flesh was an unpleasant but welcomed sensation, it meant that the nerves hadn't deadened and she would be fine.

Her thoughts traveled back to the one who had stitched her up. The woman's face swam in front of the Hunter's inner eye. She remembered the care pouring from those emerald pools, the sweet kiss coming from soft lips. All of it seemed like a dream but the familiar prick of her knife brought her back down to earth. She looked down to see that her daydreaming and caused her to cut herself with her own knife. "Damn."

She finished cutting out all the stitches quickly then cleaned the newly exposed flesh before turning off the water and stepping out. Just as she stepped out and grabbed a towel to dry her hair her hearing picked up the sound of the bell chiming down the hall. "Shit." She quickly got dressed, braided her hair then rushed outside. The wind was whipping about fiercely, making Jaguar wonder if this really was some freak snap but she wasn't able to think long when the Jake's diner came into view. 'Jeez. Sometimes I hate my agility.' She growled to herself while walking inside she felt herself being taken by the level of happiness that coursed through the room like bolts of lightening, banishing her pain and energizing her body.

"Hey Jaguar! You finally made it!" Rose smiled.

"Jaguar!" Nathaniel smiled, running over to her and clinging to her leg. "You came."

"Course I did, kid." She picked him up and spun him around. The group watched as the tough Hunter slipped slowly into big sister mode, playing with Nathaniel and making him laugh.

"Wow. She's amazing." Thorn replied.

"Yeah she is." Rose added, making Thorn jump and blush.

"Uh...what I meant was,"

"What you meant was exactly what you said." The girl gave a catty grin. "And don't worry. I'm not after her."

"What," But Thorn wasn't able to finish as Jaguar walked over and sat down next to her, letting Nathaniel off her shoulders so she could take off her jacket and eat. The small boy ran to his seat in between Rose and Celeb and bounced up and down.

"Has someone fed him suger?" Jaguar asked, chuckling.

"No. I just happy to be with a lot a friends." The boy smiled broadly. It was contagious because soon everyone was smiling.

"You're a cute little boy." Daphne replied.

"Thank you."

Freddy turned to Jaguar who was talking to Rose aobut something. "What took ya so long?"

"I needed to take a shower." She sat back and looked at the group. "What're we havin'?"

"Just drinks for now." Celeb replied gruffly, falling back into his usual stance.

"What's up with you Celeb?"

"Nothing."

"Why...do I not believe you?" The Hunter chuckled.

"Sorry. Just me I guess." Celeb shrugged. The Hunter looked at her friend seriously for a moment, truly worried but she knew that she wouldn't get anything out of him until he was ready so she let it go.

"Welcome. Here are your drinks." Jake put hot cocoa down in front of everyone including Jaguar.

"I ordered for ya." Rose replied.

"Oh. Thanks."

"What would you like to eat? And I'm going to get to you two last." Jake said, looking at Shaggy and Scooby.

They put on a face of mock hurt. "What? What's wrong with surving us?"

"Nothing. It's just some of us would like to eat too." Velma laughed, followed soon by the others. "And remember to go easy, we're eating on Jaguar's tab."

"All right already." Shaggy replied.

Jake laughed then began to take everyone's order, sure enough ending with Shaggy and Scooby. They ordered whatever was left after the other's got their fill.

Rose, Jaguar and Celeb stared in bewilderment at the two, eyes asking 'Are you serious?'.

"That's how much they usually eat if they get the chance." Freddy explained. "They have bottomless pit stomachs."

"Take your word for it." Jaguar said, her voice laced with amusement.

"Okay. I'll be right back with your food." With that Jake turned and wlaked to the back of the kitchen. The table fell into discussion about this or that, talking and laughing.

Jaguar leaned slightly back in her chair to survey everyone. There was a smile on all the faces and a merriment in every eye. Even Celeb had a small smile of his face.

"Jaguar?" The Hunter turned at the sound of her name. Her golden eyes caught onto those of Thorn's and for a moment everything seemed to stop; her heart, her breath, even her brain seemed to stop working. All right it didn't go that far but it almost felt like it. Expecially when she slid her hand onto the Hunter's knee. "You're coming to the concert right?"

"Course." Jaguar replied, trying not to let her voice sound breathless. She'd never gotten this kind of reaction from someone before. What was it about the singer?

'Maybe she is what her get-up makes her out to be. A witch and she's put me under her spell.' Jaguar amused herself with the thought for amoment before letting it go and coming to the fact that she was, in fact, in love.

Rose looked out the corner of her eye to watch the interaction between Thorn and Jaguar. Only she noticed the slight twinge of pink under the golden tan of her friend's cheeks. And she was glad. Jaguar deserved to have fun and be happy. She's saved so many people's lives at the cost of her own on a countless number of times. 'I'm glad she found someone. Now to see if it won't get shattered by anything.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Another chapter down and a few more to go. What'd ya think? Good? Bad? JUST STOP WRITING NOW!!!?? Uhh **cough, blush** Sorry **clears throat** Got a little too excited.

Review and tell me what you thought of the story.

Oh and **chuckle** sorry to Eternity and everyone else for all the cliffhangers. Like I said before cliffhangers build anticipation and bring ya back for more. But I promise, no more cliffhangers.

C-ya later.