Ok, so this chapter is a bit shorter. Really setting up the next chapters. Thank you for the reviews and views thus far and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3

Shaggy stretched, careful not to disturb the brown, black, and medical bandage blob at the foot of the bed. It had been a good night, all things considered. Heck, not matter which way you sliced it, it had been a good night!

As Shaggy disentangled himself from the sheets, he rose quietly. Scoob had a late night too, so it would probably be best to let the dog get a few more winks. As Shaggy stole out of the room, he heard the chaos beginning below. Ah well, maybe today would be a good day to try volleyball with the girls.

Bounding down the stairs three, sometimes four at a time, Shaggy had to be careful not to trip over several small women who giggled as he moved past. He almost lost his balance once as Phanty appeared from beneath a floorboard, but managed to catch a step further down.

"Where's the fire, Coach?" The blue phantom giggled after his running form.

"You've seen this house shake when they really get going, Phanty." He shouted back. Continuing on his way, Shaggy soon found himself in the dining room. Miss Grimwood was at the head of the table, one arm draped over the arm of the chair with Thing rubbing her hand while the other elbow was on the other arm, her forehead resting on her palm.

The room suddenly became still and quiet as Shaggy strode in. Miss Grimwood looked up and smiled at the lanky, yet powerful looking man. He was certainly not the scared teen he had been during his previous tenure as the physical instructor for her. He now had…almost a regal bearing. It suited him, she felt. And as he had been good on wearing the girls out with his workouts over the past few days, she came to appreciate him even more. Of course he always had a special place in her heart for how gallantly he had defended the girls during his first visit and cared for them, even if he had been terrified.

Offering her a toothy smile, Shaggy squared his shoulders. He took a deep breath, preparing to bellow through the rest of the house.

"Ladies!" Suddenly each and every student was lined up before him. Phanty and Elsa even managed to fall in. Shaggy offered them a steel eyes look, carefully surveying those lined up before him. He almost looked like a general reviewing his troops. Just as they began to falter under his glare, his eyes softened.

"How would you all like to try your hand at volleyball?"

His suggestion was followed by a rousing cheer which shook the rest of the occupants of the house into wakefulness, followed by the girls pouring from the front door on their way to the court.

Shaggy went over to her side as Miss Grimwood stood up. He bent down to hug her.

"Thank you."

Before she could respond, he was out the door.

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Winnie yawned as she strolled into the dining room. She quickly took stock of the occupants before going to sit near Tanis. Phanty and Elsa were sitting near the middle of the table, devouring their own food. Tanis was near one end with an open seat next to her. Odd, she didn't see Sibella anywhere. It was strange for the Vampire not to beat everyone down here. Of course that is what typically happened when you didn't need sleep. Maybe she had ended up having a really good night last night. Winnie grinned at this thought. She would need to ask Coach about that.

As Winnie loaded her plate down, she caught sight of the blond man sitting down at the other end of the table. He still looked uncomfortable, but she had to give him credit for not running away screaming yet. Maybe there was more to this man than she had originally thought. Then again, after how he had treated Coach, who was supposed to be a friend, maybe not.

Grimacing over this last thought, Winnie dropped her plate loudly before her. As everyone's eyes turned to her, Tanis spoke up.

"You'll have to forgive Winnie. Always the werewolf." She smiled around. Soon everyone had gone back to their own plates and thoughts. Winnie let out a huff.

"Why do you always do that?"

Tanis shook her head, staring back. "Why me? Why do you always have to act so rude?"

"I was…" Winnie trailed off. The blond man was standing and moving their direction. He was carrying his sparsely covered plate with him. He walked hesitantly, not even raising his eyes as he moved toward them before settling into a seat between Elsa and Tanis.

"H-Hi. I'm Fred and-"

Instantly and before he could go on, all four ladies picked up their stuff and moved to the other end of the table in unison. Winnie was the loudest, almost guffawing at this.

"Good morning Mr. Jones."

Miss Grimwood had come into the room from the kitchen as she heard the ruckus. She offered a glare at her old students, almost a disappointed look. Tanis and Phanty had the wherewithal to look down, Elsa not even bringing her eyes to look at her mentor.

Winnie, however, offered no shame. She glared straight back at her teacher and dug into her food.

Fred, looking dejected, offered a hollow hello to Miss Grimwood in return, slumping his shoulders.

After a few minutes, where only their utensils, chewing, and Winnie's occasional snorts, there was a sigh. Miss Grimwood turned to leave the room. As she did, Tanis slumped. She stood up with her plate. As she did, she felt a hand on her arm and looked back to see Winnie. There was a bit of confusion in her eyes.

"Well Coach forgave him. Maybe we should try to get to know him at least?" Tanis whispered at her girlfriend. As she said this, Phanty and Elsa perked up. Deciding it was best not to come between the two lovers, they picked up their own plates and moved to the other side of the table, but nearer Fred.

Tanis gently pulled away from Winnie to move toward Fred.

"Good morning Mr. Jones." She offered with her gentle smile.

"Fred, please. Mr. Jones is my dad." Fred offered, trying to lighten the mood.

Tanis smiled and took a seat beside him. "Nice to meet you Mr…Fred. Thank you for coming all this way to bring Scooby to see us."

"It was what Scooby wanted and he always was the best pal any of us could have asked for." Fred stopped, not sure of what else to say. So Tanis stepped in.

"Fred, could you tell us about Coach? We only know…well, part of his life. But we don't really know about his adventures with you and the…gang?" she said the last word, unsure if it was the right one. Fred let out a small laugh.

"I would love to. It all started long ago when…" As Fred began his story, Elsa and Phanty moved closer and Tanis leaned in. Seeing the smile in Fred's face, Winnie couldn't help but relax herself. She knew there would be some good stuff coming now. Pity Sibella wasn't around, she would probably love getting all this dirt on Coach.

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Shaggy was busy cleaning up a mess. The girls had taken to volleyball…well, ok, there wasn't really a good metaphor for how poorly they had taken to volleyball. They were terrible. But based on all the laughter, at least they had fund. Of course now he was busy picking up pieces of balls, nets, posts, and even his shirt which somehow got burnt off in the process. He figured that had something to do with matches who had been lounging dangerously nearby.

As Shaggy made one last pass of the space, he saw a dragon tail disappear into the woods. Yep, definitely Matches who had caused his shirtless condition. But it was better than actually burning him, so Shaggy would take it. He smiled as he turned to head back toward the mansion.

As he neared the door, he knew something didn't feel right, but he wasn't sure. Something smelled…off. Eh, it was probably nothing. He was just smelling the singed bits left of his shirt.

Approaching the door, he was met by outrageous laughter. It made him smile. This place could use some laughter. The ladies especially after all he had unloaded on them last night. He walked up the steps and stepped into the dining hall.

"Then Shaggy, well he…"Fred trailed off as the subject of the story entered the room. Fred offered him a sheepish grin and the rest of the rooms occupants turned to see the shirtless man standing there staring.

"Well I never…"

"Oh my."

"No Wonder she is interested."

Along with some wolf whistles from the girls, this last comment was met by a smack from Winnie as she punched Tanis in the arm. "I'm right here dear. Really?" Shaggy was indeed becoming quite the man. He had taken to shaping his hair with a bit of paste and his scruffy beard had grown into a handsome full five o'clock shadow. On top of that, the girls could now all see a well-defined chest and abs tapering down from powerful shoulders and arms.

Fred went on. "Sorry Shaggy, they were asking for stories about your days with Mystery Incorporated. It seemed like the best time to share. Didn't expect you to interrupt quite so…naked." Here Freddy grinned at the blushing wolf man. For all he had grown, Shaggy was still a bit nervous about such things. Standing there half naked was rather uncomfortable. Trying to recover himself, Shaggy shot back at the blond man.

"Well don't forget to tell them about the Cheese incident."

"That was you Shaggy."

"Well then at least remember the fiasco at the castle."

"Once again you, thought I think Scooby played a role in that one."

"Well then what about…" As Shaggy realized it was a losing battle, he shut his mouth. Fred's stories were not bad. And hey, they had made everyone laugh. Even Winnie. Shaggy smiled. "Well keep going. I need a new shirt after that battle with Matches."

Shaggy turned to head toward the stairs. As Fred reached another punchline, he heard another rousing chorus from the dining room.

Once in his room, Shaggy found Scooby sitting awake in the bed. As Shaggy put on a green shirt, he turned to face the Great Dane.

"So how'd you sleep, Scoob old buddy old pal?"

"Reat Raggy!"

"Wonderful. You should head down. Apparently Fred is telling stories and you know how that goes."

Before he could finish, Scooby was out the door for food and Fred's stories. Certainly he was off to stop Fred from saying anything too embarrassing about him, but Shaggy knew Fred wouldn't do that. He would tell the truth, sure, but he always found a way to make Shaggy and Scooby come out as heroes on some level. Fred really was a good guy.

As he finished his shower, Shaggy shrugged into a new shirt. He found that sense of dread again. He gave a deep sniff and knew something was off. He could feel it and knew things were bad. He would need to talk to the girls about this.

Running back down stairs, he ran into the dining room searching for the ladies he knew he could trust. Fred had just finished his stories and had gone out for a few things from the mystery machine. This was perfect. Since the younger Grimwood girls were all in class, Shaggy could talk to these women directly.

"Winnie, Tanis, Phanty, Elsa, let's talk. Has anyone seen Sibella?"

The look of concern on their Coach's face immediately put the girls on edge. Something was wrong and it was now up to them as a team to figure it out.

"Coach, last I saw or heard from Sibella, she was with you."

Shaggy grimaced at this. That was not in the least news he wanted to hear right now.

"Girls, something is wrong. I can smell it. It smells…foul."

Here they all tensed. Winnie in particular. She hadn't smelled anything out of place. At least no more than normal. She looked at Coach with awe. If he could smell it, then maybe he really was a wolf man after all. She shook that thought from her head and turned her attention back to him.

"But first, we need to find Sibella. Let's go. Everyone check your rooms. Winnie, check Sibella's room. Move!"

His last word brought instant action from the girls as they all sprinted off to search. Shaggy shook his head, moving back toward the stairs himself. As he came by the window at the top of the stairs, he came across Scooby-Doo.

"Scoob, whats up?" Scooby was just sitting on his haunches, staring out the window. Suddenly, Scooby growled and started barking at the window. As Shaggy looked out, he couldn't see anything. A quick sniff, however, told him this was where he should be searching. He jumped out the window as the girls came running toward Scooby's barking.

"Scooby, whats wrong?" Phanty shouted at him. Seeing him bark out the window, the girls looked to see Shaggy out there frantically walking back and forth, his own nose in the air. Haning their heads out the window, Elsa called out.

"What is it Coach?"

"Wait!"

They paused, hanging their heads out the window for an uncomfortably long period of time. Just when it felt like they could not hold that position any longer, Shaggy broke into their thoughts.

"I smell…it smells…ugh, I'm not sure. I can smell Sibella, but there is something else. It smells like her, but not."

"What do you mean, Coach?" Winnie carefully extracted herself from the other girls as she joined him out on the roof.

"I can Smell SIbella here faintly. She smells like-"

"Strawberries and Iron." He gave her a confused look. "Yeah, I know. Werewolf, remember? Plus she told me you said she smelled like that."

He smiled and went on. "But there is another smell here. It smells like iron, like her. But there is more to it. It smells…almost…rotten. Like a corpse." He saw Winnie's eyes go wide in fear at that. The look of terror on her face said he should be scared, terrified. For some reason, though, it just infuriated him. This meant something bad for Sibella, and he would not allow that.

"What, Winnie? Please tell me?"

She shook her head dumbly. Everyone carefully slid through the window except Elsa who was way too tall. She crouched down beside Scooby so she could hear.

"Ok, well that smell? I can't smell it. But I have heard dad talk about it. It is a smell that only…certain wolves can smell. See, there is a long history of us werewolves. We all come from a wolf man. The wolf man is stronger than any of us by far. At one time, the wolves were the kings of the monster world. But it was hard for us to reproduce and slowly vampires overtook us as the dominant population. In that instant, they became the king's. And in that, the strongest among them the king of monsters."

Pausing to stare, she saw little recognition on their faces. She dove on through her tale. "Well, as the new king came into power, he turned us werewolves into his slaves. He could simply reach in and control us. We became little more than his tools. Of course that didn't fly. The wolf man, still stronger than the king, took the offensive. Sadly it didn't matter. The vampires won since the werewolves were under the king's control. This left the wolf man, though not controlled by the king, at his mercy. He gave the power to create new wolf men to the king. However he did not give this king the power to ever control those wolf men. It became a bit of a balanced system through this. The wolf men were far stronger than the vampire individually. Even with a few at a time. But as the wolf men would always be far outnumbered they would never conquer the vampire."

She stopped and stared. Her next statement would shake a few people's worlds she was sure, and none more than the Coach's. "Well, my dad was that wolf man. He and the vampire king waged a long and bloody war. Even though the Vampire won, he always showed dad the respect he deserved as a wolf man."

She gulped. "See, that vampire king, that smell you just told us about Coach? It belongs to none other than Dracula Dracul."

"DRACULA!" The voices all shouted in unison. There was a bit of a stunned silence from everyone.

Well, everyone except Shaggy. He was pacing. He could smell Dracula and he could smell Sibella and he knew exactly what that meant. It meant Dracula was once again trying to take something that mattered from him. It had already happened too many times.

It had happened while he was a teacher at Grimwood's. Dracula, albeit with some other monster fathers, had stepped in and threatened him and Scooby when all they wanted to do was be friends with the girls.

It had happened when he started racing. Dracula had cursed him and dragged him away from the racing life he loved. All he had wanted was to live in peace and race with Googie by his side.

It had happened with Googie and Scrappy. When Dracula had not removed the curse at the end of the race, the stress had been too great and they had left him. All he wanted was a quiet peaceful life.

It had happened when he began to feel in control of his life. Dracula had entered his thoughts and driven him to unleash the wolf. That particular curse had cost him friends, family, and apartment. It had nearly cost him Scoob. All he'd wanted was to live forgotten.

And it was happening now. He had found someone he cared about deeply and Dracula had stepped in to get in his way, stripping that person from his life. It did not matter if she was his daughter, this was unacceptable.

Feeling the wolf rising in his blood, Shaggy turned to face Winnie, his teeth bared.

"Winnie, Tanis, Phanty, Elsa, Thank you all. Please stay here and protect the girls. I don't know what will be returning from this journey, but they are going to need you."

The girls stared dumbly as fur began to Shaggy's teeth began to stretch into dangerously sharp canine teeth.

"Scoob, care to join me?" As Scooby jumped out the window, Shaggy turned and let out a long low whistle. Suddenly a scaled leather back was beside them at the edge of the roof. Shaggy stepped onto the great lizard as the Great Dane joined him. They settled in.

"Let's go see the bat, Matches." Shaggy growled.

The girls stood rooted in fear. All of the tales their own parents had shared to scare little monsters as children had just come to life before them. A war between a Vampire and Wolf Man. The world had barely survived the last one. Could it stand this one?