Ettore | ✔️

𝑻𝒆𝒏

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𝑼𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈

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She couldn't deny that she wanted to pet him, his thick fur looked soft. It was as though her hand had a mind of its own as it reached out to touch a tuft of fur the stuck out from the fence. A little touch wouldn't hurt, right?

Immediately he whipped around and snarled at her. His sharp, saliva-coated teeth were on full display, causing her to instinctually jump back with a squeal before landing on her ass.

"Syretia! Are you okay?!" Welma came running over and dropped down next to her, checking for any injuries. "What happened?"

"He kept rubbing against the fence and looking at me like he wanted to be pet..."

"Nonsense, child. He's too skittish and wild to be pet. If you want to pet any of them go pet Sidca or Oaklee." She was referring to two older wolves that had been at the sanctuary since birth. They couldn't be released into the wild nor owned by people because they were too domesticated and yet still wild animals. Welma had tried to reintroduce them into the wild with their mother but they came back after a year. Welma understood why almost immediately, they were shunned by the pack that inhabited the area. They only had each other to depend on in the wild and they knew that Welma would take them back in so they ultimately returned. They were Welma's babies and she treated them as such. That is probably why they became so domesticated, but she made sure not to make the same mistake again with future pups. And so far, there hadn't been any repeats of the Sidca and Oaklee situation.

"Yeah... I was stupid to do that," she mumbled, slightly shaken up. Welma patted her on that back and helped her stand up.

"I'd be a liar if I said that I never tried to pet all the wolves that have come through here. Some are just too wild, and I have a hard time accepting that. I love wolves, and I want them to love me back, y'know? And I think they all show their appreciation at some point before they return to their pack lives in the wild. Others don't which admittedly breaks my poor old heart, but that's what to expect; they're wild animals. Unpredictable predators." Welma led her to a familiar pen where two dark mahogany and tan wolves laid in the back near their den. "Go give my babies some lovin' they're looking depressed."

Syretia shook her head with a small laugh as she opened the gate, and stepped inside. Sidca and Oaklee never scared her, they were like two big, cuddly teddy bears. Sidca was the larger of the two and was always used as a pillow by his smaller brother, Oaklee. "Hey you two," Syretia greeted and immediately the two of them jumped up and began wagging their tails, Oaklee started jumping around bumping into his brother repeatedly trying to get more attention. She took off her jacket and set it down on the ground before sitting on it. Sidca and Oaklee laid down on either side of her laying both of their large heads in her lap. She began petting both of them absentmindedly, staring off into space. She had the feeling someone or something was watching her, so she turned her head in the direction to see Ettore two pens down staring right at her. His body was seemingly rigid before he looked away and went back to pacing.

She wasn't sure about when she fell asleep but she knew that she had at some point because Welma shook her awake roughly, "Syretia, you fell asleep on the job!"

"Oops?" Welma hit Syretia on the shoulder before sitting down making a "tsk, tsk" sound. "My babies look so cute!" She cooed affectionately at Sidca and Oaklee who were now sitting up and licking her face and wagging their tails rapidly. Gee, way to make a girl feel like chopped liver in 5 seconds flat.

"I noticed that there's a collar of some sort wrapped around Ettore's neck, I want to get it off of him. I think it might be one of the causes as to why he's being so agitated."

"How are you going to take it off?"

"We'll have to knock him out cold. I have a sleeping pill that we use when we transport wolves." She held out a small white pill and Oaklee went to lick it off her hand. Welma tapped him on the nose, "no, no, no! This is not for you." She quickly stuffed it into the small pocket on her poncho. "Now, c'mon Syretia, help me out."

Syretia begrudgingly followed Welma to Ettore's pen after they locked up Sidca and Oaklee's. Ettore was at the fence in an instant watching her intently, she didn't spare him any attention as she kept focused on Welma, watching as she stuffed the pill into a piece of steak. She made sure to do it with her hands still in a bucket of meat. Wolves were witty and highly intelligent animals, she knew he would be suspicious if she gave him a random piece of meat that seemed tampered with. Welma instructed Syretia to pull out the trough as she dumped the meat into it quickly, before kicking the trough back into place with her rubber boot-clad foot.

"And now we wait," she tugged Syretia away from the fence and sat her down at a table set she left out. Welma ran inside the small house where she had souvenirs and random trinkets for visitors to look at and buy when they came to look at the wolves. She wanted to bring awareness that wolves weren't the evil beasts that people were making them out to be. She returned a few moments later with a bag of potato chips to snack on. She sat down across from Syretia as she tossed the bag of chips onto the table. "Let's eat!"

By the time the bag was halfway gone, Welma directed Syretia's attention back to Ettore. His pelt that was mixed with blacks, grays, tans, and russet reds was illuminated by the dim lighting from the light posts placed outside each pen. He was starting sway and stumble with each step, fighting against the unpreventable slumber he was about to fall into.

"Timber!" Welma cheered the moment his massive body flopped onto the ground. For someone that loves wolves so much, she sure has a funny way of showing it sometimes, Syretia thought to herself.

"Let's go!" She ran as well as a spry seventy-year-old woman could, Syretia followed closely behind her, making sure to grab the flashlight the was hanging on the fencepost. Welma unlocked the gate and threw it open making her way to the massive wolf that lay still on the ground engulfed in a deep slumber.

"What an odd collar," Welma commented, "oh no, Syretia take a look at this..." Syretia peeked over her shoulder positioning the flashlight better. Syretia's breath hitched, the collar had been well hidden under his thick fur, but underneath it looked as though the collar had almost... burnt away the fur and started to eat away at his flesh.

"Holy shit."

A/N: This is how I picture Ettore to look, just with slightly longer and thicker fur.