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𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝑴𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝑹𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔

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The conditions of the farm that the hunters brought them too were horrendous and borderline hellish. The hunters didn't care that some of their livestock had died weeks ago and their bodies were littered throughout the fields and in the barn. There were chicken and pig carcasses laying just outside the front door of their farmhouse. 

The wolf noted all these details as the hunters lead him and the others into one of the outdoor dog kennels, big enough for maybe two labs, but surely not big enough for wolves their size. Whenever they went to pace around they bumped into each other. The wolf stayed in a corner, always watching the hunters. He was devising a plan, but he wouldn't act upon it yet. He needed time, and he knew the hunters were going to give it to him. His side was caked in dried blood from the arrow and it looked like it was infected but he knew that the hunters would fix him up if they wanted him to benefit them.  And sure enough, later that evening, a hunter fetched him and led him into the farmhouse to a sketchy backroom. The hunter held him down while another disinfected the wound and stitched it shut. The one who had done the stitching suggested taking the collar off so the wound would heal faster but the other hunter called him 'stupid.'

The other wolves looked relieved when he returned to the crowded kennel. He gave them a simple head nod and they all relaxed a bit, laying down to rest from the stressful, and traumatic night before. His neck was still burning from the collar around his neck but he was beginning to grow numb to the pain. He figured the skin was adapting and hardening to reduce the damage of the burns.

----

Over the next few months, the hunters trained them like hunting and attack dogs. Going through courses and attacking men wearing padded suits. On the night of The Blood Moon, the hunters released the wolves to go after a group of newly turned vampires. 

He had never encountered vampires before. He knew they existed but they had never inhabited the areas werewolves thrived. They were sworn enemies and kept to themselves to keep discourse at bay. The wolves followed him, they still identified him as their leader and his presence leant them comfort and confidence. With his head held high, it signified to the group that he wasn't afraid of the unknown and that they, just like him, could be strong too. 

The group trailed through an unfamiliar forest, the scent of the vampire's clothing lingering in their nostrils. The hunters had snagged the cloak as the vampire fought to flee, it had been a new born and had foolishly lead them back to the coven. He picked up his pace as the scent grew stronger, they were growing nearer. He could feel his hackles raise as a shiver coursed through his spine. It was fear. His eyes hardened and he forced the feeling away. While he was in control, he wouldn't dare show fear, especially in the eyes of his pack. 

He glanced back at the group, their eyes all glowed in the moonlight they reflected how he felt deep down, unsure. His steps became hesitant as he was thrust to the back. Ettore gaining control for the first time in months. The wolf felt a rush of Ettore's emotions, they were strong and intense; nearly crippling. The wolf watched from the back as Ettore tried to shift to his human form, the collar around their neck restraining that ability. 

The pack watched as their leader fumbled around, hackles raised and a scared look in his eyes. His change frightened them, their facades quickly feigning as they realized he was scared of the unknown. The Vampires. The wolf tried to force himself to the front to gain control but somehow, despite his intense pain, Ettore kept control. The wolf snarled in the background begging Ettore to let him have control back, he was going to get them killed. 

Ettore's steps quickened as a building came into view, the pack following behind him waiting for his directions. Ettore couldn't formulate a plan, he was much too distracted by his own problems. The wolf forcibly took control back, he could feel a burning pain festering inside him after the action. 

The wolf leapt into action, his posture becoming more confident and sure as he crept along the hedges that surrounded the building. He peered through the gaps to determine how many vampires were present. Four. He shook out his fur, hoping to make his festering hackles disappear. 

The vampires were too absorbed in their own tasks that they didn't sense the presence of the werewolves until in was much too late. The wolves all jumped through various windows on the ground level. The glass grazing against their furred bodies and drawing blood. The smell was overwhelming for the freshly turned vampires. They were frenzied into a hysteria, a weakness that revealed itself to the wolf. He lunged at one vampire and tackled her to the ground. He was overwhelmed by Ettore's anguish and anger that he ripped into her. He showed her no mercy as his sharp teeth broke flesh and his jaw locked as he aggressively shook his head, ripping her body to shreds. The other wolves followed his cue, attacking and tearing into the vampire mercilessly. It was a gruesome onslaught and by the end of it there wasn't an area of fur on their bodies that wasn't caked in someone's blood. 

It was their first task and they succeeded. 

-----

They continued to go on missions like that for the next year and a half, they'd even gone as far as to kill their own kind. 

He decided the moment they reached the border of the pack lands that it would be his last mission. It was a merged pack just like his own, it was a painful reminder to him and the two wolves that remained with him. The mission would serve as a distraction to aid his escape or he would turn to suicide and submit himself to jaws of the pack. 

Ettore's pain was beginning to be too much for him to bear, he tried to ignore it and push it down. But emotions can only be pushed down for so long before they fester and explode. The merged pack was the breaking point as it brought back memories of the slaughtering and the event that led him to where he stood in that moment. 

As he ran into the pack lands the two wolves followed. He could sense their remorse and pain. Just like him, they didn't want to attack this pack. If they did, it would only prove that they were like the hunters that slaughtered their family and ruined their lives; monsters. And even supernatural creatures didn't want to be viewed as monsters. Just like humans, they had flesh hearts that pumped blood through their systems. Just like humans, they had emotions and consciences that told them right from wrong. And unlike the hunters, they had morals and values that halted them from attacking their own kind. 

They were met by pack warriors that showed no remorse to outsiders. The wolves he ran with showed hesitancy, a weakness that proved futile as the warriors killed them. 

He had an internal conflict within him, kill or be killed? Was he ready to die? He felt like he never truly lived. He felt like Ettore lived a life that was supposed to be his. The warmth festering inside him died out as he felt a twinge of selfishness flash through him. 

He whipped around and faced the warriors, teeth bared and ears pulled back, eyes flashing golden as he rushed at them showing no remorse as he tore into them. They proved to be worthy matches but he overpowered them with a strength he didn't know he was capable of. He was going to live, he decided. He deserved to live. The coldness inside of him fueled him to push on and rip through the pack as wolves came at him one by one. It was a small pack in a large area so it took time for others to reach him and by the time they did their pack mate was already dead. 

There was a pile of dead wolves, he dove into it and wiggled himself in between the bodies. By the time the hunters came to look for any remaining wolves, they came up empty and carried on. He knew alone, he couldn't make a difference in saving the remaining living wolves from the hunters so he didn't bother. The wolf was about survival of the fittest, and he knew he'd survive if he chose to be selfish. By the time The Blood Moon fell behind the foothills and the sun began to take its place, he crawled out from the pile of dead wolves and ran. He wasn't sure where he was running too, but he knew that he was still in Montana, from living with the Verdale Pack he learned how to identify what state he was in, everything was about the landscape and scents. He'd run until his paws bled, he just needed to distance himself as far away from here as possible, he ran to the west, hoping to come across a pack that would be able to help him take the collar off. 

By the next nightfall, his legs felt like jelly, he couldn't hold himself up any longer as he stumbled near a riverbed. He saw the headlights of a truck and heard two doors slam. He lifted his head up to see two men approaching, one had a rifle on his shoulder. Park Rangers. 

"Yeah, I found the wolf the hikers called about earlier," one Park Ranger said, followed by the static of a radio. The Park Ranger turned to the other and said, "he looks a long ways from home. I'll be sure that he's put with a relocation team and he's sent to the proper area."

"I'll call Welma at the River Bottom Wolf Sanctuary, she'll take him in until we find the proper place."

"Maybe they'll take him in for the relocation group going to the area near the Hoh Rainforest in Washington."

"An even better reason to send him to Welma," the other Park Ranger urged. Ettore heard the gun fire and a prick in his neck before he fell asleep. 

He woke up, the smell of regular wolves filling his nostrils, his eyes flew open as he looked around. Rows of pens to his right were filled with 1-2 wolves running around. He began pacing around the pen, he needed to get out of there. He wasn't some dog-brained animal, sure he looked like them, but he wasn't one of them he was of a higher species. He felt panicked as he made another lap, his freedom had been short lived and he had been stripped of it again. He was about to take another lap as his eyes caught a young woman that exited one of the buildings and suddenly the panic left him. He felt calm as her eyes settled on him.