How to make a visually impressive creature without just making them big

So, for a project, I want to take the Welsh folk creature called the Cŵn Annwn, which is basically just a white wolf with red ears. Their whole deal is that they are the embodiment of death, like they hunt the people when it's their time to take them to the otherworld (Welsh equivalent of the afterlife). They are owned by this benevolent king, Arawn, who rules over the otherworld. So here's my question: how do I make them look like ethereal (in the Celtic sense, not the Christian ghostly sense)? They are these creatures of death that move between worlds, but all that is left of their folklore is that they are white wolves with red ears and starry eyes. And being a Welsh Creature there isn't much other material for them to take inspiration from.

I kinda get a few things like mixing different animals or coming up with how they would evolve in their environment, but underfortuneately a wolf is too good a persistence hunter to not be a symbol of death. So, is there any type of artistic flair I could add to these creatures to make them look otherworldly and kind of eldritch? What would you do in a similar situation? For some more added context, I would like this creature to look like it's just stepped out of the Celtic / Arthurian legend that birthed it. Too much of modern media, and especially depictions of old folklore that I have seen, have a heavy influence from Christian roots, such as ethereal creatures being pale, translucent and otherworldly being white and covered in gold. This project calls for that original Celtic and Welsh folklore aspect, but leaning towards high fantasy over grimdark. I should mention that the reason I don't want them big is that they are supposed to be persistent hunters who sneak up on their target and attack before they realise they are there. And therefore, making them big makes it easier for them to be spotted.