The Beast Beneath the Cross - Chapter Nine: The Wolf's Confession

They called it All Hallows’ Eve now, but the dark undercurrent of the ancient festival lingered in the hearts of the villagers. The line between man and beast, between sinner and damned, had never felt thinner.

Peter Stump stood in chains before the makeshift tribunal, his body broken and bloodied from the night before. His once imposing figure now slumped, his shoulders sagging under the weight of his wounds and his capture. His face, pale and gaunt, still bore the scars of his transformation, a grisly reminder of the creature he had become. The bullet wound in his shoulder had slowed him, but it was the sight of the cross, clutched by the child he had tried to devour, that had truly undone him.