back onto the ground.
“Go away,” he shouted. “I haven’t done anything.”
Then, behind him, he heard a second low panting noise and then a growling, and he felt sudden wet warmth flowing down his leg as he wet himself with fear. As he did so his face was suddenly lit by a flashlight and he felt a hand grab his shoulder and pull him roughly upright.
“Where is she?” a voice growled into his ear.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jason said, his voice quivering an octave higher than normal. “Let me go.”
The hand shot out and grabbed his throat.
“Now, listen to me very, very carefully.”
Jason nodded, his eyes filled with terror.
“You were in the car with her. If you try to deny it, or lie to me again, you will choke to death, and a dog walker will find your battered body dumped in this wood tomorrow morning, do you understand?”
Jason nodded again as a second voice came out of the darkness.
“We don’t have time for this, just do it.”
Jason began to struggle in the man’s grip, his mouth opening as he tried to scream, but only a rasping sound came out as he fought for air. The first voice spoke again.
“Now, everything was going swimmingly until a few minutes ago when she shielded.” The man came closer, his voice raised. “How did she do it? Who showed her?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” gasped Jason. “Please, please let me go, I won’t tell anyone.”
The flashlight swung suddenly in front of him and he felt a crack across the bridge of his nose followed by sharp pain.
“Oh God,” he muffled through the blood now pouring from his broken nose. The flashlight was shining back in his face.
“Now, I won’t ask you a third time.” The man paused and then spoke the words slowly and ominously one by one. “How did she shield?”
Terror struck, Jason looked into the emotionless eyes that were just a gleam behind the torchlight.
“I don’t know,” he whimpered, sobs beginning to well up from his belly, the taste of iron on his tongue. “Please let me go, please, I haven’t done anything.”
The man began to growl, a low threatening rumble in his throat that made Jason’s stomach constrict. The dark outline of his face seemed to shift, white beginning to reveal itself as he curled his lips backwards, the torchlight reflecting off teeth that were changing, getting longer and sharper until long jagged canines hovered in front of him. The man’s eyes became larger, yellow color burning into Jason’s mind as the face of a monster straight from his nightmares filled his vision.
Jason felt his mind caving in, as if the wolf was in his head searching every nook and cranny of his consciousness, and he began to whimper uncontrollably. In front of him the man’s face seemed to slide back to normal and he turned to the other.
“He doesn’t know.”
“Finish it,” replied the second man. The first turned to Jason whose eyes widened, his head shaking in disbelief.
“Noooo,” Jason choked out.
“He may still be of use to us,” said the first man pulling something out of his jacket pocket and pushing it into Jason’s hand that was slick with sweat. His face moved closer again.
“Find her for us and we may let you live. My number is on the card.”
Jason began to nod viscously, a glimmer of hope filling him.
“Yes, yes I will,” he spluttered.
“You make one mistake and I will find you and hunt you down. You’ve seen it now.”
Jason nodded again.
“Thank you, yes, yes, I won’t let you down.”
He felt the grip release from his throat and he sank to the ground gasping for air.
The second man, who he now recognized as the ponytail man, squatted down in front of him, pulling his face up by the chin and staring into his eyes. Jason tried to look away as he trembled. The man let go of his chin, pushing it away.
“What a piece of lowlife scum,” he said as he stood up. “You don’t know how lucky you are that my friend spares you. For now that is.”
He began to walk away along the path following the first man. After a few paces he turned, fixing Jason with a warning, animal-like gaze.
“Cross us and you die.”
Jason nodded again before collapsing to the ground and squeezing his eyes shut hoping everything would go away, that this was some kind of bad dream he would wake up from. He opened his eyes again but he