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The Mercenary _is the first arc of The Underground series

Chapter 12 of 32_

Two Betrayals

Jenna lay flat on her stomach alone in the darkness of the van. The only light came from up front, where the two wolves sat. She couldn't move, her paws were secured, she couldn't breathe, her mouth was stuffed with cloth to keep her from screaming, and she couldn't fight back.

He had turned on her.

Jenna was feeling a lot of things laying in the back of the van on the cold metal floor. But more than anything she couldn't figure out why. Why Alias would go through all the trouble, playing off as her ally, only to turn her over. Why didn't he just beat her and tie her up?

Hot tears trickled down her face as she sobbed into her gag. She had no idea what they would do to her, but she could only imagine. Jenna knew there wouldn't be anyone coming for her. The only person that would have had any idea where she went was Jason, and they had killed him too.

"That sick fuck of a rabbit is going to have a hell of a time with her."

Jenna's eyes darted to the front of the van, homing in on the conversation.

"Won't be the first, won't be he last." The other wolf replied, looking in his mirror. "Damn, she's a pretty thing too. Fuckin' shame."

They both laughed at this, and the van roared to life. Even though she couldn't see much from her point of view, she could sense the movement of the van as it backed up to turn around. Jenna rested her head back down of the floor, and curled into the fetal position. Her arms ached, her back ached, her eyes burned from tears. All the time she couldn't understand why Alias had done this to her. She felt the rage of a million suns burning inside her, but the cold grip of fear was worse. Questions played in her head: what were they going to do to her; would they kill her? Of course there were worse things than death...

Then there came a sound. It was like something that was wounded screeched out as loud as possible. It was high-pitched shrill that echoed throughout the warehouse and penetrated the walls of the van. Jenna looked up again, trying to figure out where it was coming from.

"Holy shit-" Was all the driver could say, before the whole van lurched sideways violently. Jenna slammed against the wall, bounced off it and slammed into the other wall. There came the sound of something crunching, metal splitting, and glass shattering. Her body bounced several times off the ceiling and walls, until she landed on her back. Jenna slowly opened her eyes with everything looking like it was sideways.

Gathering her senses after a moment, she realized the van had turned over on its side. Looking to the front, she saw the bloody remains of the passenger. His body was badly contorted and crushed inward. Jenna guessed his neck snapped as his body faced the front, but his head was looking back to her; mouth open and the look of death glossed over his eyes.

Jenna jumped as loud explosions broke the silence, shock reverberating throughout her body. The driver wolf convulsed as the windshield seemed to sprout holes, but Jenna knew better. It was gunshots. Six rounds burred themselves into the wolf's chest before all went back to quiet.

The sliding door whipped open, dazed, Jenna could scarcely tell whom it was that stood before her. He dropped down into the overturned van, the same shadowy, black figure who had betrayed her, and just saved her again.

Fear gripped the vixen, along with a hint of panic as she pushed away from him hurriedly. She had no idea what he was about to do, he had just killed two people he struck a deal with, and she was the only witness.

Alias pulled out a long combat knife. The small light that cast down into the van reflected off his blade. She looked at it, seeing her own fear from the reflection of her eyes. Alias moved the blade swiftly. Jenna bit down on her gag, shut her eyes and prepared herself for a piercing sting of a knife to her stomach.

Suddenly her legs were freed.

Jenna opened her eyes slowly. The riot cuff around her ankles had been cut. Confused she looked up at Alias, who worked his way around her, and cut her wrist cuffs. Once her paws were free, they sprang to her gag, ripping it off. The vixen breathed heavily and again scurried away from the dark fox. Her heart was beating fast with fear and confusion. Adrenalin surged through her veins. She wanted to say something. She wanted to ask what he was going to do with her. She wanted to know what the fuck his problem was, she wanted to know if he was going to kill her. However, she couldn't. She couldn't force herself to speak even if her life depended on it.

"I don't have time to explain, and I don't have time for you not to trust me right now." His firm deep voice told her. "What I do know is that right now there are about a dozen backup units coming for both of us." He took a step forward.

Jenna again retreated. "Stay the hell away from me!" She growled in fear.

Alias stopped. "Look, I can't give you any reason to trust me." His voice softened. "But I made you a promise, and I can still keep it, but it's very important that we leave right now!"

"Why should I trust you?" Jenna managed to squeak out, her throat tight. "You just fucked me over!"

"Because right now, we're all the other one's got." Alias admitted. The sounds off far off tires squealed, and Alias looked in the direction the sound came from. He looked back to her. "That's them!" He warned. "Look, I just betrayed one of the most powerful men in Palamont. I killed some of his men when it was supposed to be a truce. There won't be any more negotiations, they'll be coming to kill me and they'll take you in the process. Let me help you." He asked her, extending his paw. Jenna looked from his paw back to the black fox. Her arms were crossed attempting to keep her sheltered. "Please," Alias asked, "let me make this right."

Jenna knew she hit her head pretty hard. She knew that she was stressed, angry and scared. When one was in those states of mind, one does things they wouldn't ordinarily do. Regardless, when she took his paw, for some far off reason, she felt like she was making the right choice. Besides, what other choice did she have?