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Chapter 2: Mated and In Trouble Already

Feral shoved the one who was apparently his new mate, off him so that he could escape to the bathroom. No matter what this was that he'd gotten mixed up in, he still had to go to work.

Tendaji allowed his mate to push him off. He lay on his side as his mate scrambled off the bed and raced for the bathroom. He sighed and laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. It felt amazing to be mated. Even though he'd already had his mate many times, he ached to have him again. He knew he would never be tired of making love to this astonishing male.

The sweet taste of the dark tom lingered on his lips and in his mind. He was one lucky lion. In the next moment though, a frown slipped across his face as he realized what he faced trying to protect a mate who was a warrior in his own right and the Chief Enforcer of this city. He groaned. 'Man this is going to be a nightmare. I'm going to have to contact my pride mates to help me protect my mate until he is formally presented to the pride. I've also got to contact the King to set up the ceremony.' He admonished to himself reaching for his cell phone to set his plans in motion.

Feral was in a truly foul mood when he got to work that morning. His new 'mate' had insisted in escorting him to headquarters then gave him an intense goodbye kiss in the parking garage. He never got the chance to inform Tendaji that the parking garage had security cameras but he had a suspicion the damn lion knew that and had done it deliberately.

It would be all over the building before even an hour had passed that the Chief Enforcer had been caught on camera being kissed thoroughly by another male in the parking garage.

'Gods! What else can happen that could top that.' He thought miserably as he stormed past his secretary, ignoring her good morning. He jerked his coat off and hung it up. He strode up to his pedestal desk and sat down but instead of setting to work on the usual stack of reports waiting, he dropped his head in his paws and groaned.

Tendaji returned to the hotel in a great mood, tinged a bit with tension about his mate's safety. He found his friend, Dubaku, enjoying breakfast in the dining room and dropped in the seat beside him, filching a piece of bacon from his plate.

"Get your own." His friend snorted in amusement. "So how did it go? A hit or a miss?" He asked, his eyes bright with curiosity.

Tendaji grinned hugely as he signaled a waitress for a menu. "A hit of course!" He said, smirking.

"Ah crud! I don't believe you neither will anyone in the pride. It's beyond me how you were lucky enough to find a mate at a security convention, of all places." Dubaku said in teasing disgust.

His pride mate simply spread his paws in a 'what can I say' gesture then scanned the menu and ordered a large breakfast from the patiently waiting waitress.

Dubaku shook his head and waited until the she-kat had left before speaking again. "Well, now you have a real problem, don't you?" He said, his expression more serious.

Tendaji sighed and nodded. "Yeah. Being Chief Enforcer places him in danger as part of the job but now I've added more trouble by putting him in the cross-hairs of other pride males and slavers that will want him because he's mine or because he's so rare. He won't be safe until I can get him formally accepted into our pride. To say he was unhappy about that bit of information is a real understatement." He said grimly.

Dubaku grunted, "I can well imagine. I could tell he isn't the type to allow others to protect him. He's going to be a real pain to guard. You're sure about this bonding, my friend?"

"With my life and soul, Dubaku!" Tendaji said solemnly.

"Well, there's nothing for it then. I'll contact a small task force from our offices to be on the next plane." Dubaku said, beginning to reach for his cell phone.

"Don't bother. I got a hold of Kunto already and a detachment is on its way." His friend told him.

"Ahh, that's good. Now maybe I can eat my breakfast in peace before all hell breaks loose." He eyed his friend questioningly.

"Yeah, Ulysses should be good for a few hours, that's if none of those damn omegas appear for a while. His offices are a fortress so no one should be fool enough to try for him there. And I'm hungry too." Tendaji said as he began to dig into his food that had just arrived.

His friend merely sighed and returned to his rapidly cooling food.

Meanwhile, at Enforcer Headquarters, Feral tried to get his head back into his work. Much of the morning, he was kept busy with seemingly endless reports and meetings. But by lunch time, he was getting strange looks from his officers whenever he ventured out of his office for any reason.

He had to work hard not to blush and was very glad he had dark fur that hid most of it. He was really hoping he was just being paranoid until he had ducked into the restroom near the holding area where he'd been interrogating a prisoner.

As he used one of the stalls, he overheard two officers as they came into the bathroom in mid chat.

"Come on! You've got to be hearing that wrong!" One said in a scoffing tone.

"I swear to you its true. I didn't believe it either but I saw the tape. Man, that lion had the Commander pressed up against his hummer and there was absolutely no mistaking what he was doing." A slightly older voice said, solemnly.

"Well, damn. I didn't know he swung that way or would allow such an obvious display to happen in a public place. I mean, he's always kept his private life...private." The younger officer said, a little scandalized.

"Somehow, I don't think it had been the Commander's idea. He had a rather stunned look on his face." The older officer said, quickly defending his superior's honor.

"Oh! Well he's screwed now anyway. It's probably all over the building." The younger one said as he washed his paws and began to move away.

"Yeah, I know. He's not going to get a moment's peace from this now." The older one said unhappily, as he too moved off.

The door opened then closed softly. Feral sat there in shocked dismay. It was worse than he thought. He stayed in the bathroom for a little longer then escaped to his office hurriedly, pretending not to see the looks he was getting.

Just as he thought the day couldn't get any worse, before the work day ended there came a call on his radio.

"Enforcer one!"

"Feral here!"

"Sir, Hard Drive has disrupted that charity function Mayor Manx had going on at the convention center." The dispatch said.

"Say what? Why would Hard Drive be interested in that?" Feral asked in disbelief.

"Well, he wasn't sir. He apparently took the route that was handiest as he was running from the small experimental computer lab located next door where he stole some classified software." The dispatch clarified.

"Kat's Alive!" Feral groaned. "Send the special task force down there and tell them I'm on my way." He ordered.

"Yes sir!"

Feral grabbed his coat and dashed out of the building and was joined by his niece, Felina, who had reported for duty some thirty minutes earlier.

"Heard there was trouble, Uncle. Thought you could use some help." She said joining him in the lobby.

He just grunted, not telling her to go back to her other duties. She would have argued with him anyway. He got into the driver's seat as she hopped into the passenger side. They were racing down the street in seconds.

"Any word on what Hard Drive had stolen, Uncle?" Felina asked.

"No, only that some kind of classified software had been taken." Feral said shortly as he concentrated on getting them there quickly.

Felina glanced at her uncle out of the corner of her eye. She'd heard the scuttlebutt just as she was signing in. She'd been shocked but had time to see the actual footage before the alert reached her. To say she'd been taken aback by what she'd seen was an understatement. She was privy to some very personal information known only to the family about her uncle. She suspected the lion now knew that secret too. When she could, she needed to find out how serious this situation was.

The prides were very protective of their mates. What she'd seen on the tape looked like a kiss of ownership rather than a casual flirtation. If her uncle had become mated to one of the prides, things were going to get very dicey around here. The other prides would make numerous attempts to steal her uncle before his mate could get him formally accepted by his pride. It was a common thing among their kind. She never understood the reasoning behind it though.

'What a mess' She sighed inwardly. Her poor Uncle. She knew just how hard he had tried to hide what he was due to how many males outside of Megakat City would want to own him, like he was some rare jewel. She just couldn't understand that mindset. It was abhorrent to her and smacked of slavery.

Her inner musings were interrupted by their arrival at a scene of chaos. Kats were shouting angrily or in fear outside the convention center. She could see why. Anything electrical was going crazy. Lights, alarms, sprinkler systems, doors opening and closing rapidly and power outages were creating a snarled mess.

Feral climbed out of his vehicle with Felina on his heels and was immediately tagged by his honor, the Mayor.

"Feral, do something! That crazy criminal Hard Drive has disrupted everything." Mayor Manx shouted angrily, his suit wet from the sprinkler system. Ms. Briggs was standing miserably nearby, looking a real mess. Her hair wet and lank around her face, her glasses spotted so that she couldn't really see out of them and her usual pink dress suit a soaked ruin.

Felina winced at the sight as she rushed into the building behind her uncle. It was hard to see anything for the spraying water much less hear anything over the wailing alarms.

"Someone shut the alarms and sprinkler system off now!" Feral bellowed. "Where is Hard Drive?" He demanded of one of his special task force officers who had just come from further inside the building.

"We've found no trace of him sir. It looks like he just blitzed through here and kept on going." The officer said grimly.

"Crap!" Feral hissed angrily, he turned around and went back outside to use his radio since the sprinklers were still getting things wet, ignoring the Mayor trying to get his attention.

"Any reports of electrical problems spreading out from this locale?" He demanded of his dispatch.

"Yes sir. We were tracking Hard Drive's signature for about a mile before it vanished north of your location, sir." The dispatch reported promptly.

"Wonderful." Feral grumbled cutting the connection. Felina had heard the report with him.

"Well, he's managed to slip away again." She said bitterly. "That trick of his, using any electrical line to get away, is just too hard to counteract."

"You got that right..." Feral began to say when his radio interrupted him.

"Enforcer One!"

"Feral here!"

"Sir, the SWAT Kats have caught Hard Drive and are delivering him to headquarters as we speak." Dispatch reported.

Feral counted to five before answering. He really had wanted to swear but not over a public radio no matter how badly he wanted to. "Put that creep in the special cell we designed for him. Don't let him slip our fingers again." He snapped.

"Yes sir."

"Great! Well he didn't get away at least. Let's get this mess cleared up, Felina." He said, muttering nasty things about the SWAT Kats under his breath.

For once Felina didn't comment. Her uncle was angry enough. They moved as one toward the entrance so he could assess the damages when a group of rather wet lions approached Feral aggressively. Felina stiffened in concern and took the precaution of pulling her laser pistol and holding it openly against her leg in warning.

Manx hadn't noticed the strangers, too angry and wet to care. Callie, however, eyed the males with some concern and puzzlement.

"Feral, I want that criminal caught!" He snapped as he began to leave.

"Don't worry Mayor, he's already been apprehended by the SWAT Kats and is on his way to Enforcer Headquarters right now." Feral said, hating the fact it hadn't been enforcers that had caught the slippery criminal.

"Well, at least someone was fast enough to get him." Manx grumped as he turned away and made for his limo.

Callie paused and didn't follow him immediately. He noticed and stopped to ask her why, only then did he notice the strangers. He frowned and came back to Callie's side.

"Well, well so this is the prize Tendaji found!" One of the males rumbled. The others with him partly surrounded Feral pushing Felina back gently but firmly.

Feral's eyes narrowed. He felt a chill chase down his spine. These must be lions from another pride just as Tendaji had warned.

"Was there something you wanted?" He asked coldly.

"We want what Tendaji wants. He may have gotten a jump on you but you're still fair game until you're recognized by a pride and I intend to make sure it's ours and not his." The one that had spoken before said with a wicked smile.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not going with anyone. I have a job to do here and if you interfere with me, I'll have you arrested." Feral said tightly.

His officers, sensing a threat to their Commander, had moved closer and were holding their weapons in a ready position.

The lions watched the enforcers warily. "Take it easy Commander. We intend no harm." Their apparent leader said soothingly. "We are just giving you a friendly warning that we'll be coming for you. This does not break your laws since your city has given Pride Hunts immunity. We can see you are actively busy and won't bother you but when you're not, we'll be there." He warned cooly.

Feral was about to snap back a retort when a body suddenly appeared between him and the other pride males.

Tendaji roared challenge at the other male and shoved him back forcefully.

"Paws off my mate!" He snarled. Behind him were others of his pride and they formed a growling guard, shoving the other pride back.

Feral's enforcers stepped back in puzzled confusion when they heard the strangers call a Pride Hunt. The leader had been correct, Pride Hunts were honored and given immunity from the law as long as Katizens were not harmed and no property damages occurred. If it did, the prides were required to pay for damages.

To learn their Commander was involved in a Pride Hunt left them in an awkward position. He was their superior and they were supposed to protect him but not if he was part of a legitimate hunt. They didn't know what to do under these circumstances. Felina was uncertain what action to take under these circumstances either.

To make matters worse, Kats Eye News had been on scene and was even now filming the confrontation taking place. Ann Gora didn't try to push in for an interview since there were far too many weapons and tense lions at the moment but it didn't stop her from getting as close as she and her camerakat could to get all the action on film.

Felina felt sick about this public outing of what her uncle was. Now, if they didn't know already, the slavers would know and they would have to be on alert for them. Those creatures were forbidden to step foot in Megakat City and to take any Katizens visiting outside the city. They would be arrested immediately if caught but that didn't help her uncle now. Slavers were clever and well funded. Things had definitely gone to shit fast and she was helpless to stop it.

Feral growled angrily. He was furious that his life had suddenly spiraled out of his control. He didn't appreciate Tendaji announcing to the world that they were mates when he'd not had time to get used to the fact first.

He smacked his mate from behind, nearly toppling him into the male in front of him. Tendaji snarled in angry surprise, looking over his shoulder at his mate, his eyes glowing hotly.

Feral ignored his mate's fury. "I can take care of myself! Now get out of my crime scene, all of you!" He roared.

His mate blinked at him in shock but shook his head and didn't move. "This challenge cannot be ignored, Ulysses. I must do what is required of me...lay my claim to you and protect you!" He said firmly.

Feral snarled, beyond furious now. "I...don't...care! I have a job to do and if I have to I will arrest the lot of you and have you hauled downtown. You are interfering with a crime scene and that over rules your immunity." He spit out angrily.

There was a moment of stunned silence by both prides at the fearless temerity of this Kat then the stranger commented cheekily, "Seems you don't have much control over your mate, Tendaji. I certainly wouldn't allow that if he were mine. He'd learn his place very quickly."

Tendaji snarled and flashed his fangs in fury nearly lunging at the other who prepared himself to attack but they never got the chance before Feral snatched his mate by the scruff and shook him.

"That's it!" Feral roared again. "Arrest the lot of them and put them in a cell together. They can beat each other up for all I care." He ordered angrily, tossing his mate to his enforcers.

This his enforcers could understand. They quickly surrounded the two prides, to their complete shock, and hustled them off to jail. Tendaji was so stunned he didn't offer resistance until it was too late and he was staring at his mate from a paddy wagon. His last sight of Ulysses was of the tom taking charge and bellowing orders.

"Holy shit, Tendaji, that's a hellcat of a mate you've got. His value has just gone up." The leader of the other group said in admiration.

This time Tendaji didn't rise to the bait. He felt both humiliated and proud to have such a mate. The only problem was trying to control and protect his violatile mate and he couldn't do that when he was in jail and his mate was unprotected behind him. He groaned inwardly, he'd warned himself this was going to be trouble but he never dreamed it would get this complicated.

With them gone at last, Feral was able to return to his crime scene and get the clean up and investigation started at least that's what he thought.

"Feral, exactly what is going on? How are you involved in a Pride Hunt?" Mayor Manx demanded.

"I'm not willing to discuss what is a personal matter in public Mayor. You'll just have to wait until later to have your answers." Feral said tightly.

Manx eyed him in annoyance but was smart enough to sense he wouldn't get anything from Feral right now. He turned on his heel and went to his limo. Callie frowned but followed him. They headed back to city hall.

Sighing, Feral moved back to the building only to run into Ann Gora and her microphone.

"Commander Feral, could you tell us what went on here today?" She asked brightly.

Feral growled under his breath but quickly gave a statement about Hard Drive but nothing else.

She wasn't satisfied, of course. "Commander, you haven't said anything about the challenge between the two prides and your part in it."

"No comment!" He said stiffly and stepped around her and finally entered the water soaked entrance, the sprinklers and alarms finally shut off.

She snorted in annoyance but knew once he used those words, he meant it and they would get nothing more from him. Perhaps she should interview the incarcerated lions? It was worth a shot though they were known to be pretty close mouthed about Pride business. Still, it didn't hurt to try.

She and her camerakat made for their news van and headed for Enforcer Headquarters.