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Chapter 16: Preparing to go Home

After breakfast, Feral was still angry and confused about the ceremony now past. It still felt humiliating to him but he decided to set his pique aside for now as he was anxious to pack. Only knowing he was returning home tomorrow kept him from wanting to pound his mate into toothpaste. As it was, he satisfied himself in snubbing his mate for the rest of the day.

Tendaji was upset and annoyed by his mate's behavior. Ulysses made it plain he wanted nothing to do with him right now so he went and spent time with Dubaku.

"It hurts!" He blurted angrily as he flopped down on Dubaku's couch in his small bachelor home in the compound.

Dubaku eyed him sympathetically as he got them a couple of cool drinks. Handing one to his friend, he sat down in a nearby chair.

"You must give him time, Ten. He is justifiably furious, after all, you and others kept very important information from him. A Kat in his position and power would see that as betrayal." The wise lion stated calmly.

"But if we had told him, he would have refused, you know that." Ten spat out.

Dubaku sighed. "Yes, it was a truly no-win situation and I can't say you were entirely wrong doing what you did, however, I also can't fault Feral for being miffed about it." He said quietly. "The only good news is he won't be spiteful like a lioness or she-kat would be. He has a logical mind and his anger is based on being treated as a valuable commodity rather than the important individual he is. That would be grating on anyone's self esteem." He explained, trying to make Ten understand his male mate.

"His temper is formidable as well, let's not forget." Ten snorted.

His friend smiled. "Yes, there is that."

"You know he's going to make it impossible to protect him once he's back in his fortress once more." Ten stated more than asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. Here is where you must tell him everything about lion society so that he won't be blindsided again. This time, there would be no excuse to keep him in the dark and every reason to be concerned that lack of knowledge on his part could get him hurt or killed." Dubaku said seriously.

Ten shuddered. "You are right about that. I hadn't even thought about that aspect yet. If he'll let me talk to him, I'll be sure to bring him up to date on what he should know." He said worriedly.

"Perhaps he will listen to me. As one of the Imamu of the pride, he may heed what I have to say more than his mate who has deceived him." His friend suggested.

Ten grimaced. "Oh yeah, rub it in why don't you."

"That was not my intention, Ten..." Dubaku started to protest before Ten cut him off.

"I know that! I'm just ribbing you." Tendaji waved off the comment then sighed. "Wonder how long it will take him to trust me again?" He asked rhetorically.

Dubaku just shrugged.

Near dinner time, Ten went back to his room and found his mate resting and reading. The book looked familiar.

"Hello, Uly. What are you reading?" He asked.

Feral glanced up and frowned at his mate. "Something I should have been given in the first place." He growled, turning the book so Ten could see the title.

He winced. The book was The History of the Zubari Pride. It contained their past as a pride as well as pertinent information on pride rules of behavior. It was required reading when he'd been a kitten.

"I'm glad someone gave you a copy. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them." He said carefully.

Feral's eyes narrowed. "No thanks. I'd never be certain if you were telling the whole truth or only as much as you think I need to know." He said tartly.

Rolling his eyes in frustration, Tendaji spread his paws. "Look Ulysses, if I had told you about what you would be encountering then the mating would never have taken place and things would have been soo much worse for you and I. I know very well that you would have refused to go through with the ceremony, leaving you vulnerable to every lion in the compound due to being in heat." He said, trying to get his mate to understand.

"Convenient for you! It's a good thing it worked out alright anyway but that still doesn't make me trust you." Feral said flatly.

"If you would only let our bond seep into your conscious mind more then you would know if I was lying to you or not." Tendaji said tightly.

"I have no clue what you are talking about. I don't feel this bond you keep hammering me about. Except for responding to you without hesitation, there's nothing to 'let in' as you so quaintly put it." Feral growled.

Ten frowned and stared at him. "That cannot be! Perhaps I need to have Dubaku talk to you. He knows more about this stuff than I. He is an Imamu of the Pride after all." The lion said thoughtfully.

"He's a what?" Feral asked in confusion.

"Hmmm, I guess you would call him a spiritual guide. That's the closest in your language I can come to describing what he does." Ten said with a shrug.

"I don't believe in that mumbo-jumbo kind of stuff. It's bad enough I deal with the weird everyday in my job." Feral snorted in derision.

Ten bristled. "Ulysses, beware what you say! Our Imamu are very important to our culture. They guide us and provide us with help when our emotions lead us astray. Derogatory remarks about them could be cause for hard feelings even to being attacked." He warned.

Feral blinked. He certainly hadn't intended to step on another species' toes about their 'religion' which is what he could feel was how they felt about these Imamu. "My apologizes, Tendaji. I certainly didn't mean any offense. I wasn't aware that is how your people see these individuals. We too have Kats we treat with special reverence and respect for much the same reason." He soothed.

Ten relaxed. This was a case of not knowing about their kind, he realized. Dubaku was right. Ulysses could get into serious trouble by not knowing about their culture.

"I must apologize too. This is yet another area of our culture you're not familiar with. I'm glad you got that book. It should help answer a great many of your questions and provide you with invaluable information to keep you from 'stepping in it' as it were." He said quietly. "Who gave it to you?" He asked, curiously.

"Your mother." Feral said shortly.

"Ahh...I must thank her for her thoughtfulness." Ten said, relieved that someone had thought of it. "Anyway, we must dress for dinner. You will be formally greeting the King and Queen. You will give them the same greeting you've learned to give to everyone else in the compound." Ten said. "Take a shower with me?" He asked over his shoulder as he peered into his closet, choosing what clothes to wear for dinner.

Feral thought about it for a moment then nodded, setting the book aside and rising from the bed. Ten felt his shoulders relax. At least his mate wasn't completely pissed at him.

Everyone was sitting in the hall, where they had the ceremony, when he and Tendaji walked in an hour later.

Tendaji walked quietly beside Feral as they strode across the floor and halted before the King and Queen. The regal pair was standing, waiting for them. Ten made his greeting first then Feral leaned forward and copied him.

The royal pair smiled warmly at them.

"You will sit beside us in the place of honor." The King said, gesturing to the right of him where two cushions waited, empty.

They quickly took their seats and the food was immediately served. It was a delicious feast and they gave it the attention it was due. As they were eating a rich concoction for dessert, the King turned to them.

"I know you are anxious to return to Megakat City and your duties, Ulysses. I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that you are a member of this pride now which means you are a part of a greater whole. When one member is in trouble all respond to protect them. We are there for you any time you have need of us just as you are required to provide help to any of your pride that asks your help. You are required to return to the compound when you are within a month of giving birth so it may be witnessed by the pride and so you will be protected when you are at your most vulnerable. You also must return at least once a year to renew your ties with the pride. Any questions?" He asked when he was finished.

Feral sat a moment absorbing this information. Inside he was angry at yet another stricture on his freedom but one of the things the King had said made him uneasy.

"Uh, yes sir, I do. Being an hermaphrodite means pregnancy and birth are not as straight forward as with a female. Do you have doctors that are familiar with my more...unusual...needs?" He asked carefully.

The King paused in surprise. He had forgotten that fact. He turned to look questioningly at his Queen.

"I'm afraid he is right my love. We do not have any who specialize in his type of special needs." She said unhappily.

"Hmmm, well in that case, a team of lions plus one of our Imamu will be sent to Megakat City to attend the birth. I leave it up to you to notify us when such a team is required, Tendaji." He warned the young lion firmly.

"Yes sir." Ten said nodding his head in agreement.

Conversation swirled around them for the rest of the evening. Feral noted Nakatu was staring at him intently. He glared at the lion making it clear that he still harbored ill will toward the lion.

Nakatu simply showed all his teeth in a lazy grin. He would not be intimidated by some 'Kat' even if said Kat had gotten the best of him recently.

Feral looked away and grumbled to himself. Ten glanced at his mate in question.

"Something wrong, my love?"

"No!" Feral bit out. He was not about to discuss what had happened between himself and Ten's brother.

Tendaji blinked then looked across the room to see if he could identify what had upset his mate. He met the gaze of his oldest brother. He was given a smirk in return. Sighing mentally, he could guess now what had made his mate tense.

His brother had dared to try to take his mate and learned swiftly a valuable lesson, however, Ten didn't think Nakatu was completely defeated. He grit his teeth. Dubaku had told him what had happened before the ceremony. His brother was lazy, not very honest and caused his father an endless amount of grief with his bad habits.

Ten would have to watch out for him now. It was Nakatu that had made Ten leave the compound and live elsewhere. His older brother had a fondness for tormenting his younger sibling and Ten finally got tired of it.

Though he missed the compound, he was much happier running the Pride's security business in the Tanloren Empire. Now, however, he would have to open a branch in Megakat City and leave his assistant manager in charge of the other operation. The King had given his blessing and allowed what pride members who wanted to move, to join him there. Dubaku, happily, being one of them.

Since he had already known this would happen, he'd had his personal security team searching for the perfect place for the business and a home for him and his mate.

After dinner, Tendaji went to make a phone call while his mate returned to their room. Reaching Kunto, he got an update on the search and was told some prospects had been found and were waiting for his return to check them out.

Kunto had also told him about the fracas with Felina Feral and the Tumbuka Pride. The Feral's winning again wasn't a surprise but the sound of admiration and something else in Kunto's voice told Tendaji his pride mate might have more than a passing interest in the stiff necked female. He had smiled at that as he hung up from the call. It would be a great coup if one of his pride succeeded in taking the last of the Feral's to mate. That would solve a lot of future problems.

He debated telling Ulysses about this for some minutes but finally decided he'd better come clean because Felina was certain to tell him when he returned to duty.

'I'm already in the doghouse, what's one more thing.' He thought as he made for his room. His mate was reading again when he entered.

"Hey, love. I've got some information I know you'll want to know about." He began blithely, going to sit on the bed beside his mate.

Feral closed his book and gave Tendaji his full attention.

"I just called my third, Kunto. He informs me Felina had a run in with the Tumbuka Pride. She's fine, got away clean with a little help from Kunto." Ten said.

Feral's eyebrows lifted in concern then down again in an unhappy frown. "Why did they take her?" He demanded to know.

"Because she's your niece and is a fine catch for any pride. She made it pretty clear she wasn't interested." Ten told him.

"They won't leave her alone now." Feral rumbled angrily, making it a statement not a question.

Ten sighed. "Caught that in the book, did ya? Unfortunately you are right. Now that one pride has made a bid for her, others will try until she is mated." He said with a shrug.

"You're worst than the pests we fight everyday in our city. What's with you lions?" Feral snarled bitterly.

Tendaji opened his mouth to answer...

"Don't answer that. It wouldn't be an understandable response anyway." Feral snapped.

"I'm not going to win here at all, am I?" Ten asked in resignation.

Feral just glared at him then returned to his book, pointedly ignoring his mate.

Ten stared at Uly unhappily. "Am I welcome in bed tonight?" He asked slowly.

Feral lowered his book. "What do you think?" He said bitingly then raised his book again.

Sulking, Tendaji went to his drawers to get some things then left his room. He went to a guest room and tried to watch some TV, angry and lonely for his mate. Tomorrow wasn't going to be any better. Hopefully, when they returned to Megakat City, his mate would allow him close again.