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Chapter 27: A Time of Temporary Peace

Finally, after all the skirmishes with omegas, slavers, and lion prides, Feral had managed to have at least four months of relative peace.

He and his mate were settling in with each other more easily now that the bond was completely open between them. They had toyed with buying a home to share but hadn't got very serious about it because of Feral's reluctance to give up his apartment and willingness to cohabitate.

Tendaji just sighed patiently. He didn't want to tell his mate that he'd already purchased a beautiful and very private home in the hills overlooking Megakat Bay. He kept that secret in a private part of his mind.

Dubaku had taught them how to keep a private area for things they didn't want shared. Feral had a number of secrets concerning high profile cases and projects that were part of his job and Ten had things his mate did not need to know for similar reasons. They were both a quick study and didn't take long to learn how to sequester part of their minds for this purpose and learned to respect each other's boundaries.

It had taken them over a month to get used to the emotional spill-over from each other's minds when they touched or thought too hard about each other which was rather disruptive when they were at work causing not a few embarrassing moments.

But finally, they were able to shut the link by thinking of it as a door in their mind. When one or the other needed to speak mind to mind, they would do the equivalent of a mental knock on that door. It worked very well and eased the feeling of being overwhelmed by emotions that weren't their own which had a tendency of causing one or the other to walk into things, disrupt conversations, or, in one very scary incident, distracting one of them when in a dangerous situation.

As for Felina, after that first night she allowed Kunto to be closer to her, she found him a fantastic sex partner and comfortable friend. He didn't push her for a more firm tie nor dared to call himself her boyfriend. She liked how he understood where she was coming from and respected her set boundaries for their friendship.

Kunto knew better than to ask for more than Felina was willing to give and didn't call their closeness as a relationship since that would have pissed her off. He liked her a lot and was willing to keep their connection loose and easy just so he could stay near her. Perhaps there would be more later and he would hope for that but if it never happened, he willingly accepted what she would give him...at least, for now.

Meanwhile, he had to endure constant ribbing from his fellow pride members for this very non-lion behavior but, Tendaji felt Kunto was a very wise lion when it came to handling a Feral. He told him, the prize was well worth the time and effort and care he was willing to go through when trying to capture Felina's heart. Kunto had smiled and took heart from that sage advice.

It was Kunto who found Dark Kat's hidden cache of weapons, located in a deep tunnel some distance from where Feral had been held captive. It had taken more than four days of searching by enforcers and Ten's security force to locate it. It was a sobering sight to see the nearly finished bomb he'd built. Felina had their bomb squad dismantle the thing and the weapons were returned to the manufacturer after the trial which had been held rather quickly due to the dangerous nature of this particular omega.

No one wanted this criminal waiting around in temporary holding until a trial could be set up in the near future. Pulling strings, Feral and Ms. Briggs with the Mayor's blessing pushed for an immediate court date and got it. Less than a week later, Dark Kat was taken to court by a group of the strongest enforcers, Feral had on hand.

The case was tried quickly as there was no way Dark Kat could contest the overwhelming evidence against him. Very soon he was being hauled away to a beefed up cell at Alkatraz Prison. Any, still living, creeplings had been taken to the Megakat Zoo and placed in a maximum security cage they couldn't break out of and, unexpectedly, paid for their lodging by bringing the zoo a boost in income by katizens coming to see the odd creatures.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Now the only enemies of any concern was Dr. Viper and Pastmaster. The Metallikats were in pieces, thankfully, and Turmoil was still in jail.

The first month after Dark Kat's incarceration in prison, Ms. Briggs had finally completed the revised Pride Hunt agreement and ordinance. Dubaku, didn't completely like it but he had managed to get their needs met within reason and without stepping on the toes of the professional Katizens of the city.

With the draft in paw, Ten, Dubaku, Feral and Ms. Briggs with her city attorney took a quick trip by the Pride's private jet to a special meeting of all the Pride Leaders hosted by the Zubari Pride.

Because Feral was the one to cause the rewrite, the King of the Zubari Pride felt they should be the place where the meeting would be held.

While the new document was being discussed, Feral was fussed over by Ten's mother, father and siblings except for Nakato who was still annoyed at not capturing this male for his own. There was relief the bond was now functioning and joy over the coming births of the new additions to the Pride. The King and Queen greeted him privately to offer their congratulations and to remind him of the importance of them being notified in time for a team to be on hand for the birth.

The discussion over the new agreement wasn't as straight forward as they'd hoped. Many a complaint and argument raged over three days before the agreement met with everyone's approval. Sighing in relief, the group returned to Megakat City and Feral felt better about what the final document would accomplish.

Pride Hunts would still be allowed but certain rules would be adhered to, especially when it concerned public servants, soldiers, medical personnel, and enforcers. Feral felt now there shouldn't be any ambiguity in the rules and the lions, reluctantly agreed, that the Hunts were still going to meet their needs.

The agreement was circulated and other prides returned to Megakat City to do business, live, and find mates.

One last problem was solved by a request from Kunto. He asked permission of Tendaji to take care of a little problem that still plagued the Commander. With a grim smile, Ten gave his blessing and with a small hand-picked group, Kunto crossed into slaver territory and took care of a certain slaver whose bounty still hung over Ulysses. Killing the sadist and his minions ended the bounty quite handily. Kunto came back from the mission grinning triumphantly. Ten quietly told Ulysses that his other problem had been quietly taken care of and except for wondering about the legalities, troubled himself no more about the slavers.

Now that the last obstacle was taken care of, Feral gratefully settled back into work but was plagued by one thing...his growing belly. Carrying twins and not having the space a female would have, the dark tom was showing a lot. Getting around wasn't fun either but being able to hear his kittens emotions as they moved in him kept him from being irritable.

To everyone's surprise, their Commander was rather mellow and less apt to anger easily. Despite not being able to go out on combat calls, he still managed to accomplish his other duties with only minor difficulties.

Though she couldn't understand it, she knew her uncle's mental link with his kittens and mate were the reason for her uncle's more amendable behavior. He actually glowed with happiness now unlike before when he fairly snarled with anger and frustration all the time.

The only things now that caused him some complaint and justifiably so was his difficulties with balance, his belly extended past his knees so he couldn't see the floor at all, the constant need to pee, getting out of chairs, always being sleepy and not being able to drive. Felina or Kunto had to be his driver on those rare occasions he needed to leave the building. Ten took him to and from work everyday.

Since his mobility was inhibited, he wasn't seen by most of his enforcers as his girth increased. When he was seen it was to many a stunned look at his odd appearance.

Today he had a meeting of the budgetary board at city hall. Felina was on chopper duty so Kunto drove him there. He aided the Commander getting out of the car and stayed as his guard with two others that always still shadowed him as he went up to the council chambers located two floors above the lobby in a large circular room.

Feral had arrived early and took his usual seat, some four seats down from the Mayor's at the head of the table. He went over his notes as he waited for the rest of the council to arrive. Four had been there when he'd entered and had gaped at him in shock.

No one had really seen the Chief Enforcer for some time. Feral had managed to stay out of the limelight for a while. They knew, of course, that he was pregnant but it was one of those things one hears but doesn't commit to memory so seeing him now with a huge belly was disconcerting to say the least.

Feral ignored their stares as more of the council arrived. Finally Mayor Manx and Ms. Briggs entered the room and the doors were closed.

Manx formally opened the meeting and it got underway. Some of the reports were fairly dry and boring. After listening to at least four boring reports, Feral found himself drifting off. He rested his head on his palm and before he knew it he was sound asleep.

At the head of the table, Callie listened with part of her attention to the reports as she studied each of the council for any troubles that might come up soon enough when the reports covered things like cutting favorite programs or needed funds like the enforcer budget. Her eyes fell on the face of the Commander. One eyebrow raised as she saw the Chief Enforcer was frankly asleep. A small smile crossed her lips.

'Poor Feral, he must be soo tired. Carrying twins is exhausting I'm told and here he is trying to stay awake during all this boring muttering. He never stood a chance.' She thought in amusement.

Her attention pulled back to the present speaker, Councilman Lenman for District Four, as he finished his report. He was the last of the Districts to give their reports and now the services that required budget considerations were allowed to give their reports on what they needed to continue running their departments for the next year. It was Feral's turn to speak but...only silence greeted them.

The Head of Transportation noted Feral's lack of response and tapped the big tom on the arm. When that didn't get a response he made to shake the Commander's shoulder.

Callie gasped and made an abortive attempt to warn the guy not to do that, "No...don't!"... but she was too late.

The Kat shook Feral firmly.

Feral woke from sleep to alert in zero seconds and automatically pinned the poor unfortunate Kat to the table in a head lock.

There were cries of shock and surprise as well as a strangled squeak from the pinned tom.

Feral blinked in surprise and quickly released the Kat. "I apologize. Automatic reaction, sorry." He was utterly mortified.

"That was what I was trying to warn you, Mr. Bernly. You don't shake an Enforcer of Feral's caliber awake without setting off their highly developed defensive skills." Callie said lightly, while being thoroughly amused mentally. She'd always hated Bernly. He was such a pompous ass.

Bernly scowled angrily as he rubbed his sore neck. "He shouldn't have been sleeping in the first place." He hissed in an aggrieved tone.

Before Feral could respond, Callie tartly responded to the irritating tom. "He is pregnant with twins, Mr. Bernly. That does tend to make one tired."

"Uh, thank you Ms. Briggs. I do apologize for my behavior, I am more tired lately." Feral apologized again, his face burning with embarrassment.

"It's alright, Commander. Please give your report." Callie gave him a reassuing smile.

Mayor Manx just snorted but said nothing as Feral gave his report then the meeting moved smoothly after that. There being no major problems or arguments on the budget and other concerns of the council, the meeting ended a couple of hours later.

Smothering a yawn, Feral struggled to get out of his seat. Placing his huge paws on the table he shoved upward but his belly got in the way sending him back in his seat with a thump. Sighing in embarrassment and annoyance, he made another attempt when suddenly he felt arms helping him to his feet.

Ms. Briggs was on one side and a member of the council was on the other.

"Uhm, thank you!" He barely managed, even more mortified.

"You're welcome, Commander. I think you should go catch a nap, you looked really wiped." Callie murmured gently.

"Yeah, I think you're right." Feral said before quickly escaping the council chamber.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

He was so grateful to get out of there. That was the single most humiliating meeting he could ever remember. Imagine falling asleep during a meeting! It didn't help that now he was stiff from sitting so long and needed to pee badly. Grumbling to himself he hurried down the hall. He dashed into the nearest restroom making his guards hurry after him. They waited outside the bathroom to spare him any embarrassment.

As he was relieving himself, hidden in a stall, he heard a couple of the council members enter, talking politics.

Then one of them said, "Did you see Feral's belly?" His tone scandalous.

"How could you miss it. Looks weird to see a male with a pregnant belly. Can't imagine what its like for Feral." The other said in sympathy.

"I think it's just wrong. Males aren't supposed to get pregnant." The first said nastily. "And it was ridiculous that he fell asleep during the meeting."

"Aw come on! My wife got groggy and tired when she was pregnant for crud sake. Of course Feral's going to conk out carrying twins. I'm not pregnant but I nearly dropped off during those last three reports. How dry and boring can you get? Anyway, I think Feral is very brave to be doing this. I think it's just amazing but I do feel sorry for the poor guy. I think he should be working only half days."

The first kat just snorted in disgust and went out the door followed by his fellow council Kat.

Feral shook his head. 'Well that was enlightening. Some think it's cool and amazing and others think it's disgusting. What a world.'

His guards took up positions really close to him noting how tired he looked as Feral made his way out of city hall and to his car. Kunto got out quickly and helped him get into his seat.

"Would you like to go home, Commander. You look really peaked." Kunto asked in concern.

Feral sighed, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. "Yeah, I am tired."

Kunto nodded, secretly relieved Feral was being reasonable as he swung out into traffic and zipped quickly toward the dark tom's uptown apartment.