The exposure of their existence to a very large portion of important katizens was a source of concern to Commander Feral. As soon as their visitor from space had been safely stowed away and his duties as Chief Enforcer were completed for the day, he hurriedly made his way to the headquarters of his kind in Megakat City. In a quiet but prosperous part of the city was a section of fashionable and modern brick buildings that housed apartments exclusive shops, high class restaurants and clubs.
Parking was difficult and Feral was lucky to find a spot for his hummer a block away from the exclusive gambling club called the White Tiger. It was run by a powerful looking kat of tiger ancestry with white fur, black markings and brilliant green eyes. The club was prosperous and popular as well as being a secret meeting place for weres.
Knocking on the ornate door, Feral waited impatiently. The butler who opened the door was a big, solid red colored kat, who was also a guard.. He nodded respectfully at the Commander, stepping aside to let him in.
"Where's Tam?" He asked urgently striding past the were guard.
"You're in luck he's in and trying to catch up with paperwork in his office." The butler said politely.
Nodding, Feral hurried through the elegant lobby and toward a set of stairs to the left of the entrance. On the second floor, he moved quickly to a nondescript door that matched others like it on the floor and pushed it open. Sitting at a small desk surrounded by computers and other office equipment was a beautiful, petite, cream-colored female who looked up at his entrance with a frown. "Well, what's got your tail in a panic?" She asked mildly.
"I've got to see Tam. It's urgent!" He snapped at her.
"It must be for you to be so rude and abrupt, Ulysses!" She huffed at him. "Just a moment, I'll make sure he's free." She reached for her phone. "Tam? Ulysses is here and he says it's urgent." She listened a moment. "Go right in."
He was already moving to the door before she finished speaking, gaining him yet another look, this one of concern. In a moment he was through the door and standing before an impressive oak desk. The white tiger mix sitting behind it eyed his beta in annoyance and concern.
As the Alpha leader of the Werekat Pride of this city he had the heavy responsibility of keeping their kind hidden from normal katkind. Incidents between the two races had to be handled with utmost care and efficiency. He also kept ties with the other prides around the world. Tam Weslaho was a natural leader and respected by all members of the pride. He was also known to the norms (name for rest of katkind) as a civic leader who donated heavily to charities and an astute business kat.
"What's wrong? Your scent is heavy with stress. Has it something to do with our new alien visitor I've just seen on the news?" Tam asked, leaning back in his chair and giving Feral his full attention.
Feral stood tensely and reported what had happened at the meeting of the alien visitor. When he finished, he wasn't surprised at his alpha's reaction.
Tam lunged from his chair in agitation. "This is a very serious development. One that all the Werekat leaders need to be made aware of immediately." He paced around his office a moment to gather his thought. Stopping in front of Feral he met that were's concerned gaze.
"Until we decide what action we should take, I want you to get with the betas of all the prides and warn them that they will have to keep their people calm and wait till the alphas can come up with a plan of action. I don't want panic to set in and cause clashes between norms and us that could break out because of fear. Go get that done right away, while I contact the Council of Alphas on conference call." Tam ordered, his voice a deep growl. He wasn't looking forward to this call.
"Yes sir." Feral said dipping his head in a show of obedience to his alpha's wishes. He went out to the outer office. "Klara, I need the listing of all the betas for a conference call, a line Tam isn't using and a quiet space to do it." He said urgently.
Understanding that something very serious was going on, Klara didn't ask questions. She directed him to a nearby office and indicated the line he could use while getting him the listing he needed. Left alone, Feral began a long series of calls. There was going to be an uproar in the Werekat communities before he was through.
More than an hour later he was cooling his heels in the bar of the casino waiting for his alpha to summon him. He was strong enough to be an alpha but much preferred his beta position within the pride. He didn't want the headache of protecting and maintaining peace among the varied members of the Megakat Pride which numbered some five hundred at last count. Since he was the Chief Enforcer for the normal kats it made sense that he was an enforcer for his alpha as well. This problem was a case in point of how much he didn't want the leader position. Sighing he finished his beer and debated getting another when a fellow beta dropped into the seat beside him.
"What's this I hear of the norms learning about us?" Trevon asked his best friend seriously. Trevon was a huge panther cross with yellow green eyes and a buff body.
"Our alien visitor spilled the beans. He observed from his outpost in space that we existed and blurted it out to the city council, scientists and press. Tam is having a fit." Feral answered heavily.
"Ah, man, this sucks." Trevon said angrily. His scent spilling waves of distress. "Wonder what Tam is going to do?"
"Don't know. That's what I'm waiting to find out. It's not like we can plug the leak. The whole city will know about us soon enough. Though the good news is not right away. The Mayor wants the katizens to get used to having a possible alien immigrant first before dropping the bomb that there is another species living here already." Feral snorted unhappily. "I just spent forty minutes notifying all betas to be watchful of any young hotshots causing trouble over this and panic amongst the older weres."
"As to that... Sorry I wasn't here when you told our betas. Just got in myself when I heard it from rumor central." Trevon apologized. "What about our alien visitor? What's he like anyway?" Trevon asked as he ordered a beer for himself and looked to his friend for his first hand impression.
"Ah, well, he looks sort of like a kat except for that beautiful silver hair and blue with gold rimmed eyes. He's built like a warrior and carries himself like one. Speaks well, albeit through a translating device and is polite. Beyond that, I don't know!" He shrugged his shoulders and decided to order another beer. He hated waiting.
A young were, just barely out of his teens, ran up to Feral. "Commander, Tam wants to see you."
Handing his new bottle of beer to Trevon, he quickly got up. "Thank you, Rem. See you later, Trevon." He said as he headed for the alpha's office again.
Tam was tense and upset. His scent made Feral bristle involuntarily in defense. He had to breathe deeply and calm himself so he wouldn't appear to be offering challenge to his alpha.
"It's okay, Ulysses. I'm just really pissed right now and it's perfectly natural for you to react to that. Okay! Here's what we've decided to do. Since you are closest to the business concerning the alien, all the alphas want you to monitor the situation and keep us informed. When the alien is ready to make contact with us then and only then, will we decide on what action we'll take." He directed his beta.
"Actually, though I don't much like the timing, the Council of Alphas has been talking about revealing our existence for some time now. What's been holding us back are the fears of some of the older alphas that remember the persecutions. We younger ones only know that with modern technology and communications we will not be able to hide much longer. It's just taking time to convince these older ones that now is the time. The alien's visit has just pushed the timetable up is all." Tam explained knowing this would change all their lives dramatically. He offered a wan smile to Ulysses. "Sorry to put you on the hot seat but since you are already there..." He shrugged and got up to clap his disgruntled beta on the shoulder. "You're perfect for the job you know that. You're the only one I trust to see us through this."
"I know, but I don't have to like it." Feral growled. "I agree that we should reveal ourselves though. It's been getting harder to keep the secret when younger weres want to help protect the city against those ever increasing threats to it and still keep their identities secret. There have been an increasing amount of incidents of norms witnessing our wereforms during battles for the city." He sighed
"Yes you very right there but the holdouts feel that is the Megakat Pride's problem not theirs. Not realizing that if we should fall to one of these powerful criminals they would be next." Tam snorted in frustration at the denseness of some of the older alphas.
"That's how these criminals succeed in their attacks against the 'bury the head in the sand' types." Feral made a dismissive noise. He sighed. He was tired. It had been a long day.
Smiling sympathically, Tam walked his beta out of his office. "Watch yourself around this alien, Ulysses. Now go home and get some sleep." He said giving Feral a small push to get going.
Moving through the now busy club, Feral barely acknowledged the greetings from other weres as he headed out. Night had fallen while he been inside. He walked tiredly up the block to his hummer.
Tomorrow was going to be a busy day as Mayor Manx had asked him to escort Jeraz around some of the sights but not their secure areas. Trust had to be built first. Ms. Briggs was to locate some possible office space for Jeraz's proposed consulting business. Privately, he wondered who the were was Jeraz had mentioned he wanted to woo as a mate. He didn't know if being mated to an alien would be such good publicity for the were community but it wasn't for him to say. Only time would tell where all this was going. The hidden world of the werekats was about to be catapulted into the open whether they wanted to be or not.