A little less than an hour later, Shakil was rolled upstairs, head covered, into the room. Feral woke from his light doze and watched with sleepy eyes as Shakil was transferred to the bed and settled in with all his medical gear.
He looked very pale to his mate and he realized this must be how the tiger felt when it was he who had been stabbed. Once they were finished, they left and the floor nurse checked him over and made notations on his chart before going to Feral's side and checking him as well before she too left the room. He heard a noise and looked toward the door and saw the SWAT Kats slip in along with Felina.
Felina smiled at him as they pulled the curtains around his and Shakil's beds. He could see them through the curtain as the pair settled around his mate's bed and Felina came next to his. They turned the lights to very dim and the waiting began.
"Rest Uncle. We will be watching," she said softly.
Reassured, Feral yawned hugely and allowed his eyes to close. Felina sat near her uncle for about an hour before rising and moving to the back of the room. She was joined by the SWAT Kats.
"Okay, you take the bathroom and I'll be under Shakil's bed and ...Razor..." T-Bone started to say before Razor interrupted, "yeah I know...I get the window...," he sighed. T-Bone and Felina grinned and took up their positions. Razor climbed out the window and secured himself for the long uncomfortable wait.
Sometime around three a.m. the sound of the door opening and a brief casting of light from the corridor alerted the watchers. The nurse had already made her rounds an hour ago so they knew it wasn't her. A large shape slid into the room and up to Feral's bed. Whoever it was, didn't make a move toward Shakil. It hovered over Feral for a moment before reaching for the tom's belly with a needle.
Felina flew out of the bathroom and T-Bone, seeing her feet fly by him shoved himself out from under Feral's bed calling for his partner. Razor jumped back in the window as Felina reached the intruder. The figure was strong and Felina barely held him back from her uncle's body but it was enough for T-Bone to reach her and grab the assailant and shove him against the wall hard. Razor was there to help hold the now struggling and snarling male.
Felina turned up the lights which woke her uncle. He blinked owlishly at the tableau that greeted his eyes. A big silver tiger was being forcibly pressed against the wall by the SWAT Kats and Felina was holding a laser on him.
At first, Feral thought it was Shakil because the tiger had an uncanny resemblance to him. A hoarse cry of shock came from the other bed in the room. The curtains had been pulled by the struggle. Shakil had awakened and was staring in angry horror at the tiger.
"Father...why?" He asked in anguish.
Feral gaped at his mate then looked back at their prisoner in shock. Shakil's father snarled furiously.
"Because you shame our clan. That abomination must not be born. The thought that a Kamau could mate with a male is sacrilegious. No son of mine will take a male to mate. I will not accept this thing into our clan." He spit savagely.
Shakil looked strickened then his face twisted in fury. "You speak of the one I love. Ulysses Feral is my mate and nothing you or the clan can do or say will change that. You have broken clan laws by threatening a legitimate mating and interfering with my rite of passage. Both are serious violations that the clan elders will not overlook. Remember that as you sit in Ulysses jail, father." Shakil said with anger and sadness. He panted in exhaustion as he glared at his father.
Felina handed the SWAT Kats a pair of pawcuffs. Razor put them on when T-Bone spun the tiger around and pressed him against the wall again. Felina called for a pickup from headquarters. As Feral struggled to get out of bed, Felina quickly stepped to his side and helped him stand and move to his mate's side.
He leaned over and hugged his upset mate. Shakil let tears of humiliation and sorrow soak his mate's hospital clothes.
Less than twenty minutes later, four strong enforcers collected their prisoner and Felina went with them to do the report. The SWAT Kats bid her good night, politely ignoring the pair on the other bed. Two more enforcers stood guard for the rest of the night outside the pairs room.
Feral slid onto the bed with Shakil and comforted him as they both fell back to sleep.
The next few weeks were not happy ones for the Kamau Clan.
As a gesture of good will, the city, in the person of the Mayor, handed their prisoners over to clan for judgment. As the injured party, Shakil with Ulysses by his side met with the clan elders and gave their side of the conflict.
The half-tiger was used as a hostile witness against Skakil's father. Shakil's cousin had been killed by the Sergeant in defense of Shakil during the attack on Enforcer Headquarters. His father was sentenced to seclusion within the clan holdings. He was stripped of his authority and wealth. These were transferred to Shakil.
Shakil was told, in formal session, that he had fulfilled his rite of passage and that his mate and unborn progeny were under the full protection of the clan. Word would be spread quickly so that Feral would no longer be hounded by slavers. Shakil's mating to Feral was officially recognized and a bonding ceremony was conducted in full clan regalia much to Feral's dismay.
He was exhausted by the time everything had been completed and the sun was going down.
Shakil took him to his family's estate within the clan holdings. It was beautiful but he really couldn't enjoy it right now.
"When you are rested my love, I'll give you the grand tour," Shakil told his tired mate gently. He clapped his paws and a bevy of female servants rushed in. Over the next hour, Feral was stripped, washed gently, dried, his fur brushed to a shine and wrapped in a beautiful and expensive silk robe. A tray of finger foods and drink were waiting for him by the expensive and huge bed in the ornately decorated master bedroom.
Feral felt a bit overwhelmed by all the attention as he was guided to the bed and tucked in, the tray placed in his lap. The servants, their duty done, quickly vanished as quickly and silently as they had appeared..
"You are carrying the clan heir, my beauty. That makes you a very important person." Shakil smiled in amusement.
Feral just huffed in annoyance as he began to eat. He was too far along now to go back to work so they would be staying here until the kitten was born. 'It really wasn't a bad place to be for a vacation,' he sighed.
Over the next month, he was pampered and cared for which kind of grated on him at times. Shakil couldn't be with him as often as he'd like due to the need for him to meet all the business leaders of his father's, now his, business empire. He had to physically meet them to ease the transition from his father to him. There was a great deal of paperwork he had to sign as well.
It was on a particularly overcast day, that Feral began to feel discomfort in his back. He tried to ignore it but it got stronger. When one of the servants saw him grimacing when he tried to get up and was holding his belly, she ran to get the healer.
The healer arrived immediately and insisted Feral get into bed. She quickly examined him and determined that he was in early labor. Shakil was quickly notified so that he could get back in time for the birth.
Everything was done to insure Feral's comfort while he labored. It hardly mattered since it soon became to painful for him to care. He found himself clutching the sheets in a death grip during some contractions.
'Kat's Alive! This hurt!' He thought after a particularly nasty contraction had taken his breath away.
The healer told him things were going well but Feral hardly believed her. Just when he wanted to scream at her, Shakil finally arrived. He rushed into the room and sat down at his mate's side.
He very quickly regretted giving Ulysses his paw to hold. It was soon crushed painfully multiple times over the next few hours as his mate labored.
"Oh shit...ahhh..." Feral screeched unable to contain himself any longer as the pain became even more intense.
"Pant my love...it will help ease the pain a little during the contractions..." Shakil tried to help his mate.
"You pant...ahhh...ooooo...uh uh uh...shit that hurts...arg..." Feral kept yelling.
"It is time for you to push, Commander," the healer urged him.
"Ohhhhh...nooo...huuuu..." he was past any form of articulate speech as he pushed.
"That's it Uly...push...it's almost here...," Shakil said excitedly as the head crowned.
A final screech by the laboring mother and the kitten slid into view at last. Feral could only gasp in relief as the healer let the father cut the umbilical cord then handed the kitten to the other healers in the room who took care of it. The kitten began squalling as soon as it had entered the world announcing its unhappiness with the cold air.
Feral's abdomen was pressed gently to expel the afterbirth then he was cleaned up, gently washed, and his bedding replaced under him. His newborn son was placed in his arms and he stared at it in exhausted wonder.
"So you are the cause of all my troubles." He murmured softly.
"He is a precious jewel, my love and I'm very pleased." Shakil said warmly kissing his mate and looking adoringly at his new heir.
Two days later...
"Hey Chance look at this..." Jake called his friend as he walked into the garage.
"What?" He asked with his paws deep inside an engine.
Jake shoved the paper under his partner's nose. On the front cover was Feral, Shakil and a newborn kitten.
"Well, how about that? What sex is it?" Chance asked.
Jake pulled the paper back to him and read, "Says here, it's male born two days ago. They named him Shere Kamau. He sure looks cute."
"Yeah, glad the danger to Feral is over finally. We have enough to do with the omegas around without being on 'Feral guard' all the time." Chance said.
"To right! Glad he's happy too, considering how things started." Jake said tossing the paper onto the desk and going over to an enforcer sedan to begin work.
"Yeah, me too." Chance agreed returning to his work.
At Enforcer Headquarters, Felina smiled at the picture in the paper. Her new cousin was adorable. When she had her next leave, she would have to go visit her uncle at the Kamau enclave to see her new cousin unless her uncle managed to talk Shakil into letting him return to Megakat City sooner but knowing the silver tiger, she doubted very much her uncle was going to win that argument. She chuckled to herself and returned to her work.
END