True to his word Kamau very quickly gained Ulysses his release from his gilded cage. It took a little convincing though to get the Kantin to give up his most lucrative slave.
"But sir, I've only just acquired him. He's been good for the business, how can I justify letting him go?" The Pharaoh Hound said in distress.
"I will pay you handsomely and will not demand the $10,000 winning prize for taking him. I do not wish anyone else to have or use him. I will not accept a refusal." The tiger warned coldly.
The hound wanted to protest more but the forbidding look from Kamau made him reconsider. The tiger's clan was large and powerful. If they wanted to, his business could be razed to the ground. No matter how much money he'd lose from letting the hermaphrodite leave it was cheap compared to being dead. Swallowing hard, the Kantin agreed.
"I want him ready to leave in half an hour and remove those obscene piercings. Didn't you know you could destroy his ability to nurse his kits by doing that?" The tiger growled not expecting an answer.
"I...no I wasn't aware of that. I'll get him ready right away, sir." The Kantin said nervously, quickly leaving to ready the dark tom for departure. On his way upstairs, he grabbed a young collie female. "The piercings must be removed from Ulysses. See to it immediately." He ordered her. She blinked in surprise but took off for her quarters to retrieve the equipment she needed.
Meanwhile, the Kantin went up to the second floor and to a storeroom where he kept a selection of clothing for all his slaves. Searching for several minutes, he finally came up with a decent traveling outfit that wouldn't shame the dark tom's new owner. Gathering up the items, he rushed back out to the hall and up to the third floor room.
Nathan nodded at him in surprise. The female collie was standing waiting. "Why are you just standing there?" The Kantin snapped in exasperation.
"I'm sorry sir, you didn't give any instructions to allow anyone in." The bodyguard said uneasily.
"Damn it! We don't have time for this. Unlock the door, hurry up!" He snapped, his nerves making him irritable. The guard quickly did so and moved out of the way.
Ulysses stared at his owner in distaste and surprise. When the tiger said he'd get him released, he hadn't realized he'd meant immediately. He stood there in confusion as the female collie approached him to remove the piercings and his owner dropped clothes and shoes onto the bed.
"As soon as she has removed your piercings, Nathan will take you to your room. Take a quick shower and I mean quick. Put these clothes on and make yourself presentable. Your new owner wishes to take you within..." He paused to look at his watch, "fifteen minutes. Hurry it up Regina." He snapped at the collie. She hurriededly finished, making Ulysses wince as she pulled the small rings from his nipples and applied an antiseptic on them.
"Take this with you and apply it regularly until the holes heal." She told him quickly handing him a small bottle.
"Fine. Here take these and hurry. Nathan stand with him while he gets ready then bring him to the lounge." The Kantin ordered as he handed the clothes to Ulysses and shoved him toward the door.
He was marched down the stairs and to the room that was his sleeping quarters. It was very tiny and had no window. Only a bed and small bathroom. Dropping the clothes onto the bed, Ulysses went into the bathroom and turned on the water. He stared into the mirror while the water heated and saw a haunted visage that only vaguely resembled the Kat he'd been when he'd arrived.
Shaking himself, he stepped into the shower and quickly washed his body trying to remove the scent of the tiger from his fur. Done, he stepped into the dryers then out again barely dry. He eagerly dressed in clothes for the first time in two weeks. He felt less vulnerable being clothed at last. Nathan stood in the doorway waiting. Remembering the small bottle of antiseptic Ulysses grabbed it from the bed and dropped it into a pocket then followed the wolf bodyguard to the downstairs lounge.
As soon as he stepped foot in the opulent waiting area the tiger came up to him and placed an arm around his waist and pulled him toward the ornate doors and stepped out into a busy gambling area. It was obviously a very successful club by the brief look he'd gotten of the chandeliers, thick Persian carpets and expensive foods being served.
He didn't get to see much more before he was hustled through the club proper and into the entry area which kinda looked like a hotel lobby. One would never guess this was a club until you went into the inner sanctum.
"Here's where you will be blindfolded my beauty. As intelligent as you are and with your apparent military background you cannot be allowed to see where you are or where you're going. I may not care for the owner's morals but I do like coming here and do not wish for it to be shut down by an over zealous police force." The tiger said quietly as one of his bodyguards moved to Ulysses' side and placed a dark blindfold on his eyes and, surprisingly, a set of earplugs in his ears. They weren't kidding when they said they didn't want him to know where he was.
He felt the tiger pull him gently, but quickly forward again. The tiger was solicitous and careful, never allowing the dark tom to stumble or accidentally get injured because he couldn't see or hear. He felt himself being pushed gently into a vehicle. It was expensive he was sure as the ride was smooth and comfortable, most likely a limo.
They rode along in silence. Ulysses used the time to get some much needed rest. He had to trust the tiger wouldn't hurt him. His own honor prevented him from trying to escape now that he was out of the slavers clutches. The car ride ended after some thirty minutes. He was pulled out and walked over a hard surface that was windy, helped up some stairs and moved into a narrow space then sat into a thick, comfortable seat. He felt a belt being snapped over his lap and guessed he was in a plane. He had been right, escape would have been fruitless. He wasn't anywhere near home. He felt the jet take off smoothly some minutes later but his blindfold and earplugs were not removed. Sighing to himself, he decided he might as well take a nap.
When he woke some time later, the plane was landing. To his surprise the blindfold and earplugs were removed by Kamau.
"We have arrived. It took some 'convincing' on my part to get your former owner to tell me where you were from." The tiger said getting up from his seat and gesturing for Ulysses to follow.
"You could have asked me." The dark tom snorted as he followed the tiger out of the plane and down the stairs to the familiar sight of Megakat Municipal Airport. He felt his heart tighten with happiness laced with sorrow. Dawn was just peeking over the horizon..
"Yes, I could have." Kamau said smiling but saying nothing more.
They entered a special terminal for those who owned their own planes which Kamau obviously did. The tiger stopped suddenly when they had stepped into the richly appointed waiting area.
"This is where I leave you, Ulysses. I have business elsewhere. Know this, I will be back and expect you to come to me without complaint and share my bed for however long I may spend here. Until then, take care of yourself. I would not be pleased if you were to become injured in your job." The tiger said warningly. He pulled Ulysses close and bestowed a deep kiss on the reluctant Kat. Releasing the tom, the tiger gave a solemn nod then turned and went back to his plane leaving a badly shaken Kat in his wake.
He stood in the terminal and watched Kamau's jet take off. The only distinguishing marks on the plane was an apparent clan marking. He would look it up later.
He should be elated to be home alive and safe but an overwhelming depression settled on him at the cost of that freedom. Ulysses tried to shake it off but it clung to him like a spider's web. Anger filled him and he stalked off toward the main terminal. He quickly found a phone and called the dispatcher at Enforcer Headquarters. He caused a minor burst of excitement when they learned he was alive. He informed them of his location and he was told a car would be there immediately to pick him up.
Sighing, he hung up the phone and headed to the pickup zone of the terminal to wait. His anger smouldered as he paced the sidewalk. Ten minutes later an Enforcer cruiser pulled up to the curb. He snatched the door open, dropping into the seat and slamming the door shut before even seeing who was driving.
"Uncle, are you alright?" Came a familiar voice filled with concern.
He blinked a second and drew a deep breath to rein in his anger then turned to look into the worried but relieved face of his beloved niece.
"Felina...I'm alright...take me to..." He paused suddenly uncertain if he wanted to face the questions of his enforcers about where he'd been or go home and stew in misery. He had been raped but didn't know how to address it. His enforcer training firmly told him to report it and give a description of the rapist but what about the slavers. They were more guilty than the 'customer' who paid to use him. Under their laws the user would be fined and maybe jailed a short time for using such a facility but that was in Megakat City. The laws could have been different wherever he had been. If that was the case, the 'customer' would not be held liable for what a slaver did. He felt sick now on top of his fury at being kidnaped and used. The confusion kept him from making a decision.
Seeing the war going on in her uncle's face caused Felina even more concern. Something truly bad had happened to him that kept him from even articulating what it was. She reached over and touched his arm gently. He startled out of his chaotic thoughts and stared at her.
"Uncle, let me take you home. You can wait to be debriefed later today. Perhaps you can tell me what happened?" She asked hopefully.
He swallowed painfully and turned away from her staring blindly out the windshield. He needed to talk to someone but his niece just didn't seem appropriate. It came to him suddenly, in surprise, that there was one who might understand his dilemma but it was so early and waking her now might be a shock. However, she was used to being awakened for emergencies. He finally made a reluctant decision.
"No, Felina. Thank you but I'm unable to discuss this with you. Please just take me home for now." He said quietly.
"Alright, Uncle." She said unhappily proceeding to drive him the fastest way home.
It was a silent drive, she could feel his anger and pain as he drummed his fingers on the dash. She pulled up in front of his home some fifteen minutes later.
He jumped out as if his tail was on fire. "I'll see you in the later, Felina." He said abruptly and disappeared inside his apartment building.
Shaking her head sadly, Felina made her way back to Enforcer Headquarters. She knew her coworkers and superiors would be clamoring to know what had happened to the Commander and she would not have any answers for them.
With the help of the doorman, Feral entered his apartment. He stripped off his borrowed clothing as he headed toward his bedroom. Leaving the clothes in a heap on the floor he made for the shower. He scrubbed and scrubbed his fur with great intensity, fiercely keeping his anguish bottled up. Standing under the dryer he kept his mind blank. Going back into his bedroom he chose a pair of black slacks and yellow polo shirt and black patent shoes. As he was sitting on the bed he reached for the phone and speed dialed her number.
It took several minutes but eventually a groggy voice answered, "Yes, who is it and why are you calling at this ungodly hour?" She grumbled, not completely awake as she squinted at her alarm clock and saw it was only four in the morning.
"It's Feral. I'm sorry to wake you this early but I must speak with you." Feral said tightly.
Deputy Mayor Calico Briggs jerked fully awake. "Commander Feral! You're back! Are you alright?" She asked in surprised relief.
"Please, I really need to see you now!" He repeated
"Uh...I'm assuming you mean here in my apartment and not at my office." She said alerted to the thread of distress tightly held back in his voice.
"Yes, if its not too inconvenient?" Feral asked softly.
"No it's alright, Commander. Come right over." Callie said in concern.
"Thank you. Be there in fifteen minutes." He said and hung up. He searched for his spare keys since he didn't know where his originals and his wallet had gone. Finding them he left his apartment and was relieved to find his vehicle parked where he had left it more than two weeks ago. Within minutes he was on the road toward the Deputy Mayor's apartment.
Callie hung up the phone, a frown of concern on her face. She got up and quickly got dressed in a simple pant suit and brushed her hair out. While she took care of her other needs she thought about how Feral sounded on the phone. His voice was odd and it was very unusual for him to seek her out like this. He should have been at Enforcer Headquarters writing a report about where he'd been and what had happened to him.
Shaking her head in puzzlement, she headed for her kitchen to make some coffee for them. As it began to perk, she called down to her doorman to inform him of Feral's arrival and to let him come up.
The coffee was ready when she heard a sharp knock on her door. She left the kitchen for the front door and opened it to the tired and tense visage of the Enforcer Commander.
"Please, come in, Commander. I've made some coffee. Would you like to sit in here or in the kitchen?" She asked politely as she stepped aside to let him enter and closed the door quietly behind him.
"Coffee sounds good right now and anywhere will be fine, Ms. Briggs." He said heavily.
"Let's go into the kitchen then." She said and led the way to a small but bright kitchen. She gestured him toward a seat. "Cream and sugar?" She asked.
"No...black...thank you." He answered as he seated himself.
She handed him a cup of hot liquid then poured cream and sugar into hers. She took it to the table and sat down opposite him. She studied him over the lip of her cup as he drank his coffee. He looked tired and there was anguish there as well. 'What had happened to him?' She wondered worriedly.
Setting his cup down he stared at the Deputy Mayor. Swallowing his trepidation at discussing something so personal, he took a breath and plunged in.
"I couldn't tell Felina this. It...it's too personal and I felt you could perhaps understand what I'm about to tell you better than she could." He began then stopped trying to steady his nerves.
"I'll try Commander. You are obviously upset. I've seen you angry but never this emotionally disturbed. Please just say what's on your mind and I'll do my best to help you." She said gently, reaching across and giving him a comforting touch.
He swallowed hard and stared at his cup, unable to look her in the eyes. "I don't know how long I was missing. I'm only certain of two weeks. The last thing I remember was being jumped while checking out a disturbance near my apartment. I was kidnapped and hauled away unconscious somewhere far away from Megakat City. When I regained my senses, I found myself in a bordello that was part of a huge club. I only saw bits and pieces of the place so I'm only guessing. Anyway, I woke completely naked with rings pierced through my nipples and gold chains hanging from them and one around my hips." He paused painfully and drank some of his coffee.
Callie stared at him in shock. 'Why on earth would someone kidnap Feral and place him in a bordello. It made no sense." She thought confused.
He began speaking again, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "A Pharaoh Hound Kantin stepped in the room and began laying down rules. He told me I was his slave and that my job was to pleasure the customers that frequented his club. He never gave his name. I, of course, told him I would do no such thing. He only said 'We'll see.' I was tortured with an electric prod but not beaten because he didn't want me marked in any way. I still refused so he changed his tactics. He told me that I would have to beat off the customers if I didn't want to have sex. He would make money on a $10,000 wager that the first customer to succeed in taking me would win. I was shocked. But over the next two weeks during club hours, customers were placed in the room with me and I had to beat them up and knock them out to insure I wouldn't be touched. Sometimes I would be forced to fight at least five to six times a night. It was exhausting. When I was placed back in my sleeping quarters, a tiny room with no windows, I tried hard to find some way to escape but I was too well guarded." He said grimly.
Callie was appalled. She kept her paw on his arm trying to assure him she was still listening because he wouldn't look at her. She had a bad feeling that she hadn't heard the worst yet.
"Finally, last night I met my match. A huge silver and black tiger came into my room. I've never been soo terrified before. Even when Dark Kat would scare us all, I never felt such soul deep fear. I was about to lose something very precious to me. I fought hard but I knew it was only a matter of time before he'd have me. I'd already fought another customer before him and wasn't as fresh as he was so he easily wore me down. He finally succeeded in pinning me to the bed." Feral halted and shook unwillingly at the memory of that moment. He startled when he felt warm arms gently envelope him.
He looked up and saw Callie's shocked and sorrowful expression. He looked away quickly and shuddered more intensely.
Callie was horrified, she knew there was more and was grief strickened for Feral. No matter what their differences she still held him in high regard and to see him reduced to such anguish tore her heart apart. She could feel his distress pouring out and held him tightly trying her best to ease his pain as he finished his terrible tale.
"The tiger had told me from the start he would have me and he did. Though he forced me to have sex he was gentle and did not hurt me and gave me the greatest pleasure I'd ever had in my life but he also took something precious from me, my female virginity. He seemed to understand what this moment had cost me and comforted me then gave me a choice. Be his mate and breed heirs for him and he would see that I was returned home or refuse and remain at the club, a slave. It was no choice. No one had found me and the thought that I'd be used for the rest of my life and probably gotten pregnant many times made his offer the only option left open to me. I agreed and he had me released that night and flown here. I was blindfolded and my ears were plugged so that I wouldn't be able to determine where I had been held. The tiger told me that when he returned to our city he would collect on our agreement. I would warm his bed and hopefully bear his kits for his clan." Feral stopped and hid his face in his paws.
"Oh Ulysses!" She said calling him by his first name. This was too personal not too. "I'm soo very sorry this has happened to you. By what you've said I guess its obvious you are a very rare form of hermaphrodite. I'm also guessing that this is why you were kidnapped. Who was this tiger that apparently had enough power to force the club owner to release you?" She asked gently.
In a thick voice filled with pain, he murmured, "He said his name was Shakil Kamau."
Callie went still with shock. Feral felt her freeze and looked up in confusion and concern.
"Oh God, Ulysses of all the Kats to be involved with you have run afoul of the worst. The Kamau Clan is wealthy, powerful and very dangerous. They are not evil and are scrupulously honest with their business dealings but they are well known for being ruthless. Fortunately, for Megakat City, they haven't shown an interest in us. To much of a risk because of our omega problems or so they told the Mayor when he met one of their clan leaders at a business conference in another city. Mayor Manx was, of course, disappointed not to be able to garner any business from them but I, for one, was grateful for their lack of interest." She said uneasily.
Feral moaned at this bit of news. "Do you know anything about Shakil?" He asked realizing just how much trouble he was in.
Callie thought a moment, " Well...I did hear a little gossip about that particular Kamau. He's said to be a bit of a disappointment to his father but I don't know why. He's supposed to be nicer than the rest...not as ruthless or interested in the business much to his family's displeasure."
"He seemed genuinely concerned for my welfare but not enough to refuse to rape me. He did say his family was upset with his choice of bed mate. He preferred males to females but was required to provide an heir. To this end, he searched for a male hermaphrodite that could breed. Apparently, I fit the bill. That was why he was there last night. The only nice thing he'd said was he would have preferred to have courted me but that the circumstances prevented it." Feral sighed painfully.
She rubbed his shoulders trying to massage the painfully tight muscles she could feel under her paws. He shivered at her touch but didn't flinch away. There was silence in the kitchen as her mind worked on what could be done for the Commander now. This was a dangerous situation, one she couldn't see getting Ulysses out of easily, if at all. This would take some careful thought.