The morning sun slipped through a slit in the curtains but that didn't wake the Commander as it usually did. Everything he'd gone through over the past few days had totally exhausted him.
Tendaji was wrapped tightly around his mate for the same reason. The morning slide by before an annoying, loud ringing noise forced it's way through a pair of tired ears.
Feral reached out for the offending object and grumbled a barely coherent, "Feral".
"Uncle? Are you alright? I'd only just got word that Tendaji had succeeded in getting you back." Came the relieved voice of his niece.
"Hmph...yeah, I'm back but I'm exhausted. Can we have this conversation later...much later?" He asked, smothering a yawn. His mate groaned unhappily beside him.
"Oh yes! Of course. I'll keep on top of the paperwork and field your calls. Just call me when you're rested. I'm really glad you're alright." Felina said softly.
Feral couldn't help but smile wanly to himself. "So am I, Felina. Talk to you later." He said quietly then hung up. Groaning, he pushed the bedding off and struggled to free himself from his mate's grip.
"Where are you going?" His mate rumbled, blinking at him blearily.
"Bathroom! Let go!" Feral grunted irritably.
Tendaji did so and Feral dragged himself off the bed and to the bathroom. He stifled a gasp of pain as he released the contents of his bladder. The sadist had made his private parts raw. He could use a soak but was far too tired to wait for the tub to fill. He decided to take a shower and stood leaning against the wall as he waited for the water to get hot.
When it was ready, he stepped in and moaned in relief as the hot water streamed over his fur and soaked it. He started to reach for the soap when another paw appeared and took it first.
"Let me do this, my love. You're far too tired." Tendaji said, nuzzling his mate's neck then soaping a wash cloth.
Feral sighed and leaned on his forearms against the shower wall as his mate gently washed his body, paying particular attention to the areas that had been abused. After rinsing off, they stepped out and stood under the dryers. When they went back into the bedroom, Feral laid back down with a deep sigh. Tendaji, however, paused at his kit bag and took out some tubes.
He approached the bed. "Here, my love, these will ease the soreness and kill any bacteria that creep may have gotten there." He said gently as he began to apply the ointments to the appropriate areas.
Feral hissed in discomfort at first until enough of the ointments had been applied then sighed in relief. 'That's much better.' He thought, the soreness finally reduced to a bearable level.
Happy that he'd been able to give his mate some relief, Tendaji's put the tubes on the night stand and climbed back in bed behind him.
It wasn't until nearly dusk when the two finally woke up. Feral's stomach was grumbling loudly as he pushed himself up from the bed and went to the bathroom, Tendaji already gone from the room entirely. Returning to the bedroom he dressed lightly after using the tubes again then padded barefoot out to the living area.
Tendaji was on the phone so Feral walked past him and went into the kitchen.
"I've ordered dinner, Ulysses." His mate called out to him.
"Okay, I'll just get us something to drink." Feral called back and rummaged in his fridge for a snack until dinner and grabbed four cans of milk then ambled back into the living room and sat down on the couch. He flicked on the TV with the sound low and saw the evening news was coming on. Fortunately, no major problems had cropped up while he'd been kidnapped, to his relief.
Tendaji finished his calls and dropped onto the couch next to Ulysses, grabbing one of the milks as he did so.
"Anything happen while you were missing?" He asked politely.
"No, thank god. Except for the theft at the munitions plant nothing else has occurred." Ulysses grunted.
"As to that, Felina has pretty much figured out that Dark Kat was involved along with the slavers. We both guess that he managed to infiltrate someone from this particular slaver group into the plant, stole what Dark Kat needed, and in return his creeplings stole you." His mate said grimly.
"I'd guessed that myself after the creeplings dropped me into those slavers paws." Feral said angrily. "We still don't know what he wanted those weapons for though. He took enough to possibly succeed in taking over the city."
"Yeah, that's what Felina is afraid of too. She was looking into it while allowing me to effect your rescue." Tendaji said in agreement.
Feral frowned, "She knew about it?"
"Give her some credit, Uly. She's smart! When the SWAT Kats and her failed to catch the slavers before getting you across the border, she knew I wouldn't let the fact that lion prides and the Lutanza government are mortal enemies stop me from going after you. She merely came to insure the lion prides were not responsible for your kidnapping and that we didn't start a war. I think we did a very good job keeping that promise." His mate said with a smile. "Also, I didn't tell her we were going after you, she just knew we would. I didn't tell her anything that would force her to act and she was satisfied with that."
"Well I'm grateful for that at least though I'm still pissed that you were the one who put me in this position in the first place." He said flatly. "Now when am I going to stop being a damned target?"
Tendaji sighed unhappily. "I don't know why my King has chosen this moment to be out of touch but I'm doing everything I can to expedite matters. Since I can't get him, I've gone ahead and contacted his mate and had her get things started for the ceremony. That way when we do find the King we can gather the pride quickly and get this over with." He told his mate.
"Wonderful! So in the meanwhile, I have to watch for more attempts by the slavers and the other lion prides while trying to locate Dark Kat before he blows up the city. Thank you so very much!" Ulysses said sarcastically.
"It wouldn't be so dangerous for you, if you would only stay put and not ditch the guards on you." Tendaji said annoyed.
"I have a job to do! I've been taking of myself and this city long before you decided to take away my freedom and tie me to you. It's your own fault. I am not changing how I live and work for you!" Ulysses said sharply.
"You stubborn..." Tendaji started to spit when the door bell rang. Growling under his breath at having such a mulish mate, he went to the door. He peered through the peep hole and saw his best friend standing there with another of the pride beside him.
He opened the door and waved Dubaku and Jengo in. They carried bags of food to the coffee table and sat down with them.
"Dinner is served, guys!" Dubaku said, eyeing the two of them as he sensed a fight had been going on when they interrupted.
Feral frowned at the addition of more pride members but wisely said nothing as he took his portion of the food they had brought.
Tendaji did the same but continued to frown at his mate. "You are the most stubbornest Kat I have ever known. I can't change what's happened and I am required by pride law to protect my mate. But that isn't the only reason I get upset so easily. You just don't seem to understand what our soul bond means." He said in frustration.
"Obviously not!" Feral snorted, picking up his milk and drinking.
Tendaji was about to launch into a lecture when his friend touched his arm. He stopped and looked at Dubaku in irritation.
"Easy my friend. He isn't a lion, something you seemed to have trouble remembering. Most importantly, he isn't female and that is a big reason for his failure to feel the bond as strongly as a more emotional female would. She would have fewer difficulties accepting a bond and the protection of a mate. But your mate is male with his own strong sense of protecting others weaker than himself. He isn't as emotional despite his feminine attributes so you can't expect him to let you protect him. He's a warrior like you. He may give you his loyalty and hopefully his love but it will be in his time and not yours." Dubaku said wisely.
Feral blinked at the lion in surprise. What he'd said made a lot of sense and, he realized, that the same could be said of Tendaji. He had a biological need to protect his mate. It really wasn't his fault either that fate had decided he would find his soul's other half in another male. Still, despite that understanding, Feral could see they would be at each other's throat quite often until they learned more about how each other.
As for Tendaji, he stared at his friend for a long time then sighed. "Sometimes I really hate the fact that you're a wise one, Dubaku." He grumbled.
Dubaku simply smiled and shrugged. "I am what I am, Ten."
His friend just snorted. Jengo wisely said nothing, just listened and watched.
They ate dinner in silence and watched some TV before Feral made it clear he intended to go into the office and catch up on his paperwork he knew was piled up. Rather than argue, Tendaji, Dubaku and Jengo simply got up and prepared to go with him.
With his unwanted entourage, Feral made for Enforcer Headquarters. He would simply have to get used to being surrounded by lions whether he liked it or not.
Felina had been leaving for the day, having stayed late to take care of her work and her uncles when she saw him walking up the steps of headquarters. She waited for him. Smiling privately to herself, she could see how disgruntled her uncle was at having a lion security force surrounding him.
"Good evening, Uncle. Decided to come in and do some work?" She asked lightly.
"Yes, stay and brief me." He ordered, gruffly.
"Certainly, sir." She said easily, turning to walk beside her uncle as they made for the elevators.
Stepping into the car, Felina punched the button for the top floor, then turned to Tendaji.
"Thank you for bringing my uncle back safely."
"You're welcome, Felina." Tendaji said warmly.
She smiled back then went quiet as she heard a grumble from her uncle. Over his shoulder, she saw Tendaji shake his head and give a disgusted look of strained amusement at his mate's attitude.
'Poor Tendaji!' Felina thought, amusement tugging at her own features. 'He's only just learning what it's like to be around my uncle. Hope he survives the lessons.'