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Chapter 19: Reaching an Understanding

The night had indeed been wonderful but now in the light of day, his mind turned to a more serious subject. He had made love to his mate when they woke and they lay entwined catching their breath.

"I know you must rise soon to prepare for work so while we have these quiet moments, I need to discuss something of a serious matter with you regarding the Pride." Ten said quietly.

Feral lay on his back and stared up at his mate. He could tell Ten was very troubled and he could well guess what was bothering him.

"I'm listening." He said easily.

Ten sighed then plunged on. "What you have done...invoking this paws off action against professional Kats and the Pride Hunt has caused a major blow up with the King and Queen. Some of the other prides have left the city in a angry huff." He said grimly.

"That law has always been on the books concerning Pride Hunts but no one has seriously infringed on the law until you took me and the Tumbuka Pride took Felina." Feral explained.

Tendaji's brows rose in surprise. "I can't believe this hasn't come up before?" He objected.

"During my tenure, it hasn't. I don't know about those before me." The dark tom said with a shrug. "Perhaps they just overlooked it since it didn't affect them directly and no one lodged a formal complaint."

His mate frowned at that and was silent for several minutes. "Then it only happened because it was you and Felina?" He asked thoughtfully.

"No. It was because we hadn't consented that caused the law to be invoked." Feral corrected.

Ten shook his head in disbelief. "All we had to do was ask if you would be willing to be pursued and all would have been well?" He asked sourly.

"Exactly."

"That won't work!" Ten said, his face flushing with anger and annoyance.

"Excuse me?" Feral asked surprised by his mate's intense reaction.

"Ulysses, you still don't understand what it means to be a part of the Pride and how much a Pride Hunt means to the bonding process." Ten said tautly. "It's very much like chasing prey...it gets the blood up...the heart pumping and in this case...the hormones for mating are pushed to their peak levels. When a lion catches its mate that first time...only then is a bond possible. The chase is the crucial part of this process. Some of us are lucky to find our soul mates, that's what happened to us, but for others it's the thrill of the chase and the hope of a bonding that drives a Pride Hunt. We don't date like Kats, it simply doesn't work for us." Ten explained. The mechanics of it are, being attracted to a certain person, going into hunt mode, then chasing the person to mate with them in hopes of bonding." Ten said, trying to break it down for Uly.

"Sounds haphazard to me. What's the deal with stealing each others target then?" Feral asked with a frown.

"That is the other part of the hunt. It's based on the survival of the fittest. I'm considered an alpha male so who I take as a mate will be of some importance. Other alpha males will want what I have because the female is usually the best around and important to a successful gene pool. In this case, though, it was because I had found a rare prize." Ten said with a shrug.

"So, okay, the way I understand this is, it is more a biological imperative rather than just the way you guys like to get a mate?" Feral questioned, trying to grasp the concept.

"Don't say you guys, Ulysses. You are now a member of the pride as well and it is your responsibility to uphold its traditions and its laws." Ten said seriously. "Yes it is a biological imperative but it is also steeped in tradition."

"Hmm, I see..." Feral murmured thinking about what had been said. He sighed inwardly. 'Why did this have to have religious and biological significance? Why couldn't it just be a habit that they needed to break?' He thought in annoyance. "Alright, fine...I get that it's not something you can help but when you interfere with a professional doing their job that's breaking the law. There is simply no way around that." Feral finally said.

"But..." Ten started to object, his face turning red.

Feral held up his palm. "When Tau interfered with Felina while she was searching for clues to Dark Kat's whereabouts, he could have easily put her life in jeopardy and the city's." He said sternly.

"The city's! What are you talking about?" Ten asked, still upset.

"Dark Kat is the worst of all the criminals that threaten this city. He's just stolen a large quantity of explosives. We know from experience that he doesn't do anything small. It was imperative that Felina find out where he's gone to ground. Tau seriously interfered with that investigation. I have no idea what their presence in the alley could have done to any evidence that Dark Kat left behind because the altercation of taking Felina would have wiped it out. Do you see what I mean?" He asked seriously.

Ten sat back and rubbed his head in consternation. "Okay, I concede you may be right about that. You will need to explain this to the King and Queen. They are very upset with you and could, under pride laws, bring you up before them to face serious charges of interfering with legitimate hunts. This is a very fine line you trod, Ulysses." Ten said heavily.

Feral chewed his lip in consternation. It seemed no matter which side he was on, he wasn't going to win. If he upheld the laws of Megakat City on Pride Hunts, he broke the law of the Pride. Yuck, what a mess. He closed his eyes and groaned. He wasn't a lawyer just a cop who enforced the law. Maybe he should have Ms. Briggs intercede in this. He thought about that for a moment longer and found the idea had a lot of merit to it.

"Alright I'll speak to them but I'll also have Ms. Briggs talk to them as well. She deals with this kind of thing often and, besides, she is the Deputy Mayor and this does affect the Katizens of this city." Feral told his mate.

Ten blinked at that and realized Uly was right. "Hmm, I can see what you mean. Okay, I suggest you try to take care of this immediately. Everyone is very angry right now." He said.

Feral rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot. Did the fact that Dark Kat is out there with a threat big enough to take out the city just pass you by?" He said sarcastically.

Ten flushed in irritation. "I know you have a lot of important things riding on your shoulders, Uly but unfortunately, you precipitated this one all on your own." He reminded his mate.

"Fine!" Feral growled in annoyance, climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom, once more closing the door on his mate.

'He is so irritating!' Ten hissed to himself. 'I seriously wonder how on earth we could be soul mates!'