Chapter Fourteen

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

Raina and Karel returned to their temporary home to find Urabe, Kazuma and Antonio in the living room looking over some papers and discussing them but paused when the two entered the room.

"So, did you find the information I asked for?" Urabe asked.

"We did, however, something else happened," Karel responded glancing at Raina in concern before returning his gaze to Urabe.

The concerned look in Karel's eyes made Urabe and Kazuma lunge from their seats and go to Raina's side.

"Raina, what happen?" Urabe asked worriedly, searching the young Sahara's body for injuries with her eyes and nose.

"Are you sick?" Kazuma asked nearly at the same time, brushing Raina's auburn hair away from her forehead so he could check her temperature.

Looking distressed, Raina, put her paws out to push them away gently. "No... I ... no I'm not sick or injured ... please, I just need to speak with Urabe alone for a few minutes..."

Kazuma frowned but bowed out and gave Urabe a significant look. She nodded at him then gently draped her arm across the trouble fem's shoulders and guided her off to their shared bedroom where they could speak privately. When the two fems had left the room, Kazuma turned his attention to Karel.

"Explain." He demanded flatly.

Karel looked a little nervous but launched into the sequence of events that had upset him. He told of the near accident, the cinnamon tom that had been driving, then the reaction of the pair when they laid eyes on each other. He stopped before giving the identity of the tom and what he thought might have been going on between the two.

Kazuma blue eyes narrowed, "What has you hesitating?"

Karel cleared his throat nervously, hoping Kazuma wouldn't freak out. Sighing, he went on, "Uh...well...the male is Jake Clawson and I think the way the two acted when they saw each other...well...it looks like they're life mates."

"Ohhh no..." Kazuma groaned. "That is so not good." He was afraid he knew what kind of reaction Urabe would have to news like this.

"HE'S WHAT?" A familiar voice rang out in shocked surprise from the bedroom where the fems had gone.

So much so it startled Antonio, he actually leaped from the couch into a defensive crouch before he could stop himself. Blushing somewhat and shaking his head, he relaxed when it went silent again and rolled his eyes at Kazuma who just sighed.

In the bedroom, Urabe was standing with fists clenched and gaping at Raina who cringed as her ears rang from that loud shout.

Shaking her head, Urabe got control of herself. She forced her body to relax and raised a paw to rub her eyes. "I'm sorry for shouting...it just took me by surprise. I never dreamed one of the SWAT Kats would find a mate among us but that is no fault of yours, my dear." She went to Raina and hugged her.

Raina had been shocked and hurt when Urabe reacted badly to her news but relaxed when the older Sahara hugged her and said it was alright. But it really wasn't. She pushed at the fem a little so she could look anxiously into her face.

"But…it's not alright...what about our mission? I'm no longer any use to you or the team, not until I bond with Jake and even then I can't help," she said worriedly tears welling up in her eyes.

"That's not true. You're an even bigger part of the mission now because once you're mated to Clawson, he'll take you into his confidence and you'll know how to enter their secret base. All we'll want you to do is take pictures of the entry points and give it to us. Once we have that information, we can go in, look around, and leave." Urabe promised her.

They knew where the SWAT Kats hidden base was located but had no clue how to enter it. They could go search when the guys were away on a mission but then they would be down half their own team during a crisis and that wasn't a good idea right now. This was a much better option since Raina and Jake would have to mate soon or start having problems and that had to be prevented at all costs. She was not about to let Raina suffer.

"I...don't know. It feels like I'm betraying him." Raina objected, frowning.

Urabe shook her head. "We have no intention of harming them, they still have their uses though we do intend to relieve them of much of their mission soon. It may be that you will be able to give Jake a new direction in life...who knows," Urabe soothed her while at the same time wishing she could punch that little SWAT Kat in the stomach for all the trouble he was causing them now. "Right now, though, this is a time of celebration not being sorry or worried about our mission. You have a life mate and that is a wonderful and rare thing."

Feeling a little better about doing this though it still felt a little wrong. "Okay, I think I can do this. I know it is for the sake of saving the city in the end." Raina sighed.

Urabe sighed mentally. Half the battle won. "Good. Now to tell the others though I suspect Karel has already told Kazuma what he suspects. Anyway, we need to confirm it so that they won't come near you during this dangerous time. With his skills as a fighter, we don't want Jake to become jealous or aggressive. It's bad enough he'll be distracted until you bond." Urabe warned her.

"Definitely not a good thing to have happen right now," Raina agreed gravely. She knew how deadly a male was during the pre-mating ritual. It added to the stress the male was already feeling during this time. None of them wanted to make that worse.

"Correct. Now let's go tell the guys." Urabe took Raina's paw in her's and lead her back to the living room.

~0~0~Salvage Yard~0~0~

Chance stared at his best friend in some concern. For the past few minutes he'd been trying to get the cinnamon tom's attention without success. Jake continued to stare into space.

Something had disturbed the tom enough to make him ignore everything but what was in his head at the moment. He'd been acting this way ever since he'd returned from his shopping trip to get groceries for them. Jake hadn't spoke a word as he distractedly put away the groceries then went down to the garage and sat at their office desk ostensibly going over their paperwork but Chance could plainly see the small tom's attention wasn't on his work.

Shaking his head, he gave up calling the tom and took more direct action. He reached down and pinched the tip of Jake's tail...hard.

"Yow!" Jake hollered and yanked his tail to his paw while glaring angrily at his partner, "Why the heck did you do that for?" He didn't appreciate being pulled away from his day dream of a certain fawn colored she-kat with yellow eyes.

"Because I've been trying to get your attention for more than two minutes now and finally decided something more drastic had to be done to wake you up." Chance snorted. "Did something happen today to disturb you so much that you retreated into your head?"

Jake blushed and looked away. He just didn't know how to explain his behavior today. He'd actually nearly hit someone with his truck and that someone captivated him so much that he nearly came to blows with her companion. He had no idea why he felt so strongly about a she-kat he'd just met but he did know he'd suddenly had an intense need to protect her from all comers and that she would be his mate. That was the weirdest thing about this whole business. He'd not had any desire to be tied to a female and here he was determined to be with this one, it just didn't make sense.

"Hey! Don't you dare go off again. Come on, this isn't like you. Tell me what's bothering you." Chance demanded more than a little worried about his buddy's state of mind.

Looking into his friends concerned face, Jake sighed. "Chance, have you ever thought there might be someone out there that's just for you alone?" The tabby didn't seem the type to believe much in life mate or anything similar to it. He tended to flit from one relationship to another.

"Hmm, well though I may not be that monogamous right now, I actually do believe in a forever love. But it's a lucky tom or she-kat that finds that one love. Whether I find such a person or not, I'm not too concerned nor will I be looking for her. If we meet then great but if not..." He just shrugged.. "Why?"

"I think I might have been that lucky." Jake said still stunned by it all.

"Really? You ran into her today?" Chance asked excited for his friend.

Jake winced. "Uh...you could say I nearly ran her down alright."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"When I was driving into town you might say my mind wasn't exactly on my driving. Remember that pair of strangers that confronted us next to the Turbokat? How they said they were going to change things around here?"

"Yeah, I'm still steam off about that. Just who do those two think they are threatening us like that?" Chance said growling a bit.

"I felt the same way. So as I was driving, my mind was thinking over who they could possibly be and how they could do anything to us when it happened."

"When what happened?"

"I was approaching a light and hadn't noticed it had changed from green to red and two Kats had begun to cross the road..."

"Jake, you didn't!"

"No! I didn't! I tromped on the brakes and stopped just in time but I guess I was close enough to scare her so she leaped to the hood of the truck. It was blown away." He was still shocked at how high she had to leap to do that and wondered how she could have.

"She what? Jake that's impossible but I guess when you're scared enough anything's possible. Was she hurt?"

Jake nodded, "No, she was okay, just shaken. Then a friend or maybe it was a brother, I'm not sure, was suddenly right there anxiously checking her over first then turned to yell at me."

"I hardly blame him. I would have done the same thing."

"I deserved it. But as he was yelling at me, she and I stared at each other and then…" Jake became quite for a second, "...I don't know what happen. It was as if something inside me woke up for the first time and that part wanted to plow a fist in his face and take her away. It was just crazy and I had to fight that part of me down. While I was struggling, she and her friend took off." He shook his head.

He simply couldn't get out of his mind her beautiful face and the name he'd heard the other give her...Raina. He was ceased with a sudden intense need to go out and find her...now!

"Wow! That's pretty intense alright. Did you get her name? Or at least her phone number?" Chance asked, noticing how love struck Jake seemed. Talk about a life altering event. Don't know how this is going to affect who we are but it's certainly something he'll be telling his kittens about...if we make it that far. Our lives aren't exactly safe. Chance shook that off and listened as his friend answered his question.

"Just her name...Raina."

~0~0~0~0~0~

Soft brown eyes opened slowly, blinking when sunlight struck them as it shone through the tree branches. Abi hummed softly snuggling against a much larger body that was laying against her back. A slim tail was wrap around her right leg and a huge head was nuzzling her neck.

Ulysses had taken his primal form the evening before saying his primal form wanted to get acquainted with her.

He hadn't been kidding as the moment he'd changed, the huge cat had circled Abi and purred loudly and rubbing against her making her laugh. Seeing him like this allowed her to look at him more closely unlike the first brief time she'd seen him. He was magnificent and so very beautiful to look upon.

With him by her side, they'd walked the woods enjoying the afternoon air until she became tired and lay down on the mossy ground beneath this big oak tree. He lay behind her, keeping her warm from the coolness of the approaching dusk.

She sighed. "It's getting late, love. We should go back to the cabin to make dinner, don't you think?" She murmured through their bond.

Only a low rumble was her answer then feeling Ulysses getting up. Wondering what was going through his mind, she sat up and eyed him. He sat very close to her, his head mere inches from her face.

"Ulysses?" Abi asked aloud.

Still not answering her, he pushed his head closer still and nuzzled her neck and face then licked her. She giggled from the feel of his rough tongue then gasped when he began licking her down her chest, beginning to tongue her nipples through the thin blue shirt she wore. His huge head pushed her backward until she was laying down again eyeing him curiously.

He walked forward until his big body covered hers but didn't lay down as he continued his licking exploration.

Uncertain of what he was up to, she lay still and watched him, gasping every now and then when he hit a sensitive spot.

He paused a moment above the vee between her thighs as her arousal spiraled up to his nose. He purred loudly, pleased by the scent which told him she was coming into heat soon, most likely within the next two weeks. It pleased his primal mind to know she would be soon carrying his cubs and that made it want her even more. The primal side was so strong, it threatened to overtake Ulysses' intelligent mind.

Realizing Abi would be in danger if his primal self took over, he fought to regain control. He most certainly couldn't make love to her in this form, he'd rip her apart. She couldn't change her shape like he could or females of his kind. Fear made him struggle even harder, but his primal self was too excited and determined to take his mate now.

Groaning anxiously, he cried out in his mind, "No...can't..." Abi heard him and became more concerned.

"Ulysses?" she repeated her plea for an answer.

His only response was to drop his head and snag her jeans front with his fangs and rip them open.

The ripping sound echoed through the woods as he left a large hole in her pants. Feral struggled harder to take back control but his primal side was just as stubborn and overwhelmed him with an intense need to mate now.

This was all Abi could feel from her mate. His overwhelming need swamped her but so did terror. As she looked down his body, she saw his huge tool, swollen and ready and way too big for her to take in.

Real fear surged through their bond strong and vibrant which finally made her mate halt. It shook its head in confusion. Why was it's mate afraid? He would never hurt her. During this moment of confusion, Ulysses' intelligence was able to surge forward and take over once more but it was still a battle.

He roared and backed away from his mate fighting for dominance and finally winning, altering his form to his Kat one. It hadn't been a normal change and had left him sweating and badly shaken.

"Ulysses!" Abi cried out. She was scared for him. Normally, the change was easy and painless but this time it was neither and he seemed very upset about it as well. What had happened?

Feral was angry with himself. First he hadn't noticed he was under observation and now he couldn't control his primal form. His training had badly slipped and he would have to submit to being retrained. He could never risk Abi again like this. It was obvious when she came into heat he could lose control and kill her. That must never happen. Feeling his mate's frantic fear and upset, he immediately responded, his voice strained.

"It … alright, love. I…just…need to…" The effort to regain control had exhausted him and all he could do was stay kneeling with his head down as he panted for breath but he did manage to send waves of reassurance to her through their bond.

Abi quickly got up and went to his side, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling his face. She wanted answers but would wait for him to recover first. He sighed and leaned into her comforting and warm body.

"Love?" she murmured.

"It okay, Abi. I…I just lost control for a moment there. I think it best I remain in this form for now," he whispered, turning his head to look into her worried eyes.

"You're covered in sweat!" Abi exclaimed, reaching into her back pocket and pulling a small handkerchief out and using wipe him down.

"Do you always keep one of those on you?" he asked, amused.

"I find they can come in handy at the oddest of times," she said while privately thinking, 'especially during times like these.'

Ulysses never feel so happy and grateful in his life for having such an understand and caring mate. He had been truly blessed when he'd found her. He wrapped his arms around her so that they were hugging then pulled her into his lap. Neither of them said anything for some time, enjoying the calming moment until it began to get rather cool and they started shivering.

"Shall we head back now?" Abi asked though she wouldn't mind staying like this for a while longer.

"Yes, it wouldn't be a good thing for us to catch a cold now to ruin our vacation," he said warmly, letting her go and rising to his feet then helping her to hers. He stared ruefully at her jeans.

That more than anything scared him witless. It had been a close thing. He felt guilt and shame for losing control so easily. He startled when a small paw took his and understanding eyes stared into his own. She squeezed the paw she held and smiled.

"It alright, Ulysses. Don't worry so much over what might have happened. You stopped and that's all that counts in the end."

"Abi, I...thank you for understanding and being there for me," he finally managed to say, though still upset about it happening at all. 'Just one more thing I have to deal with when we return. I'd better get with Kazuma. He'll be able to help me get back my skills.'

Hearing him sigh deeply, she made a guess at what was on his mind. "Thinking about home and what might be going on?"

"That was the farthest thing from my mind but now that you've brought it up, I hope the city's still in one piece when we do return," he said, rather grimly.

"Oh come on, Steele's not that bad…" she started to say only to have Feral snort derisively. Shaking her head, she gave him a soft pat on the chest. "Not so bad the city would fall into ruins, love."

"You're right. He should be able to keep things going and hopefully nothing big will come along in the meantime."