Early the next morning, Felina woke before the crack of dawn. She stretched her arms above her head then rolled over onto her side to kiss her fiancée.
Jake opened his right eye when he felt Felina's kiss. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back down to his body before he said, "Good morning," and turned his head to look at the clock on the nightstand before he asked, "Its only 4:45 dear, what are you doing up at this hour?"
Felina nibbled his neck for a minute, then answered, "I wanted some play time with my soon-to-be husband before I woke up the two cadets in the other room and dragged them to the academy." She quickly resumed nibbling on Jake's neck while her left paw slipped under the covers.
As much as Jake wanted her to continue with her activities, the previous night's physical exertion was still weighing on him. He brought her face up to his to kiss her, and then said, "Felina, you are going to bury me with that sensual appetite of yours. I'm still sore from the four times we made love last night. Plus the moaning and groaning from the other room until two in the morning has me worn out."
Felina lifted her head and rested her chin on Jake's chest for a minute before she got out of the bed and went to her dresser. She opened the drawer that was located second from the top and pulled out a set of fatigues that she wore when she was training recruits at the academy. Felina suddenly felt sick to her stomach and threw the fatigues on the bed before running to the bathroom with her paws covering her mouth as fast as she possibly could, slamming the door behind her.
Jake got out of bed as fast as he could and went to the bathroom door before he knocked on the door with his left paw and asked, "Are you alright?"
Felina dry heaved a few more times before she lifted her head from the toilet bowl she crouched over. She eventually replied, "You are carrying the next kitten Jake. That is if I ever let you near me again!"
Jake smirked then asked, "Can I get you anything to help you with the morning sickness?"
"Yeah, you figure out a way to carry this kitten!" Felina said before her stomach turned again and she said as she grasped her stomach, "Ugh, as much as I am going to hate to, I have to call my mother and hopefully, she will tell me what she took to help her through this crap. I swear when she was pregnant with my younger brothers, my mother never got sick."
"I thought you and your mother didn't get along that well since you decided to join the Enforcers?" Jake asked.
"We don't dear," Felina replied. "She never got over that I wanted to do something with my life other than being a house wife. Can you imagine me, as a house wife?" She asked as she stood up then proceeded to wash her face.
Jake chuckled as he imagined his wife wearing an apron and doing nothing but cooking and cleaning all day long. He knew she didn't perform either of those tasks very well. However, Katerina was giving her pointers in the kitchen and she has learned to make a few good meals.
Felina opened the door and looked him in the eyes, she then asked, "Either I didn't hear you Jake or you are contemplating me actually becoming like my mother?"
"No way do I see you becoming like your mother Felina," Jake cautiously replied. "Although, your skills in the kitchen have improved greatly. I'm quite proud of what you picked up from Katerina in such a short time."
"She makes cooking seem like fun dear. I will have to thank her again; after I run her tail off today," Felina said as she stepped past him and started to get dressed. After she finished, she put her hair in a ponytail before she left the bedroom and walked down the hall to the lover's room. She put her right paw on the doorknob, took a few deep breaths, before she slammed the door open and yelled, "You have five minutes to get up and be ready to leave cadets!" and slammed the door behind her.
As Felina yelled, both Tina and Katerina sat up as straight as possible and after she slammed the door closed, Katerina asked, "Is she for real?"
Tina stroked Katerina's cheek as she answered, "Unfortunately for us, yes she is for real and if we aren't ready when she is leaving, we will be running to the academy so we can run some more."
They both got out of the bed and grabbed some workout clothes to put on their bodies before they left the bedroom and met up with Felina in the living room.
Felina was raring to go when the two lovers left their room. She quickly scanned their choice of clothing and said, "I don't think so cadets. Spandex is not on the approved list for cadets to wear." She reached into her duffle bag and withdrew two sets of fatigues that matched hers before she said," You both can get changed in the car; we have to be at the academy before six. Let's move it ladies!"
As they drove, Katerina and Tina pulled the fatigues over the shorts and tops they wore. They arrived at the academy with fifteen minutes to spare. Felina parked her car in her reserved spot then shut it off before she turned around in her seat and said, "I'm going to be very hard on all of the cadets for the next few weeks. I need to know if the cadets have the stones to be an Enforcer as well as future officers. If you pass this training, you both will be on equal footing as Mark when you leave the academy. Lots of Enforcers are going to be looking to you for guidance and to lead them into some of the most hair-raising crap they have ever seen. I know you both are going to excel here and we are family but I can't show any favoritism to anyone and that includes you two. Understand?"
"Yes, we understand Felina. Wait, what do you mean on equal footing as Mark?" Tina asked. "He is a low ranking Patrolcat and not an officer."
"Not any more Tina," Felina said. "Come next year, he is going to be advancing in rank to Lieutenant as well as taking my place as an instructor as I take over my uncle's position as Commander."
"You have got to be kidding me Felina?!" Tina asked. "You are going to be the Commander? Do you have any idea how awesome that is? Felina, your uncle is a great Commander and he has the respect of every lower ranked cat of the force. However, do you notice the way your subordinates follow your lead without hesitation?"
"I always thought they were just following my orders," Felina answered.
"Felina, most of the cats on the force will follow you to hell and back again without you ordering them to. They know the crap your superiors put you threw just because your last name is Feral but you persevered. Every single cat that has served under your guidance respects you and strives to be like you or to become better in order to make you proud of them." Tina said before reaching over the seat and grasping Felina's paw and saying, "You are going to surpass your uncle and turn the Enforcers into the well-oiled machine your uncle wanted."
Felina wiped away a tear from her left eye before she said, "I'm not crying because of what you said Tina, my hormones are out of whack because of my kitten. But thank you for not only your confidence in me but also being a great friend. We need to get out onto the training field before the rest of the cadets arrive or my tail is going to be in a bind with the Commandant. In other words, get out of my car and line up, single file!"
"Yes Ma'am," Tina and Katerina replied before they got out of her car and ran to the training fields.
Felina watched as her friends ran around one of the barracks before they disappeared from her sight. She then smiled and said as she rubbed her abdomen, "Your aunts are going to make great officers." She then felt a bout of sickness run through her and said as she looked down to where her kitten should be, "Please take it easy on Mommy little one, ok?" Whatever she felt passed and she grabbed a cap that matched her fatigues before leaving her car.
It was now 6:15 in the morning and the cadets from the Advanced Class were lining up on the Training field, waiting for their instructor.
Felina finished her morning cup of coffee, threw away the paper cup, and rubbed her belly as she said, "Ready for our last first day here little one?" Not expecting an answer from the fetus, or at least she was hoping it wouldn't respond. She grabbed her cap from the table and left the building.
"I wonder who our instructor is?" a male cadet asked the tom standing to his right.
"No idea but from what I was told, the cat is as tough as nails and doesn't take any crap from the cadets," the other cadet answered."
"Attention!" Felina ordered as she walked onto the field.
The cadets snapped to attention and waited for their next command.
"I am Lieutenant Feral, you can call me ma'am. For the next four weeks, your tails are mine! You will not sleep, or eat, or crap, without my permission. You will be tested physically and mentally to the point of breaking. Every one of you will be pushed to the point of exhaustion, and then pushed even further. If you thought the cadets who are going through the regular program have it tough, then you had better quit now." She turned to the left and walked down the row of cadets, inspecting every one of them for the slightest imperfection in their uniform. She stopped in front of Tina, turned to face her, then spat as she stared her down, "Cadet, those piercings are not part of your uniform, lose them or I will lose them for you."
Tina knew Felina was tough. However, she had never seen this side of her before and to be on the wrong end of her intense gaze was somewhere she didn't want to be. Tina removed her piercings and put them in the pocket of her pants.
Felina straightened herself crossed her arms under her chest, then said, "Much better cadet." She continued her inspection of the cadets and walked past the pair of toms.
"Man, did you see her tail?" the first tom asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind trying to tame that," the other tom said.
Felina heard every word the cadets said about her. She stopped dead in her tracks, turned around with a deadly serious scowl on her face, and walked back to the two cadets. As soon as she was in front of two, she turned to face them, got into their faces, and spat, "You both think you have the balls to try to tame me!? Let me tell you both something, the only tom who gets to tame me is my husband and he knows exactly how to tame me!" She accentuated her statement by balling up her fists and punching the two toms in the gut, nice and hard."
The two cadets fell forward in pain and landed on their knees.
Felina crouched over their bodies and said, "Once you two find what is left of your tomhood, you can go back to the recruiting office and turn in your uniforms. You both are dismissed! Do I make myself clear!?"
One of the toms lifted his head to face Felina's very angry face and said, "Ugh, you can't do that!" He grasped his stomach again before he continued with, "We were appointed to this academy by the Commandant himself!"
"And did he know he was sending me two sexist pigs?" Felina asked. "I think not. Get your tails out of my sight before I forget that I am a member of the fairer sex!" She stood back up, looked at the rest of the recruits, then yelled, "Does anyone else have a problem with me?"
Every one of the cadets responded without missing a beat, "No ma'am!"
Felina lifted the right corner of her mouth, then said, "Alright, we are going to start your first day off easy, say with a ten mile run. Let's move it cadets, if you want to be back in time for chow."
About six miles into their run, two of the younger cadets started having stomach cramps from not being used to all of the physical exertion.
Both Tina and Katerina noticed the cadets in distress and slowed their paces, falling out of cadence with the rest, and they started running alongside of the cadets that were having difficulty.
"Are you two alright?" Tina asked the two cadets running next to her.
The female cadet huffed and panted a few times before she responded, "I'm just not used to this. I signed up for a desk job, and now I'm running my tail off." She turned her head to the left and asked her running partner, "You going to make it Rolf?"
Rolf was panting very hard as he ran right alongside of his running partner. He responded as he watched her long black pony-tail bounce with every stride she took, "I'll endure, as long as you are by my side Marissa."
Katerina picked up her pace and ran up to Tina. She then said, "Sounds like someone as a crush."
Marissa heard Katerina and said, "Hardly, he might be considered a catch by others, but not by me. Rolf is my younger brother."
Tina and Katerina looked at each other and then at Rolf. Katerina noticed his fur coloring and body type were very similar to those of toms of her home country. She then asked Marissa," Is he really your brother? Rolf doesn't share your physical features."
Marissa panted a few more times before she responded, "Rolf was adopted by my parents when he was five. Even though he is not my brother by blood, he cares for his big sister like we were."
Felina looked over her right shoulder at the cadets and didn't find Katerina and Tina leading the pack like she hoped. She did find them towards the rear of the pack, running with the slower recruits. She returned her focus to the road ahead of her, then yelled, "Cadet Cassidy, Cadet Belikov, I don't recall giving you permission to slack off! Unless you want KP duty tonight, I suggest you both return to your spots!"
"Yes ma'am!" They responded before Tina said to Marissa, "We'll talk when we get back to the academy," and retook their position towards the head of the pack.
As they started their return towards the academy, their path took them through the center of the small town the academy was housed in. The small troop of cadets turned onto the Main Street which was lined with cats holding up signs and cheering as they approached.
Felina smiled as she read some of the signs the citizens were holding. Each one was either praising the cadets or just saying 'Thank You'. She turned her head to look over her shoulder at the cadets and yelled, "Heads up high cadets, what you are seeing is one of the reasons you wanted to become Enforcers. Show the citizens you appreciate them, on my command, salute."
The cadets lifted their heads nice and high despite being tired from the running and fell into a cadence that sounded like only a single pair of feet hitting the pavement, instead of twelve individuals.
They proceeded into the crowd a little farther, then Felina commanded, "Cadets, salute!"
Upon command, every cadet snapped their right paw to the brim of their caps as they ran past the citizens of the town. They remained like this until they passed the last citizen along the street.
Felina then commanded, "At ease!"
The cadets lowered their paws and continued their run towards the academy grounds.
The cadets completed their run and when they finally made it back to the Training field, most of them collapsed onto the cool grass from exhaustion.
Felina was still jogging in place as she looked over the cadets under her control. "I'm proud of all of you. You survived the very first leg of my training regime. Go and get some chow, this afternoon we try the obstacle course. Dismissed!" she said before she jogged away.
"Is she a robot?" Marissa asked in between breaths. "She just doesn't stop."
"No, she doesn't, she is going to keep going until the day she gives birth to her kitten," Katerina said.
"The lieutenant is pregnant!?" Marissa asked after she lifted her head from the cool grass.
"Ooops!" Katerina said as she brought her paws up to over her mouth. She lowered them and said, "Now that the cat is out of the bag, Marissa, please keep it quiet. No one is supposed to know Felina is pregnant. Alright?"
"Sure," Marissa responded and extended her paw over to Katerina before she said, "We were never formally introduced, I'm Marissa Smith and that log, over there in the grass on his back is my brother Rolf."
Rolf raised his left paw in the air in acknowledgement before letting it fall back to his side.
Katerina giggled at Rolf then said as she extended her paw and took Marissa's in hers, "I'm Katerina Belikov and that beautiful lynx ocelot hybrid is my fiancée Tina Cassidy."
Tina was drinking water from an orange cooler when she heard her name from Katerina's mouth. She grabbed another cup from the holder mounted to the cooler, filled it with water, and brought it to Katerina. "I figured you would want a cold drink Kat," she said as she approached Katerina.
Katerina turned her head towards Tina and took the cup from her. She then said, "Thank you Tina. That was thoughtful of you. Can you help me and Marissa pick her brother off of the ground? He looks about as heavy as Chance."
Tina turned her head to look at Rolf. He had a similar build to Chance but his fur was as light as Katerina's. She then responded, "Sure, let's get him up and moving before he passes out from lack of nutrition."
Katerina and Marissa lifted Rolf off of the ground and supported him on their shoulders. They walked towards the mess hall carrying the supple Rolf with Tina following behind them. As they approached the mess hall, Tina passed them and held the door open for them to enter the mess hall before she closed the door behind her.
Marissa and Katerina sat Rolf down at an empty table and watched as he slumped forward, resting his head on the table while Tina made her way to the chow line to get everyone some food.
Marissa watched her brother rest for a minute before she turned to Katerina and said, "You know, my brother and you would have made a cute couple."
"Sorry Marissa, I'm deeply in love with Tina. Even though Rolf is definitely a she-cat's idea of the perfect tom, he is not mine. My dream is to marry Tina and have a family with her," Katerina said.
"A girl can wish can't she?" Marissa asked. "Rolf is such a sweet guy it hurts me that he can't seem to find the right she-cat to settle down with. You should have seen the last she-cat he was dating. The only thing that she obviously wanted was to have him on her arm as eye candy for her friends to ogle. My brother deserves much better. He has a kind soul and loves helping others. I guess that is why he enrolled in the academy and convinced me to join with him. I'm still not sure how we managed to get enrolled in the Advanced Class for officers in training, but I'm sort of glad we are here."
Tina came to the table carrying two trays of food for her and her new friends. As she put the trays on the table, she said, "Sorry for the wait, the line was quite long." She turned her head to face Rolf, then asked, "Is he alright?"
Rolf lifted his head and focused his eyes on Katerina. He looked at her features and quickly determined that she was from the same region of the world he was born in. He asked, "Katerina, you are not from around here, are you?"
"You are correct Rolf, I was born in Easter Europe and came to MegaKat City about five years ago," Katerina answered.
"So, there is a very good possibility then we are from the same region?" Rolf asked.
"We might be," Katerina said.
"Would you be willing to have dinner with me? There aren't many she-cats from where we are from and it would be nice to be able to spend time with someone from back home," Rolf asked.
"Sure," Katerina answered.
Rolf was now smiling since he thought he had a date with such as exquisite she-cat.
"Just as long as my fiancée can come too," Katerina then said.
Rolf's face fell as the word 'fiancée' left her mouth. He then asked, "You are engaged to marry?"
"Yes," Katerina responded. "To her," she pointed to Tina.
"Awe, my little brother just had his heart stomped on by an engaged she-cat. How does it feel Rolf?" Marissa mockingly asked.
Rolf turned his head to face his sister then said, "Not funny Marissa." He turned his head back to Katerina and asked, "So, you are engaged to marry her?"
"Da, and I couldn't be happier Rolf," Katerina responded. "Tina is the thing that has been missing in my life. She makes my life almost complete."
"Almost?" he asked.
"Yes, what would make my life complete is to have a family with her," Katerina answered.
Before they had a chance to sit down and eat their lunch, Felina entered the mess hall and said, "Anyone in the Advanced Training course, line up! The obstacle course is waiting!"
All four of them quickly raised their cups and downed their drinks before they lined up as they were ordered.
"Alright cadets, let's move out! The sooner we complete this, the sooner you can go back to the barracks!" Felina ordered before she marched out of the mess hall.
The cadets marched out of the mess hall. As Tina and Katerina left the mess hall, Felina pulled them aside and said, "When this training exercise is over, meet me at the car and do it quietly. You both are supposed to be staying here and not at my apartment."
"Ok Feilna, after everyone heads back to the barracks this afternoon, we will meet you by your car. We will claim that we have to run a few extra laps as penance for performing so sloppily on the course," Tina said.
"Good idea Tina," Felina said. "I knew there was a great brain in that head of yours. Let's move it girls, we have to catch up to the rest of the cadets."
The cadets arrived at the obstacle course a few minutes before Felina, Katerina, and Tina. Felina stood at the entrance of the course, took a commanding stance, and yelled, "This course will not only push you all physically, but it will test how well you work as a team. You all will start at the same time and will be given fifteen minutes to complete the Green trail. If one of you falls behind, someone had better fall back to assist. If one of you fails, you all fail as a team! Your time starts, now!" She pushed the button on her stop watch and leaned against a wooden pole while she observed how the cadets performed their task.
The cadets took off and arrived at the first obstacle which was a maze of tires laid out on the ground.
Rolf took the lead and lifted his legs high enough to step into the tires with each stride he took.
Marissa followed her brother's lead and made her way through the obstacle easily enough.
Tina and Katerina soon followed behind them and completed the obstacle. The rest of the cadets made it through the obstacle with relative ease before they moved onto a tall wall with thick ropes hanging from the top.
Katerina took the lead and grabbed the first rope within her reach before she pulled herself up the wall and climbed over.
Tina looked at the wall and decided to take a different approach. She extended her claws before she took a running leap at the wall. Her claws embedded themselves in the wood and she crawled up the wall.
"Cadet Cassidy! That is not how that wall is to be scaled! Now you get to do it again and this time, use the ropes!" Felina barked.
Tina heard Felina's order and she scowled before she pushed herself off of the wall. She performed a back flip and gracefully landed on the ground.
Felina clapped as she said, "Nice landing Cadet Cassidy! Go and take a seat! Your showboating just earned you a date in the kitchen, cleaning dishes."
Tina planted her paws on her hips then yelled, "You have to be kidding Ma'am? There are no rules posted stating that we had to use the ropes! I used my own natural abilities to scale the wall."
"And the ropes are hanging there for what, decoration?" Felina asked. "Anyone else want to try to do things their own way?"
"No ma'am," the cadets replied.
"Good," Felina said before she looked at her stopwatch then said, "You have ten minutes left, might I suggest that you run faster!"
End of Chapter