[1st POV]
So I got love and acknowledgement only when she knew I was strong? Ain't that a bitch.
When a mother's love was conditional, you know you live in a brutal world. Not that I care too much.
"Should we bring the kill back to the pride?" I asked Sarabi as she carefully examined the springbuck I had just killed.
It was lucky that I caught it before it could run away. A springbuck was one of the most annoying prey to chase down. It was almost impossible to catch them alone when given enough time to run.
"No need to bring it back, the pride doesn't need more food," she said and stood there without doing anything.
It took me a few seconds to realise she was waiting for something, and a few more to conclude that she was waiting for me to open the kill.
"Oh, sorry," I said and went down on the prey to start tearing away at the skin.
As I was the one who caught the prey, it was my right to eat first and only after taking a bite would Sarabi join me.
Similar to how Mufasa would take the first bite of the food, I tore open the chest of the corpse and immediately feasted on the juicy organs. The insides were warm and it gave me the same feeling as eating fresh food in my past life.
Sarabi cautiously approached the kill and seeing that I did not reject her, she started eating as well. The springbuck was not a big prey, weighing only around 40–50 kg on average. I could finish it alone in an hour so since it was two of us, it was more like a light snack.
"It's good to get a new taste for a change, I was getting tired of eating wildebeest," Sarabi said.
Scar had broken most of the pride's traditions in his reign. The pride members themselves rarely hunt anymore. Wildebeest were favoured prey since they were big and lived in large herds.
We would surround two or three of them with the hyenas and take them down with barely any effort. When it came to feeding time, there was no bonding or eating together. Scar would eat first and after he was done, the rest of the pride would have a go. Last were the hyenas, and they usually finish everything with no leftovers.
Due to this change in diet, most of the animals had grown fatter and larger than ever. For the moment, we were all thriving and living like kings. I couldn't have asked for a better condition to grow up to be honest.
But I knew this wouldn't last long. Soon enough, the prey animals would move due to overhunting and a drought was coming. For the moment, though, I ate to my heart's content.
I had a huge appetite, mostly because I had been eating more than I should ever since I was an infant. Another reason for my huge appetite was that, unlike other lions, I did not just eat and sleep all day.
I was constantly training and exploring, which burned as many calories as I ate. There was barely any fat on me, mostly muscle stuck to my frame.
We dismantled and devoured the springbuck in less than half an hour. By that point, I was still not full but we returned to the Pride Rock together.
"Thanks for teaching me today," I said as we walked together side by side towards our home.
"Don't talk down on me Leo, there was nothing to be taught," she said while shaking her head. "You already know how to hunt,"
I did not comment on that, only released a soft hum of acknowledgement.
"May I ask where you learn how to do it?" she asked and turned curiously.
"Simply by watching and copying," I said.
"I guess I should've expected that answer. You were always talented at hunting. You often caught rabbits even as a cub," she said.
We went home together but parted ways when the Pride Rock came into view. She went straight towards the den while I walked around, idly searching for more food to fill my endless stomach.
But the scent that I found while walking around nearly crushed my appetite. It was a distinctive and familiar scent at this point but it smelled fouler and fouler as I age.
"Scar," I whispered his name as I caught his scent on the trees and bushes. The smell was from him pissing everywhere to mark his territory.
I couldn't exactly put it into words but there was something instinctively offensive about him marking the territory I was also living in. Almost like the smell was calling me a slur. It was a reminder that I was a little bitch in this Kingdom.
This was proof that I was quickly growing into an adult. It wouldn't be longer until I would have to leave this pride. I don't think I would last another 6 months.
The urge to erase his scent and mark the place with my own was almost too much to hold back. But for today, I ignored it and walked away.
At that point my eyes caught a few hyenas in the distance eating a prey of their own. They stopped the moment I looked towards them and they all got up, as bracing for impact.
I smiled and headed towards their direction.
Six or seven of them, I counted in my head as I approached. They were standing in front of their meal, tails upright as if they were ready to protect their food by fighting me.
I called their bluff and walked straight towards them. The closer I got the less confident they seemed to appear. Eventually they moved back and walked away from the food.
I peacefully lay down on the ground and ate their food while locking eyes with them. My action seemed to be daring them to do something but they didn't do anything. They remained docile.
For reference, the average hyena was only half my weight. The females were a little bigger than the males but they were still significantly smaller than me. At my current physical state, I could easily take on five hyenas.
I had been bullying them every chance I got.
Unlike what you would expect, Scar was still a lion. He never took the side of the hyenas when it came to conflict between us. I guess it made sense why they would kill him at the end of the movies.
"Why are you just standing there? You got something to say?" I asked the most dominant female among them. She simply sneered but did nothing else.
For the next few minutes I ate the parts of the meat I wanted. When the only remaining meat were the tough ones stuck on the bones or the fats, I got up and turned to leave.
But not before spraying piss on the food. Fuck them.
...
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"Leo!!" Zuri was the first to greet me when I reached the den, like always.
The sun was starting to set on the horizon when I reached home. The rest of the pride had gathered. We were a total of twenty-six members now. Nine adults, three teenagers including me and fourteen cubs from two different generations.
That's a lot of cubs I know but like I said, we were thriving. The adults did not have to go out hunting and could protect and nurse the cubs which resulted in no death among them.
Well, except for one which was killed by a hyena. But Scar made an example of that by tearing the culprit into pieces and littering its corpse around the Pride Rocks so they didn't do it again.
Zuri came up to me and rubbed her head on mine. She continued and rubbed my entire length before she leaped in a cutesy excited way.
A childish crush was slowly turning into something close to love in her. And honestly, I greatly appreciated her affection. Especially when I was entering the stage of adulthood and the other females were slowly distancing themselves from me and seeing me as an outsider.
"Welcome back. Sarabi told us about your successful hunt, we gotta go hunting together too. I also want to see you in action," she said.
"Sure, if you want," I said while finding my usual spot in the den and laying there. "But I'm sure you are already a better hunter than me,"
"Not at all. I still can't catch a springbuck by myself," she said and lay next to me, "I really wanna see how you do it,"
I huff at that, "I'll have to show you then,"
And before you come at me, let me just say Zuri is hot. Like legit really hot. A human's sense of attraction was usually only limited to sight but a lion's was not.
A young lioness may be sexually unattractive from a human perspective but for a young lion like me, she was ten out of ten. And I was not attracted to her for her appearance, but instead her shape, her scent and the rhythm of her actions were what made her hot to me.
She was the most attractive out of the pride, that I can say. Even Nala could not hold a candle to her in my mind,
Speaking of which, "Where's Nala?"
"Oh, she hasn't returned yet. Maybe she really ran away from the pride this time," Zuri said with a shrug.
Nala and I could be placed in the same type of category among the pride. We rarely acted like we were part of it and would spend most of the day doing things by ourselves.
We hung around for a while and eventually, the King entered the den.
Scar unlike a year ago now had a certain presence with him. I guess after being a king for that long, he was picking up some pride and dignity.
He came in with a bloody jaw that told us he just enjoyed his meal. There was silence while he took the highest elevation as a place to lay on. After he was seated, some of the lionesses went out of the den to eat the meal he just left behind.
Zuri was included among them, "I'll see you later," she said and quickly ran out of the den.
I merely nod without answering back. I could feel Scar's gaze on me, a measuring kind of gaze that was unsure if it was right to spare me.
"You've had your meal Leo?" he asked with a certain edge in his tone.
"Yes, your majesty. I've had my fill from my hunt today,"
"I see," he said with a long pause, "Good for you,"
Eventually he tore his eyes away from me and mounted the lioness that came to him with expectant light in her eyes.
I ignored him and closed my eyes to rest my fatigued muscles. I reminded myself how his gaze was intensifying day by day.
I could almost taste it.
The day I would challenge his authority and be kicked out of the pride.
..
..
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No NTR for Zuri if that worries you.
And as Leo grows, his stump tail also still grew so it's like the size of a saber tooth tiger. Still cover his ass and balls.
Like this [IMAGE]