[1st POV]

For the next three days, there was no peace among the pride. We didn't fight, but there was a palpable tension in the air.

Scar had taken the crown, and he was the king, but the rest of the pride was not ready to kneel. We obeyed his commands, but no one followed him like loyal subjects yet.

You could say we were in the process of shifting and adjusting to the situation. But as time passed, the resentment slowly faded away, and it wouldn't be long until we knelt to Scar.

Not because we wanted to, but because we had no chance.

Scar was surprisingly understanding in this regard. After he killed most of the cubs, he remained isolated. He did not try to assert dominance or force obedience. He was waiting for us to eventually bow on our own.

Well, he did try to rape some lionesses frequently, but he backed off easily enough when fought back, so that's innocence for a lion king, I guess.

One of the reasons why he was so sure we would bow to him eventually was that he controlled the food. For the past three days, the pride had not eaten anything. Meanwhile, Scar and the hyenas hunted and feasted to their heart's content.

The clan of hyenas surrounded Pride Rock, which made it almost impossible to leave, so none of us could go out to hunt.

The adults would be fine for a few more days as lions could easily go a week without eating. But it was the remaining cubs that could not do such a thing.

Nala, Zuri, and I. The two female cubs were spared just like me because they were old enough to not disrupt their mothers' mating cycle, and they would grow up to be important members of the pride.

We were growing cubs, which meant we could not eat huge meals in one sitting like the adults, and we burned more energy as we grew every day.

We were hungry.

I was fucking starving.

I stood just outside of the den and gazed at the peak of Pride Rock. I saw Scar sitting there, eating a wildebeest by himself. The smell of a fresh kill was so tempting that I almost floated towards the scent like a cartoon character.

I watched him eat. I listened to him eat. Until eventually, he got fed up with chewing altogether and moved away from the meal. The past few days, he had been eating so much that he couldn't force anything down his throat anymore/

He lay a few meters beside the meal and then looked towards the den. The meat was out in the open but the hyenas did not approach or try to take it.

It was free for us to take, but that came with some implications. Scar was not just offering us food, he was inviting us.

It was an invitation to finally bow and come under him. Eating the food would be like accepting his invitation. It was the first offer he ever made since he took over.

The other lionesses noticed this too, and they stood up. They came to the entrance of the cave and stood there, the same as I did.

They became thoughtful while gazing at the food. It was a tempting offer, but at the same time, giving in now—after only a few days—was too desperate. They didn't want to be that easy to convince.

Well, not me though.

...

"Leo," my mother called my name immediately, as if reading my thoughts.

"Don't," she spoke one word that said a hundred things.

But I ignored her warning and smiled a smile she would never understand, "I'm sorry, mom."

They wouldn't understand. They were females and had a future with this pride or any pride they were in. I was male, a cub who would be kicked out of the pride the moment I stopped being a cub.

I had no home until I earned it. Therefore, I had no time to show such petty resistance and sabotage myself at a phase when I needed food the most.

What was my earliest observation again? That's right, a lion was either king or nothing.

I walked out of the den and climbed up the Pride Rock. Scar had his eyes locked on me; they showed a glint of dark amusement as they watched me.

"There is no shame in survival, Leo, no shame at all," Scar said when I reached the wildebeest.

He would know, wouldn't he? How long had he endured humiliation while living under Mufasa's rule? But eventually his time came, just like mine would.

I stared back at him with no emotion on my face, but in my mind, I was already envisioning tearing him apart, limb by limb. It was not so much for hate or revenge, I would kill him because that's how it has to be.

But that was still far into the future. For now, I sank my teeth into the meat and tore away huge portions.

I let him feed his own downfall.

...

...

[IMAGE]

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Author : This one is short so it's two chapter