Chapter 83 83: Next challenge

[1st POV] Things were awkward. On my part, I suddenly had a bunch of strangers under my care and guidance. On their part, they had to obey and live under the rule of a new king who literally just slaughtered their old kings. Nature really had a sick sense of humour. It took us a little over two hours to finish the whole buffalo, during which no member of the pride interacted with me. They stubbornly stayed on their side, none came to lay beside me and feed. I lay in front of the soft belly of the buffalo and feed on the organs while they stay opposite to me and ate from the back and ribs of the buffalo. Their body language was the same as the zebras drinking from the lake where crocodiles live. They were timid and alert. They kept an eye on every little movement I made. If I breathe too hard, they're ready to back away. I feel like they were just overreacting. No way I was that scary, right? Right?! Grim just shrugged his shoulders when I gave him a look, as if to say, 'Hey I understand them. You are pretty terrifying.' We finished the buffalo in one sitting. It was strangely satisfying to watch the lions eat every bit of the buffalo instead of wasting most of it to the scavengers. It was late in the afternoon when we were done. The sun was lowering in the sky. It had not changed its colour but you could tell from the rays that it was about to disappear soon. The lions moved away from the muddy shore and settled in the dry lands where they could retain heat better. They yawned with full bellies. It was their first meal in over a week so you could hear satisfied moans even though something horrible just happened to them a few hours before. Time. That was the thing we needed. I could not force the takeover of the pride. It was a mental thing now and my constant presence would soon make them submit willingly. I knew I would be a better king than the Mbali brothers ever hoped to be. I moved towards the centre of the pride and lay there to rest. The younger females and the ones who were eager to earn the favour of the new king immediately came over and chose to rest beside me. I'd seen the same thing happen with Scar's takeover. There were always some females who were not satisfied with the position they had with the old kings, so a new king meant a new opportunity to increase their status in the pride. I yawned and went to sleep after that, making sure the whole pride could feel my presence, smell my scent and hear my snores. They would have to get used to me as soon as possible. It was not even sunset but exhaustion made it easy to fall asleep. And I slept like a fucking baby. It must have seemed like a bold move from the female's perspective, the sheer confidence for a new male to sleep so deeply with his new pride. But I was just reassured by the fact that if anything were to happen, Grim would inform me instantly. .. .. /////////////// (The next day) Due to the fact that I slept so early, I was able to wake up before dawn. It was one of the darkest time of the day so the stars seemed especially bright in the sky. The land, on the other hand, was a sea of blackness. Most animals were completely blind during this time but I was not. Lions have great night vision built into their eyes like most felines, so I was able to see surprisingly well in that darkness. And at this moment, I decided to set out to hunt. My body was sore all over and my muscles ached, protesting all my movements. I also suffered minor wounds on my body and those hissed in pain whenever a cold breeze hit them. I was in enough discomfort to bring any lion down and make him refuse to move again for at least a few days. But all these pains were normal to me. The moments when I woke up with no pain were rare due to my constant training and hunting. So I had learned to perform despite any discomfort. My movement woke up most members of the pride since I was sleeping at the centre. They perked up with confused eyes but most were too afraid to question me still. Until finally, one female asked, "Where are you going my lord?" "Hunting," I replied simply, And my answer seemed to confuse them even more. First of all, I was not supposed to hunt. That was the job and duty of the lionessess. The king could live in comfort and his main duty was to rule, mate and protect the pride when danger presents itself. Secondly, we ate a whole buffalo yesterday. Why was I hunting again right after eating such a hefty meal? The answer to these questions was obvious to me, but they might as well have been unthinkable for the other lions. I was not going to gorge myself in comfort and allow myself to deteriorate like Scar or the other kings. I would continue hunting prey. Even if I didn't have to hunt for food, I would hunt for glory and sport, targeting buffalo or other bigger prey. I would continue training and sharpening my skills until the end of my days. I wouldn't stop growing. Also, it was correct that I was full from yesterday's meal but when have I ever stopped eating just because I was full? Ever since I was a cub, I always ate beyond what my own body was capable of. I did this to grow and it has worked so far. A buffalo was a huge prey but when it was shared by 28 lion, I could not eat as much as I wanted. I was full but I did not meet my usual standard of diet. I needed to hunt another one. I did not give all these answers upon their confusion; they would find out later on by themselves. In the meantime, another female said, "We should help you," "No need, just stay close and heed my summons," I said and left them. I followed the usual routine. At nighttime, vultures could not see well so Grim was of no use for scouting, and I had to do everything by myself. But my natural night vision more than made up for it. I went to the giant herd of buffalo and targeted the one who was sleeping the most isolated from the herd. I picked a juvenile bull, not young enough to stay with the mother but still not old enough to be considered fully grown. I was not in the best of condition at the moment and therefore did not want to target a prime bull. Not to misunderstand, though, I could take on a full-grown bachelor even at my current state, but that would come at the cost of further trauma on my body, so I wanted to avoid that. The hunt took an hour in total, scouting, stalking, attacking and then killing. The juvenile was sleeping with four limbs under his belly. I embraced him with my claws and clamped down on his throat. I blocked his airway and windpipe. He could not scream out, it was a silent death. He thrashed around as hard as he could, but the sound of his struggle was not loud enough to alert the other buffalo. The sun rose not long after I finished hunting. I was panting and sitting on top of the dead juvenile when the rays of the sun hit me. The other buffalo immediately got up when they saw the scene. They bellowed loudly, and that woke up the rest of the herd. When words got out that I was there, the whole herd promptly moved away. At this point, they had accepted me as their predator. They could probably ragdoll me if two or more decided to fight together but it was the herd mentality. They did not try and fight for the dead bull and instead, they ran to their own safety. I roared into the sky after the hunt. It was not the kind of roar meant to fend off challengers but the one that was meant to summon the members of my pride. The pride came toward the kill not long after. Their eyes widened and they did not know how to react upon seeing the buffalo I just killed. They were not hungry either, so they were not sure what to do. They lingered a few meters away, circling around while they whispered among each other. "He was able to kill that buffalo alone even though he just fought the old kings yesterday," Tala, or so I remebered, said while looking at me with these lively eyes. "I watched it happen, it was effortless," the lioness beside her commented. It was no use whispering with a lion's great senses. I could hear them all but chose to ignore most of them. I knew just how strange and out of the ordinary I was compared to other lions. They would have to adjust to me in the coming days. After they had gathered, I began eating the buffalo alone. They stayed a few meters away, lying and sitting now as I ate as much as my body could digest. They were studying me, they were learning my patterns, my behaviours, my character and my instincts. And I let them do so. After I was done eating as much as I could, a chunk of meat was missing from the carcass. But overall, the buffalo was mostly intact. I reckoned there was still more than 600 kilograms left. I sank my teeth on the side belly of the buffalo and with a powerful tug, I tore off a huge portion of the ribs and the muscles around it. This part of the buffalo was the softest and the easiest to chew. I walked towards the pride and then sat the meat down on the ground. I huffed, "This is for the cubs," I remember how I used to fight for leftovers while feeding when I was a cub. I would not allow that to happen here, there should be a separate meal for the cubs so that they could grow to their full potential. Most of the cubs would grow up to be members of the pride so their growth was beneficial to me. They were also the last cubs of the Mbali brothers and carry great genes. I would want those to be passed down onto my cubs. The male cubs on the other hand, I could tolerate them. They would carry the legacy of their father and letting them live will be my last show of respect to the old kings. "And the rest of you, go finish the buffalo," I commanded them. They were weak, so weak that it was not even funny. I could not have such weaklings in my pride. I would have to help them grow and make them stronger than they already were. Especially since I would eventually lead this pride back to my home to wage a war against Scar and his clan of hyenas. The females did not object. They promptly went to the buffalo and began nibbling on the meal. "Force it down if you must, I don't want to see any remains." The hard part was over. The challenge that came next was a bit more tedious and required patience. Ruling a kingdom and managing a pride. .. .. .. [IMAGE] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author : Let's take it a bit slow this week. I have tons of catching up to do on patreon. No extra chapter unless we do something stupid like reaching 1000 stones or something. IMPORTANT!!! In the meantime. Go to my patreon, go to the edits collection and watch the video edits I made. Two of them will be free. These are usually exclusive but they will be free for the week. No need to join, no need to pay. It's free so check it out. They are pretty cool and they will help ith immersion of the story. Tell me your thoughts if you do.