Their stomachs grumbled, pulling them from their surprised state. The action of Kael was so odd that they had no way to react to it.
It wasn't every day one saw a lion cub deliver a baby zebra to three lionesses. This action was very impactful in their psyche due to the fact that they were all exhausted from chasing that old zebra, only to be denied their pound of flesh.
Kael watched them tear meat away from the carcass with glee, 'The pride leader shouldn't blame me, he brought this upon himself,'
The lionesses didn't finish everything, Priya and Nalii took a sizable piece of meat in their mouths each. The meat Nalii took was larger, half of the spine with some ribs and meat still attached to it.
Once they were done, the group returned back to the cubs gathering with Kael and Katari leading at the front.
When Eidel, Burdo, Ruda, and Zabita saw the pieces of meat in their mouth, they grew excited.
Burdo brushed up on Kael, he could smell the blood on Kael's jaws and didn't like it at all. He lowered his head and growled at Kael as if daring him to move.
Kael was a little bigger than Burdo, but his gentleness toward his brother made Burdo assume things he shouldn't.
'So the time has come to beat some sense into you?' Kael thought but didn't do anything, not now, not in front of his mother.
Fortunately, Katari came to his rescue. She let out her own threatening growl which was more deep and fearsome. The sound she made reminded Kael of bike engines from his past life.
Burdo had no choice but to back off, Katari looked like she was ready to tear him to pieces if it really broke into a fight.
Katari and Kael were almost the same height, both bigger than him. The difference was that Katari was not as calm-headed as Kael.
Burdo turned away to meet Nalii, waiting for her to drop the meat. Nalii had seen the brief quarrel between her two sons.
She had wanted to come to the aid of Kael for some reason. Normally, she wouldn't have a favorite, but in her eyes, Kael was worth more than her other cubs, she just hadn't admitted it yet.
Kael's siblings ate and Zabita went to her mother for her own portion. Now that he had time, he could observe this Zabita better.
Zabita was one of the cubs who he had close ties with through her mother. In terms of personality, she was more like Burdo, just less aggressive and more reserved.
She didn't mind taking a walk with Kael or sharing brown rats with him. She was by no means shy, she just didn't like doing a lot of things that weren't necessary.
One of Zabita's unique characteristics was her expression. She really looked like everything in the world was bothering her or misunderstanding her. It reminded Kael of those goth teenagers.
'Should I also offer her the pride contract?...' Kael wondered but decided to think of it later.
The cubs of other lionesses wanted to join, some that were also on good terms with Kael. But the zebra left over could not just go around, even if he wanted them to share. Only two cubs were able to salvage some small pieces of meat.
Just as soon as they finished eating, the other lionesses made their way back to the pride gathering.
The mothers among them didn't come with any piece of meat for their cubs. They still had to hunt one more zebra before the whole pride would be satisfied.
Upon seeing the young zebra remains on the ground and the three lionesses that they had pushed away next to the bones, they could guess what happened.
The smell of blood and flesh coming from them only solidified their conclusion, these lionesses had hunted another zebra behind their backs and didn't share.
Immediately, Big Aunt roared angrily. This was preposterous, didn't they know that sharing was the only way for every member of the pride to live comfortably?
Nalii didn't budge at the roar, she just looked at Big Aunt with a mocking gaze. Her claws were already out, she was ready in case this devolved into a fight.
Big Aunt chose not to take any action though. She still remembered how she treated the three, maybe that wasn't enough.
A rift was slowly forming between the two groups and Kael was at the center of it all, subtly fanning the flames.
Nalii and the other two decided to sit out on the next hunt, to avoid any conflict. Besides, the kill Kael had given them was enough.
The next zebra that was caught was an old female. By the time they were done eating, both adults and cubs, there were still leftovers. The pride leader and Uncle didn't eat out of it, they had already eaten their fill from the first zebra.
Even with the leftovers, Big Aunt was not willing to let those three lionesses come close to it. She stayed around, waiting for the vultures to finish everything until only bones were left.
Kael shook his head when he saw this, 'Now you're just pushing them to me,'
Now that the hunt was over, they got up to leave one after another. The pride formed a convoy once again, with the pride leader at the front with his brother, Big Aunt behind leading the other lionesses.
Nalii, Priya, and Diane were far behind. The distance between them and the rest of the pride was enough for someone to think they were two separate groups.
Under the setting sun, the pride finally arrived at the hill den. They had other dens scattered around the territory but they mostly stayed at this one because of how iconic it was.
A large hill, which they barely climbed except for some occasions. A few tall trees that acted as shade against the sun and sometimes the rain. And finally, a few small caves that had been dug out at the base of the hill.
The caves were a bit small and tended to gather heat so the lions didn' really enjoy staying there all the time.
The den had almost everything that they needed, if only the river was closer, it would be better.
Kael took note of all this, just in case he wanted to find a den for himself in the future.