AN: Hey there everyone! I'm happy to say I'll be introducing this side series of stories. They could be anything but most will focus on the backgrounds of some of my characters. And they are all completely canon to my main series!

Chapter One: The Announcement

"Angani! Get up!"

Angani, the young, gray lioness cub, just grunted and rolled over in response to her name. It was too early for her.

"Angani... Now," her father, Bezo, said once more, "you don't want me to make you get up, do you?"

Angani sighed and sat up. Her father was right about that. The last thing she wanted was one of his wake up calls again... Especially after the last time he did it. She yawned and looked up at him.

"Why do I have to get up this early?" She asked.

"There's a very important announcement the king has for the pride today," he explained, "and it's important that everyone is there, especially you."

"Why?" She asked.

Her father gritted his teeth. "Don't question me, just get moving... If you make us late, you're in trouble."

Angani stood up and walked outside her family's small den. Her pride had many small dens due to it's unique landscape. There were enough for all the families to have their own living space. Outside, the landscape was very hilly. The hills were all made of stone with caverns carved into the sides. On the tops of the stone hills, grass and other plant life grew. It was a very beautiful location.

Angani and her father soon arrived to the center of the pride's den area. There, Angani's mother, Kofi, was already waiting, as were all the other members of the pride. She and her parents then made their way through the crowd of lions and lionesses. At the front of the group stood a lion, lioness, and a male cub. They happened to be the king, queen, and prince.

"What are we doing?" Angani asked her mother.

"Hush!" Her mother spat. "Do not speak here unless you are spoken to, understand?"

Angani sighed. "Yes..."

"You stand next to him," her father said as he pushed her toward the cub. "We'll be behind you."

Once they were in their positions, the pride's king stepped forward.

"Now that our most important guest has arrived, I have a very special announcement for you all," the king said. "After speaking with both Bezo and Kifo recently, we have come to the mutual decision that their daughter, Angani, will be betrothed to my son, Prince Mako."

Angani's eyes widened and her heart started racing. Had she heard that right? She was being betrothed to the pride's prince? Why her, of all the other female cubs in the pride?

"So, looks like you're mine now, doesn't it?" Mako said, wrapping a paw around her. "Don't worry, you'll love me."

Angani didn't say anything. She only had a sinking feeling in her stomach. Her parents hadn't said a word to her, not that she would have expected them to. She didn't know why she had been chosen to marry the prince, but she knew one thing for sure: She wasn't in love with him.

Later that night back in her den, Angani spoke up.

"I'm not marrying him," she said flatly.

"What was that?" Bezo asked sternly.

"I said I'm not marrying him," Angani said, "I don't love him."

Her father's short temper was starting to show. "I don't care if you hate him," he told her, "you're marrying him, end of story. Your mother and I worked hard to make sure you were going to be chosen as the future queen, and you're not going to ruin it! You better get used to it, because starting tomorrow, you'll be spending a lot of time with the prince."

"No," Angani said, "I'm not doing it. You can't tell me who t-"

Whack!

Angani's father struck her, sending her crashing against the wall of the den. The back of her head bounced off the wall, causing her to become dizzy. She tried to stand back up, but collapsed immediately. She heard one last thing from her father before she blacked out.

"Maybe next time you won't talk back to me..."

The next morning, Angani woke up with a pounding headache. Her vision was a little blurry, but it was slowly wearing off. It took her a minute to remember what had happened, but it quickly came back to her. Her father had hit her, again... Nothing new. She slowly walked outside as the sunlight intensified her headache, making her groan in pain. She had to go find Mako, as much as she didn't want to... But if her father hit her like that again she might never get over it. She decided it was best to keep him happy today.

It didn't take her long to come across Mako. He was laying by the pride's water hole, waiting for her no doubt. She walked up to him.

"It's about time you showed up," he told her, "when you're queen, you're gonna have to learn not to be late. It'll look bad on me."

"Oh, well sorry," she said sarcastically. "My dad hit me last night and I blacked out. It's not my fault."

"Well, next time don't do something to deserve it," Mako said, "it's not that hard."

That made Angani tense up, but she held her tongue.

"Now," he said, "what you say we get to know each other a little?"

"Yeah..." she replied, "Whatever..."

Angani laid down in front of him as he began talking about himself. She could tell she was in for a long, long day.

AN: So, let me know what you thought of that in the review section! There will be more to come. As you can see, Angani's pride wasn't exactly the most loyal one out there...