After three years in the Karangi Pride, Ataria was blossoming into womanhood. Her figure slowly came back after a few days rest and her gash had been healed the day after she was brought here. However, the scar left by the attack had never disappeared, so she would always bear witness to the fight. She had also learnt that the valley was called The Lush Lands because it was so beautiful. The lions frequently hunted but also ate vegetables and fruits that grew in the valley. As the months grew into years Ataria relaxed, confident that no one had found out that the lie that she told Zenatae was not real.

About a year after her rescue from the wild pigs, Ataria had fallen in love with Zenatae but feared that she was not loved in return. She felt that the only reason he was kind to her was because she had that gold pelt foretold in prophesy. Most of the other lionesses in the pride had noticed her lovesick look, so they attempted to draw Kayera out and admit the truth. To do this, they enlisted the help of Zenatae's siblings. They cornered Kayera and cautiously tried to weasel the info out of her:

"Hey Kayera," asked Zenatae's youngest sister Selene, "you ready for the mating season?"

Flopping her paws to get rid of the flies, Kayera frowned at her "What are you talking about, Selene? I don't mate."

"Oh yeah," admitted Selene with a sideways look. "I was referring to the hunting before the mating season."

"Oh sure, Sel," spoke up her sister Samara as she pulled a face. "Pull the other one. We all know you're desperate. I bet you'd mate with a meerkat if you had the chance."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" retorted Selenee saucily. "At least I can control myself before my time..."

As Samara leapt at her sister with claws outstretched, Anila ran between the two. Anila was the second oldest daughter of Marana and Tamu, the previous leader.

"Girls, stop it" she said with a growl at the two youngest. "I believe that we were talking to Kayena about mating and not you two."

"Yeah," put in her cousin Taliza as she smirked at the scene. "What's with you two? Anyway, Kayera, if you could mate, who would you mate with?"

Taliza's eyes widened as Kayera padded over and whispered in her ear. She turned to the rest of the lionesses who had padded over to watch the catfight and announced: "Girls, she's hooked!"

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Meanwhile, Zenatae was ensconced in a spare den with his step-uncle, Lai. Now, Lai occupied the prestigious position of senior male in the pride. This meant that he was the highest ranked male behind the pride leader. Lai was the only step-brother of Tamu, the previous leader, which made him Zenatae's step-uncle. He had a gorgeous pelt of golden silk with brown stripes and whenever Zenatae needed advice, he would go to his uncle for help.

"So, what's up, nephew" Lai quizzed as he wandered in and saw his nephew sitting there.

"Uncle Lai, have you ever been in love?" the leader asked with a covert glance at the floor.

"Sure," said Lai with a shrug. "There was this girl in the other pride, who..."

"I mean REALLY in love" Zenatae cut him off with a growl.

"Nah, but I know what you mean," Lai said with a careless flip of his bushy tail. "You in love? Let me guess, it's that new lioness, Kayera."

Zenatae frowned at his Uncle."Is it that obvious?"

"Yep," said his Uncle with a vigorous nod. "Tell me about it and maybe we can stop your hormones from going wild, eh?"

"Ok," said Zenatae with a sigh and a look around. "Before Kayera came along, I didn't really worry about finding a mate. I grew up with most of the girls around here and don't really want to spend the rest of my life with any of them. But ever since she came, I've been feeling really weird. I've been missing her when she's out hunting and whenever she's near me, I get goose pimples and my stomach keeps turning into knots. I keep imagining her next to me at night and my dreams have just been about her."

"Yep, you're in love with her "spoke up Lai from his position on the ground

"But she might not feel the same way,"the leader said with a pensive look.. How do I know if it's for real?"

Lai held up a paw for silence and then whistled three times. After the sound of the triple whistle faded, a tawny lioness padded up to Lai and whispered in his right ear. After watching the lioness head back to the others, Lai got up and whispered in his nephew's ear. After the words had sunk in, Zenatae's face twisted up into a smile as he bounded off to tell his mother.

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The next night, Ataria was sitting outside her den with the other lionesses, watching the sun go down. As she sat there hypnotised by the beautiful cloud formations, the others snuck away, leaving Zenatae sitting next to her instead of the others. But Ataria was too entranced by the sunset to notice.

"Isn't this sunset beautiful, girls? she said with a sigh as she turned and saw Zenatae sitting there.

"It certainly is, Kayera," spoke Zenatae as she jumped and tried to look away but couldn't.

As they both stared at each other in wonderment, something passed between the two and they began to kiss each other passionately. Watching from the privacy of a nearby den, the rest of the lionesses stared on in happiness as they watched the outpouring of passion between the lion and his love.

The next day, Ataria woke up and watched as her love slept peacefully, an expression of rapture on his face. Slowly retracting herself from his embrace, Ataria padded out of the den and sat there watching the sunrise. As she heard another set of paws heading her way, she turned and saw her mate walking towards her. As he sat next to her, she moved over and snuggled up to him as the sun rose and showered its warm rays over the two as if pleased with the two lions.