"Is this true?" Uru asked. "No, she's the one that walked up to me and offended me! I asked her to stop and she attacked me!" Jenna said. Ahadi looked down at her. "Jenna. Tell us the truth." he growled. Jenna squeaked. "F-fine! I did it!" Jenna squeaked out. Ahadi nodded. "Shasta come with me." Ahadi said as he stood and walked away from the acacia tree. Shasta nodded as she followed him. "Shasta, you are a strong young lioness. You defended yourself like a true lioness should." Ahadi said. Shasta nodded. Ahadi stopped and turned to Shasta. "Shasta, I been looking for a fiancé for my older son Marko. I need to find the perfect mate for him. He needs someone that will keep him in check and someone that can help defend the pride. I have chosen you to be this mate." Ahadi said. Shasta stared at him. "As you wish." Shasta said. Ahadi nodded. "Don't worry, I am not going to tell him today. I will tell him tomorrow morning." Ahadi said as he looked up at the sky. It will be very dark soon. We have come a long way and it will take a while to get back. Let's go." Ahadi said as he started walking. Shasta nodded and slowly followed him, her head low and her tail dragging the ground. Finally, after 20 minutes of silence they reached Pride Rock. Shasta sighed and walked over to her small cave home. "Shasta! Where have you been?" Lilly asked when she reached the oasis. "King Ahadi, wanted to talk to me." Shasta said as she sat down beside the small water pool. "Oo, was Taka there?" Lilly said as she sat down beside her and laid a paw on her shoulder. Shasta blushed and shook her head still upset. "Are you okay?" Lilly asked. Shasta shook her head, then nodded, and pressed both paws to her head. "Yes, no, I don't know!" Shasta said. Lilly rubbed her friends back. "Lilly! Come to bed!" her mother called. "Coming mom!" Lilly called back. "I'll see you in the morning, Shasta." Lilly whispered. "Night, Lil. see you tomorrow." Shasta said as she crawled into her small den. Quietly she pushed some thick leaves on the entrance to keep heat in and cold out. Slowly she curled up and snuggled into the warm dry moss that was growing on the bottom of the cave. Shasta awoke to sunlight breaking through the leaves. Shasta crawled out of the cave, and started to stretch. As she looked around, she noticed that the sun had probably been up for about an hour. "Mmm. Looks like I slept late." Shasta said as she walked over to her small pond and took a drink before she was knocked over. "Ohmygod! Why didn't you tell me?" Lilly yelled as she sat on top of Shasta. Shasta shoved her friend off and sat up. "What are you talking about?" Shasta asked. "The betrothal! You never told me that you were betrothed to Marko!" Lilly said. "Yes, she never told me either." Jenna growled as she stomped over to them. Shasta threw her a glare. "Well I just found out last night. But why would he choose me? I mean yeah, I've talked to Marko a lot and we not on bad terms, but we're not very close friends either." Shasta said to Lilly. Jenna growled louder and lunged at Shasta, only to be knocked out of the air by a red blur. Shasta shot around and saw Marko standing behind her and a shocked Jenna laying a few feet from him. "You will not harm her." he growled as he turned to Shasta. "Are you okay?" Marko asked. Shasta blinked. "Yes. Thank you Marko." Shasta said smiling at him as she relaxed. Marko nodded and sat beside her. "Did you need something Marko?" Shasta asked curiously. "Well I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go for a walk." he asked. Shasta's eyes widened. "Sure, okay." Shasta said. "Cool." Marko said as they both got up and started to walk off. Shasta looked over her shoulder and saw Lilly give her smile. Shasta gave her a slight smile as she walked up to Marko's side. "So Shasta, how've you been?" Marko asked as he moved aside a tree branch to a weeping willow. "I've been good. How about you?" Shasta asked as she walked into the willow's cool shade. "Pretty good." he said as Shasta held the branch for Marko. "Cool. I'm sorry about Jenna. She's a really jealous girl." Marko said as he walked over to a soft bed of green grass and sat down. "It's okay. I knocked some sense into her yesterday when she tried to slap me. No biggie, her claws caught me a little." Shasta said. Marko stood back up and walked over to her. "Where?" He asked. Shasta moved some fur from her cheek and he saw a long, angry red line. Marko led Shasta over to a small stream and soaked some moss in the water before placing it against her cheek. Shasta blushed a little bit as Marko dabbed the cut with the moss. "So you hang out with Lilly? Do you hang out with her out of pity?" Marko asked. Shasta stared at him. "It's okay if that's the only reason. I would hang out with her to if I pitied her, she's so stupid." Marko said, laughing a little. Shasta jerked away from him. "I don't pity her! She is my best friend! She helped me when my parents died! She is the closest thing I have to family!" Shasta growled. "What?" Marko asked. "If you think that's bad, tough! Lilly is my friend. I don't care what you think you spoiled little rich boy!" Shasta growled as she turned around and ran out of the willow. Marko called after her but Shasta only ran faster. When she reached her oasis, Lilly was laying by the pond. "Hey, Shasta-" "If Marko comes by here, tell him I just kept running!" Shasta growled as she jumped into her den. Lilly looked at the den before she heard Marko running towards the oasis. "You! Did Shasta pass here?" Marko asked. Lilly pointed past the oasis. "She ran right past here." Lilly said her voice a tad higher since she was lying. Marko narrowed his eyes.