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She nuzzled him. "I'd say the same thing for you, but my loyalties are separated to all the people close to my heart: Shani, Chaka, my parents, my grandparents, and mainly, you."

"Why?" she asked him. "He is your father. You should feel loyalty to your father." She was surprised. The first time she had met Alonzo, he had been totally loyal to his father.

"Oh, he is, and will always be loyal to me, Princess Sauda." Jeraha said softly, peering at the happy couple from the darkness of the grasses.

Sauda sighed. "He is still your father. He still cares about you, don't forget he raised you." she said, getting up. "I think we should get back and rest for tomorrow. I'm patrolling the border."

"God night." she said slowly, and then fell asleep.

Sauda awoke early next morning and patrolled the border. She looked across, something not feeling right. Then, she saw a flash of claws and stepped back. A huge grey-brown lion jumped out and faced her. "Welcome, Princess." he said. "I've been expecting you." "Who are you?" Sauda asked. "I am Jeraha, leader of the pride in these lands, and Alonzo's father." he replied. Sauda's fur shook. "What do you want?" she spat out. "To see you dead and my son on that throne, but not with you as his queen." Jeraha replied, and lashed out at her. Sauda defended herself, and Jeraha attacked her fiercely. She couldn't help but yell out in pain as Jeraha's claws cut a slit n her shoulder.

Sauda lay down, her heart beating quickly. "Alonzo...." she whispered. His face was the last thing she remembered before she passed out.

"Oh, I will." Jeraha smirked. "And you will do as I say. I will kill your mate, and then you will be free to kill the other members of the Royal Family. The throne will be yours, and you can rule it the way you want, without Chaka to harass your every command. Isn't that what you want? I'll give it to you."

"You wish to be reunited with your mate?" Jeraha asked, raising his paw with claws unsheathed. ""So be it! Traitor!" He leaped at Alonzo and pinned the younger lion down. "You think I'm your father, don't you? Well, now you'll find out that you're wrong. I was never your father."

A sly smile curved around Jeraha's mouth. "Of course I did." he said. "They deserved to die." His eyes were suddenly filled with hate, as he remembered the dark grey-brown lion and his white mate. "Neema made the biggest mistake of her life when she chose Kondo as her mate, when she could have chosen me. He was going to be the king, with her as his queen. I could never let that happen."

"But you deserve to die!" Jeraha roared, slashing his claws down Alonzo's back. The two lions tumbled over to the edge of the cliff. Jeraha was closer to the edge than Alonzo. He lost his footing, and fell down to be crushed by the rocks below.

Chaka and Shani heard Sauda's cries for help and ran in that direction."I knew it." Chaka panted to Shani as they ran to their sister's aid. Shani shook her head. When they arrived, they saw Alonzo collapsed beside Sauda, unconscious. "He didn't kill her." Shani couldn't have been happier. "He protected her."