It was nice to get away from Priderock. No responsibilities, no lessons from my father, no lectures about how to behave. I could actually just relax. I sighed and closed my eyes, even out here under the shade of an acacia tree Ahadi wouldn’t leave my thoughts. Just because you are king doesn’t mean you have the right to treat everyone like the dirt beneath your paws; especially not your own son!
	I tried to move my mind to better thoughts like my brother Mufasa. Whenever I got in trouble he was always there to comfort me. When we played together I could forget the rest of the world was even there. He just couldn’t see who our father really was . He did everything in his power to please him, and nothing I said could ever convince him Ahadi was wrong.
	Damn it! My thoughts drift right back to him every time; I just felt like crying.
	“Taka! There you are! I’ve been looking all over the Pridelands for you!” My brother said, suddenly hovering over me.
	I smiled. Despite everything, my brother’s happy, smiling face always made me happy from head to toe.
	“Hi Mufasa, sorry, I didn’t know you were looking for me. What’s up?” I said.
	“I have some awesome new games to show you. They are so fun and feel so good.” He was practically bounding with excitement.
	I didn’t know what he meant when he said they ‘feel good’ but I needed something to distract me so I told him, “Sure, what do I have to do?”
	“Just spread your legs and let me lick your penis!” He told me.
	I was shocked to say the least, why would he want to lick where I peed from?
	“Why do you want to lick my penis!?” I asked.
	“Don’t worry it’ll be fun!”	I was so confused and this was all happening so fast. I trusted my brother but this was super weird.
	“Mufasa, I pee from there!” I said, trying to get my brother to see reason.
	“Oh don’t worry other stuff comes from there too! Come on, just lie on your back and I'll show you!” Mufasa said.
	Still confused but out of arguments I decided to just do what he asked, “Okay, I just lie on my back and spread my legs like this?”	“Just like that! Now lie still, I guarantee that you will enjoy this.” My brother told me.
	I watched as my brother ducked his head between my legs and ran his tongue from the base of my balls all the way up to the tip of my sheath. I gasped loudly as he did. I had no idea anything could feel so good. I was still so confused, why would him licking me there feel good? Even if it does feel good to me, why would he want to lick me there? It didn’t really matter though, he kept licking and I wasn’t going to stop him!
	“Oh God, Mufasa what’s happening?” I asked as he started to suck on my balls.
	He pulled away just long enough to answer me, “Don’t worry Taka, dad said that’s called ‘getting hard.’ That’s what we want.”
	“Dad talked to you about this stuff?”
	“Yeah I walked in on him and mom mating so he gave me what he called ‘The Talk.’” My brother said.
	“Is this what mating is?” I asked.
	“Uh... sort of?” My brother said, sounding unsure himself, “Just relax and let me keep going. The best part is coming up.”
	Before I could say anything else, he dipped his head back between my legs and took my whole penis into his muzzle. It was amazing, he just started sucking and bobbing his head up and down. I started to breath heavily and squirm around. Weird feelings flooded my body that I can’t even begin to describe. After that, it didn’t take long before I felt something weird building inside me. I opened my muzzle to say something to my brother but all I could do was moan loudly as something came out of my penis.
	I was so scared my brother would be angry with me! I was sure I had just peed in his muzzle, but instead of spitting it out he swallowed it and smiled.
	“I’m so sorry Mufasa, I tried to say something but I couldn’t.” I told my brother.
	He lifted his head up,crawled on top of me, and gave me a quick kiss before saying, “It’s okay Taka, that’s normal. I swallowed some of dad’s cum when he was showing me different things.”
	“Cum?” I asked him.
	He giggled, “Yeah when you feel really good that’s what comes out instead of pee. It’s salty and gooey and tastes really good.”
	“Oh, okay. Well, I am glad I didn’t pee in your muzzle. Should I do that to you now or...” I said.
	“Maybe in a minute, but I wanted to ask about something else. Dad said that soon I would need to find a mate. Someone I love that I would do this stuff with all the time. I can’t think of anyone I love more than you, so I thought we should be mates!”
	I suddenly felt very awkward and confused, “I don’t understand.” I said softly.
	“I love you Taka, I want you to be my mate.” He responded.
	I was shocked to say the least. I mean we had always gotten along, we were really close, but I had never thought of him in that way. Come to think of it I had never thought of anyone in that way or given much thought to getting a mate at all. I thought that was an adult thing.There was one other thing about being mates that bugged me, so I asked, “But I thought mates had to be females?”
	“Dad just said that a mate is someone that you love, and I love you Taka.” my brother told me.
	I looked away awkwardly. I wasn’t sure how to respond to that at all. Of course I loved my brother, but being mates? Can brothers be mates? Aren't we a little young?
	“Mufasa I’m not sure... I mean I do love you... I just..” I mumbled.
	“It’s okay Taka,” He said using his paw to turn my head back to face him, “you don’t have to decide right now.” He leaned down and kissed me, “Why don’t we play some more?”
	“I don’t know Mufasa, I need some time to think,” I slid out from under him, “I’ll see you later okay?”
	“Okay Taka,” Mufasa said looking a little disappointed, “maybe we can play later?”
	“Yeah maybe later,” I said as I walked away.
	I don’t know how long I walked for, thoughts were rushing through my head. This was so much to deal with all at once, mating, love, being mated. Eventually I just slumped down under a tree. I wanted to cry, I was so confused. Eventually I was able to fall asleep.
*****
	After some time I finally started to wake. When I opened my eyes I was very surprised to see a pair of bright green eyes looking down at me.
	“Hello sleepy cub. I don’t often see lion cubs this far out in the Pridelands. What are you doing out here?” The curious cheetah cub asked.
	“Oh, uh, hi. Sorry I didn’t mean to cause trouble or anything, I just needed to get away and think.” I told him.
	“No trouble, I was just curious, you are sleeping under my tree after all. Anyway I’m Jabir, who are you?” He asked me.
	“I’m Taka,” I responded, “nice to meet you.”
	“It is nice to meet you too. What did you need to come all the way out here to think about?” Jabir said sitting down in front of me.
	“Ah, ummmm... my brother told me he loves me and wants me to be his mate. I’m really confused and don’t know what to do.” I told him.
	“Well that is certainly an interesting problem. Maybe playing would take your mind off of it? I rarely have another cub to play with.” He said.
	“Oh, um sure. What did you want to play?” I asked.
	He just grinned and bopped me on the shoulder with his paw and said, “Tag! You’re it!” before running off.
	I got up and started to chase him. We spent hours playing tag, practicing pouncing, racing, and anything else we could think of. He was right too, it did take my mind off of things and made me feel a lot better.
	After all the running around we ended up back at the same tree laying on our backs and panting, catching our breaths.
	“Thank you Jabir, that really helped me relax and feel better. I should introduce you to my brother. You would like him, the three of us would have so much fun together.” I told him
	“Is that your brother who wants to be mates with you?” He asked.
	“Yeah...” I said, suddenly snapped back to reality.
	“Have you thought any more about what you want to do?” Jabir asked me.
	“Not really. I have mostly been trying to stay distracted.” I said.
	“Well us cheetahs are more solitary than you lions, but if you ask me, if you love him, you should be mates with him.” He said.
	“I do love him. It’s just such a big decision. I would spend the rest of my life with him!” I said.
	“Would that be a bad thing? Spending the rest of your life with someone who cares about you, is fun to play with, and who you enjoy being around?” He asked.
	I laughed, “No I guess not.”
	I smiled as I thought about it. Jabir was right, spending the rest of my life with my brother who cared about and loved me, would be fun. We never got bored of each other, either; we always had fun together.
	“You’re right,” I finally said, after several minutes of silent thought, “a life spent as my brother’s mate would be a good one.”
	“It sounds like you came to a good decision. Now are you ready to play some more?” He asked.
	“I would Jabir, but I should get back to Mufasa and let him know I will be his mate. I am sure he is worried sick about me. But I promise I will be back, I had a lot of fun playing with you and next time I will bring my brother so we can all play together!” I said excitedly.
	“Awwww, okay, I guess you should get heading back then. But I do hope to see you again soon.” The cheetah told me.
	“You will, I promise. Thank you Jabir, you really helped me figure things out.”
	“You’re welcome Taka, I look forward to meeting your new mate, and seeing you again.” Jabir said.
	I hopped up, and nuzzled my new friend. “Don’t worry it won’t be long, I had a lot of fun today!”
	With that I ran off, heading back towards Priderock in the distance. It took a while to get back home, I had wandered quite the distance without even realizing it. As I got closer I caught my brother's scent and followed it to a grove of trees he liked to play in. I found him there pacing back and forth looking sad and worried.
	“Mufasa.” I called out to my brother timidly.
	He ran right over to me and wrapped his head around mine in a hug, “Oh Taka, I am so glad you’re back; I was so worried, I was almost ready to go get Dad. I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to push you so hard, or so fast.”
	“No it’s okay Mufasa, you just surprised me. I wasn’t expecting that, and there were so many new thoughts and feelings,  I didn’t know what to think or do. But I met a cheetah cub named Jabir out on the edge of the Pridelands, and he helped me sort things out.” I told my brother.
	“Well that’s good, I’m glad he was able to help you. What did he say?” Mufasa asked hesitantly.
	“He just asked me if I loved you.” I said.
	“What did you say?” My brother asked his voice full of concern now.
	“I said I did. I love you Mufasa, and I would love to be your mate.” I told him.
	Mufasa didn’t say anything, he just pounced on me, pinning me on my back and kissing me. I was surprised when his tongue came out and started to probe into my muzzle. I wasn’t sure what to do so I just opened up and let him in. His tongue explored my muzzle and started to play with my tongue. I quickly got the idea and responded in kind, letting my tongue dance with his.
	As we kissed, I could feel my penis getting hard again and I had a strong desire to have my brother suck on it again. He must have noticed because he broke the kiss and smiled down at me.
	“You want to mate some more?” He asked me.
	“Yeah! You want me to suck on you first this time?” I asked him.
	“Actually there are other ways to mate than just sucking on each other's cocks. I’ll show you.” He said.
	“Cocks?” I said quizzically.
	“Yeah dad said that was another name for the penis that grown-ups use. Now roll over and lift your tail to the side.” He said.
	“Okay, like this?” I asked, doing my best to get into the position he was telling me.
	“Perfect now just crouch down real low.” He said.
	I did what my brother told me and crouched down with my tail lifted to the side. He climbed on top of me and started to lick at the back of my neck soothingly.
	“Okay dad showed me this, this is real mating. When boys do it one of them sticks their cock in the other boys tailhole. It’s going to hurt a little at first but just try and relax and it will feel REALLY good quickly.” Mufasa said.
	That made me nervous but I trusted my brother with all my heart so I told him, “Okay.”
	All of the sudden I felt something hard poking around at my backside. I was just starting to think “This isn’t so bad,” when Mufasa struck home. I yowled so loud I thought all the Pridelands must have heard me. It hurt SO bad. The pain radiated out from my tailhole to my whole back end. I could feel my brother on top of me licking at my neck again.
	“Shhhhh. I know it hurts, Dad did this to me earlier and he is way bigger than me. But trust me it will start to feel a lot better in just a second.” He said as he licked at my neck and nuzzled me.
	At that moment I didn’t believe him, I thought that there was no way this could ever feel good. But slowly the pain faded and it started to feel much better.
	My brother must have noticed that I was calming down because he said, “Better now? I’m going to start thrusting, that is when it really starts to get good.”
	At first the pain came back a little but it went away much faster this time. I could feel my brother’s penis inside me going back and forth as fast as he could move his hips. It was weird but every time he pushed all the way inside of me I felt this amazing wave of pleasure wash over me. My cock had retreated back inside when the pain hit, but now it was getting hard again.
	I was so happy in this moment, it is one I will never forget as long as I live. Not only did the physical pleasure feel good, but the emotional high I felt being in love, and having a mate just made it spectacular. I could feel the pressure building up inside me again like last time, and it wasn’t long before I was cumming all over the ground. As I came, I heard my brother moan above me, and shortly after, I felt the hot liquid from his cock shoot deep inside me.
	After that, we both collapsed to the ground, Mufasa still on top of me. We lay there cuddling and panting for a long time before we finally separated.
	“You were right Mufasa, that did feel really good.” I said.
	“Yeah, I can’t wait to do that with you again.” My mate said.
	“We should probably get home soon, it’s getting dark.” I said standing up with him.
	“I can’t wait to tell dad about us. I bet he will be so happy that we are mates.” Mufasa said.
	“Really?” I responded timidly.
	“Yeah, he said it was about time I found a mate.” My Brother said.
	We both ran off happily for home. It didn’t take long as we weren't far, I just remember never having felt happier as we ran up the path to the cave. When we bounded inside we found our dad in the back of the cave relaxing on the royal rock.
	“Dad! I did what you said, and found a mate!” Mufasa said, very proud and happy.
	“Oh did you now?” Ahadi said, “And who is your new mate?”
	“Taka!” My brother responded.
	At that our father started laughing, like my brother had just told the funniest joke ever.
	“Mufasa, you have to pick a girl as a mate. It’s okay to play and mate with boys, but your mate must be female.” The king responded when he finally stopped laughing.
	“Oh, but I thought...” My brother trailed off confused.
	“I’m sorry Mufasa, but I should have been more clear when we had the talk earlier. You aren't mates with your brother. However, one of your sisters, Sarabi or Sarafina, might be a good match for you. You get along well with them.” Dad said.
	“Oh... Okay dad, if that’s what you want.” My brother said giving up almost immediately.
	“Yes Mufasa, that is the way things are.” My father told him.
	“NO!” I shouted out, “Mufasa is my mate! I love him!” I said, tears coming to my eyes as I spoke.
	“No Taka, your brother will be king one day, and the king must have a queen.” He told me.
	“Why can’t there be two kings?” I asked.
	“Because that is not how things work, that is not how the circle of life works. Now, I don’t want to hear another word about this.” He said sternly.
	I wouldn’t just give up though, “I don’t care what you say, Mufasa is my mate! We’re in love!”
	My father growled, “I said enough Taka, you can’t be in love with another male.”
	“Yes you can! Jabir told me so!” I said not willing to give up my new found happiness.
	“I don’t care what anyone told you boy! You cannot be mates with your brother, or any other male!” My father said anger filling his voice as he stood up to face me.
	“You can’t tell us what to do! When you are dead Mufasa will just change things so we can be together!” I screamed at him.
	At that, my father lashed out with his paw, striking me in the face. I landed a couple of feet away on my side, my left eye burning fiercely.
	“ENOUGH!” My father thundered. “I will hear no more of this nonsense! I’m sorry Taka, but you have to learn that I am not just your father, but your king! You will do what I say, and so will your brother! Isn’t that right Mufasa?”
	“Of course dad. I will always do what you say.” My brother responded.
	“Mufasa...” I moaned out.
	But he just looked away. My father went over and laid back down on his rock, Mufasa didn’t move for a long time but eventually he just walked away leaving me lying there on the ground. Tears streamed down my face. My whole world was destroyed.