Furious all over again, Sethunya started to snap at him. However, remembering her mate's words, she shoved past the obnoxious male and addressed his brother instead.
"Well, Zaige, we would join your pride, but I won't be some slave to a brute like him. And I'm not going to let anyone push my mate around either," she said firmly. Sakina inched closer to her as she spoke and away from the pushy male. "You see, we're already our own pride, anyway. It's small, but that's fine. We can take care of ourselves after all."
As she said this, she started to slowly walk away from the males and across the savannah in a random direction. Sakina followed, staying close to her side, her eyes darting nervously between the males. The shier female spoke again, her voice barely audible, "Storming away from them because he's an ass doesn't help us gain hunters."
"Get real, 'Kina. That jerk will never hunt. He's gotta be one of those 'hunting is for lionesses' types. Let's just go," Sethunya growled, not caring if the males heard her.
"No, I won't leave it at this, mpenzi. What I see here are four lions who could use one another's help. We must be able to compromise somehow," Sakina said it more firmly, but her voice was still low and soft. Sethunya sighed and stopped, turning back to the males.
"We can try to come to an arrangement, but I'm negotiating with Zaige, not Blyds," she said finally, falling to a sitting position in the dust. With a sigh of relief, Sakina sat beside her and studied the males thoughtfully. She had worried that this might end with them alone in a desert againㅡ which normally she'd have been fine with. Sakina wasn't exactly comfortable with the males, as she wasn't comfortable with any strangers, and she'd generally prefer to be on her own with Sethunya. However, the lands were becoming more dangerous the longer they ventured, and there is safety in numbers. It would be better for all four to stick together, even if they weren't the best at getting along, because they were less likely to be targeted by rogues or hyenas or even jaguars.
And it was true that they'd had trouble with male rogues from time to time. The female was extremely aware of her stomach as she remembered the last time they'd encountered a male. The things that brute had done... it still pained her to think about. She and Sethunya had done their best to ward off the rogue's advances, but to no avail. He'd been too strong for them. He'd beaten them both and then done those horrible things to Sakina while Sethunya was forced to watch. She perfectly understood her mate's precaution and temper, but this wasn't like that. There were two, and one of them did not think the other's rash and overpowering attitude was right. In theory, they might be able to negotiate out of this situation and gain a shield against similar attacks. But she feared that if they were to just leave, the males would pursue and overpower them. Sakina knew this had to be handled carefully.
"I apologize on her behalf," she said softly addressing them both, "My mate can be rather protective of me."