The life of a male lion was tough. If the cub could make it through the deadly first year and become a yearling, it still had to fear the male nomads that threatened to take over and kill any cub that got in their way. As soon as the cub turned adolecent, it would be chased away from its family to start a new pride.

It was the same for Darius, though his life had a different start. First of all, he wasn't born in the pride but adopted, found by a lioness who just had her own litter. Secondly, he wasn't chased away from his loving pride; he was taken. He wasn't just taken a few miles away but to the other side of the country, to wake up without his pride brothers and sisters in an unknown environment.

Alex had been a Ranger for several eons, his hatred for poachers growing each day he found carcasses of the animals they killed for profit or sport. The elf had vowed to protect the animal wildlife and had created a sanctuary. He and his twin Ajax were steadily hunting down the poachers but during their last raid on the poachers headquarters, they found something unexpected.

A caged lion.

A caged, fully grown male lion that so happened to be a shifter... And mate.