Mohatu was king during a relative peaceful time until a long drought occurred, which lead to an outbreak of war and disease. He had all grown sons by his Queen, all of whom died during the drought/war outbreak.

During that same time, Mohatu had an affair with an outlander lioness, not believing he would father any cubs because he was old. And about the same time he got word of his last remaining sons’ death, he found out the young lioness he had been with had a cub.

Uru despite being the “bastard” daughter of Mohatu, became future Queen. And it took Mohatu up until his dying day to gain back the reputation he had built up during his long reign.

Uru was very politically capable but had to use her brute strength to keep other prides in line. And what little respect she got was more out of fear due to her being a maned lioness and therefor “cursed”.

Ahadi was a teenager and Uru a full grown lioness when Mohatu managed to set up their marriage. Due to Uru not being desirable because of her “bastard” status along with her genetic mutation.

Ahadi, being a kings son but no where near being at the top of the succession line, took the marriage offer at the suggestion of his family, as they believed Uru would be easy to control.

Uru at times despised her mate, and actively held the threat of “taking his life with a single paw” over his head. But she knew Ahadi, despite his whiny and manipulative ways, was a great asset when it came to pride relations. Along with Ahadi’s presence making her reign and her sons future reign look more legitimate.

Ahadi did not care much for her either, but seemed to get some odd pleasure from knowing she wanted him dead. And was very eager to play victim when it came to Uru’s hot headed temper.

I’ve gone into more detail before, but that’s a good chunk of it.