Shakti is a descendant of a once prominent clan that held a lot of influence back in its time. However, eventually the clan got taken over by other prides, and most of lions and cubs were killed off. Shakti was still a cub herself when that was happening, yet by her mother's pleas to the new king that Shakti can become a good huntress, she was allowed to stay and grow up for that purpose. Once the time came, Shakti didn't perform very well on her first hunt. So the pride's king scarred her face, deeming her useless and deciding to sell her off to make at least some profit off of her. The scarring went deeper than physical, reaching Shakti's soul and making her figure from early on that one can only be loved if they are useful to others.
Shakti got bought by
Darvir, a king from another pride. Darvir's pride was way nicer and allowed her to train as a huntress better, making become one of the best huntresses of the pride. Shakti didn't take it for granted and worked hard to keep her place and feel like she deserves the fellowship of other pride-mates.
One day Shakti gave birth to an unexpected albino cub while both the parents were black-colored, which was named
Kairen. To Shakti, this was awful news. Aside the common African stigma against anything colored white, she knew that the cub's white fur would not merge with its surroundings, which would make her an awful hunter, as well as drive in the attention of poachers and endanger the entire pride. In other words - Kiaren would be useless and unloved. This caused Shakti to give up on raising her daughter, focusing on other cubs and chasing her daughter away.
Kairen, however, was raised anyway by the pride's broodmothering efforts, especially that of
Livna, that was a white lioness herself. She however didn't face as much stigma, as she was one of Darvir's main wives and the pride's sangoma, rarely wandering far and being in constant protection of the pride, but she was inspiring Kairen to not react at other's words, having heard plenty of them herself in her younger age. Aside Livna, Kairen grew up rather cold to anyone else, and she defied everyone's expectations when it came to hunting. Using her intelligence, she became an amazing huntress: she was covering herself in mud before going for a hunt - masking her body and smell, and managing to outperform her pride-mates most of the time. She indeed drove the attention of poachers, and luckily for her, humans are easier to hunt as a white lion - no need to mask yourself, humans don't see well in the dark. However, Kairen's relationship with her mother was already broken beyond repair. She didn't want to speak to her mother or even see her, and Shakti didn't push it, knowing full well that she deserves it.
