Akela is willing to die because he missed the kill.
Explanation:
<em>The Jungle Book</em> by Rudyard Kipling deals with the story of a human boy who grew up among wild animals in a forest. And with the emergence of the tiger, this human boy will help the animals in reclaiming their freedom from the terrorizing tiger.
In the given excerpt from the book, Akela , the Lone Wolf is ready to die after Shere Khan began to oppose his power and take the authority for himself. He knows that as the leader of the pack, he had hunted and helped keep his pack safe from any harm. But now that he's grown old and no longer able o hunt effectively, he is willing to die for he also missed the kill. And when Shere demanded the<em> "man-cub"</em> be given to him, Akela decided to defend him as he had done his pack.
It sounds like to me that its talking about the theme or the main idea so it will be about how you will have to stay close to your friends and trust each other.
