Hi Michael,
I can see why this one has been so difficult in terms of settling on a final edit.
The thing that comes to mind as the “Main” focal point is the look on his face and those eyes, it had to cause an alarming and unsettling emotion for you at the time of capture, it’s one of those emotions where you can literally feel your scalp move and tingle!
The hard part is realizing that there is literally no way to recreate that emotion in a photograph, it can stir the memory of being there in person but that is as close as you can get IMHO.
Nobody else can know that emotion to the same degree unless this reminds them of a very similar situation.
I have had a similar encounter but mine was with an alligator at least fifteen feet long while it was lurking just under the surface in a swamp, I didn’t see it until I was only a few feet from it. 
For me, I think the tight composition is spot on even without seeing what’s beyond the borders (in the periphery).
As a viewer ignoring the backstory, the lion seems somewhat confident and comfortable, he doesn’t come across as immediately threatening, he appears to be lying down and his ears are slightly lowered and relaxed looking.
I see the female’s flank in the BG and I see the male in front but I also see another female between the front male and the star of the show (I see a total of four lions).
My interpretation of the star (the in-focus male) isn’t without a high level of caution on my part because I know these cats can rise to Pounce Mode in an instant if they feel you’re too close!
I’ve said before that OOF grass in front of the subject is natural looking and not a distraction but that was when the lioness was looking off to the side and not straight on like this is. I do feel that the OOF grass that bends in towards the lion’s snout is a distraction in this case. I would want the viewer to get as much of that look on his face without any distractions so they’ll have the best chance of “Seeing” the lion!
I also feel that the slight spots of green aren’t dispersed in a balanced way and becomes a distraction, so, I would consider using a solid color fill layer in Ps in the Hue blending mode and paint those green areas to match the browns of the other grasses.
If I were going to print this large (13x19), I would heavily consider the edit suggestions above but, that’s just me. Remember, you asked for anything and everything that I think you should do before going to print. 
Here’s a quick edit example using mostly the Remove tool in Ps along with some careful Cloning to get rid of the OOF grass near the snout.
We’ve already talked in detail about changing the color of greens using Solid Color Fill in Ps so I won’t cover that one again unless you want me to.
Oh yeah, I did enhance the eyes a little since that part seems so important.
I also changed the color of the lower lioness’ eye corner, it was bluish and it makes sense but it seems more effective to be the typical gold color.
BTW, the somewhat obscure male lion in front, the lioness in front and low, along with the flank of the rear lioness adds to the scene for me, it adds a touch of mystery that causes the viewer to look closer and take the time to study what’s going on. It’s a plus IMHO!!
This is an awesome capture in my view, Michael!
This next example is totally out in left field and nowhere near what you asked for but I just had to see what this would look like with a mild custom glow and a touch of canvas texture.
If I were to actually print this I wouldn’t add the texture effect, I would simply print it on canvas, so, the texture in this is just for demonstrating the look after it’s printed on canvas.
Forgive me if this offends you (I’m hoping it doesn’t based on previous interactions between us). This is my only way of being a paint style artist and I thought I might share how some of my printed renditions appear.
