Beast Tamer's Rebirth National Treasure Edition novel Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Quickie’s eyes lit up with pride. It didn’t know what a livestream vas, but it had just overheard Natalie telling everyone that Sierra was out to get it.

What a load of crap, Quickie thought. ‘Sierra would never hurte. She’s always been good to me. I need to stand Sierra and make Natalie pay.

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Vivian and Andy watched quietly from the side. Shawn was gagging as he tried to clean the bird poop out of Natalie’s hair.

Sierra stood with her arms crossed, a smug smirk on her face. She wasn’t about to miss a chance to stir the pot. “You should probably wash your hair before that stuff really sets in. And don’t forget to disinfect it.”

Natalie was fuming, swearing that she’d never go near those stupid birds again. Tears welling in her eyes, she stormed out of the bird room.

As Natalie passed the aviary, Sierra called after her, “Careful, or those birds might just drop another load on your heads.”

No sooner had she spoken than seven or eight splats hit their targets in quick succession. The stench was overwhelming, making Natalie and Shawn gag. “Ugh!” Natalie choked out, and then ran off, crying all the way back.

The viewers began to discuss.

[Is it just me, or are those parrots doing this on purpose? Vivian and Andy were right next to Natalie, and nothing happened to them.]

[Natalie already got hit once. Maybe the birds caught a whiff and decided to go for her again.]

[What about Shawn?]

[Maybe the siblings just have terrible luck. Even the parrots can’t stand them.]

[Anyone else get a weird vibe about their relationship when Shawn was yelling at Sierra?]

But that last comment quickly vanished, buried under thousands of other messages.

*****

Covered in bird poop, Natalie and Shawn stumbled back to the lounge, gagging and retching. Seeing their state, the crew had to cut the livestream so Natalie could clean up.

As the crew walked away, Natalie shot them a death glare, her face full of disgust. ‘Seriously? Who do they think they are, looking down on me?’ she seethed inwardly, instantly blaming everything on Sierra.

Ever since Sierra got out of that punishment room, she’d had a dark edge. She ran away, cut off the Sterling family, and the girl who used to take whatever was dished out was now fighting back.

Natalie wondered, ‘Was it because I had Nick stir up trouble for her? Did that finally make her snap? But people don’t change that much overnight.

Natalie racked her brain but couldn’t figure it out. Just then, a knock came at the door. Shawn, now changed into casual clothes, walked in.

In an instant, Natalie switched gears. She dropped her gloomy expression and put on her best pitiful face, her eyes still red and teary.

Shawn’s heart sank when he saw Natalie’s face. “Nat, don’t let today get to you,” he said, trying to sound reassuring. “I already had my team scrub all those nasty comments and photos off the internet.”

1/3

Natalie, who was gearing up to play the victim, froze. “What?” she asked, confused. She instinctively grabbed her phone and opened Twitter. Her timeline was flooded with embarrassing menes and reaction images of her getting dumped on by birds.

She checked the trending page, and sure enough, she was the number one topic. Even Sierra’s tag had been bumped down.

Back in the day, she would have loved beating Sierra at anything But going viral for being a complete mess was no way she could enjoy this.

“This is all Sierra’s fault. If it weren’t for her, those parrots never would’ve targeted me, and I wouldn’t be a laughingstock online, Natalie thought. A flash of spite crossed her eyes before she quickly put on a hurt expression.

She looked at Shawn, her voice trembling. “Shawn, did we make Sierra mad on the show? Is that why she’s treating me like this?”

Shawn froze, looking genuinely taken aback. He clearly hadn’t considered there could be a connection.

Seeing his clueless face, Natalie cursed him as an idiot in her mind. But she kept her voice sweet.

“Sierra is the daughter of the Sterling family, but we kept our distance from her on the show. Maybe she felt hurt, and that’s why she’s getting back at us?”

Shawn caught on instantly, his eyes flashing with disgust. “Mom and Dad would never claim a daughter that nasty, and I definitely don’t have a sister that petty.”

If he acknowledged Sierra publicly on the show, it would only make Natalie look bad, and her fans would freak

out.

“Don’t worry, Nat. Tomorrow I’ll talk to Sierra. I’ll make sure no one finds out about our connection to her. And I’ll make her apologize to you for everything that happened today.”

Sierra had no idea what Shawn and Natalie were plotting. She was chilling in the glass room, playing with Quickie.

It was sharp as a tack. It could learn anything after just one try, but it saved all its good manners for Sierra and couldn’t be bothered with anyone else.

That night, all five guests had to stay in the zoo’s staff lounge. The three girls were stuck sharing a room.

Sierra was a bit surprised by the arrangement, but she didn’t say anything. After work, she just headed back to the dorm and buried herself in her writing.

Natalie, meanwhile, was stressed that Vivian might still be mad at her for refusing to swap animals earlier. She kept trying to strike up a conversation, but Vivian totally gave her the cold shoulder, leaving Natalie to stew in awkward frustration.

Vivian was a veteran in the industry. She saw right through Natalie’s act and couldn’t help but roll her eyes a little. Noticing Sierra scribbling away, Vivian was curious. “Sierra, what are you working on?” she asked.

Sierra looked up at the sound of Vivian’s voice, but Natalie was already right in front of her, snatching Sierra’s notes without asking. Sierra tried to grab them back, but she was too slow.

Natalie’s eyes went wide. “Bird fracture repair surgery?” she blurted out. Her voice was so loud that Vivian jumped. “Wait, are you seriously thinking about operating on Quickie?”

Sierra’s eyes turned cold, a dark edge flashing across her face. She replied, totally unfazed, “Yeah. So what?”

Natalie flinched, trying hard not to look scared. “I—”

Sierra cut her off. “Doesn’t matter. You just grabbed my private notes and started reading them. Ever heard of asking first?”

2/3

The livestream was still rolling. Except when they were asleep, the cameras never turned off. Sierra and Natalie had been the main attraction since day one, and now that Sierra was calling Natalie out, the viewership shot up.

Natalie’s eyes welled with tears, looking genuinely hurt. “I-I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I was just so surprised. I read it out loud without thinking.”

Sierra arched an eyebrow, her tone cool. “Why are you acting so surprised?”

Natalie paused, thinking, ‘Seriously? She’s still keeping her cool? She’s just some nobody from a sketchy college, and she thinks she can operate on a bird? Isn’t she worried people will roast her online?’

Then it hit her. Sierra had never told anyone where she went to school, so she could keep acting all high and mighty.

If everyone found out she went to some joke of a college, let’s see if she’ll still have the guts to mouth off to me, Natalie thought, a sly smirk tugging at her lips.

Natalie lowered her eyes, a flash of spite passing through them before she put on her most pitiful look. “Sorry, I just thought junior colleges were all about messing around. I didn’t know they actually taught you how to do surgery.”

After saying that, Natalie shot a meaningful glance at the camera hesitating like she had more to say. “But honestly, I’ve never heard of Sierra doing surgery before. Quickie is an endangered animal. If something goes wrong, we’d all be in serious trouble.”

She then offered a sugary smile. “But don’t worry, Sierra. My friend owns a pet clinic. I can get Quickie treated there for free.”

As soon as Natalie finished, the livestream chat blew up with compliments for her.

Natalie’s lips curled into a sly smile. She didn’t even need to check the comments to know she’d just scored a ton of points with the audience. She shot a look at Sierra, buzzing with anticipation, already picturing the awkward look on Sierra’s face.

But after all that waiting, Sierra’s expression didn’t change. She just kept staring at Natalie with that cold, unbothered look. Then, out of nowhere, Sierra gave a confident little smile, her voice ringing out clear and bright. “Junior colleges? Never said that.”

3/3

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