Beast Tamer's Rebirth National Treasure Edition novel Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Chapter 53

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The flight from Aville to Sunsville took two and a half hours. Sierra had put her phone on airplane mode during the flight, but after landing, she turned it back on and saw a flood of messages on WhatsApp.

Most of them were from classmates, teachers, and some friends she got along with. Sierra was completely lost and didn’t have time to read them all.

She realized Henry was totally freaking out; he’d called her over a dozen times and fired off eighty-six messages in just two hours.

Henry: [Kiddo, didn’t you say you were quitting the entertainment world to save wild animals? If you quit, I’ll cry.]

Thomas: [Sierra, seriously, what’s going on? Your agency says you renewed your contract.]

Sierra frowned as soon as she saw the messages and quickly checked the trending topics on Twitter.

Right when her plane took off, her agency had suddenly posted on Twitter, claiming she’d voluntarily renewed her contract and that they’d already started scheduling her next gigs.

Just then, Vivian probably saw the Twitter buzz, too, because she called Sierra for a video chat.

As soon as the call connected, Vivian blurted out, “Sierra, did your agency just pull a fast one on you? Want me to get you a lawyer?”

“Vivian, I just landed, and I’m heading out to check on that injured snow leopard. Don’t worry about this right now; I’ve got it covered,” Sierra replied.

The agency only dared to pull this stunt because they figured she didn’t have the Sterling family behind her

anymore.

Plus, her livestream had blown up on Twitter several times yesterday; she was hot property in the entertainment world. No way the company would let go of their golden goose.

She’d already learned just how shady the agency could be in her previous life, so there’s no way she’d walk into their trap unprepared this time.

Relieved by Sierra’s confidence, Vivian said, “If you can handle it, I’m not worried. Just make sure you stay safe when you go check on the snow leopard, okay? And don’t worry about Payton; I’ll take good care of him.”

With that, Vivian, totally in her element as a pet owner, made sure Payton got a chance to say hi to Sierra on the call.

The staff from the nearby conservation station picked Sierra up, and after a five-hour journey, she finally arrived at the old man’s place. The old man was over the moon when he saw Sierra.

He’d just seen her on video yesterday, and now he couldn’t believe she was standing right in front of him. Sierra asked, “Man, has your cow started eating again?”

The old man nodded excitedly and said, “Yeah, it’s eating. It’s eating.” He gave a big thumbs-up, looking totally

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serious. “You’re a miracle worker.”

‘Seriously?’ Sierra thought, utterly stunned.

After chatting with the old man for a bit, Sierra made her way to the barn. There, she found three or four staff members from the conservation station, all dressed in red uniforms, crouched outside and sighing in frustration.

As soon as they saw Sierra, their eyes lit up. “Is this the expert from Aville?” one of them asked.

They knew the person who called yesterday was a rising star, and since she seemed to have a real knack with animals, their boss was always dreaming of recruiting her as the next successor.

But they never thought the person would actually be Sierra herself. But once they realized it really was Sierra, even the skeptics had to accept it.

Sierra put on disposable shoe covers and entered the barn. It was spotless, meticulously kept by the old man. The floor was nearly clean, with a neat stack of hay prepared for the cows in the corner.

The snow leopard lay listlessly on the hay, eyes glazed. It growled as someone approached. But to Sierra, it said, “Don’t come any closer. I’m huge; are you gonna eat me? If you do, you’ll be feasting for days.”

The snow leopard’s voice kept flipping between fierce and freaked out, trying to act all tough, but deep down, he was scared stiff. And it was a total chatterbox.

Sierra stood less than three feet away from the snow leopard and spoke softly, “Don’t be afraid. I’m not here to hurt you.”

Sierra’s voice was soft and gentle. The snow leopard, which had been growling, instinctively looked up at her when it heard such a soothing tone. But the moment it laid eyes on her, it totally spaced out.

The human standing there seemed to glow with a gentle white light, and her vibe was so calming, nothing like the sketchy feeling it got from everyone else. And this human was gorgeous.

The snow leopard lifted its head and let out a deep roar. Sierra couldn’t tell what the snow leopard was trying to say, but judging by its body language and knowledge about animal behavior, it was clear the big cat was way calmer.

Sierra slowly moved closer, and the snow leopard wasn’t freaking out as it had before. The staff outside the barn were left completely dumbfounded.

When the higher-ups from Aville said someone was coming to win over the snow leopard with love, the staff thought it must be some new kind of tranquilizer; one shot, and the big cat would be knocked out in seconds.

If they stretched their imagination, maybe it was like some action hero wrestling a wild beast into submission. But it really was all about love. The snow leopard was practically turning into a little kitten.

The old man saw the staff’s surprise and knew they missed Sierra’s livestream. He said, “This is nothing. Sierra talks to animals. When my cow stopped eating, she said it was scared. I moved it and fed it hay, and it ate immediately.”

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The staff just stared, totally speechless.

Honestly, anyone could tell the cow was just scared, but the old man was totally biased in Sierra’s favor. But no one could deny; Sierra was seriously impressive.

They didn’t have enough tranquilizer to safely sedate the snow leopard, so nobody dared to act rashly. But Sierra managed to approach a highly alert, injured snow leopard without relying on any medication or equipment; they were genuinely impressed.

Little did they know, their admiration for Sierra was quietly growing stronger by the minute. Meanwhile, Sierra had already reached out and placed her hand on the snow leopard’s fluffy head.

This snow leopard was seriously chubby; the old man wasn’t joking about those dozen chickens it had scarfed down. Even after being injured for days, it still had a thick layer of fat.

It acted like a clingy kid. It said, “Kind human, really taking me to the zoo? My wolf bro says it has tasty treats, chickens, and beef whenever you want. The forest is bigger, but every day’s a feast here.”

He was totally ready to be a spoiled snow leopard.

Sierra blinked, a bit thrown off. ‘Did he just say wolf bro?’

Even though this snow leopard was seriously chubby, he was actually just a little cub. Sierra had peeked at his gums earlier to check for blood loss and realized this guy was barely two years old.

But in the wild, wolves are supposed to be prey for snow leopards, not their buddies. Hearing this chunky little cub call them wolf bros just made Sierra think that humans really have barely scratched the surface when it comes to understanding animals.

Sierra handled the snow leopard just like she was dealing with a kid, gently coaxing him to show his belly so she could check out his injured leg. Meanwhile, she gestured to the staff outside to bring in the medical gear.

She kept the conversation going, picking up on the wolf bro topic. She asked, “Are you and your wolf bro pretty close?”

“We’re super close. They’re basically my foster dads,” the snow leopard said, sounding proud.

The snow leopard told Sierra he was abandoned at birth for being weak. A wolf pack found him; two adults planned to eat him, but grew attached and spared him.

As he talked, the snow leopard shook its fluffy head. “Wolf bro said I was too cute to eat, then I joined their pack until a human trap injured my leg. I then fell and got stuck in a tree halfway down the cliff..”

‘Seriously?’ Sierra thought, utterly stunned.

The snow leopard had been rescued by the villagers. Back then, a whole pack of wolves was circling him, so the staff assumed they were just waiting for him to kick the bucket so they could dig in.

It turned out, they were just panicking because their chunky kid was wedged in a tree.

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