Beast Tamer's Rebirth National Treasure Edition novel Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Chapter 54

52

55 vouchers

Sierra checked the snow leopard’s legs. The trap’s metal jaws had sunk deep into its thigh, leaving a mess of blood and torn flesh. On her own, there was no way she could pry the trap open.

Sierra said, “I’ll call colleagues to remove the trap. If you’re afraid, we can give you anesthesia. When you wake up, your injury will be all patched up. Otherwise, promise not to bite us during the procedure, no matter how painful, okay?”

Sierra had wanted to call it little guy, but staring at this massive two-year-old snow leopard, she just couldn’t get the words out.

The snow leopard fluttered its big amber eyes, hesitated for a moment, and said, “Um, I guess, just give me the shot, then.”

Sierra didn’t hesitate at all. The snow leopard wasn’t looking too good, and it hadn’t told Sierra much. Still, she could figure out that the reason it was holed up in the barn was probably that its wolf buddy had told it to

stay put.

The wolves knew all about the zoo; clearly, they’d been helped by humans before. They understood that if the snow leopard wanted to make it out alive, it needed to get some serious help from people.

Sierra quickly got the anesthesia ready. Seeing the snow leopard shaking like a leaf, she couldn’t help but chuckle. She asked, “You’ve never been hurt out in the wild before? Why are you such a scaredy-cat?”

The snow leopard whimpered pitifully, blinking open its eyes. It said, “The wolf bros always bring me food. I’ve never hunted. But one of them got hurt a few days ago, so it looks like I’ll have to start hunting for them from now on.

As it finished, the snow leopard was on the verge of tears. “But I can’t even catch a single rabbit.”

‘Seriously?’ Sierra thought, utterly stunned.

The wolf bros the snow leopard mentioned were heroic but exhausted, working hard all day to find food for their spoiled snow leopard kid.

Sierra gave the snow leopard the anesthesia with a straight face, and the big cat, who’d been babbling nonstop just moments before, was instantly knocked out.

Sierra stood up and waved to the staff at the conservation station. She said, “We’ve got everything sorted out, and the anesthesia’s already in. Let’s get this trap off its leg first, then take it back to the station for a checkup.”

The staff had been so shocked for so long that they were completely speechless. In a trance, they just did whatever Sierra told them. After more than half an hour of effort, they finally got the trap off the snow leopard’s leg.

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

Before, when they couldn’t see the wound, it didn’t seem that bad. But now that the trap was off, they saw the snow leopard’s thigh was a mangled mess of blood and flesh, the bone jutting out, plain to see.

14:57 Sat, Jan 3

Chapter 54

:

(52)

55 vouchers

It was so hot out that maggots were already gnawing at the raw flesh. You didn’t even need to look to know it was infected.

Sure enough, when the staff took the snow leopard’s temperature, they found it was running a high fever.

One of the staff said, “We need to get it back to the station for treatment ASAP.”

Sierra nodded. She said, “I know this snow leopard inside out. I’ll handle the surgery myself.”

The Wildlife Conservation Association had an official website, so it was easy to look up Sierra’s background.

Unlike most of the others, who were probably just temporary staff, anyone who made it into the main association was a full-time, official staff member.

And it turned out Sierra’s position in the main association was actually pretty high up.

She was a top graduate from Northbel University, had tons of surgical experience, and was even a leader in the main association. No one could say no to her.

It took the whole crew working together to get the snow leopard into the truck. The poor thing was so chunky, everyone was sweating bullets just trying to haul our big baby onboard.

Just as they were about to head out, Sierra suddenly heard wolves howling nearby. Remembering what the snow leopard said about its wolf buddies, Sierra unbuckled her seatbelt and told the staff, “Hold on a sec, I need to take care of something.”

With that, she hopped out of the car.

The others trailed after her, and soon enough, in the shadowy forest not far away, they saw at least a dozen wolves perched on the rocks, watching them intently from a distance.

As the humans and wolves stared each other down, the staff felt their skin crawl. One staff member said. “Are these wolves that surrounded the snow leopard? Now that we’ve taken away their food, I bet they won’t let us off easy.”

People tried to stop Sierra, but she was already on her way. Sierra approached the wolves, stopping about 30

away from them.

feet

Two limping wolves stepped forward, fixing Sierra with worried stares. One of them spoke up, his voice rough with concern, “Is Milo going to be alright?”

Their legs were already scabbed over, but the bones were crooked and misshapen. These had to be the wolf brothers the snow leopard kept talking about.

Their voices were raspy and tired, and their fur was dull and patchy compared to the rest of the pack. Judging by their worn-out look, they had to be at least eight years old.

“Milo’s injury isn’t too bad. Once we treat him, he’ll be as good as new,” Sierra said, glancing at the two wolves. “But you two, your injuries are a lot worse than his.”

“We don’t matter,” one of the limping wolves said. “We’ve raised Milo like our own son. We’re getting old, and

14:57 Sat, Jan 3

Chapter 54

:

Milo’s never learned to hunt. If he’s with you folks, we can rest easy.”

52

55 vouchers

As a pup, its pack encountered poachers, and humans saved him. Injured, it recovered at the zoo. Since then, it knew, one day, they’d be too old to hunt. If Milo could stay at the zoo, it would live out its days safely and contentedly.

“We just came to see Milo, that’s all. We’re not here to hurt anyone,” the wolf said.

Facing Sierra, the limping wolves were totally stunned that a human could actually understand them, but honestly, they were just more relieved than anything. Once they’d said their piece, the limping wolves started heading off.

Sierra said, “Milo might not adjust to the zoo. You’re both injured, come back to the conservation station with me for treatment. We’ll train Milo later if he’s ready. Having you here will help him.”

The two limping wolves’ eyes widened in shock. All they ever cared about was making sure their big boy was safe and sound; they never thought about themselves at all.

Hearing this, they were moved. In the wild, survival meant scavenging the alpha’s leftovers. If luck turned, they could become another’s meal.

Being able to stay with Milo was as good as it got for them. The two limping wolves glanced at each other, then said with determination, “We want to.”

So when Sierra came back, she had two more limping wolves in tow, both looking just as battered and worn

out.

The staff were left completely speechless.

What really blew their minds was when Sierra opened the metal cage in the back of the truck and let the two wolves join the sedated snow leopard. The wolves climbed right in without a second thought and gave their Milo head a loving lick.

And in their eyes, there was nothing but gentle, parental love.

The staff could hardly believe their eyes, and one of them stammered, “Is this really okay? What if the wolves decide to snack on the snow leopard?”

Today had been nothing but one shock after another. Sierra had just talked to the snow leopard as if it were the most normal thing in the world, and now she’d brought back two injured wild wolves, just like that.

They honestly didn’t even know where to start with all the questions swirling in their heads.

But Sierra just looked totally chill and said with confidence, “Don’t worry, Milo’s their precious kid. Even if they were starving, they’d never eat him.”

“Wait, what?” one of the staff blurted out.

He thought, ‘So you’re telling me two male wolves actually gave birth to a snow leopard?

‘Well, that’s it; the whole gene pool just collapsed.’

14:58 Sat, Jan 3