They Tamed a Beast, I Raised a Killer

When I opened my eyes, I realized I had returned to that daythe day my boyfriends childhood sweetheart brought a white tiger cub into our home.

The tragedy hadnt happened yet. I could still stop it.

Sienna was obsessed with fantasy novels, convinced she was meant to be a beast tamer. To please her, my boyfriend agreed to keep the cub.

In my past life, Id warned them it was illegal and dangerousa wild predator didnt belong in an apartment. I begged them to call a rescue.

But the cub was unnaturally intelligent. It understood I wanted it gone and held a vicious grudge.

My life became a nightmare. Animal remains and filth appeared on my bed. Then the tiger attacked my mother, infecting her so badly she died. I was consumed with rage, determined to kill it.

Instead, Sienna and my boyfriend drugged me and set the tiger free.

Five years later, I returned to my childhood home. It was destroyed, a den for over a dozen grown white tigersled by that same cub. My father lay mauled on the floor.

Before I could react, the lead tiger lunged. Its jaws closed on my throat, and everything went dark.

"Look at those intelligent eyes. This little guy is definitely going to evolve into a legendary guardian beast."

Sienna held the white tiger cub up by its front legs, shoving it right into my face. A low, guttural growl vibrated in the cub's throat as its striking eyes locked onto mine with an unsettling thrill.

The phantom pain of fangs tearing into my flesh came rushing back. I flinched violently, a cold sweat breaking out across my spine.

Sienna just looked at me and let out a mocking laugh.

"This tiger is going to be my official Familiar. You guys have to help me raise him right."

I turned my gaze to my boyfriend, Blake. He forced a stiff smile.

"Well, if he's your Familiar, Sienna, then of course we'll take great care of him."

Right after saying that, he shot me a heavy, pointed look. I simply pretended I didn't see his pathetic little signal.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Sure, I'm on board."

"But since Sienna's place is way too cramped, we should just keep him here in our new house."

Blake's face drained of color the second the words left my mouth. He stepped close to me, his voice dropping to an angry, frantic whisper.

"What the hell are you doing? You promised me you'd be the one to tell her no!"

I let out a cold, cynical laugh in my head. He was too much of a coward to reject his precious childhood friend himself, so he wanted to use me as the bad guy.

In my last life, I actually listened to him.

God knows where Sienna got that tiger, but it reeked of rotting meat. Parting its fur revealed a crawling mass of parasites. Its festering wounds were completely infected, making the poor thing look like a walking biohazard.

And even as a cub, a wild predator is dangerous. A bite might not kill an adult instantly, but it could easily maim them for life. Besides, it was an endangered species. There was zero justification for keeping it as a house pet.

But Sienna had completely lost her grip on reality. She thought she was the chosen protagonist of a fantasy series, blessed with magical taming abilities. When I told her she was living in a fictional delusion, she accused me of being jealous of her aura.

She even went behind my back and locked the tiger in the storage room of our new home.

I was shaking with rage when I found out. I literally threw both Sienna and the tiger out on the street. But Blake couldn't bear to see her suffer. He secretly rented the apartment right beneath ours just so she could keep the beast.

I caught them once in the stairwell. I heard Sienna whispering venom to the animal.

"See her? That's the wicked woman who kicked you out. She's the reason you're starving. If it weren't for her, you would have ascended to a higher magical tier by now."

It sounded like a bad joke. I brushed it off at the time. I never expected the animal to actually understand human speech and harbor a vendetta.

Brainwashed by Sienna, the tiger made me its target. Whenever she took it for a walk, it would break away, sneak into my apartment, shred my furniture, and leave bloody animal remains under my sheets.

Pushed to my absolute limit, I told Blake to make her get rid of it.

Blake just waved it off. "What's the big deal? It hasn't actually bitten anyone. Sienna is just training its bite force. With jaws like that, it's going to be the strongest Familiar in the world."

I had no idea what kind of brain rot Blake was suffering from, but talking to them was useless. I called the cops.

But when the police searched the downstairs apartment, they found absolutely nothing. Sienna played the innocent victim flawlessly. With no evidence, the police had to drop it.

Half a year later, Blake and I were busy planning our wedding. My mom traveled all the way from our hometown to visit.

While her back was turned, the tiger ambushed her.

I rushed her to the ER, but the wounds were too severe. She didn't make it.

My sanity snapped. All I wanted was to end that tiger and avenge my mother. Knowing I couldn't overpower it with brute strength, I bought a massive steel bear trap and hid it near Sienna's patio.

Finally, the jaws snapped shut. The tiger went down howling. I charged at it with a heavy meat cleaver, completely blinded by rage.

But Blake tackled me from behind, pinning me hard into the dirt.

"Are you insane? That's Sienna's precious Familiar!"

Sienna used the distraction to pry the trap open. With red, tearful eyes, she screamed at the bleeding beast.

"Run, Snow! Go heal your magic and come back to make them pay!"

The tiger limped away into the darkness. Just before it vanished, it threw a look over its shoulder. Its golden eyes were completely saturated with murderous intent.

The wedding was permanently canceled after that. Traumatized and paranoid, I moved from city to city, constantly looking over my shoulder.

Five years later, I finally went back to my hometown, only to find that beast waiting for me. It had claimed my family home, bringing a dozen full-grown predators with it.

Remembering my father's mutilated body made my eyes sting with unshed tears.

In this life, if she wants to play beast tamer, she can knock herself out. I'm taking myself out of the narrative.

Sienna looked genuinely taken aback by my approval. Her eyes darted around suspiciously.

"Well, aren't you surprisingly compliant today. Don't go back on your word later. If you have a problem, spit it out now."

I offered the tiger a calm, collected glance and smiled.

"No problems here. It's the most spirited Familiar I've ever seen. Looks incredibly smart and brave."

Blake frowned, opening his mouth to intervene.

Before he could speak, I bent down and scooped up Smudge, my silver tabby cat, from under the coffee table.

"Look here, Smudge. This big guy is your new sidekick. You two better get along, alright?"

Sienna's face contorted in sheer offense.

"My tiger is a once-in-a-century magical beast. Do not compare him to your mundane little livestock."

"Sure thing."

I turned around, carried Smudge into the dedicated cat room, double-locked the door, and headed straight to work.

Once I was gone, Blake finally lost his composure.

"Sienna, is keeping it here really the best idea? This is supposed to be my home with Nora."

Sienna crossed her arms, glaring at him.

"It's your house, isn't it? What's the problem? Besides, Nora said she was fine with it. Or are you saying you don't want me around?"

Seeing Sienna narrow her eyes made Blake deflate instantly.

They grew up together, and he had spent his entire life acting as her loyal lapdog. She even crashed our dates. If we went to a restaurant, she sat right across from us. If we took a walk, she wedged herself between us.

Even the very first time Blake and I booked a hotel room for the weekend, he booked the room right next door for Sienna. She knocked on our door three times in the middle of the night, demanding he come fix her TV.

Eventually, she just casually moved into our new house, treating the place like she owned it.

Her end goal was always to break us up so she could take the girlfriend spot. But Blake stubbornly refused to let me go, which meant she constantly picked fights with me and made passive-aggressive comments at every turn.

Only when I got back from my shift did the reality of my rebirth truly settle in.

I worked as a caretaker at the local wildlife conservation center. When I unlocked the front door, Sienna was nowhere to be seen.

The tiger cub had been dumped on the cold hardwood floor. Its wounds were actively festering, its breathing dangerously shallow.

I let out a heavy sigh and crouched down to check on it.

Just then, Blake's bedroom door swung open.

"What is wrong with you?" he hissed. "This is our place! Look at that thing. It's probably carrying a dozen different plagues. What if we get infected?"

The cub let out a weak whimper. I grabbed some raw meat from the kitchen and placed it near its nose.

"But didn't you agree that this tiger has a magical aura? Who knows, maybe it really is an ancient god reincarnated."

Blake stared at the filthy animal with absolute disgust.

"Magical my ass. It's a filthy street mutt. It's repulsive. You need to tell Sienna to get rid of it. It creeps me out just having it in the house."

I looked up from the tiger and tossed the problem right back at him.

"You two share a brain, don't you? You've known her forever. You tell her."

Blake scowled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You know how she is. We've been friends for too long. If I kick her pet out, it's going to ruin our friendship."

"Right. And how exactly is that my problem?"

I stood up, dusting off my jeans.

"If you hate looking at it, deal with it yourself. I'm not doing your dirty work. When she gets back, you can do the explaining."

I stepped into my room and shut the door right in his face.

"You bitch!"

Blake pounded on my door, his voice thick with frustration.

"I don't know why I ever settled for someone like you!"

Honestly, I didn't know why he chose me either. But looking back, I must have been completely blind to ever settle for him.

He was far closer to Sienna. He could have easily talked to her, or even called her parents. Instead, he wanted me to play the villain and take all of Sienna's heat.

Blake paced around the living room cursing under his breath for a solid thirty minutes.

But the moment the front door clicked open and Sienna walked in, he completely flipped the script. He practically tripped over himself to pour her water and offer her a shoulder massage, not daring to utter a single complaint about the tiger.

Late that night, a violent crashing sound echoed from the living room, followed by the awful screech of wooden chairs dragging across the ceramic tiles.

"What the hell was that?" Sienna asked, her voice laced with panic.

Blake whispered back, "Probably the tiger. I think I heard it growling earlier. They have crazy energy, and you didn't feed it dinner, right?"

She groaned loudly. "No! I'm starving myself on a diet, why would I care about feeding a stupid animal? Besides, if it can't handle a little hunger, it's not worthy of being my Familiar."

Right on cue, the sound of sharp claws frantically scratching the tiles echoed down the hall.

The noise made Sienna lose her mind. Hating having her sleep interrupted, she stormed into the kitchen, grabbed a heavy wooden rolling pin, and started viciously beating the cub's head.

"Shut up! All you do is eat, you useless piece of trash! Make one more sound and I'll starve you to death!"

The tiger went dead silent.

I lay in bed, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling.

Things were changing.

In my past life, Sienna babied that tiger. She hand-fed it premium meat and bottled water, even sneaking it out at midnight for walks to burn off its energy.

Now, she couldn't care less about it.

Was it because I didn't put up a fight? Since I didn't act threatened by her "taming skills," she lost interest in showing off.

Thinking back, my intense fear in the previous timeline must have fed her ego. She thought she had commanded a truly terrifying beast. In this life, my total indifference made her view the tiger as a useless prop.

Over the next few days, my theory was proven correct. She ignored the animal entirely, only occasionally trying to command it to sit or bow like a circus dog.

The cub was already on death's door. It barely had the energy to breathe, let alone obey her ridiculous commands.

Sienna kicked it hard in the ribs.

"Useless trash! You can't even follow basic instructions. You're dumber than a mutt!"

After that, she abandoned it entirely. She ignored its rotting wounds and left it to starve on the floor.

I honestly thought it would just pass away quietly. But on Sunday night, I heard a weak shuffling outside my door. The cub had regained a tiny bit of strength and was desperately trying to claw its way toward the front door.

When it saw me, its entire demeanor shifted. Its eyes were sharp. This wasn't a normal animal. It was incredibly intelligent, and it remembered everything.

I hesitated for a second, then pulled a slab of raw beef from the freezer and tossed it on the floor.

The tiger devoured it in massive, frantic bites.

When I came home from the conservation center the next evening, I brought back specialized medication and more fresh meat. The cub was absolutely crawling with parasites. I gently parted the fur on its head to reveal where Sienna had struck it. The skin was ruptured and oozing pus.

When I applied the antiseptic, it bared its teeth and let out a warning growl.

"Hold still. I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to clean this out."

The tiger studied my face for a long moment before slowly resting its chin on its paws, allowing me to work.

After treating it, I chopped the meat into small chunks and hand-fed it. It swallowed the food whole, then looked up at me with such desperate eyes that I ended up giving it the entire batch.

From that day forward, I secretly brought food home every evening.

Its condition improved dramatically. Sienna noticed it looking healthier and tried to boss it around again a few times.

But the tiger just stared at her with blank, cold eyes.

Furious, Sienna declared she was going to throw it out as soon as she found a "better" magical beast.

My plan was simply to wait until the cub was fully healed, then arrange for my wildlife rescue to confiscate it properly.

I didn't expect Sienna to suddenly show up at my workplace to ruin my life.

I was in the middle of cleaning one of the enclosures when a coworker ran over, telling me the Director needed me in the main office immediately.

When I walked in, I saw Sienna and Blake standing right by the desk.

Sienna lifted her chin, flashing me a deeply arrogant smirk.

Before I could even ask what was going on, the Director slammed his hand on the desk. "Nora, are you illegally housing a white tiger in your apartment?"

I shook my head and pointed a finger straight at Sienna.

"Absolutely not. She brought that tiger into the house."

Sienna immediately puffed up her chest. "Do you have any proof? How dare you slander me without evidence! I'm just a normal citizen, where would I even get a tiger? But you work at a zoo. You have the connections. Don't try to pin your own crimes on me!"

The Director looked at me with deep disappointment. "Nora, you've worked in conservation for years. You know white tigers are highly protected under federal law. Furthermore, they are apex predators. If that animal gets loose and kills someone, are you prepared to take the fall for it?"

I forced down the burning rage in my chest and turned to Blake. "He's my boyfriend. Ask him. He lives there. He knows she's the one keeping it."

I thought Blake would take my side. After all, he had been whining about wanting the tiger gone for weeks.

Instead, he actively avoided my gaze.

"I mean... it's probably Nora's."

"I see her feeding it every single day. The tiger even plays with her cat."

A violent tremor wrecked my body. I marched up to him and shoved him hard by the shoulders.

"Look me in the eyes and say that again, you coward!"

Blake slapped my hands away, glaring at me with aggressive hostility.

"Are you done making a scene? It's your tiger! Do you understand me?"

The Director pinched the bridge of his nose. "Nora, this is unacceptable. It's bad enough you smuggled an animal, but lying right to my face makes it so much worse."

"I am not lying!" I practically shouted.

"We have a witness right here! Are you going to keep playing dumb?"

Seeing the Director lose his temper, a few of my coworkers stepped in front of me, trying to run interference.

"Sir, Nora is the most responsible tech we have. She practically lives for the animals. There's no way she would do something this reckless."

Sienna rolled her eyes loudly.

"Of course you guys are taking her side, you're all in on it together. Her own boyfriend just confessed she's the guilty one. You all need to shut up."

She turned back to the Director, her voice dripping with fake concern. "This is a serious felony. She's a professional who knowingly broke the law to keep a deadly pet. You have to call the police and press charges!"

The Director looked at me, his voice entirely devoid of warmth. "Nora, you crossed a massive line here. You were next in line for a promotion. Now, whether you go to prison or not is out of my hands, but you are officially terminated effective immediately."

Sienna wrapped her arms tightly around Blake's bicep and gave me a sickeningly sweet pout.

"Just confess, Nora. If you turn yourself in, the judge might go easy on you."

I let out a long, exhausted sigh. "I swear to God, I didn't bring that tiger home."

"Enough, Nora. Give it up."

A slow, chilling smile spread across my face.

"Do you need me to throw the evidence right in your goddamn faces?"