Chapter 11

After the meeting, Titan went into his office while feeling regret for his words and actions. He intended to disregard the issue, but when he sat down and got to work, he looked up and noticed the agreement Stephanie had signed.

He grabbed it, leaning against the plush leather of his swivel chair, as he read the terms she had written and studied her signature. His eyes gradually wider as he recognized his folly, and his chest began to feel constricted.

Stephanie wasn't to blame. So, why was he yelling at her like she was to blame for the ruckus in the first place?

When he realized his mistake, he was rushing out in frantic as he started searching for Stephanie and walked every nook and corner of the company offices, including the toilet rooms. He was hoping he could find her nearby.

"Stephanie, where are you?" he whispered to himself.

Upon giving up taking another step, Titan pulled out his phone in his pocket and dialed Stephanie's number. However, she didn't answer it. He called the second time. There was still no answer.

So, he decided not to continue searching for Stephanie even though his impatience started to boil him up once again. But then, he stopped when his phone rang just as he turned to head for the entrance.

As soon as he saw Stephanie's name on his screen, his stomach began to twist, and he quickly pressed the button to answer.

The voice, though, wasn't Stephanie. It came from a different female.

His heart felt tight all of a sudden. "Who's this?" he said in a cold baritone.

"Hi. My name is Christine. I'm Stephanie's friend," she said on the other end of the line, which sounded panicky, almost screaming while stuttering.

When he heard Stephanie's screaming with several men in the background, his eyes widened. "What's going on?" he sputtered. His face flushed in a second as he ran toward the elevator, heading to the underground parking lot.

"You've got to come here, Stephanie's in danger!" Christine screamed.

"What?" Titan paused as he collected himself, though his chest was throbbing loudly that he could hear his beating heart. "Where are you located? Don't worry, I'm coming."

Titan hung up the phone and sprinted to the elevator. He frantically punched the basement button as soon as he got inside. The instant he heard the bell, his fears became more intense, and he began to feel his body trembling in fear of what might happen to Stephanie.

He saw his arrival as he looked up and ran.

Then, as soon as he hopped in his car and turned on the ignition, Titan stepped on the pedal and turned on the ignition. He drove aggressively nearly drifting it, in a haste to save Stephanie — his intern. The loud screeches rang across the underground parking lot as he did so.

Even if he wasn't sure why he felt the need to save Stephanie, he felt was the right thing for him to do. After all, he was the one who caused the problem. So, it was logical for him to help her since it was he and not Stephanie who should bear full responsibility.

He contacted the police and the emergency services while he was driving before dialing Stephanie's number once more. He couldn't help but feel a different kind of anger when he heard the two women shouting in the background.

If only cats could make the cars fly... He thought.

Titan was aware that Stephanie had left because of him. She wouldn't have been there and in danger if he hadn't screamed and terrified the hell out of her. She wouldn't have had to leave his sight if he had better managed his rage.

Look what has happened now.

He slapped his steering wheel as he clucked and exhaled a loud exasperated sigh while rubbing his face with his hand. His eyes turned bloodshot, and his face turned scarlet the nearer he was to Stephanie's location.

He kept going until he reached the spot Christine had mentioned during the call. And it didn't take long for him to see what was happening.

Stephanie, all by herself, punched and kicked the men in self-defense. She wasn't that far from Christine and was surrounded by perverts, who appeared to be thugs, as he came near them while wearing his coat and ties.

Despite appearing so intoxicated, Stephanie attempted to fight skillfully for both herself and Christine, who had been injured earlier and had fallen to the ground.

In Titan's mind, she won't ever fight the three men by herself. For him, she was still a woman, though she may have some kind of martial arts training. At this point, it was clear to him that she needed his help. It was now or never.

So, Titan wanted to run in Stephanie's direction when all of a sudden, he felt unpleasant and feverish. Fuck, that wasn't the emotion he required right then. There was no reason why it ought to arrive. He couldn't change into a cat since he had to save Stephanie. Not now.

Titan could be seen racing in their direction as Christine lifted her face. She observed Titan's body gleaming brightly with brightness resembling a sunset. Then, there were thunderstorms and tremendous rain, which attracted everyone's attention.

When Stephanie twisted her head to face Titan in cat shape, she screamed. When she noticed the cat running in her direction, her eyes grew wide in fear. "Sir Titan, why are you here?" she asked in a loud tone.

Titan was running fast with its dilated eyes and was ready to attack.

As she watched the cat lunge for the men and scratch them off with its claws, her eyes widened in concern for the safety of her boss. The cat was hissing and growling as it landed on the ground while wagging its tail, preparing for another attack.

When Titan's razor-sharp claws touched their moist skin, each guy screamed incoherently. The man's skin was so tender from the rainfall that the cat's assaults left severe wounds.

There were blood splatters visible everywhere, soaking the clothing, and Titan's fur was stained. But that didn't stop the cat from attacking here and there, leaving the men in chaos and panicking. The cat was quick before they could even land a punch or a kick.

Consequently, Titan infuriated the three males, who were hurt and in deep pain. They pulled themselves together, dragging themselves toward the cat. So, they hurried and seized Titan, holding both of its front limbs, leaving the cat dangling, screaming, growling, and hissing at the top of its lungs in rage.

While the two men grabbed the cat, Titan growled and continued to kick his other limbs in the air in defense. He continued to bite the men's skin as he was dangling in an effort to free himself. The men screamed in agony as Titan's teeth dug into their skin.

"You fucking cat —" One of them screamed and was about to beat the cat. But then, another man interrupted, tapping his colleague's arm and beckoning him to move.

"Step aside. This should do the trick," the man exclaimed as he took the gun out of his pocket and pressed the hammer, and pointed the gun at the cat. "Goodbye, kitty-kitty," he exclaimed with a chuckle.

Just as when he was about to shoot, Stephanie's eyes widened in fear for Titan's safety. No, please don't shoot my cat. She thought.

As the man pulled the trigger, it didn't take long for Stephanie to jump onto Titan and grasp him despite her worries for her life. She may have reservations about her boss, but she couldn't stand watching the cat in danger.

Christine was screaming in the background. "No, Steph, no!"

Stephanie lunged at the two men and grabbed Titan from their hands. While she hugged the cat, she grinned as she stared it in the eyes. "Meow..." When she heard Titan's voice, she smiled, thinking he will be alright.

In a second, Stephanie felt a gunshot hit her in the back. Her eyes widened in shock before she flicked her head down and grinned while looking into Titan's eyes despite the stinging pain.

As she moved herself down to release the cat from her grasp, she let out a groan and fell to the ground unconscious.

The three males fled in fear of being apprehended after being startled. "Let's go!" one of them screamed and ran, while the other two followed behind him.

Christine was screaming while she was pulling herself and dragging her leg with the remaining energy that she has, to reach for her bag in frantic. When she has it in hand, she took her phone out and dialed for emergency support.

When she heard the dispatcher from the other end of the line, she tried to calm herself down and explain the situation properly. "My friend was shot... yes, she's unconscious" she paused because of hiccups and was stuttering from utter shock, "Oh, my God. Stephanie. Please, hang on."

With the injured leg she received from the men who beat her up earlier, she attempted to crawl again, pulling herself closer to Stephanie's unconscious body after explaining the situation to the operator.

She placed her palm on Stephanie's back and observed blood that had been thinned by rain trickling from her hand. Her hands were trembling, and her whole body was shuddering. "Oh, my God, Steph. Oh, my God!"

Titan kept on walking around her, rubbing himself and wagging its tail against Stephanie's face. "Meow... meow... meow..." The cat kept on screaming over and over again, hoping for Stephanie's attention, though its fur was soaked with rain.

Despite the cat's efforts, Stephanie remained still.

As he walked around her and rubbed himself against her body again, Titan's moans grew louder. Yet, there was no response.

When Christine reached out to check Stephanie's vital signs and made sure she was breathing, she was sobbing and on her knees. She was agitated and desperately attempting to refrain from touching her best friend's lifeless body.

She wailed and wailed until her eyes locked on the cat while convincing herself that Stephanie was alright. She should be okay. She can't lose her best friend.

The rain continued pouring like cats and dogs, and the alley, where they were, was dark and silent. But that didn't affect the cat's determination to wake her up.

This time, Titan sounded more frantic before he began to circle Stephanie and put his paws on practically every part of her body, including her head, face, and shoulder. "Meeooooooow!"

As a cat shelter owner herself, watching the cat screaming like that made her chest feel tight and her gut twist.

Christine was sobbing when she observed the action. She believed the cat would continue to make an effort to awaken Stephanie. And he won't seem to stop doing that over and over again.

With the cat's loudest cry, his sunset-colored eyes suddenly started to light so brightly that she could see the cat's tears running down its cheek. Titan's fur was raised and glowed as the light was oozing from his eyes, which made Christine wonder and suddenly recall the Padparadscha stone — a rare type of sapphire known for its mystic effects.

Titan's dilated eyes were covered with golden tears. As the shining gold teardrop hit Stephanie in the face, she noticed that, as soon as it touched her skin, her friend's body was also glowing, radiating light as it kept shining.

Stephanie's body grew brighter as time went by that it lit up the whole street. It was that bright that Christine winced and had to cover her eyes with her arm.

Curious, she moved her arm enough for her to see what was happening. The area around the wound on her back glowered brighter than the rest of her body as if the light was repairing Stephanie's fatal injury.

As the cat's cries were slowly weakening its body, Christine grabbed and cradled him in her arms while she stared at Stephanie just before Titan was ready to pass out.

When the cat closed its eyes and pressed itself on her skin, the light from his eyes and Stephanie's body was gone. And it was dark all over the place once again.

Wondering what caused Stephanie's skin to shine like that, she placed her palm on Stephanie's face. Her eyes widened when she saw her fingers were covered in gold dust. "What is this?"

Before she could even react and organize her thoughts, the loud sirens coming from the emergency medical services team made her flinch. She turned around and saw the lights from the vehicles coming in her direction.

The crew members almost jumped off the ambulance when they arrived. One of the crew members took the cat from Christine for protection, wiping the blood stains on its fur with a towel, while the others helped her get up from the ground.

Before she could step into the ambulance, she turned her head and saw the other team carrying Stephanie, who was in a considerably worse situation. She was carefully placed on a stretcher and given first aid before being transported to the other vehicle.

While driving to the nearby hospital, Christine's attention was drawn to the cat in the corner when the staff member locked the door and began to question her.

However, she found herself staring at the light above her. She was unable to stop remembering how the young man, someone like Titan Sandoval, who she knew was Stephanie's boss, leaped and changed into a cat right before her eyes.

But when a flick of the finger roused her from her trance, it brought her attention to the emergency team's inquiries regarding what had transpired. She turned her head to look at the paramedic.

"Are you feeling okay? Is there any pain you're feeling right now?" the woman in uniform with her gloves on, asked in a clear and loud tone while wrapping Christine's arms in cables and tapes and monitoring her condition on the screen.

"Yes, I'm okay. But how about my friend?" Christine asked in frantic, fearing losing her best friend, while she was losing consciousness herself. "Where's Stephanie... and... the... cat?" she asked in a slurred manner.

"Your friend is with the other team, and she's fine. The cat's here with my colleague," she paused and gestured in Titan's direction.

When Christine saw the cat safe, she closed her eyes and sighed.

"You see? The cat's fine, too. So, you don't have to worry about anything but yourself, alright?"

"The cat... the cat should be with her."

"Okay. What's his name?"

It was too late for Christine to respond as she was passing out. So, she wasn't able to answer the question as her eyes were now closed.

The woman observed Christine silently while furrowing her brows in puzzlement. She turned to face the coworker who was assisting her while holding the cat. She noticed the cat was wearing its collar. "Can you raise the cat a little bit? It seems the cat has a name."

Her colleague raised her arms higher with the cat on her arms. "Can you see it?"

"Yeah, it has a metal plate with an engraved name on it." With her eyebrow knitted, the woman pulled herself closer to read the engraved letters written on the metal plate. "His name is Titan."