Why do cats get 9 lives?

With the tiger distracted and losing blood, it became an easy task for Rudyard to get a lunge in and sink his fangs into the tiger’s soft underbelly. Romulus was a little surprised at the choice of target; he probably would’ve gone for the throat or femoral artery. Rudy, it seemed, wanted a painful death for the large feline. The silver-slate wolf frowned. He didn’t exactly approve of the slower method of killing, but who was he to criticize a member of the Vanguard? The tiger rose once more, blood pouring from its lacerated belly, but it hadn’t been disemboweled yet and was very much still alive, but very much in agony.

Roman caught glimpse of Rudy’s nod to him to occupy the tiger’s attention one more time. He was hesitant, afraid that doing so would just allow the Carpathian to continue to toy with their opponent, but the alternative was to do nothing and sentence the tiger to a slow, agonizing death. So Roman nodded back and whistled, catching the tiger’s attention once more. He zipped in directly for the feline, looking as if he were going to charge it head-on—and then at the last second feigning the attack and dodging to the side, deftly avoiding a swipe of the dying tiger’s claws. He maneuvered the tiger around like this while it struggled to remain standing, unsure what sort of opening Rudy was looking for, but trusting the fellow lupine to seize it when he saw it.

"Romulus Armada"