that made me want to shiver. It was that Alpha power he would have for the rest of his life because he had already proven himself worthy of the role.
Never forget, he retired willingly, Jacky. He’s just as much of an Alpha right now as he was the day you met him. He knows how to survive and come out on top.
“Oh? Would you like us to beg you for the privilege to kill you?” The leader laughed serenely. “You have fallen low, Alpha. There’s no pack to protect you here.” She waved in her companions. “Come. Let’s feed. Once he’s incapacitated, we can go kill the werecats, and these mountains will be ours.”
Heath didn’t move, letting the vampires approach him. They continued to come closer and closer, confident he was alone. I knew if they came too close, they would finally see me. My dark hideaway would only work for so long.
“I have something better than a pack,” Heath finally whispered as the leader was only five feet from him. “Jabari, now!”
I jumped out, knowing the order was also for me. I landed behind Heath, snarling viciously. The leader jumped back a step, her eyes wide as I heard the thump of Jabari landing in the mouth of the cave. The younger looking woman screamed, jumping toward her leader.
“It’s a trap! They tricked us!” she screamed. The younger man’s mouth dropped open, and I saw he had no tongue. That was why he never spoke.
“Kill them!” the leader shrieked. “Kill them now!”
I roared in time with Jabari, causing small chunks of the ceiling and walls to crumble off from the echoing vibration.
We were done playing hide-and-seek.
23
Chapter Twenty-Three
I leapt forward as Heath jumped to the side to get out of my way. My target was the leader who reached for Heath, so she couldn’t get away. I slammed into the leader, who screamed as my fangs met their mark in her upper arm. With a yank, I heard bones break and dislocated her arm. While she screamed, I shook my head viciously, trying to tear the limb off. Something slammed into my head, causing black spots to appear in my vision. I let go of her and felt someone kick me in the side, and nails ran across my hide. I swiped at the second attacker, scoring flesh and earning a scream in return.
“Jacky! Above!” Heath yelled.
I looked up as best I could and saw the leader had climbed up onto the ceiling, hissing. I jumped aside as she fell for me, trying to get on my back. She couldn’t make a grab, and I spun, putting my back end to the wall, so I could see them all in front of me.
Toward the mouth of the cavern, Jabari was snapping and snarling as he tangled with the older man and the young woman. That left me with the leading female and the mute, both enraged and staring directly at me. That was good. It meant Heath could back off and stay safe while we worked on the vampires, weakening them to run or capture.
And if I killed one or two in the process, no one was going to be mad.
I snarled, my hackles rising as I lowered my head. I didn’t wait for them to make the first move, pouncing forward. They both dodged, and I spun around to meet them again. The mute tried to grab for me, and I slammed my body into the wall, shaking him off. The leader slashed her wicked nails at my left flank. Since I wasn’t a horse, kicking backward wasn’t a very effective move. I tried to snap back at her, but she jumped away, hissing.
Before I could go after her again, arms wrapped around my neck. I snarled, shaking, and trying to get them off as they began to squeeze. I had no idea how Jabari was doing or where Heath was. The arms grew tighter, and my head began to spin. Where I had been hit began to throb painfully.
Then they relaxed as something screamed. I jerked away and found the mute with a silver knife in his back, trying to grab it. Silver wasn’t special to killing vampires; sunlight and fire were best. Draining them completely only put them to sleep until someone gave them blood.
But a knife still fucking hurt, and I could see Heath reaching for it to go for another attack. The mute noticed him, but I wasn’t able to intervene before the leader attacked,