Page 15 of Ivy and the Deathstalkers

Kiss her.

“She's not justyourmate,” I lamely explain.

Jax lunges for me, wrapping his hand around my throat. “Impossible,” he snarls. “You only getonemate. And Iamher mate. You’re trying to tell me she has another? It’s unheard of.”

Arching a brow and looking pointedly at his hand around my throat, preventing me from answering his questions, I shrug a single shoulder.

He slowly loosens his grip and I clear my throat.

“Afraid not, bro. I know for a fact she has another mate.”

He drops his hand and stares at me. I see the moment it clicks. I know becauseI’mher mate.

Like Beck, I was expecting an explosive reaction, but for the first time since I’ve known him, Jackson is frozen in place. I hate that I don’t know what’s going through his head. Jax is always scariest when he’s still and silent. It’s kind of freaking me out.

“How do you know?” DJ demands.

“I felt it as soon as I saw her on the video feed. Something inside me just clicked. She’s my mate. There’s no doubt.”

“She’s mine too,” Beck adds.

“Is that possible? King?” our VP turns to the Prez and KC gets that faraway look he gets when he’s thinking about something his dad told him. “King?”

KC shakes his head, snapping out of his memories.

“I remember…” he murmurs before typing away on his laptop. His fingers fly across the keys and his eyes light up when he finds what he’s looking for.

“What are the fucking odds? Hell, how did I not know?” he mutters to himself.

“Prez?” Beck asks.

“I was going through my dad’s shit forever ago. I don’t know if I’ll ever have time to read everything he left. But I remember he had pages and pages of documents dedicated to mates. I finally finished digitizing everything, so I searched the database and I found the page I was looking for. Most of our parents were different species, so we already know a female can conceive with a male from a different species. And we know any time a deathstalker mates, their offspring will always be deathstalkers. But we’ve never considered what would happen if a male and female deathstalker were to reproduce. Together”

“Well, deathstalkers were…arevery rare, so I can’t imagine two even in the same place outside of our club,” DJ says.

King scrolls down the page, reading his father’s notes quickly.

“Jax? You said she had venom in her kiss?” He looks at our previously frozen brother.

Jax blinks then nods before dropping into his chair. “Yeah. That’s what she said. She was certain it was going to kill me. Hell, she probably thinks I’m dead right now.”

“I should have put it together earlier,” King mumbles to himself.

“Put what together, K?” Beck asks.

“She’s a deathstalker matriarch. It explains everything.”

“Well, I’m glad you think so. I’m still completely confused,” DJ huffs. “What the fuck is a deathstalker matriarch and how does that explain the venom or the possible multiple mates?”

“Matriarchs are what happens when two deathstalkers produce a female offspring. She’s like a deathstalker on steroids. She has our venom, except it’s not confined to her stinger in her shifted form. It flows through all of her bodily fluids in herhumanform. Blood. Saliva.Sweat. Everything about her is deadly. To everyone except for us,” he explains.

“So that’s why it didn’t affect me like she expected? I’m immune to it because the same venom runs through me,” Jax surmises.

“Precisely. And your perfect match, everything about her is an aphrodisiac to you.”

“What about the multiple mates thing?” Jax asks. “I’ve never heard of any shifter having more than one fated. I mean, sure, a female can take as many males as she wants, but only one would be chosen by fate. This girl is mine byfate, not choice. Though, I’d choose her in a heartbeat.”

“Unlike everyone else, Matriarchs can only mate with their own species. Since they physically can’t mate with anyone outside of their species, they’re often blessed with more than one mate,” King rationalizes. And I have to admit it makes sense.

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