Page 18 of Ivy and the Deathstalkers

I nod my head.

“I have a mate. Holy shit. I have a mate,” he rambles until everything slides in place. “Oh my god. I have amate. I’m gonna be sick!” He lunges for my trash can and heaves until nothing else will come out. When he finally puts it down, Jax hands him a napkin and DJ holds out a bottle of water. He wipes his mouth and slowly sips the water before collapsing in Jax’s vacated seat.

“You ok, man?” Jax squats next to him, grimacing. I know he feels responsible for the pain Neo’s going through right now. But it’s not his fault. No one could have known.

“No. No, I’m not ok,” he stammers, shaking his head. “I just cheated on my fucking mate. What kind of piece of shit does that? I’ll never be able to look at her without knowing how royally I fucked up. She deserves better than me. Hell, she already has all of you. She doesn’t need me. I’ll just… I’ll just let you guys have her. I know you’ll take care of her.”

“Neo. Stop talking shit. You’re not walking away from your mate before you even meet her,” DJ says.

“Yeah. And you didn’t cheat on her. You don’t even know her. And you sure didn’t know you had a mate when you hooked up with that sweetbutt,” I assure him.

“That’s just a technicality. I still fucked a slut when my mate is out there.”

“Yeah, well, she’salwaysbeen out there, dumbass. Why do you think I never hooked up with anyone before? You never cared before. In fact, you told me countless times that it wouldn’t be cheating if I haven’t met my mate yet. You haven’t met her yet. So by your own logic, you couldn’t have cheated on her,” Cree says.

“Yeah, if that were the case, we’ve all cheated on her. Except Cree, of course,” Jax agrees. “I think it can only count as cheating after you’ve met and started the bond. If I would have gone with Vixen,thatwould have been cheating. But I couldn’t stomach even thethoughtof another woman thanks to the mate bond.”

“Besides, don’t you think it should be up to her if you’re good enough for her?” Beck adds, raising a good point.

“Yeah. Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it. First, we have to convince her to give us all a chance and come to the clubhouse,” I say.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s ride!” Neo says. Seems our pep talk helped. I hope it sticks. He didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t want him beating himself up over it.

“Let’s go get our girl!” I agree.

Chapter 13

Ivy

That really just happened! How I managed to get away from a deathstalker scorpion shifter is beyond me. What’s worse, he appears to be my mate. If that's not bad enough, apparently my toxic nature doesn’t affect him. Scratch that, it has no negative affect on him. Unless you count giving him a hard-on the size of a baseball bat as a negative.

I never wanted a mate because of my toxic nature. After all this time, I thought it wasn’t in the cards for me. That if I ever found my mate, to be with him, would kill him. It seems I could be wrong.

Having no clue what to do I head for my safe haven once I park my bike in the garage. I spend the next hour petting and feeding my pets. They always soothe me and make me feel better. Sadly, today it doesn't help. Not even Kelly can get my mind off of tonight’s events.

Losing Stanley was enough to piss me off. But the whole mate situation is pissing me off even more. Just the fact that I can’t get his stupid rugged face out of my mind is driving me crazy. I don’t want to think about him. Or his broad chest and the wayhe held me as he ravaged my mouth. I’ve never had anyone kiss me like that before. Of course, normally when I’m with a guy I’m just trying to get a quick O before I kill them. But still. It keeps replaying in my head on repeat. The way he looked at me. The way he didn’t back down even when I told him it would kill him if he touched me.

Fuck. Now my panties are wet.Again.

Once all my pets are fed, I head into the house. Going straight for the kitchen, I pull out a frozen lasagna and throw it in the oven then head for my bedroom and take a long, hot shower.

As the water cascades around me, I can't help but think of the tall, muscular biker that fate deemed my mate. His eyes, his touch, they all stir something in me.

Standing under the hot spray, I find myself working my clit. I close my eyes and fantasize about him. How his touch felt, and how it would feel right now. How his rough fingers would feel working my clit instead of my own.

My orgasm slams into me faster than ever before and my knees almost buckle. I shoot a hand out to the wall before I can faceplant.

Fuuuck.

If I come that hard just thinking about my mate, imagine what it would be like if I ever gave into the bond.

Once I've come down from the high, I dry myself off and throw on my satin robe before making my way to the kitchen to retrieve my dinner from the oven. I let it cool on the island while I pour myself a glass of wine. It may take half the bottle to fill it, but it still counts as just one glass.

My mind whirls as I eat on autopilot. How did my venom not kill him? That's never happened before. Is it possible the fates made my mate immune to my venom? Could I be so lucky?

I can't help but wonder if I made a mistake running from him. Fate can be a fickle bitch, and I just went against her. I rinse my wine glass and my fork before I throw my trash away.

As I walk to my office, I vow to stop thinking about my mate and what that might mean for me and concentrate on finding Stanley. If the fates want us together, they’ll make it happen. But my priority is finding the fucker that killed my parents. If I find my mate along the way I’ll deal with it then.

---