12. KC

Chapter 12

KC

A matriarch. I honestly thought they were a myth. A fairytale my dad made up when I was little. I never thought I'd ever meet one. Let alone that she would be my mate.

How lucky could I be to get to share a mate with my brothers?

Fuck. I can't wait to meet her.

"You know where she is?" I ask Cree.

"We do." He smiles.

"Then let's go get our mate."

Jax and DJ jump up, eager to get to our mate until Cree asks what should be a simple question but makes my blood turn to ice.

"Where the hell is Neo?"

"Oh, fuck ." Jax gasps, voicing my thoughts.

Cree and Beck look around, not having any clue what we're all internally freaking out about.

I open my mouth to explain what happened when the door opens. Five heads snap to see Neo saunter into the office. I'm sure he's still on an orgasm high that's about to crash and burn once we tell him the news.

He shuts the door and furrows his brows as he looks around the room. "What's going on? Was Jax seen? Ya'll look like something terrible happened."

"It's about to," Jax mutters.

"Where'd you get off to?" Beck asks.

"Vixen came by wanting a ride on Jax. Since he found his mate, I took one for the team and let her ride me instead." He smirks.

Beck and Cree both look at me with wide eyes and I slowly nod my head. Yeah. That's what we were freaking out about.

"What's that look for? What the fuck's going on?" Neo demands, looking between the five of us.

"Neo… Maybe you should sit down," Beck helpfully suggests.

"Why the fuck should I sit down? What's going on?"

"We have news. About Jax's mate," I say.

"Already? That's great! You know where she is?" He turns to Cree who side-eyes me and slowly nods his head. "Then let's go get her! What are we standing around for?"

"Well… It turns out she's a deathstalker matriarch," I start to explain.

"Ok? What the fuck is that and why does that matter? I don't care what she is. She's Jax's mate, she belongs here."

"A matriarch is the female offspring of an all deathstalker union. They're extremely rare and incredibly special. They're made to mate solely with deathstalkers."

"Ok… That's all interesting and shit, but can't we have the biology lesson after we get her?"

"They also tend to have multiple mates."

"Damn. That sucks, Brother," he directs at Jax. "You gotta share your mate? Fuck that noise."

Soft chuckles fill the room and I glare at Beck. He has the decency to look contrite and bites his lips together to keep from making anymore noises.

"Yeah. I thought the same thing at first. But I've gotten used to the idea. At least I know her other mates aren't complete douche bags," Jax says.

"You know her other mates? Damn, Cree, you really can find out anything, can't you?"

Cree looks at me and I raise a brow in challenge. He glares at me before finally responding. "Of course, I can. But we know who her other mates are because they're in this room."

Neo's eyes widen to saucers as he looks around. The expression on each of our faces confirms what Cree says is true.

"All five of you?" he gasps.

"Six," I correct and wait for it to click.

"Six?" His eyes shift from one person to the other repeatedly. Not sure what he's looking for, but he doesn't find it. "You're saying I'm her mate?"

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 a mate . 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's always been 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, that would have been cheating. But I couldn't stomach even the thought of 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.