Braden hesitated. “Your back?”
“My back,” he confirmed, turning enough to show his cousin the scars. “This was youth and stupidity. I’m lucky to be alive after taking on that group of rogues. I’d have been dog food if Rave hadn’t shown up when he did.”
“Fine, but can I at least have more porn flicks?”
“Hang on. I’ll grab my favorite five. I kept those for myself.” He grinned widely. “I don’t need them anymore. I have a mate.”
“Fuck you,” Braden muttered. “No need to rub it in. I can smell how hot she is and it’s torture. I swear I’m going to find a girlfriend before next year so I don’t have to go through this heat alone ever again.”
“You’re too immature to mate.”
“I said a girlfriend, not a mate. I don’t want one of those until I at least try to have a long-term relationship first.”
Brand snorted. “Good luck finding a real girlfriend. The women you spend time with are into screwing almost every guy in our pack and all the surrounding ones. They aren’t settle-down types if you want to try your hand at a monogamous relationship. In other words, that stunt you pulled playing stripper wrecked your chances of any serious woman giving you the time of day. You mocked the system by fucking those three women at that party. No one is going to forget that any time soon.”
“They were hot and depressed. I just wanted to cheer them up.”
“They were promised to mate guys from other packs but you still had sex with them. You’re lucky it didn’t get you killed.”
“Yeah but it was really fun and I was right. I could totally handle three women at once.” Braden grinned. “And they weren’t mated yet. I thought they might enjoy a last fling. I saved them money by providing my body to them at that send-off party. I can dance and strip at the same time. Did you know some guys actually charge money to do that shit? I totally want that job.”
“And that’s why you’re single. It was wrong, Braden. Their families made those alliances, yet you put them at risk. Never touch a woman promised to someone else. You screwed three of them in the same night.”
“I did.” He grinned, holding up three fingers. “You’re just a little jealous that I could have that kind of stamina.”
“Wrong. You’re missing the damn point. You shamed the entire family.”
Braden’s cheerful expression changed to one of seriousness. “I get it. My bad but that wasn’t my intent. They weren’t happy when their parents made those agreements. They didn’t love those guys and they wanted to rebel a little. They needed to have a little fun and I gave them an outlet to do both. Would you have preferred they spent that night crying and being miserable? You’re judging something you don’t understand.”
A hint of pain glimmering in his cousin’s gaze surprised Brand. “Talk to me without the usual act you put on for everyone then. What did happen that night besides you fucking them, if it wasn’t you just being irresponsible?”
“I knew those girls. They were my friends. They got a raw deal so I showed up at Carmen’s house to wish them luck with their new lives. It was just the three of them having a pity party. You can’t imagine how much ice cream depressed chicks can put away.”
“Ice cream?” Brand hadn’t expected that.
“They’d been crying, empty ice cream cartons were all over the coffee table and it broke my heart, man. You should be allowed to mate someone you love, not because your parents were lured by money. That’s what it boiled down to. Carmen’s old man sold her to the Carlton Pack for a new truck because they’re short on women there. Tina and Mandy were traded to the Bolt Pack because they promised their parents a vacation home near a lake and welcome access to the territory. Someone thought it would be cool to mate their twin sons to a set of twin girls. How fucked is that? They had no say in the matter.”
“It isn’t right but they could have gone to Uncle Elroy and asked him to stop those matings if the girls were dead-set against it.”
“My mom ruled on the decisions concerning the girls.” Braden looked disgusted. “She made it clear their lives would be hell if they stayed and made waves. She didn’t want them around in case I or my brothers took an interest in them. They were from poor families, not good enough for her precious boys. I love my mother but she’s the ultimate bitch. We wanted to get even and have fun at the same time. Mission accomplished. Tell me that any family considering trading their daughters for profit won’t think about what happened that night and worry about a repeat. We sent a message that no one will forget. It’s not acceptable to force matings and there should be consequences when it happens. I brought shame to my family and they did the same to theirs, which was deserved. That was the damn point, Brand.”