"It's an archaic law and when it was passed, it was supposed to reduce pregnancies between unmated couples. And when that didn't work as intended, they actually made it illegal for a female to have a child without being officially mated." Thea shakes her head in disgust. "We have a lot of archaic laws. It's all so they can control who reproduces and how they reproduce."

"That's...a lot of laws."

"Tell me about it." She rolls her eyes. "I can't eat what I want. I can't wear what I want. I can't do anything I want," she huffs out, annoyed.

"What happens if someone breaks those laws?"

She pauses, her features tense.

"It depends on the offense and who commits it. Some have more leeway than others, but if a female has a child outside her mated bond, then all bets are off. It's the one thing that no one will overlook. If it's with a different species, then... I don't even want to imagine." She shudders.

"Your world sounds even worse than mine." I give her a sympathetic smile.

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg."

"Why don't you leave? Come live here? Surely you could⁠—"

"No," she states before I can even finish my sentence. "Just as there are Collectors for rogue souls, there are Trackers for us. Even if I tried to leave, they would always find me."

Ze snorts from the side.

"The Trackers are your last concern. Cerenios would never allow you to leave, Erithea."

Cer grunts an affirmative from behind.

"So you see, there's nowhere to go for me." She gives a fake laugh as she settles back in her chair, her features tense and weary.

"Why doesn't this all surprise me?" I mutter under my breath as I give Ze the side-eye. "Of course you'd come from a hyper-misogynistic society. Your rudeness should have clued me in."

"Watch your words, human," he warns in a biting tone before pausing. "What do you mean by misogynistic?"

"It means you hate women."

He frowns.

"That is false. I do not hate females. I do not care about them at all."

What? He's puzzled by the exchange, too.

"I meant your society, not you as an individual," I explain, realizing he took it quite literally.

"That is false as well. Females are revered in our society."

"Let me guess, for their wombs?" I raise a brow.

He opens his mouth then closes it.

"Yes and no," he says as he puts his forefinger up. Oh, here comes professor Ze again. "It is true that they are the mothers of our future leaders, but females can hold the same type of functions as men in our society, including warriors. In fact, despite the difference in size, females in our world can sometimes be stronger than their male counterparts. As such, your misogynistic comment is false."

He nods to himself as he finishes, clearly pleased with himself.

"Well, Thea has a different account," I shoot back.