After that, I got off the couch with my cup and just barely dodged O'lee's foot; she stuck out to try and trip me. I looked down at her, and she had a mischievous grin on her face, but her cheeks were also flushed purple.

"Are you trying to start a fight with me now?" I grinned down at O'lee, making her blush more, proving it wasn't the drink.

What was with this woman?

"You are supposed to hit her back if you don't like her or ignore her. That is Orc customs, but you made a saucy comment back, which is almost as bad as describing cake to me," Breya pointed out.

"We should fight. You are strong," O'lee said to me, but I wasn't in the mood to fight again; plus, I was too gassed from stopping the Holy Beholder, but I didn't want to turn her down either.

"What about an arm wrestle? We can see who is stronger in this, and another day we can fight, okay?" I asked, but O'lee gave me a strange look.

"What is this?" She asked, and I looked over at Asha.

"Scoot over. I need this corner, if you don't mind?" I asked, and Asha slid over, making Seraphina hiss.

I looked over at the Blood Angel, and she looked away, letting out the breath she was obviously about to use to complain. The Holy Beholder incident seemed to affect them, but they still had a ways to go.

Once I sat down, I put my right elbow on the table and looked over at O'lee.

"You do the same, and we hold hands like before," I explained, and Breya laughed as O'lee turned almost completely purple in embarrassment, looking away from me.

"You are joking, right? I think you should have to explain everything you do or say to me before you do any of it! You know that this thing is the first part of the mating ritual, right? You are just skipping past all the other stuff and trying to get right to the main point!" Breya laughed, and I pulled my hand back in my own embarrassment.

Why was this part of a mating ritual? It was a test strength, but I could see why someone like O'lee might like this kind of thing after the previous arm-wrestling match.

"Sorry about that, O'lee. I seem to be running around blind, but so many things are different here," I explained, and O'lee nodded, not looking at me, still a shade of purple.

I guess I would just leave her be for now. O'lee seemed to be a lot more complicated than I had first imagined.

I had assumed that the Orc woman just wanted to have her way with me and be down, but It seemed like she followed a particular code. There must be steps I would have to take in the proper order if I wanted to do anything like that.

"O'lee, do you mind if I explained your race's customs? I am familiar with all races' primary customs and Mating Rituals," Breya asked, and O'lee nodded, looking over at the Angel.

"Yes. That is good. There are steps. You tell better," O'lee explained, and Breya smiled.

"Well, to start off with, shaking hands and testing strengths is the best way to get to know an Orc. After that, you should try to get one to fight you like O'lee did. If they comment back, you challenge them to a fight if you are interested in them. If you beat them, you will have to meet with her mother, and beat her, and then her grandmother. Once that is over, you must do three tasks for her mother, and then the mother decides if you are worthy. If she approves of you, then you must complete a task for O'lee. After that, she is yours," Breya explained, and O'lee nodded along, her face losing its blush.

"This is the way," O'lee said, and I blinked.

"Do you think you could write that down? Ever thought of writing a book? I would buy that!" I smiled, but Breya shook her head with a smile.

p "That would not be something that could get published. Some of the races consider their mating rituals to be private. Vampires, Dwarfs, and Dragons are the worst, and fae and Orc are some of the most complicated. I will explain them to you sometime, but they are to be done in private," Breya explained, but Seraphina spoke up.

"How does an Angel know of our ritual?" Seraphina asked, but Asha laughed.

"You really don't know?" Asha asked, trying to keep her laughter in check, but I was curious now.

"Know what?!" Seraphina demanded.

"Asha is my daughter," Breya said plainly, and I shook my head, blinking rapidly.

"Really?!" Seraphina and I said simultaneously with similarly shocking looks spread across our faces.

"I figured that you wouldn't know, and I am not surprised that a Vampire doesn't know anything about someone else of their race. I think that Galio is good for you, Asha. You are starting to sound a bit too much like a full-blooded Vampire, and this will be good for you to learn some manners since you don't listen to me. I am sorry, Galio, for not bringing this up, but I didn't think it was my place to say anything," Breya explained, and I frowned.

"What do you mean you don't have any place? You are her mother, right?" I asked, and Breya nodded.

"Yes, but not only have I failed at that, but I also am not her Primary. I am the secondary mother and less important. As you can notice, Asha looks nothing like me, and this daughter in my egg will look nothing like you, but she will look like me. As far as I know, you will never create a child that looks like you because you do not have a Goddess, even though you are clearly human. You should have been to Primary for our daughter, but for some reason, my Goddess delivers the child to me, making me Primary," Breya explained, and I shrugged.

There was nothing wrong with that!