49| Grimes and secrets

Grimes' POV

"That's the letter she is holding,” Greyson said.
I sat beside Andrea, trying to confirm if truly it was the letter I was looking for. It was. The message on the back was “For Alpha Grimes”.
“Mother.” I called her.
She was pretending not to have seen me standing beside her, and had her eyes completely fixed on the letter.
“The letter you are holding is meant for me, can you give it to me?”
She passed it to me. “Yeah, you can have it.”
Her coming was supposed to bring joy, but it had turned out differently with the topic of Claudia as a priority to her.
“Thank you.”
I opened it, but found out that it was unreadable. The letters were covered in stains, and I just couldn't make sense of anything.
“You cleared off the letters.” I tried not to show an expression by keeping a blank face.
“Do you have to accuse me?” She kept a frowning face at me.
Confusion had taken over the day. Confusion from her coming. We had skipped greetings that were supposed to follow with her coming. Claudia had taken that space, and then the letter that was meant for me to read had not given us another chance.
“I found it on the floor, and you blame it on me?” She beat her chest, her voice going loud to call attention from the workers around.
The anger that was brewing in me went off in an instant. “I'm sorry.”
I had to say that. Greyson left us alone, and I simply gave up on knowing the content of the letter.
“I'm so sorry,” I said once more.
“It's okay.”
“I love you.”
It's been long since I said that to her, forgetting about the situation Claudia had caused might actually be ideal for us to interact as mother and son.
“You told me you've found your mate.”
I was surprised at first. She had just brought up a topic that I felt I needed to avoid for a while.
“Concerning my mate.... Yes.”
“Where is she from?”
My eyes were starting to get heavy, and what I needed was a good sleep.
“Hmm...”
“Greymoon.... The Greymoon pack.”
“It's not that distant, but why is she not here with you?”
That was a question I did not want to answer, but why would I keep things a secret from my mother?
“Slight misunderstanding.”
“With your mate?”
There wasn't a better way of telling her the issue at hand unless I decided to keep some certain information to myself. But.... There was no information I could keep because I had no idea of the cause of misunderstanding. I had not offended Leah in any way.
What if I told her that? That was insane, there was no meaning in telling her that I knew nothing about my mate.
“You aren't saying anything!”
“She was here today!” I quickly announced to clear up the first part I said about misunderstanding.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn't you make her wait a while for me to come?”
“I wasn't informed of your coming.”
She acknowledged her wrong act with a facial expression.
What if I was being too slow in taking action? Leah can't bear staying far from me, but I hadn't pushed things into motion.
I was far behind. I needed to take real action, and she would have to accept me!
“Tell me her name.”
“Leah.”
“I would like to see her before I leave.”
I would have asked her to stay, but I thought of the weird and crazy relationship she just formed with Claudia. It might turn into something else, I thought.
“You didn't answer my question,” she said.
“And what is it?”
“The misunderstanding you said you are having with her.”
How was I going to take her mind away from it?
“It's not important.”
“When does misunderstanding between mates become of less importance?”
There was no way I was going to tell her the full detail of what had transpired so far, but what if she later hears about it? What if Claudia decides to spill it to her?
“I will let you keep your crazy secret.”
“Maybe—“ The word escaped my mouth.
“Maybe what?”
“Nothing.” I rested my head on my thighs.
It was strange that sleep had taken over my eyes despite the long sleep I had in the afternoon.
“Tell me about Leah.”
The only thing I knew about her was the fact that she was the heir to Maggie, and her look, but saying just description would not make any sense to her. I had to try.
“Her hair is of a bright golden color, and it makes me feel that finding her is the same as finding wealth.”
“Hmmm.... It sounds good to my ears.”
When I raised my head up, I realized Claudia was just standing, looking at us with that same look she had at the time I had told her I found a mate. It was as though something was taken from her.
The two cups of tea she was holding dropped to the ground, splashing all over us.
“Sorry!” She rushed to clean up the tea that had splashed on Andrea.
Andrea was surprised, and couldn't tell what had caused it, but I had a perfect understanding.
“Sorry!” She was picking up the broken glasses that were close to Andrea.
I started laughing, surprising Andrea even more.
“Grimes! What's funny about what just happened?”
“Sorry,” I said, but my face was still smiling.
The feeling of disappointment that had come from having sex with Claudia finally died. Everything had turned into a game, and I had scored some points.
“You are acting strange.” Andrea shook her head.
The darkness made it hard for her to see my face. She would have felt she was dreaming.
“Claudia.” She held her hand softly. “Grimes has a lot of secrets.”
What was she trying to do?
Claudia braced herself up. She was definitely up to no good.
“You want me to tell you some secrets about Grimes?”
“Yes.... He's hiding so many things I feel I should know.”
“Something like?”
“Tell me about his mate, Leah.”
I really wanted to drag Claudia from her presence.