Drinking Problems
Xander’s POV
The silence that followed after was deafening to say the least, and I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt about that. Judging from the fact that I had just blurted out a fragile piece of information, despite knowing the consequences, I kind of saw it coming. If I was being honest, I was tired and fed up with keeping it all to myself.
It was torture, keeping the one thing I wanted literally everyone to know. I had been searching for my mate for years. At one point, I even gave up, and now that I had found her, I had to keep quiet about it. Why? I did it because of Kieran.
Kieran. A tiny pinch made its way to my heart. Even since Kieran left, the vital organ had been cracking bit by bit and it made me wonder just how much more damage it could take.
She had made me promise her that I wasn’t going to tell a soul, and yet, I had just blurted it out to Sabrina, and probably my mother, if she was anywhere near here that is.
I snapped out of my thoughts, before staring at the woman in front of me. For a moment there, I had totally forgotten that she was still standing there. Right now, she was rooted to her spot, and if I hadn’t dropped a bomb on her, I would have easily come to the conclusion that she was frozen or under some sort of spell.
Honestly, I hadn’t even realized I’d blurted the words out until they’d slipped past my lips. If I needed any other proof, Sabrina’s shocked expression was there to remind me that I had in fact said it out loud.
Shit.
“Sabrina.” I called out to her. The silence was unnerving and I didn’t like it.
“Sabrina?” I called her name again.
A few seconds passed again in silence, and I did not get any response. As seconds slowly grew into minutes, a sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. I wasn’t even exactly sure why.
“Sabrina?” I called out again, slowly this time. Maybe she hadn’t heard me the last time.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
The response that followed was not one I saw coming. A loud string of laughter slipped past her lips. My face scrunched up in nothing but confusion as she cackled, her body vibrating with laughter. She wheezed and wheezed, so hard I caught sight of tears glistening in her eyes. By the time her laughter had subsided a bit, I could swear I made out tears cascading down her cheeks.
“Sabrina, wh-” I started to question her weirdness but she cut me off.
“Oh my goddess, Xander.” She said in between giggles and the fact that I didn’t find anything funny put a frown on my face.
“You’re hilarious, have I told you that?” she said and I almost groaned out loud.
“No.” I mouthed.
“No you haven’t, and I see no reason why you should. Did I say something funny?” I asked her, my face emotionless.
“Of course.” She beamed.
“Didn’t you hear yourself? You said Kieran is your mate. Ha, she wishes.” she said.
“It’s not a wish, because it’s true.” I let out slowly. Maybe that way, she would finally get what I was saying.
“Kieran is my mate. Why is that so hard to believe?” I said, my face showing how serious I was.
“You’re joking, right?” All signs and traces of laughter disappeared from her face immediately.
“What are you talking about? Just please stop joking. I don’t like this one” she said.
“Do I look like I’m joking?” I asked, wondering if there was anything I might have said that could have hinted or pointed her in that direction.
“It’s not possible.” Sabrina deadpanned.
“This is impossible. How can she be your mate? Of all the wolves, how is it her? You probably made a mistake. Or perhaps, she put a spell on you to think like that. I wouldn’t put it past her to do something like that. It’s just up her alley and…” she kept on rambling.
“Stop it, Sabrina.” I cut her off immediately.
“Just stop it.’ I ordered..
“Xander…” she trailed off.
“You know what?” I cut her off again with a groan. Rather than stand here and watch her display all shades of nonsense, I had other important things to attend to.
“I’m tired of listening to you and tired of your silly antics. So if you’ll excuse me.” I said, before turning around sharply.
“Xander, wait!” I did the opposite of what she asked.
Before Sabrina could get any more words out, I pushed open the door to my study, before slamming it shut and right in her face too.
“Xander!” Her muffled voice slid past the little holes in the door. Coupled by her maniac screams, the woman on the other side pounded her hands hard against my door.
“Xander, open up. You can’t be serious. Xander!” she called out and I rolled my eyes in response.
I tuned her out, but even that felt impossible as I stalked to my desk. In the little time it took me to get to my desk, Sabrina had knocked over a million times. It was a gross exaggeration, but it was also the perfect way to describe just how crazy she was driving me by hitting the door excessively.
Sabrina’s failed way of getting my attention went on for a couple more minutes, before silence followed. Only after the sound of her footsteps receding reached my ears did I relax.
She was gone, probably to go tell my mother or something. Either way, I was going to deal with both of them later.
A couple of minutes passed before I fished out my phone from my pocket. Without giving it so much as a second thought, I dialed the first number that came to mind.
“Hey.” For the first time in forever, he picked up on the first ring.
“What’s up?” he asked and I sighed.
“I need your help, Oliver.” I blurted out the words immediately. “I really really really need your help.”
“And here I thought you were calling to check up on me.” I pictured the scowl that was most likely currently on my best friend’s face.
“Is this really why you called? And is this any way to speak to your best friend whom you haven’t spoken to in a while?” he teased.
“I’m not in the mood for all of this, Oliver.” I groaned. Anger tinged my voice and if there was anyone to recognize things like that, it was Oliver.
“Yikes.” He whistled lowly.
“What’s wrong? What’s gotten up your pants? I can literally feel the heat from your anger all the way from here.” he noted.
“Sabrina knows Kieran is my mate.” There was no need to hide it from the dude.
“I just told her,” I said.
“Didn’t you tell me Kieran didn’t want anyone knowing?” Oliver asked and I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. Yes, yes she did.
“What did she say when she found out?” he asked again.
“Actually, she doesn’t know yet.” I said. “She’s kinda missing too.”
“What?!” He exclaimed. “What do you mean by that?”
“You heard me.” I wasn’t proud of myself for letting her go, but there was nothing I could do now. If I could turn back the hands of time, I swear I would.
“I have no idea what to do, man. This is why I need your help.”
“Meet me at our favorite bar in an hour’s time.” Oliver stated. “We’re going to need some drinks.”
“Sure.” The moment the line went dead, I swiped my keys from my desk, before dashing out of the house.
……
“Now Xander.” Oliver started, after showing up thirty minutes later than our agreed time.
“I need you to tell me everything all over again. From the beginning” he said and I sighed, before explaining everything that happened from the drama with my mom to suddenly not seeing her again.
“So bottom line, Kieran’s missing.” I had lost count of the number of times I’d said that, but if I really wanted Oliver to help me find her, then it was just a small price to pay.
“And Sabrina knows we’re mates.” I explained again.
“Wow. That’s… a lot” He blinked, before gently sipping on his glass. “I was hoping something would have changed before you got here.” he said and I almost face palmed.
“Well it hasn’t.’ I shrugged. “So what are we going to do now?”
“We’ll figure something out,” he said and I nodded.
“Does Kieran have a spot she goes to often? Maybe somewhere you both share or something?” he asked and I thought about it before answering.
“No.” I frowned. The only place I’d taken Kieran to was that picnic spot and we’d bumped into each other at the castle. Neither of those places sounded like where Kieran would have gone. If she had been at the palace, someone would have definitely told me.
“None that I know of.” I added.This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.
“Shit.”
“I do know she works.” I chipped in. “She works at a salon…”
“Perfect.” Oliver cut me off. “Do you know where it is?” He asked and I groaned.
“No. If I did, I wouldn’t be stressing here” My frown deepened and Oliver clapped his hands in defeat.
“I know Sabrina helped her get the job, but I have no idea where. I doubt Sabrina would want to tell me.” I said, my disappointment obvious.
“It’s okay.” Oliver shook his head.
“We’ll figure something out and we’ll definitely find Kieran. Just leave it to me. With the little we’ve gathered, I’m sure we can at least get a head start and get started. The others will fall into place. Hopefully.” he assured me and I sighed again.
I needed to find Kieran. A thought popped up in my head. The annual ball was coming, and call me selfish or whatever, but I really wanted to attend the ball with her.
Deep down, I made a promise to myself. I was going to find her, even if it cost me my last breath.