Chapter 17

Selena’s POV

“Cullen!” I yelled as I pushed the bathroom door wide open without thinking.

The steam hit me first, then the sound of water dripping, and then—oh sweet moon goddess—Cullen’s naked ass wiggling in front of me.

I froze. He was literally shaking his ass, like some idiot dancing in the shower.

“What the heck, Selena!” Cullen shouted, spinning around and grabbing for a towel way too late. His hand flew down to cover his… you know.

“Oh my god!” I slapped my palms to my eyes, nearly dropping my phone in the process. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to—oh god, oh god, my eyes are burning—”

Cullen groaned, his voice sharp. “Why the hell are you barging in here? I could’ve been—”

“I know, I know!” I waved one hand around blindly while still covering my face. “But this is serious, Cullen. Look!” I shoved my phone out in his direction, peeking through my fingers just enough to point the screen at him. “Please, I need your help!”

He muttered something under his breath, probably cursing me, but I heard the shuffle of him stepping closer. “That does not look good.”

“It definitely doesn’t look good!” I screamed back at him. Because my chest was very tight, and I was panicking. 

“Give me five minutes,” Cullen said, and his voice was sounding way too calm. 

“Five minutes is such a long time right now, Cullen.” I snapped. “Nia doesn’t have five minutes.” 

He sighed loudly. “Fine. Two.”

I quickly turned around and I walked out of the bathroom. I did it fast enough, before my brain could start replaying what I had witnessed in there, and how sexy he looked. I started pacing back and forth inside the room. From one end to the other. My hands were shaking as I held my phone. The image of Nia and Jasmine fighting was still inside my head. 

One thing I knew for sure was that Nia could not stand Jasmine. She was already throwing punches with her and I knew she would not last long. 

My stomach twisted. My best friend was in trouble, and here I was wasting time walking in on a naked werewolf boy shaking his ass.

The bathroom door was finally opened and Cullen came out. A towel was hanging very low on his hips. I could swear that it was too dangerous. 

I took a pause for just half a second. Damn. He was very well built. Water was dripping down his sexy body, his hair was wet and messy in a very careless way. One that made him look like he had just come out of a drama series. 

But the reality hit me hard. Nia. 

I spun around quickly, covering my face with my hand again. “Put on some clothes, for crying out loud!”

He chuckled. Silly boy. 

“You barged in on me, remember?”

“Clothes, Cullen!”

“Fine, fine. Don’t die on me.”

It didn’t take long before he came back fully dressed, his damp shirt clinging to him. We didn’t waste another second—we ran.

We finally got to the training room and everyone was making so much noise. It was in complete chaos. I could already hear their voices before I even saw them with my eyes. People were making a lot of mocking comments, and laughing. 

I pushed my way past the crowd with Cullen walking behind me. 

And when I saw it.

My breath caught. 

Nia was on the floor. Jasmine straddled her like a predator, raining punches down mercilessly.

Punch!

Punch!!

Punch!!!

Nia’s head snapped to the side, blood smeared across her lip, her body limp under Jasmine’s weight.

“NO!” I screamed, running forward.

But Cullen was faster. 

He rushed into the middle very fast. I didn’t even know when he passed me. His eyes were glowing with anger and he pulled Jasmine off of Nia. He held the back of her shirt, and yanked her off like she did not have any weight. And he threw her aside. She landed on the floor, and a small cry escaped her lips. Her lipstick smudged a little by the side of her mouth, and that was more important to her than Nia’s life. 

I bent down beside Nia and I held her in my arms. My hands were shaking badly as I held her face. Tears were pouring out of my eyes, making my vision blur. I cleaned it off several times but it would not stop. “Nia! Please wake up! Please don’t do this to me, not yet please. Don’t leave me Nia.” I cried as I was shaking her softly. My heart was pounding loudly in my chest that I thought it was going to burst out. “Come on Nia, please you’re stronger than this. Open your eyes.” 

But Nia was not still moving. She was still breathing though. I could see her chest rising and falling but it was very faint. Just that her body was lifeless. 

I looked up at Jasmine with my teary eyes. Anger was pushing me hard and my wolf was clawing at me to come out, but I didn’t let it. 

Jasmine was not even remorseful about what she did. There was no guilt, no fear. She just pulled out her small mirror from her bag, in a very calm way and she fixed her lipstick that was messed up. She did it like she had not just beaten someone to a pulp. 

“What have you done?” My voice was cracking as I shouted at her. My tears were blurring my eyes. “What did I ever do to you? Why won’t you just leave me and the people that I care about alone??” 

Jasmine snapped her lipstick shut and smirked, her eyes gleaming with something dark.

“Oh, Selena,” she said sweetly, tilting her head like she pitied me. “You really don’t know why I hate you so much, do you?”

The room went pin-drop silent. Even her little squad, the ones who had been laughing and recording, looked at her in shock.

I froze, my chest tight, my mind racing.

“What do you mean?” I whispered, my voice shaking.

Jasmine smirked wider, her red lips curling like a knife. “Guess it’s time you found out.”