Werewolves Rule (The Rule Series) by K. C. Blake Page A

slipped down Vanessa’s cheek, but she continued to smile.
    He went on.   “I’m not good at making speeches.   In fact this is my first one… and hopefully my last.   I wish I could find the words to describe how I’m feeling right now, how grateful I am to all of you.    
    “The vampires I hung with didn’t remember their birthdays, so I learned how to let mine pass without notice.   My friends wanted me to forget special days just like they wanted me to forget about my family, forget I was ever human, and for a while I kind of did.   Now I stand before you a changed man.”
    He grinned and added, “I’m finally legal.”
    Thunderous applause erupted in the small room even though there were only four people clapping.   Vanessa hugged him.   Andrew thumped him on the back the way his father used to do sometimes.   Silver kissed him on the cheek.   A secret smile in her eyes told him she was remembering their earlier kiss.   Him too.   She went to help her mother cut the cake.
    “Welcome home, Jack,” Billy said.
    Jack nodded.   “Thank you.”  
    Vanessa handed him a small box.   “I don’t know where this one came from.   It was on the table with the other presents.   There’s no card.”
    “Maybe you shouldn’t open that until we check it out,” Andrew said, but it was too late.
    Jack had already flipped the lid off.   He gazed into the small box.   A white card rested inside a pile of tissue.   That was it.   He opened the card and read the message.   It was from Jersey.   The words chilled Jack down to the marrow in his bones.
    “What is it?” Silver asked.   She took the card from him and read it aloud.   “Happy Birthday, Jack.   I hope you like my little surprise.   Jersey.”
    “Surprise?”   Billy scowled.   “What the hell does that mean?”
    Andrew said, “He’s up to no good obviously, but what else is new?   You’ll need to be on your guard, Jack.”
    Worried, Vanessa stroked Jack’s arm as she suggested, “Maybe you should stay downstairs in the mansion for a while.”
    Jack shook his head, pretending he wasn’t concerned.   “Knowing Jersey, he’s sending me a new book.   He just likes to shock people and make them nervous.”
    “Maybe.”   Billy rubbed his jaw.   “Maybe not.   It might be a good idea, you staying in the mansion.”
    “You should both stay,” Vanessa said.   “If he can’t get to Jack, he could decide his brother is the next best thing.”
    Silver stood so close to Jack that he could feel her breath on his cheek.   Her anxious eyes were on his face, urging him to listen to her mother.   She pleaded, “Do it.   Stay in the mansion.”
    “Until when?”   Jack threw his hands up in the air.   “Until Jersey’s surprise is revealed?   Or until we catch him and kill him?   No offense, but I don’t want to live in your basement for the next ten years, even if has over thirty bedrooms.   I kind of like looking out windows from time to time.   And anyway, the mansion used to belong to Jersey.   If he really wanted to, he could probably get back inside without being seen.”
    Andrew said, “He’s got a point.”
    “I don’t know.”   Vanessa put a hand on Jack’s back.   “It’s so dangerous for you out there right now.   I wish there was something we could do to make you safer.”
    He smiled at her, and a warm feeling spread over his flesh.   She reminded him so much of his mom.   The way she looked at him made him feel extra vulnerable.   He tried to shake the feeling.   “I’m a big boy.   I can take care of myself.”
    Billy looped an arm around his neck.   “Fortunately you don’t have to.   You’ve got me.”
    He pushed Billy away, feeling a wave of nausea wash over him.   He raced from the room and straight into the bathroom where he was violently sick.   After he stopped puking he felt a lot better.   He hoped Vanessa wouldn’t try to force a piece of birthday cake down his