a dozen people in the room, and they all turned toward them. Dutchy had to blink a few times because she realized she knew all these people. They were her friends.
“Dutch!” Amelia Grimes greeted as she dashed over. The tall bear shifter hugged her and then handed her a glass of white wine. “Glad to see you made it!”
“Me too,” Penny Walker added. “Sorry I haven’t come to see you or help out.”
“It’s fine, Penny.” Penny had been her first client when she arrived in Blackstone. “I’m sure you’ve been busy running around after a toddler.”
More people came up to her wishing her well, including her friends’ respective mates, and to her surprise, the Blackstone Dragons themselves, Matthew and Jason Lennox, and their mates.
“Sybil sends her regards,” Catherine Lennox said. She was mated to Matthew, the older of the twin dragons. “She really wanted to come and visit as soon as she heard about your accident, but she couldn’t get away from her royal duties.”
“She’ll be here in a couple months, though,” Christina said, her hand going to her stomach.
Dutchy’s eyes widened as she saw the obvious bump of the other woman’s belly. “Christina?”
Before she could answer, her mate, Jason, placed an arm around her. “Oh yeah. Finally knocked her up.” The pride and joy on his face was brighter than the sun.
Christina rolled her eyes. “We’ve known for a while now and wanted to keep it quiet. But I just popped and couldn’t hide it anymore.”
“Congratulations, guys,” she said. Despite the pang of envy in her chest, she really was happy for them.
“Our guest of honor is here!” J.D. exclaimed as she bounded over to them, Anna Victoria right behind her. “Glad to see you out and about, Dutch.”
“Here, here,” Anna Victoria added.
“Uh, thanks.” She bit her lip. “But I’m still confused. Is this some kind of party? Someone’s birthday?”
J.D. snickered. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? This party is for you.”
“For me?”
“Kinda,” Anna Victoria added. “I mean, Krieger asked us to help track down anyone who might want to come and invite them here for a get together to cheer you up.”
Blood rushed to her ears. “K-Krieger did this?” She glanced around at all the people gathered in the small room, chatting and laughing. Plus, there was a table on the corner piled with drinks and food, including pies from Rosie’s.
“Of course.” J.D. said matter-of-factly. “Who else would do this?”
“But where is he?” And why hasn’t he come up to me, a small, disappointed voice in her added.
J.D. cocked her head toward the back of the room. Sure enough, he was there, in the corner, chatting with Damon quietly.
God, how could one man look so good just standing there? He was wearing his jeans, leather jacket, and shirt combo again, though this time, he left his hair down.
Immediately, he must have sensed her gaze on him, because he looked up. Her heart leapt into her throat as their eyes met. He gave her a slight nod and took a slow sip of his beer.
J.D. nudged her with her shoulder. “So … things going well there?”
“I—”
“Excuse me,” a voice interrupted. “You’re Dutchy, right?”
“Yes?”
The blonde woman who approached her was unfamiliar, but Dutchy knew at once she was a shifter.
“I’m Darcey. Darcey Wednesday,” she introduced. “When J.D. told me where she was going tonight, I asked if I could come.”
She held her hand out. “Nice to meet you, Darcey.”
Darcey smiled weakly. “Um, I wanted to see if you’re were okay.” Her lower lip trembled as she peered down at her cast. “I-I was in the car that ran you over. It’s a long story, but a group of bad men were trying to kidnap me.”
“Oh.” She recalled Anna Victoria telling her the story. “I’m glad they didn’t hurt you.”
“Yeah, they weren’t able to get away … but I’m not glad you were hurt in the process.” Tears welled up in her eyes.
“Darcey, it’s all right. Don’t feel guilty. I’m here. I’m okay. They’re going to take off the cast soon, and to be honest, it’s more itchy than painful right now,” she said, chuckling aloud.
Darcey brushed the tears away with the back of her hands. “I’m so happy to hear that. If it weren’t for you and Krieger, I don’t think I’d b-be h-here.”
“Krieger?” For the second time that night, she was dumbfounded when hearing his name.
“Yeah, he was with Anders—that’s my mate—when they came after me,” Darcey explained. “He shifted and took down one of the guys who tried