Free Fighting For Their Mate by Vella Day

strange that at least one of the customers wouldn’t try to stop you from picking up my carcass, putting it in your car, and driving away? Or that the cops will take hours to arrive at a crime scene?” Canada wasn’t that remote.
    “It’s all we’ve got.”
    “I know we’re in the middle of nowhere, but someone would call for an ambulance. Surely, they’d be there in twenty minutes or less. And secondly, how can you explain cleaning up a scene with people coming and going into the store? You’d have to convince this Statler guy that you killed all of the onlookers so they wouldn’t say anything.”
    Their shoulders slumped. “You’re absolutely right,” Tyson said. “We’ve never had to do something like this before.”
    Strangely, that endeared them to her. She snapped her fingers. “I got it. What if you say I asked you to stop by the side of the road so I could pee? Instead of staying on the same side, I rushed into the road to flag a car for help and was hit?”
    They stared at each other. “I like it,” Ford said. “But if this really happened, wouldn’t the driver call his insurance company or the police?”
    Bailey pictured what might happen. “Either he stops or he doesn’t. If it’s a hit and run, good. If he acts responsibly, you could say he freaked out. He told you that if he got one more infraction on his license, he’d lose his job. You could tell him that I ran in front of his truck, and that it wasn’t his fault. So he takes off.”
    “We may just have to keep you around.” Ford smiled, and it was as if she’d been sucker punched by his beauty. Or was she so tired and scared that anything friendly looked good right now?
    “Could work,” Tyson added.
    It still seemed a bit far-fetched, but if she wanted to be safe, they had to come up with something. “What do you want from me once I play the sacrificial lamb?” They weren’t just going to let her walk out of there. They believed she was their destiny.
    “You can either lie low here while we try to save your sister, or we can put you on a plane home.”
    Home? The idea sounded too wonderful. She searched their faces for deceit, but found none. She mentally pictured herself buying a ticket and stepping on that plane, and immediately recognized her dilemma. “I don’t have an ID. Or any money. My credit cards are still in my backpack.”
    They looked at each other. “Brad and Tom wouldn’t leave evidence behind. I bet they stashed it or trashed it. If we could be sure our calls wouldn’t be monitored, we’d contact someone to check with the hotel in North Carolina.”
    Even if she had a license and her dad wired her money for the plane ticket, she couldn’t leave Tatum. “That’s okay. I won’t leave without my sister, but I won’t lay low either. I need to help.” They just stared at each other. She was a bit creeped out by them always doing that. “Ah, guys?”
    They shifted their gaze to her. “Yes?”
    “What’s with all the staring matches?” Tyson pressed his lips together and Ford shifted in the chair. “Tell me. Please. I’m your mate, remember?” At this point, she’d say anything to find out more.
    “We can communicate telepathically,” Tyson said.
    Now she laughed. “Like ESP?” She’d definitely been transported to an alternate reality.
    “Yes.”
    “Prove it.” That might have been stupid to challenge them again, but her world was spinning out of control right now. Werewolves? Mates? ESP? She almost felt like asking them what year it was and who was President just to be sure she hadn’t traveled to another time or dimension.
    The men faced each other with Ford’s back angled toward her. He held up three fingers behind his back. “Tyson can’t see my fingers, can he?” Ford glanced at her.
    “No.”
    “Ty, tell her how many fingers I’m holding up.”
    “Three.”
    They’d probably done this a hundred times at parties. She had a better idea. “Do you have anything I can write