Captured (Wolf in Exile Part 1): Werewolf Shifter/Vampire Paranormal Romance by Ambrielle Kirk, Amber Ella Monroe

CHAPTER ONE
    S omething shuffled and stirred nearby on the ground, rattling Thane Silex awake from his nap. Sunlight broke through the tree branches and leaves, obscuring his vision. When his eyes adjusted against the bright rays, he found the source of the noise.
    A male shifter stood near a stream just yards away from where Thane was perched in a tree. He was the same shifter Thane scented earlier on a trail that morning.
    Almost all of the inmates who inhabited the confines of Area S2’s barricades could tell when a new prisoner had arrived and, most of the time, within twenty-four hours of their arrival. The humans were usually the last to know, and their knowledge came by word of mouth or after catching sight of the newcomer. The shifters caught wind of the new arrivals almost immediately, tracking the newcomer through a unique smell they left behind while trying to find their way around what resembled a dark wilderness; a maze of valleys and dense foliage. The location within the privately owned southern Illinois wilderness was well hidden. Obscured on public maps, it was not easily accessible by the general population.
    Both shifters and humans were held at Area S2 inside the same barricades. It didn’t matter what crime they had been accused of committing. This shifter wasn’t even trying to hide his presence, and from the tracks and scents he left on the ground, he wasn’t the least bit alarmed. It was almost as if the newcomer thought he was the only one out here—or didn’t care one way or the other what was out here with him.
    Inmates who came here eventually died here. There was no set parole, halfway house to migrate to, or leniencies to be given. The sentence was life.
    True adventurers and naturists would give anything for the chance to trek the landscape and enjoy the views. But what most didn’t know when they were thrown in, was that it was a dog eat dog world out here. You had to fight for the right to live and eat.
    Thane pulled himself upright and settled his back against the tree trunk as he watched the newcomer near the stream. Now in human form, the new inmate was crouched low to the ground, cupping water in both hands and guzzling it down. Thane immediately wondered what Pack he belonged to since he appeared to be so naïve and distracted. There were no symbols or tattoos marking him, or none that Thane could see, for that matter. He was probably a city wolf. He didn’t seem to know the countryside by the way he observed the wilderness around him with disdainful uneasiness.
    The newcomer’s attention shifted from the water source to the mountains several miles ahead. Thane wasn’t surprised that the shifter seemed hell-bent on the promise of escape those mountains offered and oblivious to everything else.
    Everyone here knew that freedom lay on the other side of the mountains and the countryside. Unfortunately, what this stranger wasn’t aware of, were the multitude of traps set up along the borders for eager inmates trying to flee. To date, all attempts had been unsuccessful. Most couldn’t climb a mountain of that elevation before falling to their death or becoming exhausted, and that was if they made it past the man-made hazards first. Area S2 guards made a show of the failed attempts by putting the bodies on display near the food tent before finally taking them to the onsite crematorium.
    Something else loomed over the stranger’s head: the threat of those who inhabited Area S2 with him. Territories were marked, and if anyone laid their head on the wrong domain these days or took from a claimed food or water source, they’d better be well prepared to accept a challenge.
    The stranger was currently on Thane’s territory, but he’d give the guy a break this time. Excessive visits, however, would be dealt with. Thane couldn’t risk his primary lair being discovered. And he wasn’t looking to make friends. Thane didn’t like to meddle in affairs that didn’t concern him. He kept to