Stolen Innocence

Epilogue

Ten months later

Kayden sat on his knees in front of Indigo's grave, tracing his hand over the clear plaque with white writing on it.

Here lies Indigo
A wonderful lover and amazing friend
Free from those who have scarred him forever

Kayden couldn't believe it had been a full year since Indigo had died. He still felt like he'd just met the shifter yesterday, even though he'd been absent from his life for twelve months now.

He'd never had a best friend in his adulthood before Indigo, and even though they weren't friends long, his death still hung over Kayden's head.

"I can't believe you've been gone for a year," Kayden murmured, touching the blue and purple peony that had grown over his grave. "I miss you, Indigo. I haven't really found a new friend like you, but I think there's a chance for me to get a new friend. Apparently Greyson and Elijah have a third part to their soulmate bond and he was brought here last night after getting really drunk at a bar. I still wake up really early so it's kind of difficult to know when he'll be up, but I hope it's soon.

"I've been wearing colored contacts lately and everyone talked about it and decided I'd pretend to be human so I don't scare him more than he already will be. I mean, I remember how hard it was to take in when I first learned about demons, and Greyson and Elijah are crazy possessive on their own, let alone when there's two of them."

Kayden sat back on his butt, watching the sun rise in the distance. It made the petals of Indigo's peony bloom and brought a smile to Kayden's face.

He stood up and went inside, going into the kitchen and grabbing a bag of blood from his small fridge in the pantry. Pouring it into a cup, Kayden made quick work of drinking it in case Elijah and Greyson's soulmate saw him.

As Kayden was washing out his cup, he heard yelling and then footsteps pounding down the hallway where Greyson and Elijah resided. He rushed down to see what was going on and collided with a boy that looked to be about a year older than him.

He stayed composed as he sat up, looking at the boy who was grabbing his forehead.

"Your head must be throbbing," he said, holding out his hand and helping the boy, who he had been told was named Levi, stand up. "My name is Kayden, and I'm the only other human in this place."

"H-Human?" Levi asked, stepping away from Kayden. "What do you mean by that?"

Kayden smiled and grabbed his hand. "Don't worry, they'll explain soon," he said, skipping toward the huge kitchen and pulling Levi behind him. "I'll get you some pain relief pills. I'd usually be at work but Simon made me take the day off because I've been going all week and you can only fuck on a desk so many times before you need a day off."

Levi walked toward the back door. "I don't need any pills, thanks," he said, grabbing the handle. "I'm going to leave."

Kayden's face changed into a concerned expression. "We live in the middle of the woods, Levi. It's not safe to walk home from here," he said.

Kayden could tell that Levi was more creeped out that he knew his name, and Kayden mentally cursed himself for letting it slip and scaring the other boy.

"I'll figure it out." Levi said, backing away.

"Don't-" Kayden didn't get a chance to finish before Levi bolted out the door.

He watched boy run and immediately grabbed his phone, dialing Greyson's number and telling him to get home from work.

As soon as Kayden hung up with Levi, he went to the door to the dungeon where Roman still resided and locked it, hiding the key beneath a loose floorboard in the hallway to his room.

Levi would never know the fate that had befallen him.

No human ever would.