Cash [Pyrate's Treasure 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Cooper McKenzie

Author:Cooper McKenzie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Published: 2012-09-06T16:00:00+00:00

* * * *

During the funeral the next morning, Zoe stood at Cash’s side and fought to keep her own tears at bay. She had met Edward Pyrate several times over the years when he had come to meetings of the Alphas with Luka. She remembered Edward as a wise, soft-spoken, gentle man who had loved his family and pack above all else.

The sadness of the Pyrate family and the pack members pressed hard on her brain, resulting in a dull headache. This was why she normally stayed away from funerals and other places where emotions ran high and intense. While she could block a few people most of the time, gatherings like this one broke through her shields and overwhelmed her.

When they had come downstairs an hour before, Cash had introduced her to the rest of his cousins, as well as Goldie and Emerald’s mates, but Diamond had been absent from the breakfast table, and no one had seen her since the previous evening. Luka had been there, looking as if he had barely slept the night before.

Glancing at the crowd gathered around Edward’s casket in the Pyrate family’s front room, she still did not see the young woman who was in several pictures in Cash’s room.

As the final hymn began, Cash’s hand tightened around hers until she was afraid her bones might break under the pressure. He had kept a hand on her in one way or another since they had come downstairs. Though she could feel it, the depth of his grief was muted, as if he were trying to shield her from his emotions. She squeezed his hand in return. He took a deep breath and sighed, and the nearly painful hold on her hand eased.

Glancing toward the head of the casket, she met Luka’s eyes. He looked troubled, and not just because he was saying good-bye to an old friend. Something was going on between the king and his mate…or rather not going on, Zoe suspected to be truer.

Had Diamond denied his claim that they were mates? Or was she hiding from the most powerful shape-shifter alive for reasons only she knew? Why would she do that? As mates, they were destined to be together for the rest of their lives.

Once the service ended, Zoe gently pulled her hand from Cash’s and followed the pack members and other guests outside, giving the family time to say their final good-byes in private. A few minutes later Cash, Silver, Luka, and three other men appeared in the doorway carrying Edward’s simple wooden casket between them.

Earlier she had learned that Edward’s body would now be taken by boat to the mainland. After cremation, his ashes would be returned to Pyrate Island in a few days, and during the next full moon, the six cousins would scatter them over the pack lands. It was a family tradition that went back as far as Pyrates had lived on the island.

After the casket passed through the crowd, Zoe followed Goldie and the other female cousins as they fell into line behind it.

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