** Donovan POV **
Donovan looked over the pack's financial account, frowning. Some of the numbers were not adding up. He was sure he had left enough money to cover expenses while he was gone, but based on the withdrawals on the account, he was short. This wasn't the first time this had happened, but it seemed like it was occurring more frequently.
"Marcus," Donovan said to his beta. "Who went over the accounts this month?"
"We haven't had a chance to," Marcus replied. "Victoria…um… was going through them before we left to answer the King's summons."
Donovan glanced at the Captain when Marcus said her name. She didn't stir or even acknowledge the name.
'Our mate is ignoring us,' Nolan stated. 'Sabelina won't tell me what is bothering them.'
'I'm not concerned about that,' Donovan replied. 'I have enough problems to deal with at the moment.'
'Our concern is our mate,' Nolan reminded him. 'We need her more than she needs us. May I remind you that if we don't join on the first full moon, we will become impotent.'
'I know that,' Donovan growled. 'The Captain-'
'Keira,' Nolan interrupted. 'Her name is Keira. She told us to call her by her name. At this point, I'm wondering if you even care about her.'
'I care enough,' was Donovan's reply.
Nolan was not happy with that answer. He mentally struck him. Donovan growled at him.
'You better start caring more than just enough,' Nolan said before retreating from his mind.
**
As night came, Donovan kept glancing at the Captain…er Keira. She hadn't moved since they left the gas station that morning. Marcus had mentioned Victoria's name more than once, and she didn't even react. It was as if she were either really ignoring them or she just didn't care. He didn't know what was worse.
Nolan was mad at him and wasn't speaking to him either. But he had other things he needed to worry about. Donovan had been in contact with the bank all day, and they were able to tell him that there had been enough money in the account, but every time a withdrawal was made, it was as if the same amount was duplicated and taken out twice.
The news was obviously concerning.
Someone had hacked into the account without his knowledge and was now stealing money from him. The bank representative had assured him that only someone with access to the account would be able to set up something like this. They even asked him if he wanted to close the account, but he decided against it; he didn't want to alert whoever had hacked his account to know. He needed to come up with a plan.
"Why don't we ask the Luna?" Marcus recommended. "Being the former Captain of the Task Force, she should have an idea of what to do."
"Captain," Donovan said. No answer.
"Captain," he tried again.
Still no answer.
'She's doing it on purpose,' Donovan thought.
'Call her by her name,' Marcus suggested. 'I'm sure that will get her attention.'
"Keira," Donovan said. "Do you have a moment?"
Donovan watched her. She slowly turned her head toward him and stared at him.
"Yes?" she asked.
"I want to show you something," he said, scooting closer to her.
Keira leaned toward him.
"You see this," he said, pointing to the account.
She nodded.
"Someone hacked it," Donovan said, being as vague as possible. "I want to know who did it or where all of this is going."
'Someone hacked your pack's finances?' Keira asked through their shared mind link. 'How is that possible?'
'I don't know,' he replied. 'The bank said that this person has access to my account, and they set up a program to withdraw a duplicate amount every time money is taken out.'
"I'll take care of it," Keira said out loud.
Keira grabbed her bag and took some devices out of it. Donovan watched her as she started plugging things in and began typing. He watched her for several minutes.
"All done," she said, unplugging her devices and handing him back the laptop.
'I won't tell you what I did, but next time money gets withdrawn, I'll be able to trace it, and the perpetrator will find a nasty surprise.'
"Thanks," he said, taking the laptop from her.
"Alpha, should we stop here for the night?" Simon asked.
"No," Keira said, speaking up. "We should keep going."
'We don't want a repeat from last night,' she reminded him.
"Switch drivers," Donovan ordered. "We'll keep driving."
"Yes, Alpha," he replied.
Simon relayed the message to the other drivers. The vans stopped for a few minutes before they moved on.
'We shouldn't stop unless we have to,' Keira continued. 'We have to assume we are being tracked.'
"Luna," Marcus said. "There are a few things we need to go over before we get to our territory."
"Marcus," Keira said very seriously. "I'm not your Luna. I'm asking you not to call me that, and I don't think there is anything we need to discuss."
Donovan could feel how awkward Marcus was feeling. Everyone else in the van was also beginning to feel on edge. Keira wasn't just saying those words; she meant them.
'Look at what you did,' Nolan growled.
"Captain," Marcus said, clearing his throat. "You are my Luna. You are bonded with Alpha Donovan, and I must show the proper respect and call you Luna."
"Is that so?" she asked in the same tone of voice.
Keira turned to look at Donovan.
"Am I your Luna?" she asked.
'Yes,' answered Nolan immediately.
Donovan, on the other hand, gave her a quick look before looking away.
How was he supposed to answer that? To his wolf and everyone else who was concerned, they were bonded. By that right alone, it meant that Keira was his Luna. But he didn't want to accept it. She was his Luna in name only, nothing more. But he couldn't say that out loud; it would cause a lot of tension within his pack if he did.
"Yes," Donovan said, answering slowly. "Being bonded makes you the pack's Luna."
'Only in name, huh?' Keira asked privately. 'I'm just being used to make your pack happy, is that it?'
Donovan didn't answer. She wasn't wrong.
'Leave her alone,' he said to Marcus when Keira decided to go back to looking out the window. 'Right now, just focus on making sure that the rest of the pack is being taken care of.'
The tension in the van was still high when Donovan noticed everyone beginning to fall asleep. Since they weren't stopping, they had to get comfortable where they could. He told the driver not to turn on the heater since he wanted to reduce the amount of heat they were emitting. He wasn't 100% sure what type of equipment the rogues had, and he didn't want to chance it in case they had thermal equipment.
Instead of sleeping, he decided to keep on working. There was a lot on his mind. He had received an email from the King earlier that day; he wanted to confirm that Victoria had been removed from the pack and that Keira was taking over her responsibilities.
Donovan had a difficult time replying to that email. Victoria hadn't been removed, and Keira was not taking over any responsibilities. The King had not been happy and had threatened to stop all financial assistance and all payments to his pack. Donovan did have funds set aside for emergencies, but he wouldn't have enough to keep the pack running.
His pack's livelihood matters to him greatly, and if he had to put his personal feelings aside, so be it. He didn't want to cause his pack any more grief than they were already going through.
When he received the promotion to General, they were moved to another area closer to the King's territory. He had set up appointments and had gotten permits for housing developments, but things hadn't gone as he had expected. The houses weren't ready, there was no security in place, and above all, his financial account was hacked.
Regardless of his personal feelings toward Keira, he was to make sure his pack was taken care of. He needed to speak to Keira before they got home. Donovan sent a quick email to Julius, his omega, and gave him new instructions to move Victoria out of the main pack house and to get paperwork ready for Keira. Several hours later, Donovan shut his laptop and went to get some shut-eye.
When he woke, he was on the floor. He looked around in confusion.
'How did I end up here?' he wondered.
He stood and went to sit down, but stood right up when he felt something there. Donovan let his vision adjust and saw Keira lying on the seat, stretched out.
"We will be stopping soon," Bain said from the front seat. "Captain Luna gave us some new coordinates and alternate routes to avoid any further tracking."
Donovan nodded and sat in the only space available on the seat, in front of Keira's abdomen. He grabbed his laptop and went to work. His emails were piling up. While everyone still slept, Donovan sent replies to several contractors waiting for payment. Now that he knew about his hacked account, he had to find a way to pay the contractors without alerting the hacker.
Although he wouldn't be able to pay all the bills that were due, he prioritized the ones that he needed to get his pack territory up and running. Since they moved to a new area with his promotion, there was a lot of work to be done, and it was up to him to get it done. There wasn't anyone besides Marcus that he trusted to run pack affairs.