Avenging The Triplet Alphas
Chapter 61

Jonathan's

POV

Things were taking a turn for the worse. It's only been a month since Klaus had taken control of the pack and people were already grumbling in the streets, I couldn't blame them either, the impact of the bad leadership was being felt by everyone in general. Since our crown was taken away from us, we've been living a rather quiet life away from everyone and everything in general. We had to leave the mansion and take up residence in a house out in the middle of nowhere if you could put it like that. Our next-door neighbor was a couple of miles away and the house was pretty close to the border but it was perfectly hidden by the trees out on the highway.

Our father had tried to talk us out of running away but it was pointless, we weren't going to be of use to anyone anymore. We were neither heirs to the throne nor members of the Council of Elders, Our first thought had been to wait for an opening before we made our first strike into regaining our throne but as the weeks rolled past, we were becoming more and more convinced that our time in the pack was up.

Staying here would only be temporary, we would eventually leave the pack and go out in search of greener pastures but to honor our father, we would stay here till he was gone and then we would have nothing holding us back.

We hadn't yet decided on what we'd do with Arielle and our son, Ethan. We didn't need her anymore and we've maintained a rather cordial relationship with each other. Our son, Ethan, was growing fast even though we rarely saw him as Arielle hardly ever left her section of the house, but we didn't know if we'd want him to come with us when it was time to leave. There's nothing we could give him, except wealth and then there was the fear that he would see his fathers as losers when he learned the truth about how they lost the throne.

It was a touchy subject but soon, they would've to discuss it.

"Have you seen the news today?" Loki asked as he stormed into the room, forcing me to blink severally as I tried to come back to reality after my daydreaming was interrupted.

Jonathan who was playing the piano suddenly stopped and simultaneously we both turned our attention to Loki who was visibly fuming.

"I have little interest in the news these days, Loki." I drawled. "It's terrible enough that we've lost a lot and seeing Klaus' face would set me off, so I don't watch the news anymore."

"The same goes for me too, Loki." Elijah chirped in. "I'm with Jonathan on this one, I don't care about what happened in the pack anymore. It's not my business to do that, they've got someone to look after them now."

"I don't watch the news either but I still read the papers and guess what's on the front page?" Loki tossed Elijah and me the newspapers in his hands and I caught it midair and unrolled the paper.

"Tax has been increased to 20% and there's now a compulsory 5% tax going into the government's coffers and another 5% going into the military budget." I read out loud.

I now understood Loki's pain. This was absurd, remitting 30% of your monthly income to the government would be tantamount to a riot starting amongst the common wolves. This was sure to set a lot of people ten steps backward than they had been a year or even two years ago.

Klaus was hellbent on plunging this pack into misery and he wasn't hiding his true intentions anymore, he wanted to milk the pack dry at all cost and he was the Alpha, no one could challenge his rule except my father, and these days, he had no much power anymore. He only controlled a small part of the pack compared to Klaus who was in charge of nearly everything."

"I hope these new sanctions don't include us?" Elijah asked, his eyes still fixed on the paper in his hands as he continued to read through it. "It's bad enough that he sees us as common wolves and we have to pay tax to the government as long as we lived on our ancestor's land. I remember objecting to this idea because it made no sense but the two of you," Elijah paused to wag his finger at myself and Loki. "The two of you were so eager to accept this rule from Klaus even though it was clear he was trying to pick a fight and you caved in and now, he's imposed more sanctions on us all and I'll be waiting to see what happens with this and what your approach would be to it."

"You don't have to gloat right now, Elijah." Loki frowned.

"What else do you want me to do? I warned you both that if we accept this, we are bound to see more crazy sanctions incoming Klaus has been Alpha for only a couple of weeks and he's trying to milk everyone dry and there's nothing we can do about it." Elijah shrugged. "I'm done worrying about this pack, there's nothing left here for me or any of us for that matter. We came out here to avoid being ridiculed and I believe it's time to leave now before things get a lot worse and seeing how Klaus has started with an iron fist, it's only a matter of time."

"I know we've discussed the possibility of leaving but where are we headed to?" I asked. "We can't just up and leave, we need to have a goal and a clear plan in mind. There's a lot of loose ends we need to take care of and then we decide on where we want to go." "Are you both serious, right now?" Loki stared at us with an incredulous look on his face. "I don't want to believe that you both read the news and shrugged it off without giving it a second thought or trying to come up with a solution to help the pack." "The pack?" I laughed dryly. "The same pack that ridiculed and laughed at us from the first minute we lost the throne? The same pack that didn't mind hurling abuse at us despite everything we ever did for them, our son was even at the end of their remarks and you want me to help them now? This has to be a joke, Loki."

"There's no part of this that's a joke, Jonathan," Loki argued. "I was also at the receiving end of the abuse and I know how you feel but we can't just turn our back on them now, they need saving and someone has to do it."

"If they need saving, Klaus can easily do that for them. He's Alpha now and he controls everything in the pack, everything. We used to be in his place, we used to control everything and we worked tirelessly to build the pack but our time doing it has ended and you have to realize that there's nothing here for either of us anymore."

"As long as we remain here, we're meant to be concerned with everything going on in the pack. The people won't take this sanction lightly and the only reason we aren't in the commotion is because we stay away from everyone, I'm willing to bet that the entire pack is in chaos right now and burning if I might add."

"There's nothing you can do about it, Loki." I sighed. "The people won't listen to you and you know it. Klaus wouldn't grant you an audience unless you kiss his feet and Father is practically powerless. Everything is working against you right now and it would be better if you drop this narcissistic behavior of yours and focus on the positives like leaving this pack as soon as possible."

"I'll be frank with both of you, The sanctions are only one part of the problem and they're the least of my worries right now compared to other pressing issues that would have a longer and lasting impact on the pack if it comes to pass." Loki began. "What else could be more pressing than Klaus trying to milk the entire pack dry for his benefit and possibly for the benefit of everyone behind him," I asked, sensing the urgency in Loki's voice. It's only been a few weeks but Klaus has managed to keep everyone on their toes.

"There's been rumors about Klaus sending spies into every major pack within a thousand-mile radius to learn certain things about them. He didn't elaborate on what they were but I knew it wasn't going to be anything outside the realm of war, he wanted to know where he would strike if it came to that and while Klaus was a great warrior, he was clueless as a leader. I couldn't understand how he thought sending spies to our rivals wouldn't be noticed by them given how tight their security was after the raid of the Slytherin pack which had left them scattered all over the world, signaling the end of a great pack."

"We have to leave here before anything happens," Elijah suggested. "If we haven't had any motive to hasten our departure, we have one now. While we're a great pack with the best military personnel, there's only so much the warriors can do against a coalition of the major packs, We would be at a disadvantage and that would mean the war was already lost before it started."

"Klaus won't back down either," I chipped in. "He's always charged into every battle, no matter what the odds are and this time wouldn't be any different. He'd go running in with everything in him and the pack warriors would have no choice but to follow him into battle."

"This happened a week after his coronation as Alpha and I now understand the movement of troops I've noticed several times over the past few weeks. I didn't put any time into it because as you both have reminded me severally, the pack is no longer my concern but I can't shake off the feeling anymore."

"I would like to make a suggestion," I began. "I know how much we wanted this to work. We put in a lot of work and did unimaginable things to secure the throne but due to several errors and unforgivable mistakes that we failed to assess and completely take care of, none of our efforts came to fruition. The pack that we were fighting for and going out of our comfort zone didn't waste any time in turning against us, they didn't care about us and while I understand that we are a very traditional pack, respect is earned and not given. That singular act made me realize that everyone is dispensable to them and we're not above that either. They exalted anyone in power and once you have nothing, they see you as one of theirs, a common wolf that deserves no special treatment or respect. Klaus has been on the lookout for one of our scalps and you're going to make yourself a scapegoat if you continue this champion parade of yours. Since you've already involved yourself in this, I'd advise you to take every one of your replaceings to Father and let him take control of the rest while you focus on other things like getting the hell out of here with the rest of us. The pack is about to explode before our very eyes and I don't want to be here when it gets to that point. I've given a lot to the pack and I want to save myself first this time around and that should be what all of us should be after right now, there's nothing left here for us."