It was only after returning that Victor had realized what Ray had done for them. Although he was already planning to destroy the Blaxe family, Ray had beat him to it. He wasn't mad, honestly, it just made his job easier. And, it also gave him more time to spend with his Mark.

"Wait, Ray did that? But, he is returning today, won't Cole figure out what he had done?" Lucius' voice of worry couldn't be hidden as he widened his eyes after hearing his father's words.

Allen looked over his phone, rereading the message. "I don't know. It says here that he would stall for time and keep the Blaxe family still while we make our move." Then his eyes flickered over to Lucius, "I want to know exactly how you got kidnapped, why you were kidnapped, and what you found out while staying with Ray, Lucius. Victor, get Mark to the castle, I need to meet your boyfriend and make him do my work for me."

Victor opened his mouth, about to refute before he decided that it would be better to close his mouth. Talking with Allen was like speaking to your annoying younger sibling, who copied your words and always made it even more annoying.

"Yes, Father," Victor finally replied as he quickly finished his thoughts.

Lucius made a confused look, "Wait a minute, I was kidnapped and somehow during the time I was gone, you found a boyfriend. And it's Mark, an alpha. Weren't you making fun of me because you thought I loved him or something?"

Victor avoided Lucius' glare, "Uhm, I apologize for that?"

"Apology not accepted." Lucius snapped back. "So, Father, how are we going to proceed with this? Although Ray may be stalling for time, the Blaxe family is tricky to deal with. I won't be surprised if they already have an escape route planned out."

Allen closed his eyes for a second as he thought about his decisions. Cole was tricky to deal with, the whole Blaxe family was tricky to deal with. It must have something to do with their bloodline, seemingly, most of all Blaxe people were crazy. And to make matters worse, Raven was also working in cahoots with Cole.

Victor kept quiet as he looked at Allen who had gotten quiet. Honestly, he knew well what Allen was worried about. Raven was the big deal and probably pushing the Blaxe family to their limits. Cole also wasn't that bright, perhaps too slow even though he could be sly at times, he was also too stubborn. It was a good thing that Ray was helping them else their matter could be even stickier.

Victor could tell what was different about Raven now. He was always a very intelligent person. The moment Victor had returned, Raven had kept his actions at a minimum for fear of being discovered. He was after Mark to pull him into their side, but the moment Raven realized that Mark wasn't going to do that, he pulled away. Instead, he focused on gaining control and getting Cole to help him out. Specifically, Raven was the worst person to be against if it was just Lucius alone.

Lucius was smart but he focused on offense. Once he thought about something, he would go right into it and not think about the damages it could cause. This left many holes in his defense because he didn't think about the opponents moves. In another way, it could be said that he did not like to plan his next moves only focusing on what he was doing and going with that.

Raven was different. He knew when to push and when to pull back, he maintained both his offense and defense while planning his next moves. He thought about his opponents moves and worked to make it benefit him. But, he was going to be stumped no matter what.

Ray was a major person helping Raven with his plans, and now that Ray was helping them, Raven would be stunned and betrayed. From the beginning, Raven was able to get Ray to help him and Ray was also a major pillar for Raven. He was also the closest person to Raven and from Raven's actions so far, he might even be in love with Ray. It was a wild guess but, that would make sense since he seemed lenient with Ray. That would explain why Ray was able to find out so much in formation. Raven trusted Ray and loved him in more than a family type of love.

Victor furrowed his brows. But if that was the case, Ray's betrayal would rile Raven up even more than what they thought. Raven was crazy, a great villain but crazy. Ray betraying him would definitely make him explode. Raven would definitely punish him, torture him because of his love. Raven could kill Ray.

Victor flinched at the thought of that as he hurriedly asked, "Lucius, what were the last words Ray said to you?"

Lucius bit his lips, his eyes turning to look at his feet as he replied, "He told me that we were returning to being strangers."

Victor could only hold back his scream. Ray knew about this, he knew that Raven would never let him go for his betrayal, that's why he had left those words to Lucius. He knew from the beginning what Raven was going to do to him.

"Father, we will have to hurry with the plans and send in soldiers right away!" Victor said as he turned away from Lucius.

"Wait! Vic, why are you getting so worried?" Lucius couldn't help his own worry after seeing Victor's reaction to his words.

"They're going to kill him, Lucius. They're going to torture him because he had betrayed them. Father, please find a way to send in soldiers right away. I will get Mark to help, please begin right now." Victor said to Lucius first, his eyes held pain in them. Then he turned to Allen, his panic awaking.

Lucius took a step back, "What?" His eyes were opened wide with fear and shock, his voice shaking. "What did you say, Vic?"

Victor could only stare at Lucius in shame. "I'm sorry, little brother."

Ray dangled, cuffs around his wrist cutting into his skin as he hung from the wall. His body was covered in blood, his skins marred with cuts and bruises. His eyes were closed, his hair in a mess and his lips pale.

Then, slow footsteps entered inside the prison like room.

Ray opened his tired eyes to see Raven. He only took one look before closing his eyes again.

Raven stepped towards him, "Ray, look at me." Saying so, he reached a hand to touch Ray's cheek, raising his face up. Raven's face held pain, his eyes full of betrayal. "Why did you do this? Why did you betray me?"

Ray didn't say anything, he didn't want to speak to Raven.

"Is it because I told you that I love you? I know that we are cousins, that my love for you is wrong but what can I do when you are my everything? I love you so much, Ray. You saved me from my darkness, you gave me a reason to live when my father was poisoned to death. You are the sole reason why I want to overthrow the royal family. With them gone, you and I can be together. With him gone, you can finally love me." Raven's eyes twinkled as he held onto Ray. Madness finally surfacing within his eyes.

Ray's mouth twitched. His whole body was in pain, burning up as Raven talked. "This is wrong, Raven. Raven, I don't love you. I wanted to protect you because I saw you as a brother. Don't do this, don't let your feelings control you."

Raven froze, pausing before he began to laugh. "Haha, Ray, you think I can give up my love that easily? It's wrong, I know that all too well, but I love it. I love you so much that I could care less about what happens to the Blaxe family. I love you so much, I will destroy anything in my path for you. And when he's finally gone, you'll love me then," Raven smirked at the end of his sentence.

Ray's eyes widened at Raven's words. "Raven, don't do it! He hasn't done anything wrong and you know that. You can do whatever you want with me but not him." Ray tried to move his hands only for the chain to rattle.

"So you're willing to go this far to protect him? You know how much pain I was in when you hid him away from me when I had told you to deliver him to me. I was betrayed, but I thought that maybe you had some reasons why you disobeyed my words. I waited for you thinking that you would return and prove to me that you had never betrayed me. You return now when you have delivered him back to safety with the return of his brother, now ruining each and every one of my plans. Ray, I love you but that doesn't mean that I'll just let you go like this." Raven let down his hands, clicking his tongue in disappointment as he looked at Ray, whom had a look of devastation on.

"Come in. Remember, do what you must but I want no broken bones, and he must still be alive in the end. I've already had my revenge, I'm sure you all had felt betrayed too. I'll leave the rest to you all." At the sound of his voice, five men entered and stood behind him. Raven took a final look at Ray as he said, "Ray, I love you, I hope you know that."

Ray only watched as Raven walked away and he settled back into his mind, closing his eyes as he felt the blade of a knife run across his arm. He could flinch, he could try to escape the pain, but that would only make it worse. Plus, he wasn't a stranger to pain anymore. Even as he felt the hot iron brand itself on his skin, he only closed his eyes, no sound escaping from his mouth. It was worth it, everything he had done even if he had to suffer through this. It would hurt much less than watching Lucius' innocence get taken from him, watching as he lost everything in his life and his life.

It was worth it.

This much pain in exchange for Lucius' life, it was worth it.

"There are many guards surrounding Cole's mansion, they must have been alerted earlier on." Mark said as he looked at his phone, an image of Cole's mansion appearing.

Victor bit his lips as he heard this, his brows knitted in worry.

"Mark, lets go in first. If we wait any longer, he might not be able to survive." Victor was silent for a long minute before he suddenly said this.

Mark looked at his expression, his heart softening as he grabbed his hand softly, giving it one tight squeeze before he said, "Alright then, I'll be with you every step of the way."