Brent takes a deep sigh as he is walking towards Victor's office. He is always working late at night. This means he doesn't normally check whatever documents Brent sends him.

"What's this about?" Victor asks when Brent gives him the document.

"Nullifying a treaty." Brent sweats. This was probably the first time he was lying to Victor.

"Does it harm us in any way?" he asks, still looking at his work.

"No. It takes off our burden." Brent answers. Victor could sense the shiver in his voice.

"Are the parties okay with it?" Victor asks him, looking straight into his eyes.

"Yes," Brent says, not avoiding eye contact.

"Okay." Victor nods and just signs the document. "Mail it to the Elders then." He dives back into his computer screen. Brent feels a bit bad. His brother trusts him so much.

"Anything else to report?" Victor says when Brent was still standing.

"Uh, actually a lot." He takes out the map from his back pocket too. "The place where Abir and Zade went on a drive to."

"The Fairbanks. The ancestral home of the Blood Stone." Victor smirks as he recognizes it. "Finally, they are working towards her memories."

"And, Zade is Inara's mate." this is what Evelyn whispered into Brent's ears before leaving.

Victor looks at him, trying to hide his discomfort. He has been trying so hard for so many years but every time, something bounds to turn things upside down.

"How are you so sure?" Victor says, biting his lip.

"Evelyn." Brent knew that Victor considered her to be a reliable source.

"Hmm." He slips into his deep thoughts. "Well, what more can be done?" he asks Brent.

"I....I don't know..." Brent doesn't know what Victor was getting towards.

"We kill Zade, what else?" Victor says as if it was the most obvious solution to all of their problems. "The future Alpha King of a powerful pack and Inara's mate, killing two birds with one stone." He grins.

"You...you can't..." Brent stutters. "I have promised Zade's safety in exchange for that information from Evelyn." He lies.

"You have become awfully close to her, haven't you?" Victor stands up, sensing Brent's lies.

"I.....I....we....I just...threatened her..." Brent stutters.

"Or was it the other way around?" he tilts his head. His little brother reeks of the low blood and he can't do anything about it. "What else she made you do?" Victor asks with a knowing frown on his brow.

"The permission to nullify the treaty." Brent blurts out.

"Tell me brother," Victor puts a hand on his shoulder, "What does she has on you to have such an influence over your rational mind?"

Brent freezes. He could feel the hair on his body stand as Victor pulls him in a hug.

"What is it, brother?" Victor asks once more, in a softer tone which he knows breaks Brent.

"She...she is my mate... and I didn't want.... you to know...." Brent confesses, tightening the hug.

But what Victor wanted to do was rip that head off of his brother. But he gulps down the anger and pulls away from the hug, patting his head gently.

"And I am proud of you that you could let her go." He fakes a smile. "We can still kill Zade if you have already let her go."

"I.... it's a blood pact," Brent confesses again.

Victor wants to slam his head against a wall but again, controls himself. Just like a treaty, a blood pact, if broken, brings serious consequences. And this time, it becomes a lot more personal.

A blood pact is made between two individuals using their own blood. They exchange it making a sacred bond just between them. If one tries to break it, they both die a painfully slow death that cannot be cured.

Victor hugs him back, assuring him, "We will find another way." He already knows what he needs to do.

The blood pact automatically breaks when one of them dies.