Who is Lord Raith from Blood Rites and what is their importance?

Lord Raith is the father of Thomas and Lara Raith and the leader of the White Court vampires. Lord Raith killed Harry's mother when she gave birth to him, but she was able to put a death curse on Raith before she died. It did not kill Raith but made him so he could not feed. Lord Raith has slowly been weakening since her death curse was set but no one has realized and so he has been able to keep his seat. When Lord Raith admits to not caring about any of his family and using their affection for each other to his own gain, Lara Raith takes over and explains that she will allow Raith to continue to look like he is in charge while she runs things as punishment.