Cole felt strangely comfortable. It seemed that everyone else in the Pack was on edge. The lockdown was making people nervous. The only other person that seemed just fine with the situation was Albert, and that was because he didn't know any better. 

He knew that it was probably a bit strange to be fine with it. Technically, he was in danger. There were intruders within the walls of the Pack Mansion. The Reapers, they were called. And Mazka was still alive.

But he wasn't afraid. Cole had been in danger before, but the weight of his gun on his hip was like a shield. He trusted himself. He had to, after everything. Though he had to admit that there was a part of him that was worried about Lionel. The guy was still injured, yet had run off to talk to the Alpha. And there was Kaia, too. Mazka had been out to kill her. It was because of who she was, which didn't seem like an all-together convincing reason to justify killing someone. 

Cole remembered the feeling of Mazka in his head, though, controlling his body. The guy was just crazy. He wasn't stable. Something had ruined him, and now he was a tornado of hurt, ripping people apart wherever he went. Cole wasn't going to let anyone he loved be a victim of the cycle of perpetual pain. Because that's what Cole suspected it was; it's usually people who have been hurt before who do the hurting. 

"How are your injuries?" 

Cole looked up immediately. Elias was approaching him. Cole had been leaning against the wall near the residential wing of the Mansion. He'd been so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed Elias. Either that or Elias was just a sneaky son of a bitch. 

"I'm fine," Cole said. Realizing that his response may have been a bit curt, he elaborated. "Jaeger fixed me up after I ruined my stitches. He yelled at me." 

Elias nodded. "Jaeger is a yeller when he's frustrated, but he means the best." 

"I get that," Cole said, nodding. 

"Can you fire a gun?" Elias asked, eyeing Cole's sidearm. 

Cole stood up straighter. He had something to prove. He'd been in a rush at the time, desperate to see Lionel, but Cole had realized that Jaeger had referred to Cole as 'sir.' That one tiny word meant so much. Maybe it was a start, Cole had thought. Because Cole was dedicated, now. He was in deep, a little terrified but ready to try and change who he was. 

If asked for a list of words that would describe who he was, Cole would once have easily used the word 'Hunter.' Before everything, when Cole was young, he looked up to his dad. He saw his dad and his ability to fend off the lycanthrope as amazing. He was so strong and admirable. Being a Hunter was a badge of honor. Now, it was different. Cole didn't hate Hunters, but he knew that he wasn't one any longer. Cole wanted to scratch the word 'Hunter' off of his list and scrawl a messy 'Prowler' right beside it. 

"I can fire a gun," Cole confirmed. "I think it might mess up a couple stitches, though. I might go deaf from Jaeger's shouting." 

Elias chuckled. The sound was deep and somehow kind of intimidating. Elias was...well, Cole was embarrassed to think it, but he was cool. That was the first adjective that came to mind when they'd met. Elias was always level-headed, in command, ready for anything. He held significant respect in the Pack. He was kind of a badass, too, but that was beside the point. "I think you'll be ok," Elias said. "We'll be needing you, I think. You've been trained, haven't you?" 

Cole hesitated. He felt himself bristle like he'd been backed into a corner. He didn't want to talk about being trained. He'd been trained to shoot so that he could murder lycanthrope. At least, that's what Cole felt. But he couldn't pretend as if it had never happened, could he? To do so would be to lie to himself. He could scratch 'Hunter' out, but it would still be legible through the jagged mark. "My dad taught me to use a gun when I was seven." 

Elias didn't look judgemental. His face remained unnervingly neutral, his blue eyes intense but not betraying anything. "I learned when I was eight," Elias said, crossing his arms over his chest. Cole noticed a tattoo peeking out from beneath the sleeve of Elias's shirt. It was a small symbol that Cole couldn't quite see. "That's the way the world is," Elias said, meeting Cole's eyes. "Some of us aren't lucky enough to have the luxury of learning late. Life forces us to adapt and face harsh realities simply because we must." 

Cole heard what he was saying. He felt it. Elias was being genuine. He wasn't blaming Cole for his past, for what he may or may not have done. For all Elias knew, Cole could have injured or killed plenty of lycanthrope. But it seemed that he was being forgiven. Because it was the truth: Cole hadn't ever made a decision. He'd inherited what he was without questioning it...because he loved his dad. "Thanks," Cole found himself saying. 

Elias starting walking away. "Be ready, Cole. Not just for this fight, but for what comes after. You're our Luna's brother." 

Cole hadn't really thought about that. Maybe that was why he'd been called 'sir.' For some reason, Cole's spirits lifted even higher. The Luna's brother seemed like a good place to call his own, a place among the Prowlers that Cole had once thought was impossible. Why had it remained invisible until Elias pointed it out? 

"Wait, Elias," Cole said, taking long strides to catch up with him. "I wanted to let you know that I have bullets in my car. It's a habit I got from my dad. I thought they might be useful." 

Elias frowned. "I'm pretty sure we have plenty of bullets." 

Cole shook his head. "They're wolfsbane bullets." 

Elias's expression changed. "How many?" 

"Not thousands, but enough to distribute to your best people," Cole said. "Should I get them?" 

Elias nodded. "We use silver bullets. More impactful than the average, but not as good as wolfsbane. Anything would help, I think." 

"What the head of security requests, the head of security shall receive," Cole said, bowing. 

Elias scoffed. "Lionel seems to be having some sort of strange effect on you." 

Cole smiled. "Almost definitely." 

Elias's expression hardened. His gaze reached past Cole. Cole turned immediately and saw Jaeda and Oliver approaching them. "Hiya!" Jaeda said, smiling widely. She was wearing boots that made her seem taller than she was, but she was still shorter than Oliver. Speaking of, Oliver seemed a bit put out. 

"Thank god," Oliver grumbled under his breath. Cole raised an eyebrow. 

"What are you two doing here?" Elias asked. "I posted you at-" 

"Jason sent us away," Jaeda said cheerfully. Elias immediately scowled. "He said that we were being too loud." 

"He said that Jaeda was being too loud, then she dragged me away with her," Oliver corrected. 

"Of course, she did," Elias said. His tone was disapproving, but for some reason, Cole could feel that there was something more to him. There was something warm inside Elias, like a little flame barely warm enough to melt an ice cube. It was almost invisible, but Cole saw it. He could somehow sense it in the air. 

"You can't blame me for wanting Oliver along," Jaeda said. "He knows the Reapers. I feel like he'd be more useful with you."

Elias blinked, seemingly surprised. "It's been a long time since something you said to me made sense, but here we are." 

Jaeda beamed. "Hell yeah." 

Cole smiled. He liked how impenetrable Jaeda seemed. Elias was in a league of his own. It didn't seem like anything could hurt the guy. But Jaeda was a different shade of invincible. The walls around Elias never broke, never shook. They were strong on their own. Jaeda's, though, seemed to have a glowing, yellowish forcefield of happiness around them. If anything got through it, though, Cole wondered how strong her walls would prove to be. 

"I wouldn't say I know them that well," Oliver said, interrupting the weird gazing that was happening between Elias and Jaeda. "I was only there for a short time before Alpha Kaleb took me in."

"What can you tell me about them?" Elias said. 

Oliver frowned. "It's probably Tony in charge now. He was always following Alpha Jacob around like a puppy. But I could always tell that, if he got the opportunity, he'd be ready to rip his master's throat out." 

"What are you saying?" Cole asked. 

Oliver looked at Cole. He sighed. "I'm saying that Tony's the kind of asshole who'd do anything to get what he wants. You need to be ready for everything and anything with him because he's willing to do everything and anything." 

There was a tense moment of silence. Even Jaeda's eternal sunshine seemed to waver slightly. What happened next was the sort of thing that only happens in movies. Right as Elias opened his mouth to speak, all the lights slammed off. 

Cole looked around, his hand on his gun. He was suddenly on high alert. "What the hell?" Cole asked. "A power outage?" 

"This isn't a power outage," Elias said, looking down the hallway as if scanning for enemies. "Our backup generator would have kicked in. Someone's shut it all down." Elias had already drawn his weapon. Cole hadn't even seen it happen. It was like the gun just teleported into his hand, he was so fast. 

"What do we do?" Jaeda asked. He voice shook slightly, but she seemed determined. She had a serious expression on her face. Cole had seen it before on her, but it was still strange to see her without a smile. She was looking to Elias for leadership. 

Elias didn't hesitate. He knew what to do. Even surrounded by darkness, Elias seemed confident. It made Cole want to follow him. He understood the looks of admiration he often garnered. 

"We need to make sure it's only residential that's lost power. If not, we'll have to change our plan. But it's safe to assume that residential is the target," Elias said. "Once we've ensured that it's just here, we'll connect with the group stationed at the East residential entrance and send someone to tell Alpha Kaleb what's happening. Right now, information is our best weapon." 

"We should split up," Cole said immediately, without thinking. 

Elias stared at him. "What?" 

"You should go to residential and sort things out there. I'll go to check the other wings and meet you there to tell you what's happening," Cole said. 

Elias nodded. "Ok, but you're not going alone," Elias said. "Oliver, do you have a gun?" 

Oliver nodded. "I have no idea why Luna Kaia trusted me, but she did." 

"Go with Cole. Be fast, be quiet. If you see Reapers, don't engage. Avoid them and bring back as much information as you can. The blackout is supposed to scare us, disorient us, and scatter us. We can't let that happen."

He was right. There's something terrifying about darkness. It's the ambiguity. Cole knew that he wasn't necessarily in danger just because he couldn't see as well, but because he didn't know he was safe, he felt like he wasn't. The Mansion was a big place. The darkness would keep going, and Cole didn't like the feeling of not knowing. It was like Oliver said. They had to be prepared for anything because anything could happen. If nothing else, Cole had learned that. 

Cole just wished he could see when everything went down. 

"What about me?" Jaeda asked. 

"Come with me," Elias said. "We have multiple residential entrances to cover. If I'm injured, I need someone else to keep going." 

"As if anyone could kill you," Jaeda said under her breath. 

Elias heard it, though. Somehow, despite everything that was happening, he smiled. "Ok. Let's go. Be safe and be smart. I'll see you soon." 

Cole nodded and he started off with Oliver. Elias's raised voice crossed the distance already created between them. "Show me who you are, Cole!"