The call came in the next morning.
Thane had just settled into his seat on the bus, fresh cup of gourmet coffee in hand, when Emily peeked her head out of the front cabin, phone in hand, eyes wide.
“Uh… the Sooner Hills Mall marketing director wants to talk to someone. Like, officially.”
Thane raised a brow. “Tell me they’re not suing.”
Emily laughed nervously. “No. They want to throw us a party.”
An hour later, the band was on a video call with a woman named Marcy, who had enough energy to power the entire lighting rig by sheer force of will.
Her voice crackled over the laptop speaker:
“We’ve seen a 380% increase in traffic since your little visit, and corporate loves it. So, we’d like to invite Feral Eclipse back for an official Werewolf Day at the Plaza!”
The silence was deafening.
Mark’s eye twitched. “Please tell me that’s not the real title.”
“It absolutely is!” Marcy beamed. “There’ll be themed treats, limited edition merch, a mobile stage in the food court—and a ‘Find the Wolf’ scavenger hunt where fans get to win signed gear!”
Jonah leaned in. “Do we get costumes?”
“NO,” said Thane, Mark, Maya, Cassie, and Rico in unison.
Gabriel grinned. “I wanna be the prize at the end of the scavenger hunt.”
“You already are,” Thane mumbled under his breath.
Marcy continued, undeterred. “We’ll even re-enact the mall incident with full actors and a narrated walkthrough experience! Mallgate: The Interactive Exhibit!”
Cassie facepalmed so hard her rings clacked.
Emily, who had been silently taking notes, blinked. “This is… kind of brilliant.”
Thane groaned. “This is how it starts. Next thing you know we’ve got a branded candle line and a signature scent called ‘Stage Sweat and Churros.’”
“I’d wear it,” Gabriel whispered.
Despite their very understandable hesitations, the team agreed to the madness.
A week later, Feral Eclipse returned to Sooner Hills Mall—this time as official guests, not chaotic fugitives. The plaza was decked out in black-and-blue banners with paw prints and fake claw marks. There were Thane plushies in the toy store, churro carts renamed “Wolf Whiskers,” and Gabriel’s face was on a balloon animal station sign.
Fans swarmed in cosplay: wolf ears, fake fangs, one kid even wore a full Jonah costume complete with pretzel holster and glitter eyebrows. Another brought a LEGO replica of the mall scene, complete with a falling display cart.
The band didn’t even try to pretend they weren’t enjoying it.
At one point, a fan asked Thane if he could “sign their emotional support backpack,” and he glanced toward Gabriel with a smirk before crouching down and scrawling his name across the front pocket with a silver Sharpie.
“You really okay with all this?” Gabriel murmured beside him, watching the crowd swell with joy and laughter.
Thane let out a breath and nodded, eyes scanning the fans, the stage, the chaos, the delight. “Yeah. I mean, it’s a circus. But it’s our circus.”
Gabriel leaned against him, giving a gentle bump of his shoulder. “That’s my wolf.”
And then, right in the middle of it all—between a churro cart giveaway and Jonah trying to sign someone’s face—a little girl tugged on Maya’s sleeve and held up a handmade drawing.
It showed all of them standing together onstage, smiling, beneath a banner that read: “My Heroes.”
Everything froze for a second.
Maya knelt and hugged her tight. “You just made this worth it.”
Even Thane went quiet.
So yeah… Werewolf Day at the Plaza?
Kind of a hit. 😎