The sun was dipping behind the canyon walls as twilight settled over the venue. The pre-show hustle had wound down into a lull \u2014 gear was in place, lights were programmed, mics checked, and crowd noise was rising like a low tide just beyond the stage curtain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Backstage, most of the crew was off grabbing food or chugging last-minute caffeine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thane was crouched behind the main rack near the wings, triple-checking cable runs like he hadn\u2019t already done it twice. His ears flicked once when he heard footsteps approaching\u2014 soft ones. Familiar weight. A scent he always picked out of the crowd, no matter how many bodies were packed around him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He didn\u2019t say anything at first. Just stood nearby, fidgeting slightly with his in-ear cable. His tail was curled low\u2014not tucked, but definitely not<\/em> wagging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHey,\u201d Gabriel finally said, his voice lower than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane didn\u2019t look up right away, but his ears turned toward him. \u201cYou good?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel exhaled a shaky breath and sat on a nearby flight case. \u201cGetting there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a long pause\u2014comfortable, but heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI, uh\u2026\u201d Gabriel picked at a Velcro strap on his wireless pack. \u201cDidn\u2019t think I\u2019d freeze like that. I\u2019m not usually scared of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane finally looked over at him. His ice-blue eyes were steady, unreadable for a second. Then he spoke, quiet and even.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHeight hits different when it sways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel snorted a weak laugh. \u201cYeah. That\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI thought I was gonna be cool,\u201d Gabriel said, tail flicking a little in self-directed frustration. \u201cLike, \u2018oh hey Kyle, don\u2019t worry, your local support werewolf has arrived.\u2019 Instead I locked up like a damn deer in the headlights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou still went up,\u201d Thane said simply, turning back to the rack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel blinked. \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou knew it was stupid. And you went anyway. For someone else.\u201d Thane shrugged one shoulder. \u201cCan\u2019t teach that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel stared at the floor for a second. Then nodded. \u201c…Thanks for coming after me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane didn\u2019t respond right away. He adjusted a cable, locked it into place, and stood. As he passed Gabriel, he reached out and gave his shoulder a firm, grounding squeeze. Clawed fingers warm through the fabric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlways will, my wolf,\u201d he murmured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel closed his eyes for a second, breathing through the leftover adrenaline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHey, uh\u2026\u201d he said, voice sheepish, \u201cif I ever go up there again\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou won\u2019t,\u201d Thane said, dead serious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel grinned despite himself. \u201cRight. Copy that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n From out front, a sudden roar<\/em> erupted as the crowd saw the lights dim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane looked toward the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet\u2019s go remind them who owns this canyon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel stood and cracked his knuckles. \u201cTime to shake the mountains.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The sun was dipping behind the canyon walls as twilight settled over the venue. The pre-show hustle had wound down into a lull \u2014 gear was in place, lights were programmed, mics checked, and crowd noise was rising like a low tide just beyond the stage curtain. Backstage, most of the crew was off grabbing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3091,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069\/revisions\/3091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}