The lights had faded, the last echoes of the crowd\u2019s howling still vibrating somewhere in the canyon air. Backstage, it smelled like fog fluid, adrenaline, and triumph. Everyone was drenched, exhausted, and glowing like they’d just walked away from the best storm of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Guitar cases were leaned against folding chairs. Cassie collapsed on the couch and kicked her boots off. Jonah chugged half a bottle of Gatorade, then dumped the rest over his head like he\u2019d won the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel paced back and forth near the drink cooler, still riding the aftershock\u2014tail swishing behind him, claws twitching to the ghost of the last note. Mark was in his usual chair, arms crossed, eyes closed like he wasn\u2019t listening\u2014but totally was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Thane?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was over by his rig, slowly packing down the console, deliberate as always. Calm. Controlled. Every motion helping him bleed off the pulse still rattling in his chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s when Rico walked in, towel around his shoulders, brows furrowed slightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHey\u2026 I gotta ask,\u201d he said, looking around at the group. \u201cThat spotlight at the top of the show\u2026 the one that hit Thane?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark\u2019s eyes opened, just barely. Cassie froze, halfway through peeling off her wrist tape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even Maya, who was scrolling through fan posts on her phone, stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It got quiet.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rico looked between them, caught the shift, and immediately sensed he\u2019d stepped on something… weird.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI mean, no offense or anything,\u201d he added quickly. \u201cIt just\u2014he\u2019s always offstage. It surprised me, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark\u2019s lips pressed together in a flat line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before he could say a word, Gabriel turned around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo,\u201d he said gently. \u201cIt\u2019s a fair question.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He walked over and leaned against the table near Rico, tail resting still for once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat light?\u201d Gabriel said. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t for show. That was us saying \u2018you don\u2019t see him \u2014 but he\u2019s why<\/em> you see us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rico blinked. \u201cBut he never \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t need to be onstage to lead,\u201d Gabriel cut in. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t chase the spotlight. That\u2019s not his way. But tonight? He earned<\/em> that beam. Every second of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel glanced over at Thane, who hadn\u2019t turned around. Still working. Still calm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then he looked back at Rico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe holds the walls up while the rest of us scream from the top of \u2018em. You shine a light on that\u2026 just once\u2026 so everyone knows he\u2019s there.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark grunted softly. \u201cThat\u2019s more words than I would’ve used.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassie finally smiled, low and tired. \u201cYou say it best when you say nothing, Mark.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rico nodded slowly. \u201cAlright. I get it now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel patted his shoulder. \u201cGood. But don\u2019t bring it up again. Seriously. That glare from Thane has permanent side effects.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the far end of the room, Thane quietly snapped the lid closed on the mixer case\u2014and did not say a word.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But he did give Gabriel a sideways glance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And just the slightest<\/em> nod.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The lights had faded, the last echoes of the crowd\u2019s howling still vibrating somewhere in the canyon air. Backstage, it smelled like fog fluid, adrenaline, and triumph. Everyone was drenched, exhausted, and glowing like they’d just walked away from the best storm of their lives. Guitar cases were leaned against folding chairs. Cassie collapsed on […]<\/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-1073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073","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=1073"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3089,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073\/revisions\/3089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}