{"id":166,"date":"2023-04-17T01:00:55","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T06:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/?p=166"},"modified":"2024-02-10T10:23:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T16:23:15","slug":"zip-ties-and-fury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/zip-ties-and-fury\/","title":{"rendered":"Zip Ties and Fury"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Still broken down. Still hot. Now everyone’s talking.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane was elbow-deep in the engine bay, grease streaked across his forearms, claws smudged with radiator fluid, and the unmistakable snarl of a werewolf slowly losing his grip echoing faintly in the back of his throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel crouched beside him, cheerfully unhelpful but loyally close\u2014his tail lazily flicking in the dust while sipping the last of his now-warm coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind them, the humans had given up pretending to be useful and were instead forming their own little shade-seeking think tank beneath the one sad excuse for a tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maya, shirt tied up at the waist, already had her boots off and was fanning herself with a lyric sheet. \u201cI\u2019m just saying, maybe we wouldn\u2019t be broken down in Hell\u2019s Armpit if our fearless tech alpha would let a real<\/em> mechanic touch the engine once in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rico chuckled. \u201cYou know wolves and territory. That engine bay is basically his den.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI heard that,<\/em>\u201d Thane barked from under the hood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonah, still sitting on the flight case they\u2019d dragged out for seating, smirked. \u201cIt\u2019s true, man. We offered to take it to a shop last week and you looked at us like we\u2019d just insulted your mate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s because you did.<\/em> This van\u2019s gotten us through three tours and five near-deaths,\u201d Thane snapped, standing up, claws glinting in the sun. \u201cAnd I know<\/em> it inside and out. The belt snapped because someone<\/em> overpacked the rear and threw the weight balance off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI packed the merch box,\u201d Rico said with mock offense. \u201cWe need to sell shirts to pay for gas and Gatorade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd I packed Gabriel\u2019s<\/em> pedal board,\u201d Maya added, eyebrow raised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel\u2019s ears twitched. \u201cWhy am I catching strays over here? I\u2019m not the one who threw the patch kit at the transmission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou threw the patch kit?\u201d Jonah asked, laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI placed it. Aggressively,\u201d Thane growled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark, who had been silent up to this point, finally chimed in from his perch on a folding chair, deadpan and bone-dry: \u201cWe\u2019re going to die out here. If dehydration doesn\u2019t get us, the werewolf rage kill will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSay that again, I dare<\/em> you,\u201d Thane snarled, teeth bared, shoulders flexing as he took a slow step toward Mark and the others. The desert wind carried a hint of something feral, something primal\u2014and for one tense moment, even the heat seemed to hold its breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark didn\u2019t flinch. \u201cI said,<\/em> we\u2019re going to\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThane.<\/em>\u201d Gabriel\u2019s voice sliced through the air, calm and steady. His hand was on Thane\u2019s shoulder, claws brushing lightly through the matted fur. \u201cNot worth it. They\u2019ll taste like stress and irony.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane growled low, nostrils flaring\u2026 then exhaled hard and rolled his neck with a crack. \u201cRight. Right. I promised.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel leaned in closer, voice softer. \u201cBesides, I haven\u2019t had dinner yet. Let\u2019s not fill up on junk food.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A reluctant smirk tugged at the corner of Thane\u2019s muzzle. \u201cFine. I\u2019ll finish rigging the belt. Someone find me water, duct tape, and an emotional support animal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m the emotional support animal,\u201d Gabriel said proudly, standing tall with his arms wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonah muttered, \u201cWe\u2019re all gonna die petting the werewolf, aren\u2019t we?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maya groaned. \u201cOnly after he eats us for mocking his spark plugs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark deadpanned again, \u201cCall it \u2018Death by Ignition Drama.\u2019 I\u2019ll write the song.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Still broken down. Still hot. Now everyone’s talking. Thane was elbow-deep in the engine bay, grease streaked across his forearms, claws smudged with radiator fluid, and the unmistakable snarl of a werewolf slowly losing his grip echoing faintly in the back of his throat. Gabriel crouched beside him, cheerfully unhelpful but loyally close\u2014his tail lazily […]<\/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-166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166","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=166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3304,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166\/revisions\/3304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}