The hallway behind the stage was lined with heavy black curtains, clipped together with thick plastic ties and humming faintly from the bass rumble of the openers still playing their final song. The air was thick \u2014 half with excitement, half with the scent of too many bodies and energy drinks packed into the same industrial corridor. Distant cheers filtered through the walls like the venue itself was breathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feral Eclipse had regrouped in the green room, which was more gray than green and clearly designed for either a hockey team or a hostage negotiation \u2014 cheap couches, a battered fridge stocked with off-brand sodas, and a table piled high with German snack food the staff had tried to theme as \u201cAmerican.\u201d Thane looked at a bag labeled Cowboy Chips<\/em> and muttered something about cultural misunderstandings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel had his bass slung low across his chest, casually strumming while pacing tight circles. His tail twitched with anticipation, ears high and twitching. \u201cThis crowd\u2019s gonna be rowdy, I can feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou feel everything,\u201d Mark replied, crouched in a corner with a pair of Allen wrenches and his lighting console open across two folding chairs. \u201cYou also said that about the espresso machine in our last hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t wrong,\u201d Gabriel shot back. \u201cThat thing had intentions.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassie was stretching her neck and humming scales quietly while Jonah bounced a drumstick off his thigh, catching it with an unconscious rhythm that had clearly taken years to perfect. Maya leaned in the doorway, arms crossed, keeping an eye on everything while pretending she wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rico was flipping through fan DMs on his phone, eyebrows occasionally raising in horror, amusement, or both. \u201cHey, anyone want to meet a guy with a Feral Eclipse tattoo that stretches across both butt cheeks? ‘Cause he\u2019s here tonight. Row three.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane sighed, looking up from his gear check. \u201cOnly if you want to sign them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNope.\u201d Rico clicked the phone off and shoved it in his back pocket. \u201cI\u2019ve got limits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emily stood nearby, wide-eyed but smiling, nervously adjusting her tour hoodie as she clutched a clipboard with the night\u2019s setlist and logistics. \u201cThe house is completely full. Oversold. There are people standing in the back bar area just to hear the show.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel perked up. \u201cWait, what\u2019s the legal capacity here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet\u2019s not ask that question,\u201d Thane replied before she could answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A knock came at the door \u2014 two short raps, then a pause. One of the venue runners poked their head in, flushed and breathless. \u201cFive minutes, ja? You are ready?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone looked at Thane. He gave a slow nod, stood, and rolled his shoulders once with a satisfying crack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet\u2019s go make Germany howl,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel grinned. \u201cHell yes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassie punched the air. \u201cLet\u2019s goooo!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The whole crew moved as one, peeling out of the room and into the narrow corridor, energy simmering just below the surface, claws flexing in anticipation. Thane hung back half a step, giving Emily a reassuring nudge as they passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou did great,\u201d he said quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She blinked. \u201cI didn\u2019t do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou kept us from imploding. That\u2019s everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She smiled \u2014 just a little. \u201cYou\u2019re welcome, Sound Wolf.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane groaned, but couldn\u2019t help the small grin that tugged at the edge of his muzzle as they stepped into the wings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The hallway behind the stage was lined with heavy black curtains, clipped together with thick plastic ties and humming faintly from the bass rumble of the openers still playing their final song. The air was thick \u2014 half with excitement, half with the scent of too many bodies and energy drinks packed into the same […]<\/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-1736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736","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=1736"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2991,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736\/revisions\/2991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}