Backstage was a war zone of last-minute adjustments\u2014cables taped down, amps humming, Gabriel tapping out bass lines with a manic energy that made even Maya nervous. Mark stood at the lighting console, claws hovering over the sliders like a predator stalking prey. Thane, meanwhile, was doing his final sweep\u2014checking connections, tightening stands, re-coiling anything that dared to slouch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
POW!!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A deafening pop<\/em> shook the loading dock. Lights flickered. Every screen in the venue blinked off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWHAT THE ACTUAL\u2014\u201d Thane roared from under the drum riser, slamming into view like a grizzly with caffeine withdrawal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark\u2019s lighting rig went dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maya\u2019s guitar amp sizzled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel dropped his bass with a yelp<\/em>, cradling the cable like it had just insulted his mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then\u2026 a voice. Wavering. Terrified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026I think I accidentally plugged the fog machine into the PA distro\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone turned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There stood Logan<\/strong>, holding a melted three-prong adapter and looking like he\u2019d just survived an electrical exorcism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane\u2019s snarl echoed through the concrete walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark stepped off the platform slowly\u2014like a force of nature in a button-down shirt and black cargo pants. His claws clicked against the floor. One twitch of an ear. His eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLogan,\u201d he growled, voice calm but deadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was trying to clean up the cord nest!\u201d Logan squeaked. \u201cAnd the labels were faded! And then the raccoon jumped out of the trap and I dropped my vape into the power strip!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane took a step forward, fur bristling, hands flexing wide to bare full claws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m going to bury<\/em> you under this stage,\u201d he snarled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI vote we bury him behind the arena,\u201d Mark added coolly. \u201cLess traffic. Cleaner dirt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Logan backed into a lighting tree, knocking over a spare gobo lens with a crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was helping<\/em>!\u201d he whimpered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel zipped in, practically teleporting between the wolves and the panicked intern. He grabbed Thane by the upper arm, claws gently digging into fur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThane. Breathe. He\u2019s not worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane was panting like he\u2019d just sprinted a mile uphill with a speaker stack on his back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel lowered his voice. \u201cThink of the lawsuit. Think of the paperwork. Think of me\u2026 writing a heartfelt ballad about how my wolf went to prison for gutting an intern with a mic stand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane froze\u2026 and let out a low, guttural groan<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark finally huffed and stepped back, muttering, \u201cHe\u2019d probably break the mic stand anyway. Kid\u2019s made of panic and Hot Pockets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel turned to Logan and shoved a roll of gaffer tape into his shaking hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGo. Tape down the green room fridge door so it doesn\u2019t rattle again. That\u2019s all you\u2019re allowed to touch. Tape. And fridge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Logan nodded so fast his headset nearly fell off again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As he vanished into the back hallway like a caffeinated goblin, Gabriel leaned into Thane\u2019s side and whispered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTen bucks says he tapes himself to the fridge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane exhaled a chuckle through gritted fangs. \u201cMake it twenty.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Backstage was a war zone of last-minute adjustments\u2014cables taped down, amps humming, Gabriel tapping out bass lines with a manic energy that made even Maya nervous. Mark stood at the lighting console, claws hovering over the sliders like a predator stalking prey. Thane, meanwhile, was doing his final sweep\u2014checking connections, tightening stands, re-coiling anything that […]<\/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-234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234","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=234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3279,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions\/3279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}