{"id":445,"date":"2023-08-12T01:00:42","date_gmt":"2023-08-12T06:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/?p=445"},"modified":"2024-02-10T10:23:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T16:23:02","slug":"after-the-howl-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/after-the-howl-chicago\/","title":{"rendered":"After the Howl – Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The last note still hung in the humid air, distorted and lingering like the tail end of a storm. The crowd at The Emberline<\/strong> was feral<\/em> \u2014 sweaty, loud, glowing under the red backlights and fog. People were screaming. Crying. Clawing for guitar picks. Thane\u2019s ears were ringing, but he didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backstage was a whirlwind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie<\/strong> was fanning herself with a merch flyer while chugging water.
Jonah<\/strong> had ripped his shirt and didn\u2019t even realize it.
Mark<\/strong> was already unplugging lighting cables with quiet satisfaction.
Gabriel<\/strong> had vanished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere the hell is he?\u201d Thane asked, wiping sweat off his arms with a towel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s probably out front again,\u201d Rico said, shrugging as he tuned down his guitar. \u201cYou know how he gets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSecurity\u2019s gonna tackle him one day,\u201d Maya muttered, but she was smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udca5 Outside \u2013 15 Minutes Later<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The post-show crowd outside The Emberline<\/strong> was still buzzing like static. A few dozen fans lingered near the wrapped tour van, snapping photos, swapping phone numbers, yelling about favorite songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel had slipped outside again, blending in like only a charismatic black-furred werewolf could \u2014 by standing out just enough.<\/em> He signed a hoodie, posed for a selfie with someone in a homemade \u201cWolves Don\u2019t Tour \u2013 They Hunt\u201d shirt, and tossed out guitar picks like candy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then he saw him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A young kid, maybe ten or eleven, hovering at the edge of the crowd with a sketchbook clutched tightly to his chest. His oversized Feral Eclipse hoodie nearly swallowed him, sleeves falling over his hands. He wasn\u2019t pushing to the front. Wasn\u2019t shouting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was just watching.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel\u2019s ears perked. He made his way over slowly, crouching to the kid\u2019s level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey,\u201d he said gently. \u201cYou okay out here, little wolf?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kid\u2019s eyes went wide. \u201cYou\u2019re really<\/em> him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel chuckled. \u201cLast time I checked. You got a name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEli.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCool name. What\u2019s that you\u2019re holdin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eli hesitated, then slowly opened the sketchbook. Inside was a hand-drawn scene \u2014 Gabriel onstage, claws on the bass, eyes lit up, stage lights behind him like a halo of chaos. Not perfect. But raw. Powerful. Real.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eli mumbled, \u201cI… drew this after I saw you guys online. Been practicing bass ever since. I wanna play like you someday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel just stared at the drawing for a beat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, without a word, he unbuckled the worn leather wristband from his arm \u2014 the one he always wore onstage \u2014 and carefully slid it onto Eli\u2019s wrist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis one\u2019s been on every stage I\u2019ve ever played,\u201d he said. \u201cNow it\u2019s yours. You keep practicing. And someday, you won\u2019t be playing like me. You\u2019ll be playing like you.<\/em> And you\u2019ll blow us all away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eli just stood there, stunned. Then he looked down at the wristband like it was made of gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel smiled, then stood and ruffled the kid\u2019s hair. \u201cGood. \u2018Cause I wanna hear your name shouted from the stage one day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83c\udf00 Back at the Van \u2013 Midnight<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The band was finally loaded up, merch restocked, cables stowed, and fog juice replenished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie flopped into her seat. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna feel<\/em> that one tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark slid in last, shutting the van doors. \u201cWorth it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel tossed himself next to Thane in the front, still buzzing. \u201cThat was insane.<\/em> Did you see the crowd during \u2018Rip the Chain\u2019? They lost their minds. That pit was like a hurricane.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI saw Jonah try to stage dive into a guy eating nachos,\u201d Thane said. \u201cDid you<\/em> fall off the monitor again?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel stretched and yawned. \u201cMaybe. I blacked out a little during the solo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. The van rumbled to life beneath them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere to next?\u201d Jonah called from the back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane looked at the GPS, then at Gabriel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWherever the wolves roam,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last note still hung in the humid air, distorted and lingering like the tail end of a storm. The crowd at The Emberline was feral \u2014 sweaty, loud, glowing under the red backlights and fog. People were screaming. Crying. Clawing for guitar picks. Thane\u2019s ears were ringing, but he didn\u2019t care. Backstage was a […]<\/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-445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445","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=445"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3216,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions\/3216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}