The morning after the San Diego show dawned hazy and too damn early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thane had just managed to wrangle Gabriel into a semi-decent T-shirt (read: one without a rip in the collar) before dragging the pack to a trendy caf\u00e9 near the harbor. Mark grumbled behind his sunglasses like a caffeinated gargoyle, and Maya was halfway through threatening violence over the decaf selection when it started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ambush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A full wall of cameras and microphones surged across the sidewalk like a tide of polyester and desperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGabriel! Is it true you turned down a $10 million label deal?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCassie, are you and Rico dating?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThane! Is it true you bit a fan backstage in L.A.?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh hell<\/em>,\u201d Cassie muttered, immediately throwing her hoodie over her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane planted himself in front of Gabriel instinctively, shoulders squared, but it was already too late. Flashes exploded. Reporters shouted over one another. One of them even asked if Mark was really a “robot in wolf fur.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark bared his teeth. \u201cBeep boop. Back off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel, instead of ducking, turned full-face to the mob with a disarmingly cheerful grin. \u201cGood morning, sunshine goblins!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the newer reporters blinked. \u201cUh\u2026 I\u2026 what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel reached out and gently lowered the closest mic like he was tucking in a toddler. \u201cHere\u2019s your quote: \u2018We don\u2019t care about your rumors, your ratings, or your tabloid exorcisms. We care about music, fans, and breakfast burritos. Got it?\u2019<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane just chuckled, shaking his head. \u201cGabriel, you\u2019re gonna get us banned from every news outlet in California.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPerfect,\u201d He beamed. \u201cLess paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It didn\u2019t end there, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later that afternoon, an entertainment gossip blog posted a \u201cFeral Eclipse: Out of Control?\u201d piece with grainy, unflattering photos \u2014 including one of Gabriel licking a window for reasons known only to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ten minutes later, the band reposted it with the caption:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We warned<\/em> you about letting werewolves into showbiz.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It became the most-liked post on their page that week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, in a van somewhere outside San Bernardino\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vandal Saints scrolled through the viral clips on their phones in cold, bitter silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy the hell do they always<\/em> win people over?\u201d one of them spat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lead singer \u2014 eyes bloodshot, ego bruised \u2014 cracked open a warm energy drink and muttered, \u201cDon\u2019t worry. We\u2019ll show them up at Desert Howl Festival.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He paused. Then added, \u201cRight?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The silence that followed was not<\/em> confidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The morning after the San Diego show dawned hazy and too damn early. Thane had just managed to wrangle Gabriel into a semi-decent T-shirt (read: one without a rip in the collar) before dragging the pack to a trendy caf\u00e9 near the harbor. Mark grumbled behind his sunglasses like a caffeinated gargoyle, and Maya was […]<\/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-519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519","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=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3183,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions\/3183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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