Winter Howl (Sanctuary) by Aurelia T. Evans

her stomach, that she wanted to hold Britt against her and keep her there like a stuffed animal all night, but she just couldn’t. She physically could not do it, and she physically could not say it. She could just reach up to touch Britt’s cheek softly to try and reassure her that everything was fine, that they could keep doing what they had been doing, that they could really try at whatever this could be. She kissed Britt on the corner of her mouth and stood.
    She was the luckiest woman alive because Britt understood.
    “You probably want a quick shower, just to rinse off after that,” Britt said, fingers trailing down the length of Renee’s spine and touching an unexpectedly sensitive spot just below the curve of one cheek under her jeans. “Remember, I’m next. Would you rather I not come in while you’re still in there, or…?”
    “I’d prefer some time alone,” Renee said. Everything she said came out wrong, came out cold. She hated it. Even as she was walking towards the bathroom, she stopped herself and turned around, forcing herself to face Britt, who was looking remarkably happy and young in a way that Renee had not noticed in a long time.
    “Brittany?” Renee said.
    “Yes, Red?” Britt asked. The decade-old pet name made Renee feel a rush of warmth over her face in a flush. Not a bad one.
    “I think… I think we can do this,” Renee said. The words were hard to get out, but once she did, the next words were even harder—although not painful—no matter how true they were. “And I don’t expect anything in our lives separate from each other to change. Jake… I want you two to still…you know, be together. I wouldn’t want it to change.”
    Britt’s face became even more beautiful—Renee didn’t think ‘love’ was a facial expression, but if it was, that might have been it. “I’m glad you are the woman that you are, Renee Chambers,” Britt said. “Now go clean up. I am going to go downstairs and make brownies. We can have some tonight, just the core pack. I think this whole thing calls for chocolate.”
    Renee smiled. “I agree.”
    She went into the bathroom, retrieving a clean pair of panties from her dresser first. It occurred to her that she had just had what basically amounted to sex with her best and closest friend, with all her clothes on. And Britt had only lost her shirt. Renee thought that was amazing.
    As rare as it was, even as she got into the shower and stood under the spray, Renee found that in the privacy of the moment, she could not stop smiling.

Chapter Four

    The world hadn’t changed. Renee still had work, and she still did it without mooning. Too much. But it was part of the experience, part of the novelty. She could actually let someone touch her without going a little crazy—at least, not in a bad way. Britt continued to not push her, but they did sometimes take time out of the day to kiss. To keep in practice, Britt said with a grin on her face. Sometimes those kisses led to more, but it was still Britt who shed some of her clothes, more comfortable in skin, while Renee only let Britt touch her underneath her clothing, even though Britt had seen her naked without much fanfare before. For Renee, it was not a matter of modesty or fear. She just felt more comfortable with some kind of layer, although that layer seemed to be becoming more cumbersome by the day, even as she needed it. After all, the weather was getting colder.
    Grant regularly brought in meat, but there were some days that he disappeared completely. He had made it through his week trial period, and although he was not exactly well-liked, he mostly kept out of the way. So everyone let him be, warily adjusting to his presence in the sanctuary. Renee was a bit concerned when the full moon came. She and the core pack stayed up just in case Grant tried to kill something under the moon’s influence, but as far as she knew, he never stepped foot on the compound.
    He still watched her from a distance