Winter Howl (Sanctuary) by Aurelia T. Evans Page A

with an intensity that might as well have been right in front of her. He was somehow there whenever she and Britt were together outside of their room. Renee wasn’t innocent. She knew that some men liked watching two women, and she assumed that was the reason that Grant was around so much—that he was gathering fodder for whatever stroke fantasies were simmering in his brain. But as long as he did not invade their privacy and try to make them do something for him, as long as he did not touch her, he could be as uncouth as he wanted. There were assholes in every society. Grant just happened to be one of them. In the end, she and Britt decided to ignore him as best they could.
    As more and more flurries swept over the sanctuary, more frequent donations began to come in from her regulars. Most of them knew that the winter was sometimes the hardest time for the sanctuary, because more energy was required to keep things running. Winter was also the time for more adoptions and sometimes more inhabitants due to poor Christmas gift-giving. Renee was happy, though, that three of her dogs had been adopted over the course of three weeks.
    Things were normal, and maybe better.
    Then someone buzzed her doorbell at the gate. This caused an alarm to go off over the facility. Just a short buzz—nothing loud or obnoxious. Enough to let everyone know that someone was there and to tell them to change if they needed to. Most of the shapeshifters reverted to their dog skins when company came. Renee thought it had something to do with keeping their whereabouts a secret and hiding their identities. Most people probably assumed she had someone working with her—there was no possible way that she could run an operation like this all on her own. But the shapeshifters did not want anyone to know that they were ones doing it.
    The buzzing sound also told Renee to drive down to meet whoever came. The sanctuary could use a security camera at the gate, but they hadn’t come up with the extra money for it, mostly because it was not as needed as all that. Who would take the time to come all the way up to her sanctuary to make trouble? Besides, the dogs themselves were her built-in security. Even those who were not dominant knew an intruder when they saw one—and the shapeshifters had an even better sense of those who were not supposed to be there. A security camera was never high on the priority list of purchases.
    Renee looked up when the buzz filled the compound, although the people at the gate probably could not hear it, so far was the facility from the gate. No one was supposed to come today, but maybe someone had not read the website rules about calling to make an appointment. Maybe they thought they could come on their own time. Either way, she would need to tell them to make an appointment, although she might let them in if they seemed okay. After all, it was a long drive back to civilisation.
    Britt came into the computer room just as Leslie turned to Renee in confusion.
    “What’s going on?” Britt said. “I didn’t know there was someone coming today.”
    “Neither did I,” Renee replied.
    “Do you want me to go down with you?” Britt asked. “I’m beginning to dream about shipping orders and gardenias.”
    “Sure, if you want to. Human or dog skin?”
    “Dog skin,” Britt answered. “In case it’s someone from town, they should see me in the state they’re used to. It could just be a squirrel having fun with the doorbell, though.”
    “Best to check.” Renee minimised the window she was working on and ran to get her proper shoes on. She grabbed her scarf and coat as Britt shed her clothing layers and changed into the malamute. She then trotted behind Renee as she headed to the car.
    “What the hell was that?” Grant came out from behind the log home and rubbed the side of his head as though the buzzing had pained him. Renee did not understand why it would—it was not at a frequency that harmed the dogs.
    “Doorbell,”