Wolf Song (Wolf Singer Prophecies Book 1)

mean one of them Reapers, child?"
I couldn’t meet her eyes, so I nodded at her fingers. "Yes, ma'am. Reapers."
I could almost hear the clutter of words spewing forth from her intelligent mind and gathering behind her teeth. She sifted through them carefully, it seemed. None of them passed her lips.
Instead, a look came over her and she put a finger to her chin in thought. "Maybe there's something in the scriptures, maybe something your dad tracked. You have his book?"
Something hung in the air between us. A tension that hadn’t been there before. Maybe it was the gleam in her eye, and how it reminded me of a beetle’s shell.
It was because of that gleam that I told my first conscious lie in a long while.
I shook my head. "I have his scriptures, though."
Her face fell in disappointment, but from one blink to the next, the gleam was gone.
I didn’t doubt that the lie had somehow saved my life, or my dad’s, or both.
Survive.
Ms. Zorah shrugged into a sigh, the sound like a smothering blanket. "Well, that’s good that you have the scriptures at least. They’re more important, anyway. I'm not skilled with the word like your dad or even as you are, but your talent with it could be useful.” She grew still and pensive once more before lighting up. I braced for what idea might be in her head now.
“Maybe it would be a good idea to stay here, Soli. The sun is setting, after all." She gestured to the windows. Through the opaque film of dust that lay as thick as any curtain, the sun shone a brilliant red that signaled the coming sunset.
Gooseflesh rippled over my skin at the thought of being here. It felt too much like a cage.
Besides, Dad always always always told me that the house was the safest place on Earth and I should always use that as the sanctuary. The only place I should rest.
Though he had clearly ventured outside defenseless and at complete odds to what he’d always taught me, there was still no reason for me to doubt that statement.
I swallowed. The sun was pretty high still. But Dad was here. Was I supposed to drag him home?
I didn't want to leave him, and Ms. Zorah was looking at me with all the sympathy in the world.
Had I imagined what I’d felt coming from her just a few moments before?
And then something like memory and spirit clutched at my heart, pressing words into my skin.
Survive. That's it. Listen to my words.
If that was my dad trying to reach me, speak to me, I had to heed his words. "Thank you, ma'am,” I said, my words clear despite my shaking hand. “But if it's all right with you, I'll make my way home. I got provisions there anyway. 'Sides, I'd like to be able to get a head start on looking up what might have happened to my dad. Maybe he and my ma took record of something that could be vital and I don't want to wait until morning."
Ms. Zorah nodded her head, as if she expected my answer. "Okay. You’re grown now, so I won't stop you."
She took a step back, a show of privacy when I went to kiss Dad on the forehead. He was more approachable now that his eyelids were closed and I didn’t have to see him frozen with fear. I kissed his forehead and slipped my hand in his.
His hands were so large, it was like I was gripping a bear paw. Memories of my little hand lost in his rose to mind. I smiled at the warmth, and kept my features locked in memory when I felt something in his hand. It felt like the same piece of soft paper that was part of the notebook that he and Ma used. I remembered the torn pieces of paper and I couldn't help put two and two together.
Was this part of the notebook? No one was paying attention to me now and I didn't want to make my discovery obvious. So I just slid the pages out of his grip and put my hand in my pocket. "I love you, Dad. I'll be back in the morning."
On my way out of the town, Craig and Lucky nodded at me and I was happy to see that the cattle had been herded back. "Not one head of cattle missing, Mayor. And I seen them wolves hovering the border too. I don't think it was anything for Eli to worry about. Probably our wolves anyway since the cattle did nothing but graze."
Mayor Gabriel nodded. Good.
I made it home without incident and with enough time to spare to speak words to the borders. I even had enough hope in my heart to sing a little like my momma used to before going inside.
Only in the security of my living room, with the wards around the threshold activated, did I feel safe enough to pull out the wad of paper in my pocket and look at it.
My dad didn't raise a fool, but I swear I couldn't read this.

It was gibberish.
I went to the old dining table, something that my grandfather had carved out of oak as one piece. Shellacked and sealed, it had a sense of magic to it all its own.
Dad’s leather-bound book of scriptures was already spread open atop the table, of course, as if my dad could’ve been reading there just now. His personal notebook, the one that I ended up outrunning an Alpha Skoll to retrieve, was set beside it.
It was more unsettling to see these books here without Dad being present. He always had one book or the other with him at all times.
I spread them both out on the table and dimmed the lights. I used every kind of light to see by: witch light, lamp light, candle light. Sometimes some lights fare better than others at exposing secret things.
From what I’d heard today in