Free Mellizo Wolves by Lynde Lakes

had meaning in God’s eyes. Never doubt that.”
The angel looked thoughtful and then said, “But I understand your concern.
There is a dark aura around Damon and his little family.”
    “Family?” Hugo asked.
    “Angela, his wife, bore him twin daughters.”
    Of course, while
he’d been dead, Damon had been busy living his life. “Twins? Are they affected by the curse?”
    The angel looked at him with sad eyes, but rather than
answering his question said, “You have valid reasons to be concerned about your
brother and his family. I will leave you on Earth with the understanding that
there is no guarantee God will hold your reservation.”
    For a moment, Hugo watched the sunrise paint a metallic
radiance across the purple mountain range to the east and then said, “I
understand and accept the condition.”
    She touched the hump on his back and said, “I heal this affliction
in God’s name.” The hump disappeared and, with it, his pain. “Now you will be
on equal footing with your brothers. But be careful, you’re still under the
power of the family curse and at the mercy of the full moon.”
    “I don’t wish to be disrespectful, or ask for more miracles
after you’ve given me so many. But if you can make my hump disappear, why can’t
you rid me of the curse?”
    The angel smiled wistfully. “I can only heal things you
can’t heal yourself—it’s in your power to escape the curse.”
    “How?”
    “Read the family journals and ask your brother, Damon.”
    With that, the lovely creature shook the muck off her wings
and disappeared into the golden glow of sunrise, leaving him in the muddy
meadow with questions and a driving determination to get answers.
    Hugo found an icy stream from a recent rainfall trickling
down from Mt. Baldy, and gritting his teeth, he washed away every trace of the
thick, gluey mud. He was shivering so hard his teeth chattered. He rubbed his
arms vigorously, wishing he had some clothing or a blanket. The early morning
sun gave little warmth, and the soft, forlorn howl of the breeze from the
snow-capped mountains to the east chilled him to the bones.
    Now what? Hugo
crouched nude in the bushes, praying it was really possible for him to achieve
the seemingly overwhelming concept of assimilating back into the complex
society of the living. He didn’t want to let the angel down. She had made the
decision to leave him here and might get in trouble if he failed. Hugo, an avid
reader in his past life, remembered a quote from Winston Churchill: “A
pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the
opportunity in every difficulty.” If he was to achieve this nearly impossible
task, he must try to be an optimist, pump himself up, and put some steel into
his backbone. Unfortunately, being resurrected from the dead brought a wealth
of problems.
    Remember, optimism, he
scolded himself—this renewed condition could be the best thing that ever
happened to him. His nude body looked better than it had since birth. He hadn’t
seen his face, but the skin felt smooth and his jawline strong like Damon’s.
Best of all, he had complete clarity of mind. But total recall came with a
price—fear. His smile faded as the sharp awareness hit him—if Reeves was still
out there, he was in grave danger.
     
    * * *
*
     
    The shrill jangling of a security alarm in the children’s
room awakened Angela. Then she heard her little girls screaming.
    “Damon!” Angela shouted as she jolted upright. A harsh beam
of early sunlight fell on the empty spot where he was supposed to be. She threw
her legs over the side of the bed, propelled herself to her bare feet, and ran
to the girls’ room. She thrust the door open. Both tiny twin beds were empty!
    “Valerie…Victoria!” Angela screamed over the still jangling
security alarm. Her heart pounded wildly as she fought rising hysteria.
    Suddenly, the alarm fell silent. She froze at the sound of
a trembly, tearful little voice inside the closet