William had no idea what the gunsmith was talking about.
Billy saw the confusion on William’s face. “Look pup, when a lead bullet is shot, on impact the metal is soft, so it scrunches up in the body of the person who was shot. The bullet gets slowed down and the result of that is the lead does cause some collateral damage along the flight path. It can tear organs and other things. Being shot aint no fun, pup. I should know, shit I’ve been shot a couple times, and not once has it been a pleasant experience.”
“And a silver bullet doesn’t do all that?” William asked.
“Nope, the silver is so hard it don’t get compressed on impact and it flies straight through. The exit wound of a lead bullet is a lot bigger than its entrance wound. But a silver round will make the same tiny hole for an entrance and exit wound.”
William shook himself. “And the rounds you make are a combination of both, lead and silver, so that we get the best of both worlds?”
Billy nodded and smiled. “Yep, now you’re gettin’ er. My rounds still don’t fly as far as a regular round but they do have the advantage of being made with silver nitrate and so they can hurt us, but they can also hurt the other guys too.”
William was just reminded that Billy had never actually said who they were at war with. William wanted that question answered. “Billy, who are we at war with?”
Billy let the smile slide off his face. He coughed into his sleeve and started to clean off his counter. He seemed to be looking around for something to distract him from the question.
William reached out and grabbed Billy’s arm. “Billy come on, who are we fighting against? Shouldn’t I at least know what I’m getting myself into?”
Billy removed William’s hand from his arm. “It don’t make no difference whether you know or not. You’re in this just like the rest of us.” Billy looked up toward the ceiling. “If you are that anxious to know what this is all about than you need to go ask someone other than me. I just make the weapons, remember.” Billy looked at William with a mischievous grin spreading on his face. “Besides if I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” Billy walked around the counter and picked up where he left off at his workbench.
William stood there for a minute not knowing what to do next. He felt like trying to beat Billy till he told him something that made sense. But he knew that Billy probably would change into his werewolf form and rip his arms off. Not that he feared there would be any permanent damage done, not with the healers around, he just didn’t really want to experience that kind of pain. William stood there a few more minutes, disbelief clearly written all over his face, his arms out to his sides in a questioning stance. He watched Billy handling the metal and the tools of his trade. Having been summarily dismissed and ignored by the older man William had no other choice but to leave the shop the way he had come.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
William emerged onto the street shaking his head in disbelief. He wasn’t paying attention to where he was going, and he almost plowed right into a guy who was walking in the opposite direction. The guy was older than William and bigger, much bigger. The man was wearing black slacks and a dark blue button up shirt with a plain white t-shirt underneath. William muttered an apology and the man nodded, neither smiling nor frowning and walked off down the road.
William couldn’t help but watch as the man walked away. His pants were well made, and the shirt looked really expensive. Where do these people get their clothes? The thought made him look down at his own new clothes that had mysteriously appeared in his dresser. The shorts and shirt fit well and he noticed that they were not exactly cotton, either. Someone had put up a little bit of money for these clothes and he didn’t have the slightest clue as to who had done it or why.
William walked along the street lost in thought. He wasn’t paying any special attention to where he was going, and he couldn’t possibly imagine where he might want to go in the first place. He was in a strange environment, and he had no idea where anything was or who he might be interested in seeing. William stopped and raised his head in shock. How could he have not thought about this before? Aceso. His alpha had been serving a punishment for what she had done to him on their journey here since they arrived at the underground city. He wanted to see her.
He jerked his head from one side of the street to the other. The few people and wolves that were around were milling about strolling from one place or another. No one except the wolf that he had seen earlier that morning seemed to be in any kind of rush.
He watched the people and the wolves mingle with each other. No one was in a hurry, or impolite to each other. He looked as a wolf was allowed to enter a building ahead of a human couple, a dark-skinned woman and a white man, as they smiled to each other and to the wolf. They entered the building, without hurry or any sort of outward negative emotion or gesture.
He looked down the street and saw a small group of people standing with a wolf off to the side of the street. William decided that they were just as good a group of people to ask as any. There were two males and three females and a solitary reddish brown wolf sitting down looking up at them.
The closest man turned, and William could see that his skin was a deep rich brown. His straight, black hair was cut short but not too short. His dark eyes had the look of a man who was a lot older than he looked. His black mustache was also well trimmed but thick. For some reason this man reminded him of Billy Dee Williams. The man smiled as William approached the group.
“We have a guest in our midst.” His voice was deep and rich but not the deep bass rumble that he was expecting. It seemed more musical and lighter than a simple bass. “The new cub was allowed to explore our fair city it seems. How may we help you?”
William was a little shocked at the warm generous mood of the total stranger. William did not detect the slightest hint of sarcasm in the man’s voice, or body language, or his facial features. William found himself to be smiling as well and he lowered his eyes to the ground in embarrassment. The smile didn’t go away and William raised his eyes once more.
“I’m very sorry to bother to you…”
“You’re not bothering us at all, pup. We were just standing here enjoying each other’s company,” he raised his arm to encompass the group. “My name is Egaiarasu Acharya. Most people just call me Acharya, it’s easier to pronounce. This beautiful young woman is Mary Johansson.” The woman he gestured to was beautiful. Her dark skin was deep and rich. She wasn’t as dark as Mr. Davis though. Her light brown eyes seemed to shine out from her face. Her black hair was short, and it seemed to curl around itself on top of her head.