The Mafia King's Unknown Doctor Wife novel Chapter 315

Elena was glad she and Massimo had spent weeks screening the referees. On paper, their jobs were simple and straight-forward—they would run each event and make sure all contestants followed the rules. In reality, their work was much more complicated.

They needed to be crisis managers. They needed to be ready for any disaster—and they needed to deal with those potential disasters so expertly that no one would know anything was going wrong.

Elena in particular had brutally quizzed every candidate on every potential problem she could think of. And the doctor knew the mafia don would be no less than discerning in his own assessments.

So when the referee didn't even flinch at the howling, Elena wasn't surprised. He merely straightened up and smiled at the competition's winners.

"We'll be moving back to the dining area to take a few pictures and let everyone celebrate with food and drinks," he said. "Of course, the other ranks will still be competing for the rest of the day, so we've prepared many lovely forms of entertainment to keep you all entertained until they're done."

The referee's voice was even—his words perfectly rehearsed. Only Elena knew that he had gone off-schedule.

The photos were supposed to be taken outside by the shooting range and guests were going to be allowed to mingle for at least an hour before being escorted to the big ballroom from last night. But the dining area was closer to the shooting range—which made it easier to get a group of fifty people to quickly. The referee was concerned by the howling—he just wasn't showing it.

As Elena walked with the rest of the crowd, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on. There shouldn't be howls so close. Especially not howls that sound like wolf calls...

There were plenty of referees at the end of every zone. They should've stopped any animals from wandering too close. So why could she hear wolves howling?

Elena tried to squash down her curiosity and panic. She did her best to wait with the young children and women in the dining area. The building was well insulated against the winter chill—which meant Elena also couldn't hear any animals howling from inside it.

But thirty minutes turned into an hour, which turned into two. And by then, Elena's patience had run thin.

One of the referees or at least the event runners left in charge of the building should've mentioned the viewing tower by now. It was a technical marvel Massimo had built just for this party. The tower was tall enough that any seat could easily view the full hunting grounds, as well as the giant digital scoreboard.

It was a fantastic idea—a way for non-competitors to have an overhead view of the competition and get excited. There were even different spots that let you get a better view of one zone over the other.

Yet the event staff was staying quiet about this. Which meant that the wild animal problem still wasn't dealt with.

Elena bit her lip and headed over to a group of event staff. She gestured to the nearby referees and event coordinates—and instantly got their attention.

Channeling all her authority as the Mafia Queen, Elena looked down at them seriously. "What exactly is the problem, and why hasn't it been fixed yet?" she asked.

"Some wild animals have crossed the boundary lines from different zones, ma'am," one staffer immediately replied, keeping his voice a whisper. "It's happened on a few different trails."

Elena nodded—she had figured as much. "And why haven't they been dealt with?" Elena pressed.

The referees stationed on the trails were to act more as guards. To make sure no one tried anything funny, those guards were made up of mafia men from several different mafia families. With so many sets of eyes on the trails, this issue really shouldn't have happened.

"It is being dealt with, ma'am," another staffer said immediately. "It's almost handled."

"Is that so?" Elena asked.

All the staffers' heads immediately nodded in unison. Elena should've felt reassured by this action.

Yet when Massimo glanced at the digital scoreboard in the distance, he could clearly see the name "FERRARO" listed at the top. Of course, he couldn't rest easy at that. The kills would need to be double-checked against the animals he brought back to the main house—the scoring area.

"Keep playing," Massimo instructed Luca. He re-sheathed his dagger.

Luca frowned. "Shouldn't I stay by your side?" he asked. "Whatever you're doing, I can help—"

"You need to make sure our point gap is respectable," Massimo continued. "Otherwise, people will know I've stopped playing—and if someone's smart enough to cause trouble quietly, they're smart enough to know I'm onto them."

Luca's expression tightened but he nodded. "Understood, sir," he said.

Massimo took out his gun and checked its ammo. He was ready.

"I'm taking a walk around the other zones," he said softly. "I'll let you know if anything's out of order—and whether you and the boys will be needed."

Elena did her best to hold her gun steady. She walked around the woods, following the marked trails. She kept to the edge of the nearby zone.

Her plan was simple—take a walk around the nearby area and see if she could spot one of the guard outposts. Then she could question them and get a better idea of what was going on.

As Elena walked, she heard a sudden rustling from deeper in the woods. She stopped—and the sound got louder and stranger.

Elena raised her gun to the source and waited. Her hands might be shaking, but she refused to run.