The Mafia King's Unknown Doctor Wife novel Chapter 318

"Don't move," Massimo breathed out. He kept a hand on his pistol, deadly still, while his other hand blocked Elena from moving forward.

The movement caught a few of the wolves' attention. Their eyes snapped to follow the trailing of his fingers.

Fuck.

These wolves were extremely eager for a fight. Why? It wasn't mating season, and all the wolves looked fully grown and matured.

It must be a territorial thing, Massimo decided. If he could just make sure Elena and himself didn't register as a threat to these beasts, maybe they could leave without a fight?

"We're going to take a few steps backward," Massimo ordered softly. "Don't turn around, and only take one step at a time. Now go."

Massimo took a step back with Elena. He was slow with his movement, exaggerating each twitch of his legs so he was easy to read.

But the packs of wolves took a step forward, still growling.

Massimo muttered a swear as he grabbed Elena's arm, forcing her to stop. This wasn't working. They were going to need to fight.

Massimo gripped his gun tighter. He could make quick work of these feral dogs.

Suddenly, Massimo's mind snapped back to that shootout at the edge of New York. He had been efficient then—but also deadly and hideous. His bloodlust and careless violence had terrified Elena.

Massimo frowned. If he shot these wolves here, would Elena see him as a monster again? Would this fight haunt her nightmares and disturb her waking thoughts?

Even if Massimo didn't shoot to kill, there's no way a wolf could survive a bullet wound. Not in the wild. Which meant he needed to find another way to deal with these wolves.

What else could he use? He had a dagger, but that was too sharp. The wolves would bleed out—or, at the very least, Elena would get concerned at the amount of blood.

Massimo had an old set of brass knuckles resting in his jacket pocket. If he was careful, he might just knock the wind out of the animals, maybe just break a bone or two. Massimo wasn't sure if that was better than killing the wolves outright, but at least Elena wouldn't have to witness another bloody display.

And so the wolves started to eye Elena. Several of them stayed out of Massimo's reach and circled around to face her.

Elena didn't have time to hesitate. She took a deep breath and shot—aiming for the space next to the wolves' paws.

The sounds scared some of them off. Two or three she had to legitimately shoot in their paws before they backed away and ran.

And most of them were being taken care of by Massimo. For every one Elena dealt with, the don took care of five. By the time Elena was on her sixth and final bullet, Massimo had scared off the rest of the wolves.

Elena forced herself to relax. "That was terrifying," Elena gasped out.

"Your aim is getting better," Massimo complimented. He shook out his fist—there were a few small cuts along his suit jacket's sleeves, but nothing noticeable. How he managed to fist-fight wolves without ending up with a major injury, Elena had no idea.

But she was glad all the same.