Dubious Consent Novels & Stories

she corrects. “Accountable to who?” I ask. Maris gestures to the chamber. “To everyone here.” I glance around. There are hundreds, maybe more. That’s not accountability. That’s cover. I move closer to the edge of the table, voice calm but firm. “Do you believe consent should be regulated?” A murmur. Maris answers quickly. “Consent should be safeguarded.” “That wasn’t my question,” I say. Rowan’s low chuckle ripples from beside me, sharp and pleased.

Cam was already calling her. She was in the guest room. She answered immediately, heard the situation in thirty seconds, and said: "The distinction is documented in papers seven and nine. Consent and awareness. The anchor method produces outcomes only when the subject has full information and is actively choosing. It cannot override an informed refusal — I have fourteen cases documenting failed anchor attempts where the subject declined to engage." "Failed anchor attempts," I said.

“Pack and human. Tribunal has authority to review, but not to create or destroy, despite what they like to imply. Do you understand the implications?” “Yes,” Daire said. She looked to me. “I understand they can try to rip it up,” I said. “But they’d have to put their claws on more than one law to do it. That’s good enough for now.” “Pragmatic.” She tapped a few more fields. “Statements of consent are recorded verbally and in writing. They can be used against you or for you, depending on who’s holding the file.” “Story of my life,” I muttered. Kaia’s mouth twitched. “Begin with you, Elowen Mara,” she said. “Do you enter into this contract of your own free will, for your own reasons, and with

I read the note twice. The consent document had been fabricated. Or at minimum constructed in a way that made verification impossible, which was functionally the same thing. The woman who had cared for me, whoever she was, had either genuinely signed away contact rights through a structure designed to be untraceable, or someone had signed on her behalf without her knowledge. Both possibilities were terrible in different ways. I turned to the final section of Osei’s records.

I say, and Julien bites his lower lip. “We have his DNA under your skin, but there’s no other proof he tried to rape you, he keeps saying it was consensual and you’re a puck bunny, and unfortunately with the public record he is getting somewhere,” Julien says and I shake my head. Anger bubbling inside of me.

I do, my thought screamed but my mouth was sealed. Lightenings tore through the sky, and a thunder crackled like the sound of a million feet running. The florescent lights in the room blinked twice. "I believe you know this is mismanagement and also embezzlement of your company's funds, and it's likely to affect the growth of your company," her gaze settled on the papers. "Yeah, I do know that. And I know exactly what to do." I assured her then. She nodded. "Can I be allowed to return to my room then?"

He frowns before speaking again. “Consent means to agree to something. It’s like saying yes. When it comes to mates and mating,” He pauses as his cheeks flame red, trying to explain so I will understand. “It means saying that you are saying it is okay and that you want someone to touch you in that way. If you don’t consent, it means you are saying no, and you do not want them to touch you.” He put special emphasis on the words want and do not want. I frowned as I thought about why anyone would want to be touched like that.

Please confirm final approval. I stare at the screen. This isn’t reflection. This isn’t confusion. This is consent. My thumb hovers. Then presses YES. The screen confirms. And somewhere, already, the story starts changing without me.