Humane Restraints Novels & Stories

she snapped at him, cutting him off. "No, miss. We are using electric cuffs on his ankle, and we are controlling his behavior using the transmitter's desires, we can send tens of thousands of volts of electricity coursing through the prisoner's body from a distance of up to 100 yards. so don't freak out, if he gets to do something we will do what we have to do miss West." Was he an animal? Athena knew about using these stun cuffs. Or electric cuffs. They are preemptively placed on prisoners, those who don't misbehave will still suffer that psychological trauma, and recall that many prisoners have not yet been convicted of any crime.

I do as he asks, steeling myself against the inevitable pain. He’s almost gentle when he slips the cuffs around my wrists and secures them. The silver cuffs burn into my wrists, but at least the collar that goes around my neck is made of some kind of leather and while uncomfortable, it doesn’t hurt me, but it weakens me so much that I can’t even stand by myself. “We’ll forego the leg restraints,” Lester says. “I don’t think they’re needed.”

“Let’s see who breaks first.” Silence. Long. Heavy. Then— “Conditional agreement accepted.” I exhale slowly. “Good.” My heart is racing. But I don’t show it. I walk toward the chair. Step by step. Deliberate. Controlled. Not forced. Chosen. Because if they think they’re controlling me— they’re wrong. I sit. The restraints snap into place instantly. Cold metal locking around my wrists. My ankles. My chest. The wires connect. Sharp.

After hearing a couple of drawers open and close, he moved closer to me and pulled me up with one arm. Having taken his dress shirt off, he now stood shirtless as he reached above my head and slid two metal hooks towards the middle of the front poster, attaching two thick leather cuffs to each hoop. Not saying a word, he grabbed one of my wrists and brought it up to the cuff, locking me into the restraint. Repeating the same process with my other wrist, both of my arms were now restricted above my head.

I felt the responsibility grow like sweet weight. I secured the padded cuffs—ones that don’t hurt the wrists—to the headboard. Safety is sexy. “Now lie face down,” I said firmly, and she obeyed. My troublemaker was more compliant than I’d expected. Once she was positioned, I pulled her arms up. I held her wrists, kissed each finger before placing them in the cuffs, and felt her relax when she realized I wouldn’t hurt her. The simple act of restraining her said as much as any words: here, I took control, but she was fully aware.

His burn scars caught the cold light overhead, and for once, his calm expression sharpened into something colder. “You are walking into a hunt without knowing if the wolves beside you are yours,” he said. “I know,” I replied quietly. He reached into his coat and pulled out a syringe filled with clear liquid. It was small. Deadly in silence, not violence. “This is not a weapon,” he said. “This is a restraint. A Veilkeeper compound. If injected into the neck it will paralyze a wolf’s shift for several hours. It will stop them from attacking and keep their wolf suppressed.”

“W-well… you see… it’s… um…” The older man sighed, dragging a hand down his face before giving me a painfully embarrassed smile. “You could be dangerous.” I stared. The younger guy brightened, nodding quickly like that made everything logical. “So! Ah… for our safety… restraints.” My head dropped back against whatever I was lying on, a cot made of woven grass and animal hide. I closed my eyes for a beat, exhaling through my nose in resignation. Honestly? Fair enough. My voice came out rough. “I get it.”