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BOUND IVY BARRETT CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Afterword Books of the Exchanged Power Series Books of the Kobar Mates Series Books of the Ventori Masters Series Books of the Captives of Stilox Series Ivy Barrett Links Copyright © 2023 by Stormy Night Publications and Ivy Barrett All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Published by Stormy Night Publications and Design, LLC. www.StormyNightPublications.com Barrett, Ivy Bound Cover Design by Korey Mae Johnson This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. CHAPTER 1 Tense and silent, Cara sat on the luxury transport, hands clasped in her lap. She stared out the viewport, watching the strange orange and gray planet gradually decrease in size as the ship moved farther and farther away. Everyone claimed Altor was her planet of origin, but she’d spent twenty-two of her twenty-five years on Earth. Her name had been Aspen Hays then. She’d lived a very different life. She might go by Cara Slanar now, but she wasn’t sure who she was, much less where she belonged. Her ‘parents’ sat facing her. Only she hadn’t known these people existed sixteen days ago. Cara, along with her two sisters, had been snatched from Earth and brought to this star system without their permission. According to these strangers, Cara and her sisters belonged to a powerful group of females called conduits. Odd that their magic had never revealed itself while they were on Earth. She still hadn’t seen any tangible evidence that magic existed. “Are you going to sulk all the way to the Citadel?” Lezod Slanar, the man claiming to be her father, demanded. His cool, clipped tone made his disapproval obvious. She glanced at him then back out the viewport. If she didn’t have anything nice to say, she wouldn’t say anything at all. The old adage had served her well for the past few days. When she first arrived on Altor, she had kicked and screamed. She refused to do anything she was told and barricaded herself inside her bedroom. The approach had earned long hours of solitude and a few missed meals. Maybe the silent treatment would finally convince these people to send her home. Probably not. She was too valuable. Grinnel, Cara’s alleged mother, crossed the aisle and sat beside her. “Your attitude is childish. You need to stop—” “You said that about my ‘temper tantrums.’” She accented the phrase with air quotes as she turned from the viewport. “I’m being docile now and you’re still upset. Make up your mind.” Lezod and Grinnel were both dressed in tailored gray suits. Lezod’s was charcoal, while his wife’s was many shades lighter. The same could be said of their coloring. Lezod’s hair was coffee brown, eyes the color of honey. Grinnel’s blonde hair was so light it appeared silver in a certain light, and her eyes were powder blue. Cara wasn’t ready to admit it, but her own coloring seemed to blend theirs. Cara’s honey-blonde hair had always been naturally highlighted with strands of platinum, and subtle flecks of amber peppered her blue irises. Unlike the severe elegance of her parents’ clothing, she had been given a formfitting navy-blue sheath dress to wear that was so short it barely covered her rear end. “We have done little to correct your behavior because young males of our species thrive on challenge.” Grinnel spoke quietly, hands folded in her lap. She always looked freshly pressed and serene, another indication that she wasn’t Cara’s mother. Most of Cara’s friends described her as lively with a fiery temper. “Taming a feral female will greatly appeal to many of them.” “Feral?” Cara objected. Stray cats were feral. She was an educated, independent woman, not a wild animal. “I am not feral. I’m pissed off. There is a significant difference.” “You are rude and disrespectful,” Lezod countered, glaring almost as intensely as Cara. His cold gaze shifted toward his wife and he switched to Altorian. Apparently, he didn’t know Cara had been injected with medi-bots and a nano-translator right after breakfast. “This should be the proudest day of our lives, but I am not sure this person can be deprogrammed. I will never forgive your mother for stealing our sweet, innocent Cara from us.” He was right. She was no longer sweet and innocent. She was strong-willed and opinionated. On Earth strength and ambition were celebrated. Here they were considered character flaws. Frustrated and demoralized, Cara turned back to the viewport and tried hard to ignore her parents. This had been the longest two weeks of her life, and it had all begun with a surreal nightmare. She’d been sitting in the parking lot of a restaurant in Juneau, Alaska arguing with her boyfriend. Bill had been so secretive, so dismissive lately that she was ready to end the relationship. Then the passenger door was jerked open and a strange-smelling mist filled the cab. Bill slumped over the steering wheel as a huge soldier in tactical gear pulled her out of the truck. Sudden weakness crept over her body and then everything faded to black. She woke up in a small windowless room, disoriented yet terrified. It was only after one of the guards slipped a meal tray into her cell that she started to fear she was on a spaceship. The guard hadn’t been a lizard-skinned, bug-eyed alien, but he definitely wasn’t human. She’d been on the first ship a day, maybe two. Then Flora, the older of her two sisters, had stepped into the room. She gave Cara a hug and told her that everything was going to be all right. She promised that they would meet