Blackfeather Woods i didn't sign up for this--but emily did

The girl become notably calmer, something that he was grateful for. A single ear turned towards his daughter, her own question heard, but he responded to neither of them. Carefully, he reached out towards the child’s neck, grasping gently at her newly acquired accessory. Several tugs without anything to show for the efforts made, made it clear that the collar was not going anywhere; he could not rid her of the device, thus he would have to teach her about it. Taking a step back, he looked towards Astrid and nodded. “I do,” he answered, at last, gaze returning to his apprentice. His expression was smoothed out, not a trace of worry to be found—he even offered her a smile, further demonstrating how they all need not worry.

“It will not come off,” he informed her, the words drawn out. “But it’s okay, it won’t hurt you.” He’d seen similar garments around the necks of dogs in the past, and never had they seemed to be hurt by the items—it was their way of being marked, he’d decided long ago, the dogs with their collars whilst the wolves had their pack scents. “It’s a collar. Humans—those creatures that took you—put them on the dogs of their packs,” he explained. “I don’t know why they’ve put one on you, but we will find a way to get it off eventually.” Maegi was one of his, not the human’s; he would not let them take her into their pack, no matter how badly they wanted her.