Allison ran, smile plastered to her face, and jumped, trusting he would catch her. He did! His arms wrapped tightly around her waist and twirled her around. 'You look amazing!' He said pulling his head back. Allison grinned and planted a kiss on his lips before hugging him again. Derek took his time joining them. Danny was grinning at Scott and Allison, clearly waiting patiently for his own greeting.

'Hey Derek.' He said when it looked like he wasn't getting any attention from the other two.

'Hey.' Derek said, wrapping a hand around the back of Danny's neck and squeezing. 'How was your journey?'

'Pretty damn long.' Danny admitted, shifting on his feet. 'I think we may have been followed. We stopped in Ohio for a break. I was hungry, and Scott was restless. For the next few hours the same red Sedan was behind us. Scott was driving and he was starting to get agitated. I made him pull in, and it pulled in behind us. Two people. When I got out and approached them, they fled.'

'That wasn't the wisest thing to do.' Derek said. He didn't blame Danny. He would have done the same thing. A protective urge rose in his gut. He looked around the few members of his pack gathered and wished the rest were with him.

'That's what Scott said. Huffed with me for the next hour.' Danny said.

'How'd you bring him around?' Derek asked watching as Scott finally set Allison on her feet.

'Road head.' Danny smirked. Derek shook his head. Allison finally pulled away from Scott and wrapped her arms around Danny. Scott held his fist out for a bump from Derek. Derek ignored it, choosing to wrap his hand around the back of Scott's neck and pull him close.

'We should really get out of the parking lot.' Allison said. It was an underground one, belonging to the apartment block where Ryan had found space for the pack. It was the ideal place for illegal business deals. It was dimly lit, with only a few strip lights. There were plenty of dark corners and shadows for any would be assassin to hide in. Allison didn't like it at all; the first night they had stayed here she felt that the very rats were spying on her. Walking across the tarmac careful to avoid the cracks and holes in the dark, they reached the service door to the apartment block. The block itself was a 12 storey affair. The apartments all had balconies to the front and slide doors. It was deceptive form the outside, but inside each apartment was a large open plan space, complete with island kitchen and en suite bathroom. They had a floor to themselves. Derek wasn't happy with it he felt too exposed, but it would do for now. They shared the luggage between them, Allison grabbing the lightest things and headed for the elevator.

'I was talking to Stiles this morning.' Derek said punching the button for the seventh floor.

'Yeah?' Danny said. 'Where are they now?'

'He refused to tell me, reckoned the line was bugged.' Derek said rolling his eyes. 'He said they should be here in the next three days.'

'Vague.' Scott said. Derek shrugged. Stiles was a master of vague when he wanted to be. The doors opened and Derek led them to where they would be staying.

'I wanted to break holes in the walls so all the apartments were connected but my friend Ryan, who's putting us up here, wasn't so keen on that idea.' Derek said.

Scott giggled and Danny stared. 'Are you serious?'

'Yes he was.' Allison said. 'I left them arguing. Do you know Derek has friends here?'

'I don't have friends. I've never had friends. I have associates.' Derek said. He watched Allison scoff at him. He loved teasing her, pretending he was hard hearted. She always saw through him.

Allison had insisted on stocking the fridge in their apartment, despite Derek's protests that they were big boys. He watched her mother them, helping unpack a few bags and tidying around them so they felt more at home. She prepared some lunch, with Scott's help and Derek couldn't help but feel a little more at home with a few of his pack here. He was glad that he'd worked out a code with Stiles; he knew exactly when they'd be there. Stiles had sent his various silly texts that to anyone else would look like he was teasing his Alpha, rebelling against his authority figure.

XXX

Jackson, Lydia and Stiles arrived in the dead of night. Derek left Allison asleep to greet them in the parking garage. He was cautious, it had been over a year since he'd seen Lydia, and greeting her like this was important. She was nervous, he could tell, but a quick hug was all it took to chase her nerves away. Their apartment was on the other side of the one Derek was sharing with Allison. He helped them with their bags, unpacking the bare essentials before they fell into the bed together, Lydia in the middle.

Derek resisted the urge to tuck them in, choosing to go back to his girlfriend. 'You're cold.' Allison complained as she snuggled against him. He knew he wasn't, he was always warm. She was just whining because he'd left the bed without her.

'The others are here.' He whispered. 'Go back to sleep and we'll all have brunch or something tomorrow.'

Allison made a tiny noise in her throat and snuggled her head against his chest. Derek wrapped his arm around her back, hauling her ever closer to his body. Outside, it started to rain, and he listened to it, mixed with the heartbeats of his pack. He was relieved they were back together again, as one strong unit, ready to take on the world.

When he woke he was alone in the bed. Sunlight streamed through the window and the smells of breakfast assaulted his nose. He cursed himself for sleeping for so long. Everyone else was here, he realised, all crowded into the tiny living room. He got up and pulled on a pair of sleep pants, padding into the room. Allison bounced up to give him a kiss good morning. He pecked her lips and stole her half empty coffee cup, screwing his nose up when he tasted the sugar and cream in it. She giggled and wondered out of the room, returning moments later with a fresh cup full of black coffee for him. He sat on the couch and she perched on his lap.

'Carry on.' He said, resting his head back onto the couch and letting his fingers slide under the shirt Allison wore. The scent of his pack filled the room; everyone was here, was happy and was safe.

'We were talking about Lorcan's brother being murdered.' Jackson said.

Derek froze, fingers tightening on Allison's waist. 'What?' He said raising his head. 'Oisin's dead?'

'Who?' Stiles asked.

'Oisin.' Derek said impatiently.

'Where did they get these freaking names?' Stiles asked.

'Irish. Is Lorcan an Alpha?' Derek said, turning to Lydia. She nodded. 'Fuck.' He said. He knew Lorcan, knew him well. Lorcan would be hunting for revenge. He wondered who killed Oisin. He wouldn't refuse his friend retribution, but he could have done with help, another born wolf on his side at least.

'Is that…bad?' Allison asked.

'Yeah.' Derek said his mind already a million miles away. 'I need to talk to Ryan.'

'He called earlier. You were asleep. He invited us to the club tonight.' Allison said. 'The whole pack.'

Derek glanced around the room. Lydia was sitting between Jackson and Stiles. Jackson was flicking through a newspaper, Stiles was reading something on one of Danny's computers. Danny himself was knee deep in paper, while Scott rested his chin on his arms, gazing worriedly at Danny. Derek's eyes flicked back to Danny. He looked pale, uncomfortable. 'Danny?'

'Um, I just, just found out that they're chipping werewolves.' Danny said softly. The room was silent. 'The chip it's…sophisticated. It can read emotions. They have a cross reference table where crimes happen in accordance to location of chips. When something werewolf worthy happens there…this team investigates. If they decide the werewolf's a threat…they terminate it.'

'What if the werewolf's innocent?' Scott asked raising his head.

Danny shrugged at him. 'They don't seem to care.'

XXX

'You're fucking joking.' Ryan said his jaw on the floor. His hearing had not deceived him over the loud dance music in the background.

'I'm not. You'll need to tell Leon.' Derek said, taking a sip of his drink. His eyes strayed to where Allison was dancing. She kept close to the edge of the floor, letting him keep his eyes on her. Scott had an arm loosely around her, Lydia was bumping her hip. Jackson was there, holding bottled water up for them. Secretly she was tempting Derek to come join her.

'And I suggest doing it now. Chicago won't be a safe city for long.' Danny said. Derek grunted his agreement. Ryan scoffed.

'I'm pretty sure Chicago will be ok. We haven't had a hunter in the city for years.' Ryan said taking a pull of his beer.

'Don't get cocky.' Derek warned. Ryan raised an eyebrow.

'Are you telling me to tell Leon how to run his city?' Ryan asked, turning his body towards Derek, raising an eyebrow. Ryan had always been arrogant and Derek worried at that arrogance would get someone hurt.

'No I'm telling you because Leon is letting you run things. I'm telling you out of courtesy.' Derek ground out.

'Three werewolves were terminated last week in New York.' Stiles said from beside Stiles. Derek shot him a look, Stiles would make a damn good pack second. He was a better werewolf than the rest of the pack, bar Danny.

'What's your role in the pack again human?' Ryan asked, cocking his head to the side.

'Hey, we're only trying to help you.' Derek said. 'Offering our knowledge as a courtesy.'

'Yeah? Well this is my pack and my city. I've been here longer than any of you. I think I know what I'm doing.' Ryan snapped. Derek shook his head. Ryan was a good friend but he was poor at taking Derek's advice. Derek understood, for a long time Leon had visions of Derek mating with his daughter Caitlyn, but Caitlyn had always had a thing for Ryan.

'I'm not muscling in on your territory.' Derek said. His position of Alpha ranked over Ryan's as head beta, even in a different pack. He realised, belatedly, that he should have let Danny do this, but the bond of friendship wasn't there. 'None the less, I'll move my pack to somewhere safer if I think you're getting complacent.'

'You'll find nowhere safer than Chicago Derek.' Ryan said pushing away from the bar and heading through the throng of dancers. Disappearing into a sea of bodies and into the dark depths of the club.