A few days later, Anelise still hadn't returned to the bar. Colt had talked to her that night, and she wasn't outright angry, but she was acting distant. She wouldn't talk at length with Colt, and she was shorter with him than she'd been since the morning they'd been mated. It was as though she didn't want to risk getting any closer to him after what Dev had said. He didn't want to admit it, but her coldness hurt, especially after experiencing her warmth. But he didn't know how to make it better. Dev, Remi, Fang and his brother Vane had all but stopped talking to him and while the Howlers hadn't stopped, they had severely limited what they shared with him. Only Aimee, Kyle, and Carsen were still treating him normally. But he could only worry about so many things at once, and his mating date was getting closer with every day that passed.

She was going to bring him down, she could feel it. She was going to be the thing that- after all these centuries of being the strong, collected Sentinel he was- was finally going to destroy Colton. And she hated herself for that. And she hated the small part of her that wanted to not care, so long as he stayed around her. But she couldn't let that happen. She had to stay away, keep herself from being any more drawn in than she already was, and she had to do it at any cost.

She padded around her home, cleaning. Colton was far messier than she was, and for once, she actually had things to pick up. Colton's things, clothes, DVDs, CDs, glasses and various personal effects littered her home. So she cleaned, and idly thought about the Bearswain who'd weaseled his way into her heart.

Suddenly, something- someone- threw themselves at her from behind, and sent her tumbling to the ground. She reacted instinctively and threw them off her, spinning around with a snarl. If those dammed Slayers had-

But it was the smug snarl of her cousin that greeted her, backed by four other Leopards. Anelise's bravado faltered, and her eyes widened in horror. They'd found her home. Not only found it, but managed to get inside it, despite all the precautions she'd taken to insure she'd have ample time to prepare for such an assault. For this exact reason now. She was outnumbered, off guard, and practically helpless in the face of five Snow Leopards that knew all her flaws and weaknesses. They were going to tear her apart, limb by limb. Without thinking clearly, she ran for the door. Her sudden bolt startled them, and she got just past them before they gave chase. They let her get as far as the cliff top before flashing in front of her, cutting off her escape by attacking at once. She was too distracted by the five Leopards on her to think of anywhere to flash. Desperately, she mentally called to Aimee.

~Aims, my mountain! Help!~

Within a minute, Aimee and her brother Kyle were there, and they leaped in to help. They took out a couple, but Anelise was still locked in a battle with her cousin Nera. She could feel Nera pushing her in a direction behind her, but it took her a second to remember what was behind her.

A cliff. A dangerously high cliff that would likely only end in someone's death.

She fought tooth and nail to stay away from the cliff top, but Nera was determined and strong and Anelise was off-guard and unprepared and hardly stood a chance. Nera worried her all the way to the edge when Anelise threw herself back at Nera with all her strength, shoving her backwards. Nera screeched in indignation and rolled, sending them both over the edge. Anelise screamed as she scrambled for a foothold on the cliff's rocky side. She mAneged to get a hold on the cliff, her fingers digging painfully into the rock, her feet scrabbling against the rocky wall, slowing her descent until she stopped. Nera slid past her and grasped Anelise's back leg to keep herself from falling.

Once they'd both gone tumbling over the edge, Aimee and Kyle dashed to look over the cliff to see where the two women landed. As they did, in the span of a few seconds, everything went to shit. Nera yanked Anelise's leg, distracting her from flashing to safety as she kicked out, trying to dislodge Nera before they both plummeted down. Aimee was vaguely aware of Kyle's yelling at something in the distance and Colt's sudden arrival behind her. The next second passed in a blur as Nera flashed away to the sound of the electrical buzzing of a fazer as it zapped downward at an alarming rate, a furious roar from Colt, a harsh crunch as Kyle threw himself in front of Colt to keep him from throwing himself over the edge after Anelise, a horrified scream Aimee couldn't recognize as her own, and the broken, pain-filled shriek from Anelise as the fazer caused her to lose control of her forms and lose her grip on the rock. She tumbled down the cliff to land in the snow with a sickening, dull thud, where she lay still and unmoving except for her flashing forms until she finally turned human, and stayed human.

"ANE!" Colt roared, and some part of Aimee's mind noted that she'd never heard anyone refer to Anelise by any sort of nickname. He shoved Kyle off him and flashed to her side, desperately trying to wake her.

The Leopards flashed out one by one, leaving Aimee sobbing from the top of the cliff, watching Colt try to revive his mate while Kyle-looking sick- flashed out, until only one was left, a few hundred yards away. Her caustic voice easily reached Aimee's Bear ears.

"I won't take full blame for this, Bear. I had loads of fun, don't get me wrong, but I'd have never found her so easily without help from your brothers."

Aimee turned her tear-stained face to the unrepentant Leopardswan. "What?" She managed through her tears.

"Your brothers. The surly one and the one screwing a Dark Huntress. THEY gave us the insider information we needed. We'll be by to thank them later. Do svidaniya." And with that, she, too, was gone.

Aimee saw red. Leaving Colt to tend to Anelise's still prone body, she flashed home. She didn't see Remi- the surly one- immediately, but Dev- who was dating one of Ash's Dark Hunters, Samia- was leaning on the bar, laughing with Trip. He was laughing right up until the moment she stalked over to him and slapped him clean across his face.

"You stupid BASTARD!" She shrieked, causing everyone to look over to her in alarm. "How could you DO that to her?! She's DEAD, and it's all because of YOU!"

Angel, Slash, and Justin eyed her from the stage, as did the other supernatural beings that littered the bar. Trip backed up a few paces as the dozens of mortals followed suit.

Dev rubbed his bright red cheek, looking around at the humans with a frown. "Aimee, you're making a scene. Can't this wait until later?" he snapped.

Her eyes flashed with furious fire, and she snarled in response. "You want a fucking scene, Devereaux? I'll give you a goddammed Broadway Musical," She threatened before turning on the bar-goers.

"EVERYBODY OUT! THE BAR IS FUCKING CLOSED!" She roared. No one wasted any time; anyone who wasn't a Were, Hunter, or God ran as fast as they could for the door. She spun on Dev, more angry with him and Remi than she could ever remember being with anyone. "You set her up! You handed her, gift wrapped, to the people who hate her most! They fazered her off a fucking CLIFF, Devereaux! Is that what you wanted?! Is that how you PLANNED it?! I didn't even know you COULD hate someone so much! So it turns out I don't even know you at all!"

He had the good grace to look concerned about the 'fazered off a cliff' part, which in the back corner of her mind relived her; he hadn't planned that particularly sadistic part of it. But then her anger rose again as he recovered, looking indignant and angry. "I did it for us, Aims. That woman is a menace. I did what I had to to keep us all safe." He said with a pointed look at the Howlers.

"Us all?! You stupid bastards are the ones who are always starting shit! She sits here, trying to ignore you for the sake of me and Colt, and you pick and pick and pick at her until she's forced to react!"