A/N: Hehe x3 Yes he is.

Chapter Five – "Evolution"

It is you.

That's what she'd said before she'd passed out, and even now, ten minutes later, he still had no idea what she meant. He'd carried her downstairs to the living room, laying her down on the couch, and had spent the whole time she was unconscious so far pacing about the house. What had caused her to pass out? He hoped it wasn't because she found him that ugly—as he'd joked before. That would be just his luck—he finds a nice, pretty girl out in the middle of nowhere who seems to be understanding about his being a shapeshifter and—

"Morning," her low, sweet voice caused him to jump, and he turned, seeing that she was awake.

"I'm…sorry about that," she apologized, sitting up and running her hands through her hair self-consciously, trying to tame it down.

"Are you okay?" he asked, standing somewhat awkwardly in the middle of the living room.

"Um, yeah, I'm fine," she replied, "I must've just stood up too fast earlier, happens sometimes." She was lying, but it was the only thing she could think of.

She was afraid to look at him—afraid her eyes would linger too long on his bare chest—and yet she couldn't look away from him. She knew what it was she was feeling—knew what it had to be anyway—but she was still unsure about it. Did these things go both ways? Was it just her? Quickly, she averted her gaze, clearing her throat.

"I should thank you," he said before it slipped from his mind or he lost the chance to, "For…taking care of me, before."

"It was no problem," she replied shyly, glancing at him before quickly glancing away again.

He quirked a brow at the way she was acting, having already noticed her wandering gaze. "Does something about my appearance bother you?" he asked.

"Do you have a name, wolf-boy?" she replied, countering his question with one of her own, a delicate blush sweeping over her cheeks.

Her reaction amused him—at least she didn't think he was ugly, then—but for the sake of things, considering that she'd taken care of him and all, he decided to play nice and not make her feel even more uncomfortable. "It's Jacob," he said.

"Jacob," she repeated, testing out the sound of it, "That's a nice name." She glanced at him, then again, finally shaking her head and speaking aloud on something she'd been thinking, "You look like you're like…twenty-three."

He grinned, "I get that a lot. You're closer than most though, only seven years off."

Her eyes popped open wide as she considered this, automatically assuming that he meant seven years younger. "You're sixteen?" she exclaimed, and he nodded. "You're just a baby!"

"I am not!" he said indignantly, crossing his arms over his broad chest and looking away.

"Sorry," she said, biting back a giggle, "I only meant that you're younger than me. I wasn't expecting that."

"Sure, sure," he said, looking back to her. His tone said that he wasn't that upset.

"…Same age my brother was…" she murmured, her voice almost inaudible to human ears, but he heard her.

He looked at her questioningly, but she waved a hand, refusing to answer. "Nothing."

She inclined her head to the side, trying to forget their previous topic, "I've been wondering about something…if you don't mind me asking…what were you doing before you ended up falling over a cliff in the first place anyway? Why were you running?"

He gazed at her for a long moment, and then looked away. "It was a cliff? Well that explains it. I don't remember," he explained in response to her puzzled expression, "I don't remember why I was out here, or a lot of other things."

"Oh…" she blinked. Amnesia…she hadn't anticipated that. "I'm sure it's only temporary," she said, "You'll remember it all soon."

"Sure, sure," he said, not quite as optimistic as she was—he'd never had amnesia before after all. "Now I have a question for you."

"Go ahead."

"Why aren't you surprised that I'm a shapeshifter?"

"Oh, that." She suddenly appeared nervous again, and drew her knees up to her chest for a moment, "I suppose it would be easiest to just show you why." Chewing her thumb for a moment, she stood, moving towards the door, "In the barn would be best. More room and it wouldn't scare Ronin either."

"Why do you need more room?" he trailed after her somewhat hesitantly, but there was that primal tugging on his mind again that wouldn't let him not follow her.

"You'll see," she replied after a moment, leading the way across the grass.

She was nervous about this, more than anything else before since her dream of him. This was it—the moment of truth. The moment that revealed if her assumptions proved right. She pushed open the barn door, and then slid it closed behind them once more. Ronin bobbed his head at their arrival, nickering softly, and then went back to sniffing at his empty food trough—obviously telling Ginevra that he was hungry.

"So what is…" Jacob started, turning back to where she'd been behind him—but she was no longer standing there.

"Up here."

There she was—crouched on one of the horizontal rafters above him, near the middle of the barn. Of course, that was at least fifteen feet above the ground, and there was no way to reach it in the blink of an eye. He didn't even have to ask how she'd gotten up there—the surprise was clear in his expression, along with a bit of suspicion.

"Sorry," she apologized, standing and walking along the beam with more ease and grace than some one on a tight-rope at the circus, "It's a nervous habit. Being up high makes me feel more comfortable."

She hoped that this would also give some clue as to what she was about to do—about to become. She also hoped that he'd remember those nights while he was still injured, and wouldn't think any differently of her. "Do you trust me?" she asked, walking back across the beam in the opposite direction, her eyes never once leaving him.

"Given that I've only known you three days, yeah, I guess," he said, watching her every move, ready to phase in case she suddenly turned on him.

"Good," she said, her eyes already starting to turn feral, "…Don't be alarmed."

She leaped down from the rafters, stretching her arms out in front of her. In midair, her form rippled, changing. It happened so fast that if he'd have blinked, he would have missed it. One second she was human, the next her clothes were fluttering through the air around her—all of them intact, as if they'd melted off of her a split second before the change happened. It had been so graceful, so natural, and when she hit the ground, she was a large white animal. A pure white tiger.

He took a step back as he gazed at her, eyes widening in surprise, "You! You're…"

Yes. I'm a shapeshifter as well. Or werecat, I'm not entirely sure which. The response came as the tiger prowled back and forth in front of him, not approaching but not backing away either.

"I can hear you!" that surprised him as well.

Of course, her thoughts were quizzical, isn't it the same for you?

He shook his head. "You're a…cat!"

You don't have something against cats, do you? She asked, sounding genuinely worried.

He blinked at her for a moment. "No, I just…"

This explained so much. The reason she had a unique scent—banana nut bread—like she did, the reason she was so comfortable around animals, his wolf form in particular. This explained why her 'nervous habit' was escaping to some place high, and it also explained those nights. When he thought he'd been dreaming, they'd really happened, she'd really been there, protecting him as he slept while he was injured. But protecting him from what? What dangers were there way out here, in the middle of the forest?

"That was you, those nights," Jacob said.

Yes. The response was simple as the big cat stopped pacing, gazing directly at him, I was worried something would happen while you were unable to defend yourself.

"Worried about what? What did you fight with?"

Ginevra turned her feral eyes to the ground. She had no response to that, as she wasn't sure herself. All she knew was that it carried with it the sickly sweet smell of a vampire. A single vampire wouldn't cause her too much trouble though, but she hadn't fully engaged it that night for fear of leaving him exposed to attack. A single vampire now though, would prove even less of a threat for the both of them, so she decided, for now, not to mention it.

Without warning, she began to morph back to human form, the action as graceful and natural as when she'd changed to tiger. His eyes widened, and he quickly moved to turn away, but as he did so, he noticed something…unique. Though she was now human again, white fur covered her feet, traveling up to her knees where it smoothed into skin, as well as covering her hands, where it transitioned to skin as well at her elbows. Most importantly though, white fur covered the necessary things, rendering her decent, technically, though she still scrambled to pick up her clothes as a blush was starting across her cheeks.

"What?" she asked when she looked up and caught him staring at her, her blush darkening.

"I've never seen that before—how do you—the fur—and your clothes, they're not ripped to shreds," he said all in a rush, averting his gaze.

She smiled sheepishly for a moment, picking up the last of her clothes and shaking hay from them, "It's a gift, I guess. I've never seen anyone else do it either."

It was then though that the barn door slid open, allowing a warm breeze in that blew with it a sickly sweet smell mingled with the salty scent of the ocean—though they were no where near the water. Jacob turned, wrinkling his nose at the sweet smell that stung—the scent of a vampire. The figure that stood in the doorway of the barn was tall and slender, dressed from head-to-toe in a mix of black leather and latex—a very punk-ish look. A single silver hoop gleamed in his lower lip, his snow pale skin made paler still by the way he was dressed, and his slightly long black hair with streaks of purple.

It was instantly aware to them both that he was a vampire—if his scent hadn't given him away, or his skin—or the fact that he was incredibly handsome—then his blazing blood red eyes certainly did. He carried with him a sense of danger and familiarity that caused Ginevra to clutch her clothes tightly against her chest with trembling hands as she regarded him with wide eyes. Subconsciously, Jacob took a few steps back towards her, standing half in front of her—protecting others was instilled in his blood, after all.

"Forgive me for intruding, I didn't mean to disrupt anything," the young looking vampire said in a voice low and akin to a purr as his red eyes flickered from one shapeshifter to the other with mild amusement.

"You have no place here, leech," Jacob spat—the eyes of this vampire said he fed off of—and killed, murdered—humans. He had little patience for vampires in general, but even less for these.

The vampire raised an eyebrow, gazing at him with an expression of mock indignation. "I mean no harm. My companions and I are only passing through, but the smell here was too curious to ignore-" his gaze swung to Ginevra, who was trembling, seeming to be in a state of mild shock, "-at least now we know who smells of banana nut, and who of wet dog." He smirked slightly at the end of his statement.

"The hell you don't," Jacob growled in response to the vampire meaning no harm, "You've satisfied your curiosity, now leave before you end up in pieces."

The vampire didn't move at first though, looking between the two of them. Another smirk curved his pale lips as his gaze switched back to Jacob upon noticing the trembling starting down his arms. At last, he nodded his head, briefly tapping black nails along the side of the barn door. "As you wish," he said, and then he was gone.

After a few moments—taking that bit of time to get his temper under control again—Jacob turned back to where Ginevra stood, starting to say something to her until he saw her expression. Her face was pale, and she was trembling, still staring at the spot where the vampire had been standing, as if she were in shock.

Frowning, he reached out to place a large hand on her bare shoulder, "Ginevra?"

She flinched at his touch, suddenly looking over to him, her eyes still wide. "He lied," she whispered.