Hey all, this is the bridge off of the red, introducing you more to the younger generation of the wolf pack, including Bridget and Adam. I hope you love this story as much as me and LilJenRocks loved writing it. It took us quite some time but we created a family that we both truly love to write with. You do not need to read the red in order to read this story though. It can be read alone. Please review and tell me what you think and remember, Jen did write half of this ….. If you have a problem with fluff and lemons this probably would not be the story for you though. Thanks!

Chapter 1 - Eyes glazed over like jelly donuts

"Jen!?"

"Jennifer?!"

"Jennifer Diane Uma!"

I opened my bedroom door and popped my head out. "Sorry, Mom. Did you need something?" I smiled at her. Worked like a charm, she smiled back instantly.

"I was asking what time Bridget was going to be here to pick you up?"

"Umh, I think in fifteen minutes," I answered back, pushing my glasses up. My damn glasses…

"May I see what you're wearing?" She asked me, cocking her head to the side. I opened the door slowly, hearing it creak. I stepped out without looking at her, keeping my head to the ground. "Hold your head up, Jennifer. Be proud of who you are."

I wanted to ask her exactly which part of me I should be proud of. The part I got from her: the chubby short stature, the thick glasses, and the small pouty lips. Or the part I got from my Dad: the copper skin tone, the brown hair, and the ability to make a room full of people feel awkward simply by walking in. I didn't want to start that tonight, though, and definitely not with Mom. Mom was the one that made me feel good about myself. I reserved arguments for Dad, every teen in La Push's Public Enemy Number One, or as his nameplate on his desk read "Mr. Henry Uma, La Push High School Principal."

I picked my head up anyway, looking as she eyed my outfit. Simplicity was my motto, and you could definitely see it in my outfit. Three-quarter length black t-shirt, dark jeans, black converse, not too much and not too little to handle the Washington May. I'd take my University of Seattle hoodie, too, just in case.

"You look perfect!" Mom said, kissing me on the cheek. "I don't know how you picked an outfit! I have no idea what one wears to a bonfire."

The bonfire…THE bonfire…the ones only the Quileute elite were allowed to attend. And, luckily for me, I happened to be best friends with one such Quileute.

"Is she going with Bridget?"

"Yes, Hank, she's going with Bridget," Mom said, shooing me into my room. "I'll deal with him, you finish getting ready." I nodded and smiled.

"You know I don't like her hanging out with that family all the time," Dad said.

"Hank, we go over this every time. Bridget is a good influence on Jen. She's helping to bring her out of her shell," Mom answered back.

Well, Bridget being a good influence on me was debatable, considering the fact that Bridget had been my first kiss, the first person to touch my breasts, and the first person to give me a real orgasm. In a way, Bridget was my first lover. But they didn't know that, and it wasn't that way anymore. We both knew that it was just experimenting, both of us being typical teenagers, curious about sex. I was no more a lesbian than she was, and not long after it started, it ended. But Bri stayed my friend, my best friend, well, my only friend really.

Before I was friends with Bridget, my Friday nights would look nothing like this Friday night, where I was getting all dolled up to go to a bonfire. No, they would have consisted of me, reading a book or watching some documentary on whales on TV. Because to the rest of the world, that's who I was. Jen Uma, the nerdy girl in all the Honors Classes. The chubby girl with the black framed classes, the one you want to sit by during your big Trig test, so you can happen to look over at her paper, and get the answers. That was so much how people saw me, that that's how I saw myself, if I managed to see myself at all.

And boys, well, they were out of the question. To my Dad, fifteen was too young to date, and not like the guys were beating down the door. In fact, I had never been on a date with a boy. I was supposed to go out with Lucas Blalock last year, but he ate a peanut butter sandwich on accident and his tongue swelled so much, he couldn't talk for two weeks. Needless to say, he cancelled the date. I was the girl the boys did homework with, not kissed or dated.

Bridget saw me for who I was and love me (not in a sexual way) anyway. And I loved hanging out with her family, it was her Step dad that suggested she bring me to the bonfire tonight. He made me smile when he said it was a travesty (my word, not his) that I was a Quileute and hadn't been to one. I was technically only half Quileute, with my Mom, Sandy's family having stepped off the boat from Ireland not too many generations ago. Mr. Call's words still made me happy and made me feel special.

"Sandy, do you know what goes on at those bonfires?" My Dad asked.

"No, Hank, please enlighten me," Mom said. I could tell she was getting short tempered with him. That was the part of me that I got from her that I loved, the way I could antagonize my Dad.

"I'll tell you exactly what happens! Beer and Sex! I hear about it every Monday after a bonfire!" Dad was actually making me laugh in my room.

"Are you sure you're just not jealous that you never got invited to a bonfire?" Good one, Mom! Mom was a counselor at the reservation offices, working mainly with families dealing with alcoholism. "I'm pretty sure I'd hear about that too, and I haven't, so…"

"Dad, Mr. Uley will be there!" I hollered down the stairs.

"Sam Uley?"

My Dad had a total man crush on Sam Uley, a man kind of known around the reservation as the "chief." His son, Adam, was Bri's boyfriend. He hadn't always been the nicest person to me. Bri says it's nothing personal, but sometimes, I can't help but look at it personally.

"Well, I suppose if Sam is there then it will be okay," Mom was clearly mocking him.

"Yes, it will. Sam is a good guy. Honest, hard working, does a lot around the reservation. Now, if only his son would get a haircut!" Dad said.

He was right. Sam was a great guy. And Dad would trust him with me. I was an only child, his little angel, he used to say, and so Dad has always been a little overprotective. It got worse when I started high school. He watched every corner of the school I went to, made sure I dotted all my I's and crossed all my T's. He had big plans for me. Law school, Noble Peace Prize, First Female Native American Supreme Court Justice, and so on. I really had no plans for myself. I would do those things if they made Dad happy, but I didn't know what I wanted for myself.

I heard the doorbell ring. "Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Uma." That was Bri, here to rescue me from the confines of boredom that was my life at home.

"Hello, Bridget! I think Jen's almost ready," Mom let her in as I made my way down the stairs.

"Mr. Uma, you watching the Mariners? I know Billy's kinda bummed he's having to miss it for the bonfire," Bridget said.

"Billy? Billy Black? He's going to be there also?" Dad was in total envy mode.

"I think so. He usually is, he does most of the important stuff…"she trailed off, watching Dad turn in his chair.

He eyed Bridget and then me. "Jennifer, please be on your best behavior this evening. No beer and no sex."

"Wow, Dad, really? I know the rule, don't do anything I could regret if I want to run for public office," I said, as Dad nodded his head.

"And if you do, just make sure no one has a camera," Bri whispered in my ear, as I giggled.

"Did you say something?" Dad asked.

"Nope, just that we're leaving," I said, kissing him on the cheek and watching as Mom situated herself in Dad's lap. It was sweet in a weird way.

"You girls have fun!" Mom yelled to us as I slammed the door.

Bri smiled at me. I was nervous…very nervous. I didn't exactly do a lot of socializing, especially with people outside of my parent's circle. I was shy and kept to myself. Now I was about to spend a night with people I'd only ever seen around the reservation or at school. I was starting to think maybe this wasn't a good idea.

Bri grabbed my hand. "You're gonna be fine. If anyone messes with you, I'll have Adam or Embry beat them up, sound good?"

"Just promise you won't leave me alone. I don't want to be that weird girl, that everyone spends the whole night trying to figure out who she is," I said.

"Stick with me and you'll be fine," Bri said, climbing into the driver's seat of her Blazer. I sat behind her.

"Hey Jen," Adam said.

"Hey Adam," I answered back.

"So, this is your first bonfire, huh?" he asked.

"Yep. My family's not really, umh, not allowed, I guess," I was trying to politely say that for some reason we weren't really cool enough to be included in that circle, but I just let it go.

"It always seems kinda funny when we take people that have never been before. Bri and I have been going since we were babies, actually probably since before that," Adam said.

I wanted to ask exactly how you could attend something before you were actually present on Earth, but I didn't want to be particular about it.

"That's really neat. I wish I had something special like that," I said. I really did I wish I had something to belong to, something important and different.

I didn't know a lot about the bonfires, but I knew that the people that held them, that attended them were almost like an extended family. I knew both of Bridget's families were there, one being the Calls (her Mom and Step dad) and the other the Kimkirks (her Dad and Stepmom). The Uleys would be there, as would Bri's friend Claire, who I had met a few times.

"Who alls gonna be here tonight?" Bri asked Adam.

"The usual. The Calls, the Kimkirks, the Uleys, the Atearas, the Blacks, the Clearwaters, well, Seth, maybe Sue. I think Leah's on hiatus from La Push for awhile," Adam answered her, looking in the rear view mirror at me.

I smiled at him, knowing the importance names like Uley and Black and Ateara had to our tribe. I knew more about us than I let on, I'd heard stories and legends with those names.

Bri glanced in the mirror too, obviously noticing the fear in my face. "Relax, Jen. Just have fun," she said as we pulled into the gravel lot near the beach. The sun was nearly gone from view and I could see the fire set against the slow waves of the ocean. There were so many different voices that got louder as we walked closer.

This was a bad idea, I thought to myself. Bri grabbed may hand and dragged me towards the crowd.

"Bridget!" I recognized this man. I'd seen him the few times I'd seen Claire. Bridget pulled me towards him.

"Quil, this is my friend, Jen Uma," she said, as I extended my hand to him. He pushed it away pulling me into a hug. Woah, the dude is strong, I thought.

"Sorry but we're not really a shake-hands kinda bunch. You're Principal Uma's daughter, aren't you?" Quil asked.

"Yes, so please don't hate me," I was supposed to think that last part in my head, but it came out of my mouth. Quil let out a boisterous laugh.

"I won't! Now, Jake over there might have a few issues with you, but you're cool with me," he said. "Let's go get you introduced to everyone."

Bri smiled to me. "See, that wasn't so bad."

"One down and it looks like ninety to go," I said. She chuckled, as Adam moved to take her free hand.

We moved closer to the crowd, and I swallowed hard.

"Yo! Our special guest has arrived!" Quil yelled over the crowd.

"Jen, I'm so happy you're here," a voice said.

"Miss Beech?" Miss Beech was our Honors Literature teacher at La Push High School. "What are you doing here?"

She smiled at me. "You can call me April outside of school, and I'm here with my boyfriend. Hey, Brady!" She waved for him to come closer and that's when it happened.

Had Brady moved an inch to the left, I would've missed it, I would've missed him. But he didn't. As Brady walked towards us, I looked forward and my eyes locked with the most amazing pair of dark, almost black eyes. He was the most beautiful creation I'd ever been blessed with laying my eyes on, and I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. I couldn't even think, all I wanted was to look at him, to see him. Strange thoughts took over in my head, as I suddenly wanted to know everything about him. He was special, very special and I didn't know why, but I wanted to be in his arms, to touch his lips. I had no idea who he was an every part of me yearned for him.

"Holy shit!" The loud crowd was now absolutely silent, the only sound being crackles from the fire.

"Wow. Who would've thought?" Quil mouthed, softly.

I shook myself out of the daze and looked away from those perfect eyes. It was still quiet and Bri squeezed my hand.

"Who's that?" I whispered to Bri, seeing the god that was in front of me still had his eyes only on me. I had to turn around and make sure no one was behind me. Nope, just me.

Bri smiled and moved to whisper in my ear. "That's Seth Clearwater."