The Breaking Point of Mate: Giving Up on My Alpha novel Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Melanie’s POV

The realization felt like a lump of jagged silver stuck in my throat.

The Alpha aura in the cramped car was getting thinner and heavier by the second, making it almost impossible to breathe.

Deep in my mind, Frost let out a pathetic, broken whimper. She wanted to shred those things–the lipstick, the bag–but instead, she just curled into a ball and gave up.

I reached for the window button, my fingers trembling.

I needed air. I needed to flush out that suffocating orange scent.

But a second before I hit the switch, I froze.

If I opened the window now, wasn’t I basically admitting that I cared?

Wasn’t I admitting that I’d lost this entire territory war?

I let my hand drop. I gave up.

I just leaned my head against the glass and watched the blurry streets of L.A. zip by, letting a scent that wasn’t mine swallow me

whole.

The tires rolled over the dry morning asphalt and pulled to a stop in front of Trista’s school.

I got out to walk her in, but Archer stayed in the back seat like a cold statue.

Trista gripped the edge of the door, her voice tiny and full of that pup anxiety. “Daddy…”

“I have work.” He didn’t even look up. He was all business, putting up that cedar–scented wall to keep everyone out.

I knew the drill. Whenever he and Camille dropped her off, they’d both get out and play “perfect parents” for the teachers.

But since I was the one in the car, he couldn’t even be bothered to fake it.

I wasn’t going to sit through any more of this freeze–out. I turned back to the car. “You go ahead. I’ll just grab an Uber to the

office.”

Archer shifted his gaze to me, his dark eyes as flat as a dead pond. “I’m headed that way anyway.”

I wanted to push back, but seeing how little he cared about the awkwardness, I realized my “avoidance” just made me look desperate.

I shut the door, watched Trista go inside, and climbed back into that suffocating space,

For the next ten minutes, it was dead silent.

Before we reached Hilltop Tech, Elmer sent over some data.

I forced myself to focus on the logic and the algorithms, using code to drown out the tension.

“We’re here.” His deep voice cut through my focus like a knife.

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