Aloof, not the first to show strong feelings (5)
I believe the answer is:
emote
'show strong feelings' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'aloof not the first' is the wordplay.
'aloof' becomes 'remote' (I've seen this before).
'not the first' means to remove the first letter.
'remote' with its initial letter removed is 'EMOTE'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for emote that I've seen before include "Show exaggerated feelings" , "Ham" , "Openly show feelings" , "Express over-the-top feelings" , "Run away" .)