Child short of relatives - alternatively, papa leading dynasty (6)
I believe the answer is:
orphan
'child' is the definition.
(orphan is a kind of child)
'alternatively papa leading dynasty' is the wordplay.
'alternatively' becomes 'or'.
'leading' suggests taking the first letters.
'dynasty' becomes 'han' (I've seen this before).
The initial letter of 'papa' is 'p'.
'or'+'p'+'han'='ORPHAN'
'short of relatives' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for orphan that I've seen before include "Child who has lost both parents" , "Poor boy" , "Child with no living parents" , "ward, perhaps" , "Child left" .)