Nine about to die in the Southern states (5)
I believe the answer is:
dixie
'the southern states' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'nine about to die' is the wordplay.
'nine' becomes 'IX' (roman numeral).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'ix' placed within 'die' is 'DIXIE'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for dixie that I've seen before include "Pan" , "Large iron cooking pot" , "Army cooking pot - the southern states of the USA" , "The Deep South" , "Seceding states" .)