Pack of scoundrels surrounding king (5)
I believe the answer is:
cards
'pack' is the definition.
(pack of cards)
'scoundrels surrounding king' is the wordplay.
'scoundrels' becomes 'cads' (a cad is a dishonourable person).
'surrounding' is an insertion indicator.
'king' becomes 'R' (abbreviation for rex, king in Latin).
'cads' placed around 'r' is 'CARDS'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for cards that I've seen before include "Odd people" , "Notelets" , "Birthday missives" , "Small pieces of stiff paper" , "52 in a pack" .)