Belong to pater, it turns out, in the end (7)
I believe the answer is:
pertain
'belong' is the definition.
(I know that pertain is a more specific form of the action belong)
'pater it turns out in the end' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
an anagram of 'pater' is 'perta' which is located in the answer.
'in' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pertain that I've seen before include "Relate (to), apply (to)" , "Be relevant, or belong as part" , "Have relevance" , "Refer" , "Painter (anag) - relate (to)" .)