I died to that the first time it triggered as well. I was already in the middle of fighting several plains enemies and the addition of the wolves was just too much too unexpectedly for me.

The next two times it triggered I was more prepared; I made a hasty tactical retreat to better ground. One time, the 'better ground' was a nearby giant rock that I climbed up on. The wolves had some difficulty getting up onto it, so I could just kill one or two at a time at my leisure.
The other time the better ground was to run past and around a tar pit that I hadn't cleared yet, the way I circled it caused the wolves to path through it, and I was easily able to take them out one at a time as they emerged with the tarred effect.