If anything gets ahold of the throat, bleeding is very hard to stop. Lots of pathways for blood, and if you bleed and can't stop it, you are as good as dead.
Yes, wolves go for the throat. Yes, it's a sensitive spot. Yes, protecting it would be smart. Yes, bleeding is hard to stop. Yes, if bleeding doesn't stop, the animal will die. But how do we know that the wolf in the photograph is pretending to be scared while protecting the throat of the other wolf? If there were a third wolf, would it protect the second wolf's throat? Would a pack of wolves line up like an Awkward Family Photo?
ftfy