Upon entering the area I went from the bottom of the map to the top and then from left to right so I encountered the pack of Staelgar first, which I originally thought was bugged because you can kill the left half of the pack and remain in combat without seeing the right half of the pack. Anyway, I kept going and cleared the rest of the pack and then went south and encountered Captain Esmar's group first. Realizing I had some decision to make I told them to sit tight and explored the rest of the map and encountered the Fangs. I had enough reputation with Twin Elms to go for an alternative solution but didn't have the dialogue option to take the captain prisoner once I revisited his camp. It was either let him know the path was clear or kill his group. Interestingly enough, I have a save file prior to interacting with either group but after clearing the Staelgars - if I just go to the quest giver hiding in the bushes w/o interacting with Captain Esmar's group or the Fangs she just says, "You did it!" and proceeds to reward me since the pack of Staelgar's has already been cleared and both groups disappear since the quest is resolved.