All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel.
What I was doing when I was creating my werewolves is really basing them on a wild wolf pack, as much as possible. It's not as if being bitten brings you in, but what it does is that it strengthens that instinct for pack. It strengthens that instinct to need to be with others who are like you, and to form tight bonds, as an actual wolf pack does.
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.