Werewolves (and all other weres) were originally Witches and thus are descendants of the Fey. When the Witches were cut off from the Fey and their powers reduced, they tried to find a way to restore the true power of nature to themselves. They wound up fusing themselves with animals in a magical ritual (the nature of which has long been lost, thank goodness; when it failed to give them what they truly wanted, all copies and mentions of the ritual were destroyed), thus creating the first weres. Over time, the weres have become a distinct race, just as Witches have become distinct from the Fey. Both weres and witches are much closer to human beings now than to Fey.
Since the Witches were seeking power, they fused themselves to powerful creatures: wolves, lions, foxes... A few fused themselves to ravens, owls, or birds of prey, but the vast majority were some sort of lupine/vulpine/canine or else feline. Sorry, no weresquirrels.
------------Werewolves generally live in family packs. Sometimes just a single nuclear family, sometimes a larger extended one (Grandma & Grandpa, their grown offspring, their families), but rarely GIANT MULTI-FAMILY PACKS. There might be some communities like that out west in America/Canada (maybe a bit more northerly in Canada, too) where there are fewer people in general, but usually it's kept small and close-knit. Parents generally only have one or two children, for fear of drawing too much attention to themselves (hell, America gives families with huge amounts of kids reality TV shows; that's certainly not something the weres would want!) and attracting a Hunter.
In most day-to-day situations, Mother and Father are equal. They both discipline the kids, they both play with them and help with homework and cook, etc. Whether one or both works outside the home is dependent upon the family's situation, but there's none of this "It's the wife's job to cook and raise kids and the husband's job to provide" nonsense. If the family is threatened (read: Hunter) and for some reason cannot flee, the father will generally go out to face the threat while the mother stays to protect her pups. Again, not out of any sense of misogynistic chivalry but because there's almost nothing on earth more lethal than a female werewolf protecting her children. She's the Big Gun in the fight, and everyone knows it. There's also a belief among most werewolves that children can survive just fine without a father if they had to (though having both parents around is preferable) but that they can't survive without their mother. This is not, biologically speaking, true (of course), but it is one of the rare gendered beliefs in werewolf culture.
Heat functions the same: most female werewolves go into heat in Jan/Feb. In a couple that don't think it wise to have more pups, they will either stay away from each other during heat, have the female use contraception, and/or have an abortion after the fact - even if the mechanics of heat allowed for time to put on/swap off condoms, the likelihood of a breakage is high.
Finding mates as pups get older becomes tricky. In days past, werewolves would employ a "matchmaker" who was really more of a search service (not so much setting two specific weres up in an arranged marriage or on a date and more "there's some werepacks with eligible males/females over in this town"). 'Course, nowadays there's the internet. There are secret werewolf forums where they can chat with one another, get to know one another and, more importantly, know where they all are and if there are Hunters about. The forums keep them safe and help them find friends and mates, places to live, even jobs (I'm sure at least one were out there runs a contracting business with all were construction workers).
The "Alpha" concept doesn't really apply in this reboot, except when it comes to genetics (though they don't use that term). Breeding is still, to some degree, driven by finding a mate with good genes, but it's less...well, generic in this version. Instead of "we all breed for strength and speed and good hunting", now it's more like, "Well, I'm really smart and resourceful, but not as strong as other weres; I need a good, physically strong mate." It's not usually a conscious calculation like that, and hey, love is love. Sometimes you mate with someone who's "less than ideal" from a survival standpoint. Maybe your grandparents disapprove a bit because you're not thinking of the good of the pack, but ultimately it's your choice. But quite often, werewolves will simply subconsciously prefer someone who compliments them - fills in their weaknesses with strengths - so it usually works out. (Kinda like how I'm short, so I really dig tall guys.)
Some weres travel around and some set down roots. It's all about individual personality. Personally, I keep imagining an apartment building that is like 3 or 4 different extended-family packs all living together. xD
I also don't usually do the Berserker Rage Full Moon thing, but what if a bite from a were can make you a were if it's on the full moon? There's still no RAWR IT IS A FULL MOON I CANNOT CONTROL MYSELF-ness, but maybe the blood's running a little high: maybe weres are easier to piss off when there's a full moon. Maybe they just feel everything more strongly (giggly werewolves! tee hee), but there's no corresponding actual power increase. Just high emotions, and the ability to transmit lycanthropy?
Oooh, I like that it's just their blood being up that makes them possibly transfer the lycanthropy. And maybe it's not a 100% thing, it's just like it -could- happen, it's not unheard of, but it's not very likely. And I still sort of like the idea that with transferred lycanthropy, it's harder to control, shifting. So maybe the ones that are 'cursed' only shift AT the full moon.
AND maybe that whole human idea that weres are out of control and frenzied beasts is because there have been humans in the past who didn't know what was happening to them and actually WERE driven mad by the idea of what was happening to them/thought they were possessed or somesuch?
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