If I could redo Jack Russel's, in "Werewolf By Night", origin I'd make it totally different. Instead of being descended from a man who was cursed so many centuries ago I'd make it so that his family is a family of natural born werewolves.
They were always pretty well-to-do even in the old country (I'd figure out some place I want them to originate, maybe the British Isles). They'd previously spent a great amount of time in wolf form, until the Burning Times when werewolf hysteria was at an all time high. With that they went into hiding, trying to pose as average human beings in order to avoid execution or the pain of being caught and forced to betray their own kind. They maintained this for years, teaching every generation about their culture and history to remind them of why it's important to always remain hidden. They were taught to never go too far without their skins (I'll explain this later). Eventually most of the elders died out, leaving the last few generations without a true appreciation for their history. Jack Russel's great-grandfather, often tried to educate his children and grandchildren of their heritage, but none of them took him seriously anymore. That was until Jack came along and soaked in everything his great-grandfather taught him. One during a trip to America Jack's brief case was stolen, which held the wolf skin essential for transformation. This caused Jack to mentally break down in the middle of the streets of (insert city, not New York) and eventually be taken away. The story would start with people trying to "rehabilitate" him as no one believes in werewolves, especially not in the way he tells it.
Instead of changing like the traditional werewolves in the media, I'd have them change like the Selkies of the Celtic Mythology. So what that means is that they'd shed their wolf skin in order to go into human form. They can do so whenever they choose. With that comes an uncanny attachment between the wolf skin and it's owner. That would also be explored.
They had something like that in one particular issue of Sandman from "Fables and Reflections". But it wasn't a big deal. Or maybe it was "A Game of You". Either way, that is loosely based on Neil Gaiman's werewolf story in Sandman.
