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I'm fleshing out a backstory for a new character in D&D, who has been bitten by a werewolf. My question essentially considers how much control a werewolf has when in wolf-form.
Is it generally accepted that a werewolf can choose to bite (and thus turn) you, rather than attack you some other way? Or does the werewolf typically have no control over how it attacks?
A werewolf (or indeed any form of lycanthrope) has zero control over whether its bite can pass along the 'curse of lycanthropy'. Once someone has sustained damage from a "bite" attack roll (indicating that they've been bitten by a cursed creature) they roll for injury and an unsuccessful roll will indicate that they've been infected by the curse. The DM can then decide what the result of that exposure will be.
Bite (Wolf or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage.
If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with werewolf lycanthropy.
That being said, if the werewolf is voluntarily transformed, it can choose whether to use this additional bite attack or not. If the werewolf is involuntarily transformed (as a result of exposure to moonlight) it has no control over its actions, being controlled by its baser instincts.
You may want to note that other kinds of lycanthrope are more selective in their attacks, avoiding biting things due to the danger that they'll pass along the curse of lycanthropy to other creatures.
When a werebear transforms, it grows to enormous size, lashing out with weapons or claws. It fights with the ferocity of a bear, though even in its bestial forms, it avoids biting so as to not pass on its curse. Typically, a were bear passes on its lycanthropy only to chosen companions or apprentices, spending the time that follows helping the new lycanthrope accept the curse in order to control it.
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Weretigers grow to enormous size in animal and hybrid form, but they fight in their more refined humanoid form when they can. They don't like to pass on their curse, because every new were tiger means competition for territory and prey.
You may also want to note that in the world of Dungeons and Dragons, were-creatures carry a curse that affects their physiology and alignment but they're not the undead. If you get the werewolf curse during a fight but are then reduced to 0HP (during the same fight or subsequently), the curse doesn't keep you artificially (un)alive. You're just dead.
It reverts to its true form if it dies.
